Netflix and Dump Trucks

So I use this blog as a dumping ground for rants quite frequently in between the posts about my crafting. Today is another such day. Feel free to skip it. I understand.


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Dear Netflix,
I was 1 of your 25 million customers who didn't actually care that you decided to raise prices a big 60%. I don't have cable television, so I use your streaming and DVD delivery in the place of that expense. I thought it was still a better deal than a hundred dollar cable bill. I was diehard and sticking by your side.

Notice the past tense verbs? I'm an English teacher, so I used them on purpose. It wasn't a slip in verb tense.

No, it was purposeful because you have stepped in it with me this time. Splitting up the services so that I now have to have 2 bills to pay instead of 1, 2 log ins to remember instead of 1, and 2 new, unconnected websites to learn to navigate instead of one. Thanks. I really did think the all in one method was way too streamlined and modern. It was way too user-friendly. You are right. What the world needs now is 2 totally unconnected sites to order DVDs and streaming from. You are so ahead of the game there splitting things up and making them 100% separate. Yeah.
Wait.
Um.
No.
That is stupid. In a world where my phone can do anything my computer can do and my life insurance can be bundled with my house and car insurance, what the hell makes you think that splitting things up is a good idea? HELLO? Have you seen the Progressive "bundler" commercials? That is the future kids. Not the 1 site=1 purpose deal. Even clothing sites are now "bundled" so that you can shop all of the brands owned by a company by clicking tabs in the website. What's wrong with your management/planning team?

I know, I get that mail is expensive. I get that DVDs cost money to buy, keep in good condition, store, and redistribute. I get that. That's why I wasn't mad about you jacking my price up so high. I understand that you gotta feed your multimillion dollar bank accounts. I'm ok with you making money off of me by providing me with a service. I get that's what I'm paying you for. But I also expect I'm paying for leadership in a company I once respected and liked. I don't see that happening right now.

What I see happening is a company growing too big for it's britches to put it Southern-ly. You managed to become the "600 ton gorilla" that Wal-mart is and you shut down Movie Gallery and have Blockbuster on the ropes. You revolutionized how I get my movie content. You made my life simpler, easier, more entertained. Yes, you won the "badass idea/concept" of the year again and again. Americans welcomed you into their homes and their pockets happily. Until this year.

This year, you seem to have lost your damn mind. First, you wanted to jack rates up. How's that working out for you? Now, you're trying to push the market in the way you want it to move. You are probably right, Netflix guys. DVDs are probably going the way of the dodo and vinyl records. But you forgot that your market if full of red-blooded Americans. We don't do what we're told to do. In fact, when you tell us to do something, we often rear up against that and do the thing you tell us not to do. It's how we roll. It's part of the American DNA strand. Telling us that DVDs are the way of the past and that we should let it go (by making us have to go to another place to get them) isn't going to go over much better than your crazy price hike.

In fact, I'm one of those red-blooded Americans who is now pissed off and thinking of dropping you. I stuck by you through the price increase because I valued your product, but now you've gone and ruined that product for me. I know what your little move of splitting the company up is all about. You are either going to sell off the DVD side or just kill it quietly when you think I'm busy watching Mad Men on your streaming site. You see, Netflix doodes, you've broken the thing that kept you in business: consumer confidence in your product/business. I no longer trust you with my money. You're liable to use that money to do something else stupid that affects me as a consumer.

Since I can't trust you any more, I feel like our relationship is going to end soon. I may keep my account with your Qwikster branch, but I'll probably give Hulu.com my money for streaming. Or Amazon. Or someone else who hasn't gotten too big for their britches yet.

I hope this gives you something to think about while you ride that elevator to the ground floor of stupid and stock prices.

No love.
Me


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I'm also very tired of dump trucks in my city. We're growing (thankfully) and roads are being fixed and developments are going up to house people we think are moving to our city. With all of this going on, my city is crawling with dump trucks. I hate them all. 1-the drivers are all jerks who drive as though they are in a tank in some foreign country where other people on the road don't matter. 2-the trucks spit gravel etc. from themselves and kick it up off the road and at my car. I'm tired of the sound of gravel pinging off my 2 year old car. Yes, I keep about 3 school buses back, but they like to cut you off in traffic on the highway, turn in front of you, etc. etc. I'll be so happy when all this construction is over and the volume of dump trucks on the roads goes back to something more normal. I saw 12 on my 10 minute ride to work this am.

