We had no idea of their 21+ policy. Apparently, many families don’t either, as we saw other families with children standing outside the “sacred” entrances to the casino. We were lucky, we chose the free valet. Those mothers standing there were probably waiting for daddy to bring the car up front so that they don’t have to make the long walk back to the parking garage with their empty stomachs. For they were probably there for the same reason we were: “San Diego’s Favorite Buffet.” But we wouldn’t know. We never made it inside. It’s definitely not the favorite buffet of anyone under 21; that’s for sure!

I’m not sure why they have a “hostile” attitude towards children. (The person who “greeted” us seemed hostile, anyway.) It’s not like our two-year-old will start walking over to the casino to play the slot machines. We just wanted to eat!

Maybe that’s where the answer lies. They don’t want people going there just to eat. They want people to gamble. The buffet is a loss leader, after all.

The doorman, bellhop, valet attendant—whoever that person was—told us to go to Harrah’s Rincon, which is about four and a half miles further down the main road. At least they’re kid-friendly. But we’ve already eaten at their buffet. We were there to try Valley View Casino’s buffet.

Well, we wasted a 43-mile roundtrip. I wonder how many people made the 100-mile roundtrip from South County only to be disappointed?

Valley View Casino, how about making your policy a prominent part of your advertising? Is it even mentioned?

Looking at the website—after the fact—there is a “disclaimer” in small print at the bottom of their web pages. Their buffet page also has a “21+ to enter” seal that looks more like a seal of approval if you don’t actually read it.

How about adding “MUST BE 21+ TO ENTER” to the many signs leading one to to the casino? (Include a phone number for anyone who wants clarification.) I think most people would rather turn around while still far away than be embarrassed at the front door by having to walk back to their cars and leave with nothing.

In any case, now we know. And looking at KUMEYAAY.INFO I found out that Casino Pauma and Sycuan Casino are the other San Diego County Indian casinos who have no tolerance for children. Of course, they have a right to exclude anyone they want to exclude. I just might exclude them back.

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• Why, oh why, do you have to change your shortcuts every time you update? It messes with my custom Start menu!
• Why, oh why, do you have to add shortcuts to my Quick Launch every time you update? (I have the same problem every time Windows Update installs an Outlook patch!)
• Why the hell do I have to reboot? Are you messing with my Windows!

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It’s nice that you can put your account on hold now. It makes the breakup less harsh, but a 90-day limit on the hold isn’t always long enough. (Sometimes, DVD burnout takes longer to recover from.)

I still remember the first time I tried to cancel service, too. You had to call in. There was no option to cancel on the website. And you know what happens when the only option is to call…They make it hard for you to cancel. I’m glad things have changed.

Anyway, I was reading Hacking Netflix and found an old post with the bbstore code. I’ve been flirting with the idea of trying Blockbuster Total Access for some time. I’ve always been reluctant. It felt like I would be cheating on Netflix.

My wife is one of those people who will only watch a certain movie if she’s in the mood for it. (When it comes to me, as long as I have the time, I can watch anything. Call it my insatiable thirst for knowledge…) That’s where Netflix and my wife don’t mesh and how Blockbuster entered the picture.

Blockbuster has a great business model where you can receive DVDs in the mail and, if you feel like it, return it to one of the brick-and-mortar stores and get another one. For no extra charge! It’s what separates Blockbuster from Netflix and it’s a pretty big thing.

The bbstore code gets you three out at a time and up to five in-store exchanges per month.

Or so they say…

We’re not even done with our first month, but we’ve already gotten to exchange DVDs in-store more than the limit of five.

How is that, you ask?

Well, we started our subscription during the middle of the month. When the 1st of March came midway through our trial month, the exchange counter at the bottom of the receipt reset to zero. I guess that could be expected. It’s easier to just reset everyone’s accounts on the same day.

What I wasn’t expecting, though, was the counter to not be cumulative amongst different stores. I have been going to two stores. One in Rancho Bernardo and one in Tustin. (Yes, one’s in San Diego County and the other is in Orange County.)

Each has a separate counter.

(The Blockbuster in 4S Ranch doesn’t handle Total Access, which is a bummer, because it’s only two blocks from our house. To exchange DVDs, we have to go three miles to Rancho Bernardo.)

I know that when you go to a Blockbuster location for the first time, you need to be entered into their system. So, does this mean that all a store knows is that you’re a Blockbuster member and a member of Total Access? Does this mean that you can, in a way, get “unlimited in-store exchanges” without paying the almost double monthly fee by going to a different store when you’ve hit your “limit”?

I don’t/can’t watch enough movies to find out, but it does seem interesting.

