November 3, 2004... Vote with your GUT

A new issue of SunFyre Surveys is going out today.  Actually, the first issue is going out today.  We have 17 subscribers, and I'd like to see several thousand more.  So, if you aren't a subscriber, please sign up using the newsletters box at the right.

The first issue asks you to vote with your gut!  No, we aren't electing another President, we are voting on food...

1. What's your favorite type of restaurant?

2. What do you put on a hot dog?

3. Which of the following delicacies have you tried at least once?

Three simple questions... vote here!

Also, if you enjoy laughing, you may want to sign up for Friday Funnies, my weekly newsletter featuring jokes and funny photos.

Finally, After Dark is the title of my newsletter about the darker side of SunFyre.  If you like erotic stories and stories of a somewhat twisted nature, you may enjoy After Dark.  Only a handful have signed up.  I'll publish the first issue as soon as 100 readers subscribe.

User Review of Netflix

On another subject entirely, I was so excited because Netflix has reduced their monthly fee.  Several years ago Netflix started as an online DVD rental website.  It was $19.99 a month for unlimited rentals by mail.  It was a unique idea, but I was skeptical.  I'd kept hearing good things about the company, but never subscribed until September.  By this time the rental fees had gone up to $21.99.  It's still a good deal if you rent six or seven movies a month.

Apparently the trend is catching on... Blockbuster and Wal-Mart both announced DVD rentals with a monthly fee.  In a market dominated by Netflix, two big names jump in the mix and Netflix counters with lower fees.  They lowered prices to $17.99 for Everyone!  I figured that Netflix would offer discounts to new members, or free trial programs, or some other gimmick to compete.  But they didn't.  They rewarded existing members with lower pricing.  Very cool!  Now it's a valuable service if you rent as few as five movies a month.

Anyhow, it inspired me to write about them here.  I've been extremely happy with Netflix ... and here's as much detail as I can give you.

First step... I signed up.  They have a two-week trial period, but you need a credit card to begin.  Typically I don't like sites requiring a credit card for a two-week trial, but I understand here because they are actually mailing you DVDs during the trial.

Next step... you pick DVDs.  They have about 25,000 titles currently, virtually every DVD produced so far.  You can find almost any movie you choose, with a few yet-to-be-released titles being the rare exception.

Each DVD you pick gets added to your queue.  I added over 75 movies to my queue on the first night.  You can add or subtract, or rearrange movies to arrive in any order.

The next day I got three emails telling me that they'd shipped the first three movies in my queue.  They said the estimated arrival time was two business days.  I was skeptical because they were sent by first class mail.  I've had things take three days to get across town.

Believe it or not, all three movies arrived the next day, less than 24 hours after I received the emails confirming shipment and about 36 hours after subscribing.  The disks were shipped from a location in Pennsylvania.  Apparently Netflix has dropship warehouses all over the country.  I'm not sure if they are that reliable everywhere, but I was impressed.  Since then both of my sisters have signed up and had equally excellent service.  One of them is in central Pennsylvania and the other is in Richmond, Virginia.

Each movie arrives in a distinctive red envelope.  You have to be a little careful the first time you open them.  If you destroy the envelope, you have nothing in which to return the DVD.  Each envelope has a tear away flap, which exposes the return address.  You simply tear off the flap, watch the DVD, re-insert it in the same envelope and re-seal.  The envelopes are very well thought out.  They are easy to use, bright red (making them easy to differentiate from other mail) and I like that you return virtually the entire envelope, making it more environmentally friendly.

I assumed the return trip wouldn't be as quick.  I watched one movie the first night, and one each night thereafter.  By the time I mailed the third one, my fourth movie arrived.  You can ship each movie back individually, so you have a constant flow of movies.  It's possible you could send and receive a movie every day the Post Office delivers, roughly 25 a month.  Granted, you'd have to spend two or three hours every night watching movies, but it would be cool.

The same day each DVD arrives at the Netflix warehouse, they ship the next movie in your queue if it's in stock.  I've received over 20 movies so far, some obscure, and many current titles, and never had one out of stock yet.  I even got Fahrenheit 9/11 the same day it became available in video stores.  My friend went to three stores before finding it locally.

