October will be AWESOME! (Also, need help with important decision)

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Here is why October will be awesome:

October 3: New episodes of the best show on TV will start up again.

October 5: Carolina Anime Day in Charlotte, which is like a one day mini convention mostly focused on a Dealer's Room.

October 25-27: BanzaiCon in Columbia, South Carolina, which officially ends the anime convention drought that I've been suffering through.

October 28: My Birthday!

October 31: The best holiday out of the entire year.

I'm not forgetting anything, am I? Nah, I can't think of anything else.

Now for that important decision:
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Where should I spend my birthday?
The candidates:​

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Quality Suites At Carolina Place Mall, Pineville, NC (left) or Quality Inn & Suites, Matthews, NC (right)

Both are fine hotels with rates around $85-$89 for the night of my birthday. Here are the pros and cons of each:

Quality Suites Pineville:
+2013 Choice Hotels Gold Award Winner
+All rooms are spacious suites with 2 flat-panel TV's
+Close to restaurants and large mall
-Lower rating on review site TripAdvisor
-Absurd 15% Mecklenburg County taxes

Quality Inn Matthews
+Higher rating on TripAdvisor
+Nicer/more helpful staff/management
+Low 6% tax in Union County
-No Choice award status for '13 (but was a Gold Award winner in 2012)
-Kinda isolated - nothing within walking distance (restaurants will deliver, but possible delivery fees?)
-Limited number of suites

Right now, I'm leaning toward the Quality Suites Pineville, with the major factor being the proximity to shopping and dining. I've stayed there before, and pretty much know what the hotel is like. By contrast, the Matthews one is one I've never been to, so it would be a new experience for me, and I'm curious about the rave reviews it's received.

 

[Guest]

I'm not forgetting anything, am I? Nah, I can't think of anything else.

The release of X&Y and the return of The Walking Dead =D

 

[Honest]

My birthday. You forgot my birthday. ;D

What show's coming out on the third?

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

The release of X&Y

About X/Y... at this point I'm still planning to play one of the games at some point. But they are rather low on my list of priorities for two main reasons. First is that, quite frankly, I'm not excited about them. A few things I do like about the games, a few things that I do not like about the games, and everything else falls into that "it's okay in a 'meh' sort of way" category (including every single new Pokemon announced so far), and it all evens out to, well, a game that seems pretty mediocre at this point.

Besides that, the release date comes right in the middle of my pre-convention preparation, so it is highly unlikely I'll even start playing until after my birthday - over two weeks after the release. Doing so, however, affords me a distinct strategic advantage. By the time I do start, most if not all aspects of the game will have been revealed. Therefore, I can carefully research and develop an effective party, and develop and execute a suitable training/leveling schedule that will be effective at neutralizing all in-game threats and challenges.

the return of The Walking Dead

Never heard of this, and by the sounds of it I'm not in the target demographic for it either lol

My birthday. You forgot my birthday.

Actually, I realized I'm forgetting a lot of other birthdays as well. Like my brother's.
And NASCAR veteran Morgan Shepherd's.

(Morgan's car in 1990)

What show's coming out on the third?

American Greed: The Fugitives, which is about scam artists who are currently on the run.