Netflix Convert

We debated about subscribing to Netflix for many of the last several years. I always pushed back because I thought we didn't need it and it would be an unnecessary expense. I'm pretty tightwad on the whole, and subscribing to a DVD rental service seemed extravagant. Of course, when we first talked about it (probably in 2004), we had cable. Cable paired with a 2-channel TiVo provided us with a nearly infinite supply of quality programs to watch.

Then once we moved down to California, we didn't even have a TV for the first year. But when my father gave us one, we were able to borrow from a large DVD library he had, so I again successfully argued against Netflix.

Our recent move to Redwood City, and our purchase of a new TV, brought up the question again and I finally relented. Netflix has a free trial and I figured it was worth a try. Well, I'm glad we tried it. Cable, back when we had it in the early 2000s, was typically more than $50/month. (I couldn't even get a quote at the Comcast website without entering personal information I didn't want to enter.) In my experience, they set a low advertised rate, but then they charge you $5 here and $10 there for premium channels—the ones you'd actually want—so you end up spending far more than their advertised rate. The Netflix membership we signed up for is $18.56/month (includes taxes). (We signed up for two disks in transit $13 and the $3 Blue Ray disk upgrade.)

Since one of the activities we enjoy is watching movies, I think the money we are spending on Netflix is well-justified, especially when compared to cable. And with their huge instant download library, there are so many great programs to watch. While we also incurred the additional expense of a Roku Digital Video Player, we could have just hooked up a computer to the TV. We decided the convenience of the player was worth the extra $124 one-time expense.

Of course, we're not watching the latest episode of those hot new TV programs (like Glee and Dollhouse), but we don't care about that. We are more than happy to catch last season's episodes. Now I'm wondering if we'll ever subscribe to cable again...probably not. We've even decided to get rid of our old TiVo because we just don't have need to store it anymore...

Another thrifty benefit of Netflix has been our total lack of desire to buy new DVDs. When we went to Fry's this weekend, we weren't even tempted. We are more than happy to rent programs, or download them, from Netflix. And of the dozens of movies we've watched over the last month, there are only two that we might buy, if we find the right deal. In the old days, we might have bought a dozen movies on a shopping trip and then decide to just keep a few of them to watch again. I shutter to think of how much money we blew on entertainment back in Oregon.

The worst thing about Netflix, in my opinion, is the unlimited nature of the offerings. It's a bit like going to a buffet: you've paid for your dinner and now you're tempted to eat as much as you can, to get your money's worth. There's a lot of good programs to tempt us to use up our discretionary time.

Sewing Pleated Drapes

I spent a good part of today sewing triple pleated drapes for my brother's bedroom. James and his wife bought this fabric something like ten years ago and it was still sitting in the bag. They offered the fabric to me, to get rid of it, but instead I offered to make them the curtains.

The drapes are two panels that slide apart and I'm almost finished with one of the panels. I've finished all of the machine sewing and am now working on hand reinforcing the pleats in place. My hands are pretty tired from the hand sewing because I'm trying to sew through 18 layers of fabric along the top edge. I've made good use of thimbles and pliers today. I've almost finished the machine sewing on the second panel as well. I just need to add the pleating tape.


The hand sewing on the pleats is very compatible with movie watching, which is a good thing. Today we watched the four part series called Empires: The Medici, Godfathers of the Renaissance and it was really enjoyable. (It makes me a little sorry Jeff and I gave up our Italian Renaissance personas in SCA.)

Our movie binge continues. We pretty much watched movies all day yesterday (that's why we tried to get some work done today). =) My favorite movies yesterday were Music and Lyrics and Wall-E. I don't plan to list all the movies, but rest assured, we're spending a lot of time catching up on movies we've missed since 2005. We're liking the Netflix Instant Download, though it's hard to have the computer hooked to the TV for the duration of the movie. I think we're going to have to spring for the digital video player that Netflix recommends for watching off the internet.

Netflix Binge

At Jeff's request, I signed us up for Netflix on Friday. Well, with their instant download option, we've managed to watch about six movies since yesterday afternoon. Of those that we have watched and would most recommend are: The Secret Garden, A Civil Action, Hitchcock, Greenfingers and, less enthusiastically, The Other Boleyn Girl. We actually liked the Boleyn movie better until we went and investigated how much they had butchered the actual history; it at least had fairly decent costumes. The last movie, Then She Found Me, I didn't particularly like.

Since Shasta is coming up on a year old, we can finally let her "tow" Jeff. He used to take her for runs on his skateboard; he would put on her harness and let her tow him around several blocks. It would wear her out and it was fun for him, too. But then we read a report saying you should not put puppies under those kinds of conditions because they're still growing, it is not good for their skeleton, so he stopped doing it. She still gets excited when she sees his skateboard come out of the corner.

Anyway, we were investigating better harness rigs for her, so she wouldn't get her feet under the skateboard wheels anymore. During the search, we found a neat scooter Jeff wanted. It's a scooter built for the purpose, made by Pawtrek, and it has a side harness rig. It was pretty spendy, but I expect we'll be using it for many years so I went ahead and ordered it for Shasta and Jeff this morning.