Did I mention... Shipping is Free... both ways!

Ok, here's the negatives, and I'm really getting picky here, because overall the service is awesome.

First, pay attention to the way you open the envelopes.  I destroyed my first one.  Read the instructions and you'll be fine.  If you do destroy/lose/eat an envelope, don't worry, you can simply return two in one envelope. 

Each individual disk counts as a DVD, so multi-disk sets have to be placed in your queue separately.  It works for things like a complete season of Sopranos, which is 4-5 disks.  Unfortunately for individual movies that have a second disk with special features or interviews etc, the second disk isn't shipped with disk one.  If you love special features, you'll want to make sure disk two is included in your queue.

You aren't liable if disks get lost or damaged in the mail.  One disk I returned took two extra days to arrive for some reason, but it did arrive.  I reported it lost, and they shipped my next disk in queue ahead of schedule, but I got a warning.  If too may disks "get lost in the mail" you could get suspended.  It is a good policy, keeping people honest, but I got a first warning for a disk that arrived safely later.

About once a month I get promotional emails from them asking me to invite my friends or family.  I have invited them, because I love the service, but outside of personal satisfaction, you get nothing in return for the invitation.  I'd like to see them offer free months of service for every new paying member.  Perhaps friends that become members that subscribe at least three or six months earns the referring member a free month.

I haven't seen any Spam!  They apparently honor their members wishes not to receive advertising outside of the occasional Netflix promotion.

In fairness to my faithful readers, I have signed up as a Netflix Affiliate.  I earn $9.00 for every new member who clicks my links before signing up.  I became an affiliate after I joined as a member, because I like the product so much.  I'm convinced you'll like it too.  If you'd like to join, and you'd like to support SunFyre, click the banner below before you sign up.

Enjoy,

SunFyre

November 2, 2004... Time to Cast Your Vote

I got up early and went to vote.  I got to thinking, and decided against my original candidate, SunFyre.  He's got some great policy positions, but he'd be extremely likely to sleep with an intern and get impeached.  He'd probably get kicked out of office early.

I voted for President George Bush.  Honestly, it was a tough decision that I made at the last minute.  The breaking point was that Senator Kerry gave me nothing to believe in.  Had Al Gore or Howard Dean run, I probably would have voted for them, because of my lack of confidence in the President.  I just felt that Kerry ran his candidacy based on opinion polls, and my concern is that he'd run his presidency the same way.  Lyndon Johnson tried that unsuccessfully, and his legacy became Vietnam.

Speaking of Lyndon Johnson, I saw an excellent movie yesterday on HBO (or Cinemax).  It was called Path to War, and it was based on meetings between Lyndon Johnson and his advisers during the time leading up to the Vietnamese War.  Many claim that Vietnam was a waist, and I don't disagree, but I gained perspective from the movie.  I'm unsure how accurate it was, but it definitely gave different insight into Lyndon Johnson.

November 1, 2004... Election Day Tomorrow

I'm not voting for Ralph, but Mr. Nader said something in an interview several years ago that stuck with me.  He was asked why he was running for President again.  He simply stated something to the effect of... When I see a candidate that supports the issues important to me, I vote for him or her.  When I can't support any available candidate, I'll run myself.  Not having a candidate worthy of my vote doesn't remove my responsibility.

I'm struggling this year.  I don't really support either candidate strongly.  President George Bush really annoyed me.  If he'd have said... Sadam is a really bad dude, and I want to remove him from office... I'd have supported Bush.  No one wants to go to war, but sometimes it's necessary.  I'd have supported it.  But Bush didn't.  He lied.  He told us essentially that Sadam had Weapons of Mass Destruction (like there are any other types of weapon) and Iraq was an imminent threat.  Those were both lies.  Some supporters say the CIA gave President Bush bad information, and he's not liable or accountable.  I say he's President of the United Foocking States!  That makes him perpetually accountable and liable.  You don't get to pass the buck when you are President.

