Liloia.com

Blockbuster's Misguided Email

Back in August, the Liloia family was unceremoniously dumped into a lower-featured Blockbuster plan because we were among the company's most loyal customers. Sure, we could have stayed on our existing plan... for $10 per month more -- a 66% price jump.

Though Netflix and I are still not on great terms (from the throttling-back of our account service years ago during which they were sued by angry customers) we returned to them and even upped our plan. For thirty dollars a month, we have been merrily renting five movies at a time. (We don't have television.) The plan is divided so Trevor has his own queue and one movie out at a time -- which leaves Dave and I with four movies at once. We haven't set foot in a Blockbuster store since.

Every once in a while we hit a day where we have no movies at home, but it's infrequent and we use the Instant Watching feature with a laptop connected to the television for a quick fix. The selection is fair; it's good for catching up on classics you've missed.

Netflix sent us nineteen movies in November and eighteen movies in October. We're on track for a December total of about eighteen. That's around $1.60 per movie -- still cheaper and more convenient than in-store Blockbuster rentals, but nowhere near the 75-cent a movie rate we were seeing before. So I'm open to better offers.

Today, Blockbuster sent me a message:

It's been a while. We miss you. That's why we'd like to offer you BLOCKBUSTER By Mail for only $3.99 a month.

Tip: The way to win back your disgruntled former customers is not to send them insulting, nerfed offers. Blockbuster has reinitiated contact with me -- who quit the service annoyed just a handful of months ago -- to offer a plan of one DVD at a time, maximum of two rentals per month, with no in-store exchanges for $3.99 a month. How does my previous rental history of 24 movies monthly lead them to believe this is the plan I want?

The funny thing is, their new Total Access Premium plan at $34.99 would net us 24 movies a month for $1.45. Even though it's a $17 price hike (a doubling of the price!) over our original Total Access fee, it's still more cost-effective than Netflix. (But only if we drive an hour into St. Albans every weekend, so perhaps with gas money, it isn't cheapest.) At this point, I'm so soured on Blockbuster that I'm no longer interested in what the company has to offer.

And Blockbuster really doesn't want us back. They want some other family who pays for the $17.99 plan and watches two movies a month. That's not us.

For the record, we did buy Boggle. And Life, and Stratego, and Loot. Winter. Vermont. Brrr.

Tree Time

Premonition

If you've seen the trailer for this movie, you've pretty much seen all of this film. Halfway through Premonition, we finally got to the point where I turned to Dave and said, "Now we're taking up where the preview left off. Can't wait to see how this turns out."

But nothing turned out. Nothing new happened, nothing changed, except for a vaguely unsettling discussion with a priest which seemed to say all of the answers were with faith. Which was not strange in itself, except that the question of faith is never brought up before this point in the movie. This is deus ex machina at it's worst -- because though hearts and minds have changed, the future does not. We also never learn why these supernatural events take place at all. No payoff for the patient viewer.

Consistency nitpick: In one flash-forward Linda's family demand to know how her daughter's face was cut. There seems to be no record of what happened. When we finally get to the injury itself (in the past) not only were ER staff taking records, her husband was in attendance as well. Surely he would have mentioned it to someone. Or the psychiatrist would have checked with local hospitals. Why would no one else know what had happened?

56 Geeks Poster

A saddening statistic: Out of every 56 geeks, three are women.

Tree Cutting 2007

We haven't cut down our own Christmas tree since Trevor was a baby and we lived in New Jersey. The one thing I remember from that experience is that the tree is always bigger than it looks out in the field. Fresh trees last so much longer than the roadside stand variety, which is good for those of us who like to eke out every last bit of Christmas by keeping the tree up until mid-February.

This past weekend, the three of us went to Larry's Tree Farm in Bakersfield, VT for an old-fashioned tree cutting. We'd never been to Larry's, but we heard good things. And they're all true. We were thinking tree farm -- flat, like a farm. But as you approach Larry's, you see rolling mountains of trees in various stages of growth. All trees are $28 -- as long as you can carry it out of there, so if you have a 20-foot ceiling, this place is a bargain for you. In fact, there were many taller trees left, since most people typically have seven- or eight-foot ceilings. If you want something much higher or much lower, the selection is great.

Trevor tried to slide down one of the huge, snowy hills, but got stuck about two feet down. Next time we'll bring a sled like several other people did. He contented himself with throwing snowballs at our backs, fronts and heads. And nearly got himself grounded after one too many snowballs made contact with Dave's exposed neck.

