Miscellaney, and books

If I'd known I'd be blocked out of email this morning, I'd've checked my mail last night...

Netflix
Netflix members have all received an email saying that they are entitled to a one-month free upgrade, pursuant to a class-action suit. (They're being punished for having only 50,000 movies instead of infinite ones, and for not getting the post office to deliver within 24 hours at all times.) As you can guess, I have little sympathy for the problems of the plaintiff. Netflix has been fine to me and to everyone else I know who uses it - neither superhuman nor all-powerful, but responsive and generally well-run.

Turns out that the lawyers in the case are getting $2.5 million for their part in this frivolous lawsuit.

You can stop the settlement (and the payment of those whopping legal fees, which will show up in your rental prices) by opting out of the settlement, using the instructions here.

Collector's Library
I'm continuing to collect the Collector's Library books; like potato chips, you can't have just one! Turns out that although they're branded as a Barnes and Noble publishing venture, they're made in England and sold on Amazon.co.uk... although oddly, a quick check of a.c.u shows that the British have an edition of Great Gatsby that doesn't show up in Barnes and Noble. Why do the Brits have exclusive access to an edition of an American author? (That's one of the questions I'm going to be asking when my email comes back up - along with some suggestions for titles that I'd really love to see them do - Little Princess and The Custom of the Country to name two.)

PS - Dear LJ. I have pattern memory and tend to like things to stay in the same place. Your new menubar, while nifty, has screwed up my brain and I've already clicked "My LJ" half a dozen times when I'm trying to click the menu that *used* to be there.

Top 5 Fictional Characters Who Need to Be Punched in the Face

I don't think minervacat intended to start a meme, but comments from her post on "Top 5 fictional characters who need a punch in the face" are galloping along. Only one's hit metaquotes so far, but there's a lot of good stuff there.

So... who do YOU think needs one in the face (or in the 'nads, some of 'em)?

1 - Most of the cast of Gilmore Girls. A lot of the comments are singling out Jess, and yeah, it would be really satisfying to hear the squish as Mr. "I'm more cool & angsty than Holden Caulfield" gets run over by a car. But that doesn't mean that Rory doesn't deserve it for throwing her bright future away every chance she gets. Or Lorelai with her "I'm too sexy for everything, isn't my fast-talking, name-dropping snobbery cute?" attitude. Or Dean "I'll screw around on my wife and then blame my lover for my wife finding out." Or Taylor and Kirk for existing.

2 - Holden Caulfield. Want to see the biggest phony there is, dear? Look in a mirror. Then grow the fuck up. If you hadn't been the first foul-mouthed angsty teenager to make it to print, you'd have long since sunk into the anonymity you deserve.

3 - Heathcliff. You need Prozac. Lots and lots and lots of Prozac, followed by decades of therapy.

4 - Carrie Meeber. You're so stupid I'm surprised your brain has enough power to keep your lungs working. Undine Spragg kicks your literary ass.

5 - King Lear. Talk about stupid! If that's your idea of leading a country, you deserved to have your family turn on you and your land invaded. If you want unconditional fawning love, get a damn dog.

Insulation & natter

Well, the insulation project is off. I was under there with snakelights tonight and ran into engineering problems I can't solve. Neither could the guy who built it, as there are gaps all over. No wonder my bedroom is so cold!

And by the way, the official dimensions of the crawlspace are 20 feet by DearGodIDon'tWantToGoOverThere.

So I get another bill in my life. Whee. I'll be calling for estimates next week, even though the tree has to come down first.

Sometimes homeowning sucks.

On the other hand, fun stuff in the next two days. Tomorrow work is having a buyathon - over lunch they'll have reps for Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, Southern Living, Longaberger and a bunch of other similar places. Oddly for someone with a basket fetish, the only one I'm safe from is Longaberger - I don't believe in paying $80 and up for baskets when I can get so many cool ones for $15 and down.

And Saturday is the Indian new year; this year I'm joining the Indian film club at the pre-ritual party/shopping.

I can't go too nuts at either place with a new insulation bill coming up, but I'll enjoy windowshopping.

And the candy-making project may be back online. King Arthur Flour sells silicon mini-cups which are good for making chocolate shells and peanut butter cups.