On a Limb

This year, I decided to finally do something I've been saying I'd get around to for years: enter the Perry Fair. I went through all the forms/booklets and did my research and made plans. I got things all together and knit up a few new items. I flipped through my handspun and pulled out an art piece.

And then I freaked out the night before everything was due to be turned in at the fairgrounds.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a fairly confident person. I usually do things very well (and boy is she humble!). Something about this unnerved me though. I felt unprepared and ill informed.

I sucked it up and put on my big girl panties, and on last Friday, I took the trip to Perry with my mama (for moral support) and turned it all in.

So far, I've entered 7 items.
1 skein of handspun, beaded supercoils
1 handspun crochet scarf - Queen Anne's Lace Scarf
1 felted singles shawl - Citron
1 handspun shawl- The Age of Brass and Steam
3 handspun hats -Fairy Lights, plain roll brim, button tab hat
This is fairy lights.


Those were all for the spinning/weaving competition. I hope I place at least 1 item. I'm really hanging my hopes on that crazy handspun art yarn of mine. I'll probably pout if it doesn't get some nod. :P

This next weekend will see me back at Perry for the last turn in of items. These will be made from commercial yarns. I have 1 crochet monster (the one with 3 eyes from an earlier post), 1 knit shawl, 1 cabled hat, and that might be the extent of it. I'd like to enter more stuff, but I don't want to put too much out there and wind up falling on my face with ALL of them. :P


Look for me in October with a notebook and a critical eye at the fairgrounds checking out what placed in my classes/divisions. I entered at novice/apprentice in all of them since it was my first year ever.

Anyone else got fair fever?

Spotty at best

I know. I know. I'm the world's WORST blogger. I could never do this for a living because I forget I even have a blog most of the time. The real issue is also pictures. I take junky pics of my knitting, so I hate to show it unless it's actually a nice photo.

Also, life has had a way of falling apart this year. I feel like my Grandma sometimes because I think, "If it's not one thing, it's another!" My job is weird right now, and boy's job is up in the air most of the time since he went to contract work. We are learning to cope with being less than secure in our futures. We're learning to roll with the punches you might say. We've also had lots of changes in our personal lives as friends move away, drift away, or enter into our lives.

Along with these changes come changes in the lives of our friends as well. At least 2 people I know are expecting little strangers. Since I'm all about crafty, you know I couldn't let that news just fall on idle hands. I only know the gender of the first baby, so I went about flicking through the WHOLE web looking for cute baby knits/projects. I made a gazillion of them too. I have a whole little basket of handmade and semi handmade gifts for her and bebe boy. If this baby turns out to be a girl, I will have a stroke.

First up: Bibs from old t-shirts- all of these came from the Goodwill here. I got the tutorial off of pinterest.com. That site is like Crack!

I cranked those out after a day spent sewing with a new friend. I used flannel for the backs of all but the button-up one. So cute and easy!

Next: Lion toy that didn't turn out as planned. This toy is on my remake list, but the first one is now a ferret toy. It was ok, but I thought the pattern was more of an oblong shape. It was NOT. I should have googled up the pattern and just downloaded it. Another find through pinterest. I followed a tutorial from Lil Blue Boo for how to make it, but I looked at a blog for the inspiration.

Breaking News: In the middle of this blog post, guess what boy ims to tell me? The friend I made all this for, yeah- she's having a ....


you guessed it!



girl!



DANGIT!


Takes the wind out of your sails to find something like that out the day after you have all of the handmade projects completed and beautifully arranged in the gift basket.

To finish this blogfail:

A semi-handmade onesie-

And a handknit monster that will have to get a bow and a skirt:

I also knit a pebble vest and crocheted up a little cardigan. I guess it's back to the drawing board. The only positive thing here: a coworker is preggers too. She had better have a little dude! Otherwise, I have a lot of random baby stuff made for a boy I don't even know. :D

See what I mean by rolling with the punches?