March | 2009 | No Celery Please

Archive for March, 2009

Bony Little Thing

March 27, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged Body Acceptance, Roller Derby

Last night at practice we were doing a hitting drill.

I went in with a shoulder to another girl.

This is what she said…

“Damn, girl… you’re a bony little thing”

That, I must say, is a fairly astonishing thing to hear.

For someone who spent her whole life being chubby, then fat, then morbidly obese, then chubby again.

Just

Weird, unexpected, odd-like.

But these people have not known me for long. They do not know the history of me or my life. They do not know that person.

The SB tells me I am skinny all the time… but he’s the husband, that’s his job.

To have some random person say something like that… like you would say to any normal non-obese person… just hit me like a hammer.

She has no idea.

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Wooosh!

March 22, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

Well! An entire week appears to have disappeared before my eyes!

So busy at work last week, I don’t think I managed to read a single blog, let alone post something myself.

Handily, with all that work going on, I didn’t have anything to post about anyway.

Oh – except that I broke up with Blockbuster and moved over to Netflix. To heck with you, Blockbuster! I am paying less now to get access to more movies and free dowloads of quite a few!

Uh – so that’s it. I think next week might be just as bad.

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Blockbuster Responds

March 12, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

Blockbuster’s customer service sent back a response to the original customer service letter I sent (not quite the same as the one below, as the one below is what I sent to their “executive team” after I found out what they were doing).

Basically, they say they are making this change to help me. I think it’s pretty clear that what they are trying to do is reduce the number of movies people get while leaving the price they pay the same.

It is clear that they do not care how many people they lose to Netflix. Perhaps their end goal is to go out of business by driving all their customers away.

I need to find out how long I have left on this month and switch to Netflix. I just wish there was some way to export my queue from one to the other. Oh well, guess I’ll have to rebuild.

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The letter:

Hi NCP,

Thank you for contacting Blockbuster Customer Care.

I appreciate you taking the time letting us know about your concern.

Our goal with the new exchange process is to help simplify your terms and conditions. As long as you return your in-store exchange within a day or two you should be able to continue enjoying a similar if not the same number of movies each month as before. The No Due Dates benefit also allows the piece of mind that comes with being able to return the title to the store on your schedule. We hope that you will give this change a chance to continue to satisfy your entertainment needs, budget and schedule.

It was a pleasure assisting you today, please feel free to contact us again in the future.

Sincerely,

Blockbuster Customer Care

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Bad Blockbuster! Naughty Corporation!

March 11, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

I sent this letter to the online consumer relations people at Blockbuster. However, since I have my tiny little soapbox here, I thought I’d post it to my website as well.

Blockbuster recently, WITHOUT ANY NOTIFICATION, started taking up space in the “three out” list of my movie queue with the “free instore exchanges”. For the years that I have had this service, the in-store exchanges have never counted against the queue. They were the bonus that made me choose to do business with Blockbuster Online, even though they cost more than Netflix.

In addition, their online FAQ STILL SAYS:

Question

Do in-store exchanges count towards my BLOCKBUSTER Online® membership plan?

Answer

Free in-store movie rentals are in addition to the number of DVDs allowed out by your BLOCKBUSTER Online® membership plan.

(that is now a BIG FAT LIE!!!!)

So here’s my letter….

Dear Blockbuster,

The new switch to the in-store movie exchanges (having them appear as part of the “three out”) has now offically negated any previous advantage that you held over the Netflix service.

Prior to this, when people would ask me why I choose to pay more for the Blockbuster Online service than I would for the Netflix service, I would explain that it was worth more because of the ability to exchange movies for in-store rentals which I could watch while I was waiting for the next movies to come in the mail.

However, with this new switch, my in-store rentals are holding up the next movies in the queue from being delivered.

You appear to have deliberately lowered your value proposition and made yourself LESS competitive against Netflix.

I looked today on the Netflix site, and their “Three out” offer is $16.99 a month – less than I am currently paying for my Total Access Premium service.

I have heretofore been very happy with my Blockbuster Online subscription. However, I am extremely disappointed in this new change to the queue management.

As I know it takes time for consumer feedback to effect changes within an organization, I am not going to immeidately cancel my Blockbuster Online subscription. However, if consumer outrage does not end up causing your organization to switch back to the old method of queue management where in-store rentals do not take up a place in the “Three out” line, you can be sure I will be switching over to Netflix. I do not need to pay more for a service that does not give me any additional value.

Thank you,

NCP

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Wreckless Disregard

March 10, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged Introspection

How old do you have to be to have a second childhood? Or maybe a midlife crisis? I don’t know.

I have been feeling of late that perhaps I am missing out on the excitement of the world going on around me.

I started going out to rock clubs and “partying” into the wee hours when I was young… just as soon as one of my friends was able to drive, we took that freedom, some IDs from a local check cashing joint that upped our ages to 18 (no, we weren’t trying to drink in the clubs, just get in for the music), and had a lifestyle that was the envy of all our peers with parents who paid attention to what the heck time they were coming home in the morning.

This was kept up for quite a few years, and, by the time I reached the ripe old age of 21, I was pretty much tired of drinking and partying and staying out until all hours.

So I stopped going out, finished college, joined Corporate America, picked up a mortgage, and sent away for my official fuddy duddy card.

When someone tells me that an event starts at 8pm, or, heaven forbid, 10 pm! My immediate reaction is… hmmmmm… sounds fun, but I could be sleeping on my couch instead.

But there’s a whole world of people out there who go out, dance, have fun, get a little silly, have crazy sex in airport bathrooms (ew, unsanitary!). I am feeling like I should be a part of that. But then I hear the couch calling, calling my name, with its comfy, comfy cushions.

I have an urge to be like those wild and crazy people, but I have no follow-through.

I guess joining the derby was a start. Maybe one of these days, I’ll make it to an after bout party.

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The Idea is Growing on Me

March 6, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized

So this idea of getting a tattoo of a tasty piece of cake is growing on me.

I mean… when I think about it… What’s been the one constant of my ENTIRE LIFE? (well, since I got teeth, anyway)… LOVE OF CAKE!

I cannot remember a time in my life when I did not love cake. Cake is wonderful. It’s soft, and sweet, and covered in sugary goodness. Plus Ice Cream!!

And I cannot possibly imagine anything ever causing me to abandon my love of cake. No matter that I try not to eat so much of it now… the love is not gone. What could be more constant in life than that?

Of course, given the topic, I suppose the tattoo of cake would have to go on my hip or thigh… as that’s where the real cake mostly ends up too