As you can see, Dave has no snow pants on, even though I bought him some last week. You just can't do that on a day like the one we picked. The temperatures were in the relatively balmy high twenties, but a snow squall came through just as we arrived and smacked us with thick, wet snow as we tree-hunted.

It is singularly difficult to pick out one perfect three on a farm of thousands. We found ourselves going farther down into the valley, looking for hidden gems, without thinking about how to drag The Perfect Tree back up the hill. We finally settled on one and got down to sawing. At this point, I'd like to commend Lands End for making really superb winter outerwear. This year (because of the frigid island windes), I bought a knee-length down coat and squall pants and I rarely feel a thing -- even when the wind chill is down in the negative double digits. Lying in the snow sawing wasn't an issue.

This photo is incredibly misleading. Looking at it, you might think that Trevor sawed down the tree. Or that Dave stepped in and helped him out. But really, I sawed down our Christmas tree. Now I know why Dave conveniently "forgot" his snow pants. So because I cut it down, Dave did most of the dragging back up the hills to the car. Except when the Burlington Free Press photographer came by to take our photo. We all happened to be manning a branch at that point. Look for us in the paper this coming weekend!

At the top of the hill, Larry himself was manning the cash stand and directing people to the gift shop where Santa was waiting with free hot chocolate and candy canes. Besides being a great place to warm up after lying in the snow, the gift shop has both utilities (tree bags, wreath hangers, ornament hooks, tree stands...) and fun stuff (ornaments, statues, candles...). It took us a solid hour there and another back, but it was well worth the effort.

Clementine marmalade

Clementines are a good idea in theory. They're inexpensive this time of year and stores practically thrust a box into your hands as you walk out. Please take these -- we can't eat them all!

Then you get them home and it seems like you eat a clementine with every meal. Your hands are orange and your desk is sticky. Yet there are still about six thousand clementines in the box. Then one gets the ick. You get rid of him quickly, but it's too late, he's contaminated the others. Before long, you have a clementine retirement community. They get soft, fuzzy, squishy and just a touch fetid. Like grandpa.

I wasn't going to let that happen this year. I resolved after this week's Sunday shopping trip that we would not lose a single clementine comrade this year. But what can you do with 36 clementines? I figured if you can make marmalade out of oranges, then you can make it out of clementines too. I turned to Google for assistance.

There are apparently times when Google can't help you. Yes, it's true. For example, traditional clementine marmalade recipes are not readily available online. You can find instructions for a refrigerator version (who wants a fridge full or jars?). Or one that omits the pectin -- which, I'll admit, with a high-pectin fruit like citrus, isn't really necessary, but who wants to take a chance on ruining a vat full of marmalade? Or a third recipe which chokes on Internet Explorer and freezes your browser. And a whole list of places who want to sell you jars of the stuff. But nothing like what I was looking for.

So I had to wing it. Here's my very own, brand new recipe for clementine marmalade. And yes, it worked. It jelled like jelly should and the lids popped so no one will contract a holiday case of Christmas botulism.

Clementine marmalade
This marmalade isn't overly-sweet -- it still has some of the classic bitterness of citrus marmalade.

2 pounds (about 12) clementines
9 cups sugar
Juice from 1 lemon
1 package of powedered pectin
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of butter

Peel the clementines and slice the fruit across the sections; making coarse chunks and discarding the seeds. Pulse the peel in a food processor until it is in small, but recognizeable, pieces. Put the fruit and peel in a large saucepan with 6 cups of water and simmer for 1-2 hours until the peel is tender and falls apart when you pinch a piece. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, spices and pectin.

When the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and boil rapidly, stirring frequently for about 30 minutes, or until set. Add 1/2 teaspoon (no more!) of butter to bring down the foam. The marmalade is set when a spoonful of cooled jelly on a cold plate starts to form a skin.

Pour into sterilized jars and put on the lids and screw tops. Put the jars into a pot of boiling water for ten minutes. Take them out of the water bath and let them sit. You should hear all of the jar lids pop as they seal. Any that don't pop should be stored in the fridge and eaten within 2-3 weeks. Jars which have sealed properly will keep on a cool, dry shelf for a year.

Makes about 12 half-pint jars.