Overall, Blockbuster’s been great. The nearest distribution center is in Santa Ana, just like Netflix. Turnaround is quick, just like Netflix. And when you exchange at a store, the next disc in your queue is sent in a day or two. You don’t even need to return the disc you got from the store before the next one ships! So, if you exchange three at a store, you’ll have the three from the store and, in a couple days, three more…for a total of six!

Something else interesting happened when we rented a two-disc movie. The two discs ship separately but count as one rental. Part 2 came a day before Part 1, which ticked me off. (Can’t fault Blockbuster; It’s a post office problem.) I quickly forgot about that when we returned it and the store employee asked if I wanted another rental. (I declined and told him it was a two-disc movie.) It didn’t seem to matter that it was technically one rental. The computer treats it as two. And when the next movie shipped, two movies shipped. I now had a total of four out! WTF?

Well, that was short-lived. The system corrected itself when I returned the next movie.

Now, back to the day after I signed up. I received an email titled, “Your Queue Needs Attention.” I opened it, thinking it was important.

It was not.

It was an ad for Oscar winners.

That left a bad taste in my mouth. That’s something spammers do. I wasn’t impressed.

I’m glad it hasn’t happened again.

So, my heart is now torn. Netflix? Or Blockbuster?

Oh, Netflix. We’ve been through so much. You know my likes and dislikes. You can give me pretty much anything I’m looking for; Your repertoire is so much more vast. Your interface is so much more refined.

But, Blockbuster…It’s so nice to be able to give you a booty call. (As long as it’s before 11pm.)

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A Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican
Adapted from version by John Gray
Cincinnati, Ohio
July 2004

Joe gets up at 6:00 am to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot full of good clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medication with his first swallow of coffee. His medication is safe to take because some liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10.00 of his medication is paid for by his employer’s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance. Now Joe gets paid medical insurance, too. He prepares his morning breakfast. Bacon and eggs this day. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

Joe takes his morning shower; reaching for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with every ingredient and the amount of its contents because some liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some tree-hugging liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the subway station for his government subsidized ride to work; it saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees. You see, some liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medicals benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe’s employer pays these standards because Joe’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed he’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some liberal didn’t think he should loose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It’s noontime. Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FDIC because some liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some stupid liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive to dad’s. His car is among the safest in the world because some liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood home. He was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification. (Those rural Republicans would still be sitting in the dark.)

He is happy to see his dad who is now retired. His dad lives on social security and his union pension because some liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn’t have to. After his visit with dad he gets back in his car for the ride home.

He turns on a radio talk show. The host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. (He doesn’t tell Joe that his beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day.) Joe agrees, “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives. After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves; just like I have.”

Joe Republican

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Gas increased 221%. Health care premiums increased 194%. Consumer credit debt increased 167%. The cost of college increased 164%.

Median household income decreased 2.3%.

The Democratic Caucus has put it in a nice little chart:

Read

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Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you “look ahead” before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

If you don’t like it, just click the Options icon in the upper-right corner of the Snap Shot and turn it off.

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Some people cut and run when confronted with prices that seem crazy. But many of us experience a sudden emotional-mathematical transformation. We set a new ceiling for a “reasonable” price. Disinclined to go all the way to buy the trophy, we instead settle for a consolation prize. Mr. Schwarz, a jeans-wearing type, walked out of Boyds with a suit that cost merely $800 — the most he’d ever spent on an item of clothing.”If you’re in that world long enough, $800 stops even feeling like a lot of money,” Mr. Schwarz says.

How true it is.

Read

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On a side note: The order taker, Stephanie, did an excellent job. Why can’t the other employees be that good? (Maybe she’s new.) I work for a mystery shopping company and always pay attention to these things.

Details below…

Chick-fil-A San Marcos

COME BACK DAY!

Come celebrate with us on our
1 year anniversary!

Here are the details…

• Come eat with us on Thursday
  December 6th and save your
  colored receipt.

• Return with your receipt
  anytime in January 2008 and get
  your same order FREE!!

*This offer includes pick-up only Chick-fil-A tray orders too!*
**Excludes coupons**

OFFER ONLY VALID AT
Chick-fil-A San Marcos

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Now, I just need a tripod so that I don’t have to use the counter to steady the camera. *hint*

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Please?!

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And, around noon, the Z and G peeps will be heading over to Hooters across the freeway and meet up with more Zs and Gs!

From the Team Transport website:

The Mighty Ducks and The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim will be hosting Team Transport & USMC’s Toys for Tots campaign.

The 2004 Toys for Tots Car Show will be held on Saturday Dec 4th, 2004 at The Pond from 8am to 12 noon.

There is no entrance fee… just bring a new unwrapped toy worth at least $10. USMC will be on hand to accept all toys or monetary donations.

Directions to the Pond can be found here:
http://www.arrowheadpond.com/Directions.aspx

More info at the Team Transport website.

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