Senator John Kerry is another poor choice for a candidate.  If Howard Dean had won the nomination, I'd have a candidate today, but John Kerry changed his mind just often enough to confuse Democrats.  It blows me away that Liberals, who think of themselves as open minded and forward thinking, constantly nominate candidates who have no depth or conviction.  Guys who would make significant changes, for better or worse, don't seem to get elected.  The nominees are often candidates who run based on opinion polls.  John Kerry has literally allowed the Republicans to tell him which issues talk about.  He's focusing exclusively on how President Bush screwed up, which is fine, but I have no clue how Senator Kerry would govern if elected.  You can't even tell from his Senate voting record, because he follows the party line and popular opinion at the time.  He was nominated by the Democrats because he's the least likely to lose on issues, not because he's most likely to win on issues.

Well, I'm going to follow Mr. Nader's lead.  I'm not voting for him.  I don't agree with any of the three candidates, so I'm running myself... I'm announcing my candidacy today.

Write-in SunFyre on Election Day

Unlike indecisive Senator Kerry, and dishonest President Bush, I'll stand by these promises.  I'll do everything in my power to pass the following legislation.

Top Reasons to Vote for SunFyre Tomorrow

Handicapped Parking for Everyone - Why should only disabled people get all the governmental benefits.  I'm sharing the wealth.  I'll see that every space in every parking lot is painted pale blue, and everyone who owns a car gets a placard to hang from their mirror.

New National Holidays - Stephen Hawking's birthday and Franklin Roosevelt's birthday would both be National holidays.  If I can think of any more guys in wheelchairs who did astounding things, I'll nominate them later.  To avoid having too many holidays, I'm canceling Labor Day and Columbus Day.  It's Labor Day, you should be working.  And Columbus doesn't get a holiday for an accident... the Vikings discovered America, and the non-aptly named Indians were already here.

Curb Cuts on every Corner - And not those crappy curb cuts that spit you directly into an intersection.  Every corner gets two.  If economically feasible, I'll eliminate curbs altogether.  If drivers can't figure out how to stay off the sidewalk, I'll just eliminate cars too.

Flat Tax - I'll have a flat tax of 14-16%.  Sure it will eliminate lots of IRS jobs, but Franklin Roosevelt knew that creating jobs must also create something valuable to the world.  He built bridges and dams and created tons of jobs.  I think I'll find a place for IRS workers to work, and feel better about their life.  If we have a deficit, I'll raise taxes to 16%.  If we have a surplus, I'll lower taxes to 14%.  Congress doesn't get paid until the budget is balanced, because I'll write the checks personally.

No Pants Day - Another national holiday would be established, No Pants Day.  We wouldn't close offices, what fun would staying at home be on No Pants Day.

Imperialism and Colonization - Many of you are wondering what I'd do about Iraq and Afghanistan.  Simple, I'd make them States.  Who says the States all have to be in America?  Statehood will take a while, so first we will treat them like Puerto Rico, using them for tourism and military bases.  Eventually, other countries will realize, if they imitate us, we will just colonize them.  France will quickly learn to keep their mouths shut or the tower will be called SunFyre Tower.

More Nude Beaches - I'm comfortable with my body, and I want you to be comfortable with my body too!

Tobacco Advertising Ban - I'd ban all tobacco advertising; no outdoor advertising, no indoor advertising, no print advertising, no mass media advertising.  In fact, if you work for a tobacco producing company, I'd make it illegal for you to even offer someone a cigarette.

Telemarketing Machine Ban for Politicians - I was away over the weekend.  When I got home, on my two telephone lines, I had a total of eight messages.  One was from Kristen's mother who wanted to make sure we got home safely, and wanted to know why we hadn't called yet.  (We stopped to get drinks and pee, so we were 20 minutes late.)  And the other seven were from candidates; two each from Bush and Kerry, and three from congressional candidates.  If George and John want to call me personally, I'll take the call, unless I'm putting the kids to bed.  But please, don't call using a recording, I have questions for you!

Death Penalty Moratorium - You can read Death Penalty: My Opinion on Capital Punishment for more details.

Have more policy issue questions??  I'll be painfully honest... .