I am so old....and he is so young

Almost on a daily basis, Trevor is getting smarter, funnier and more of a wise guy. These days he is starting to participate in all of our conversations (even those that he isn't invited to) and tonight he asked Tara to teach him Flash (weird). A few years ago, Tara and Trevor and I tried out making "throwies" as found on Graffiti Research Labs (instructions on Instructables.com, really easy, really cheap)

Back to the story. The kid is a geek, and I love it.

Tonight he is watching the second Scooby Doo movie (why, I don't know) and he says to Tara and I, "look that's so funny, that guy is wearing an L-E-D Zeppelin T-Shirt! Isn't that funny? How do you say that word? Zepp-Ellen?"

At first Tara and I didn't get it. We hear the L-E-D part and couldn't figure out what a Zeppelin had to do with the whole business. Then it dawned on us. "No, Trev. That's not L-E-D. That's Led, like lead. It's and old band that Daddy likes and that Mommy hates."

"Wait here why I pull out a 'tape' and a 'record' right after the rest of my hair falls out."

:)

Loving Winter on ILM

Yeah it's a little cold. Ok, it's a lot cold, but not all that different from living in South Burlington, VT. The biggest difference is that we are still figuring out all the places that aren't sealed well enough for a home in Vermont, whereas the condo was very well sealed (except some of the windows). Other than that, it's amazing here.

We got about 8 inches of snow last week, most of which is still all over the ground. Most of the time, we would get snow in SoBu and it would only stay on the grassy areas. It's pretty much the same here except the grassy areas go from a postage stamp sized plot of grass to all of our property. Barring a 40 degree day in the next few weeks, we are essentially guaranteed a white Christmas.

This morning after Trevor got on the bus, I took a walk around some of the fields. The remaining tall grass is light brown and laying down under the weight of the snow. The old farm equiptment still left in the fields is starting to be exposed and is covered with a light layer of the white stuff, and the ground crunches beneath your feet. Before seven in the morning, the number of cars coming down the street is almost zero now that all of the snowbirds are gone for the year. I stood out there and had a cup of coffee, standing silently and just taking it all in. Loving it. :)

A Hearty, Spicy Christmas

Last year, the new-new thing for holiday recipes was flaky fleur de sel -- which found it's way onto chocolate recipes -- from cakes to bonbons -- everywhere.

This year's new-new thing is a little more accessible. Your best bet for a holiday recipe secret ingredient is mustard. Not the neon yellow stuff that squeezes out like flourescent toothpaste, but a carefully constructed mix of complex flavors. My absolute favorite this year is Grey Poupon Hearty Spicy Brown. It has a little kick, but there's also a sweeter onion undertone that works well in dips and sauces. You'll even find little crunchy onion pieces inside.

If you need a condiment that screams, "There's mustard on here!" go with the Harvest Coarse Ground. Not only is it spicy, but the whole mustard seeds speckle your recipe. Vinaigrettes look great with all of those little seeds, as does poached salmon.

And Savory Honey is a standby for a dipping sauce all by itself, but it's also great for mixing with brown sugar and crushed canned pineapple for a baked ham glaze.

I received this trio of mustards as part of a BzzAgent campaign -- I try out products and share my opinions with both friends & family, and the company itself. It's a win-win for everyone involved. I get a taste of the new, new thing and they get a little word of mouth advertising. But it's up to the company to provide a solid product. BzzAgents are no shills. If I don't like a particular item, I'll share that too. But these mustards were truly excellent in all of the recipes I tried them in.

Tara's Guide to Child-Rearing

Rule #655

Don't introduce your nine-year-old to the LOLCats website on the morning of a snow day. When you work from home. And his computer is next to you. All day long. Reading cat captions out loud. Asking for explanations. And cackling. No.

Design that doesn't work

Every time I visit the Burlington Free Press website, I click into stories, then try to return to the home page. And every time, I do this:

Click at #1 below. Frown when I realize (again) that it isn't a link.
Click at #2 below. Growl under my breath when I realize (again) that it isn't a link.
Click at #3 below. Finally get to the home page.

I can't imagine I'm the only person who does this. I've been trained by years of navigating web pages that a logo will take you home. When it fails to do so, I naturally look up into the left-hand corner. Which also doesn't work. Then I head down the left-hand navigation and finally hit the tiny bit of linked text, sitting on a dainty blue bar next to jobs, cars and apartments.

Link the logo, Free Press!

LOLplow

Plow Guy...

Again? Seriously, I don't drive into your mailbox three times a day.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Tara, love you lots!