Netflix, Blockbuster, & Amazon Prime Update

We dropped the DVD part of Netflix and kept the $7.99 per month streaming.

The kids decided that $10 a month was too much for renting video games when we can get them for free at the Library so we dropped Blockbuster.

Amazon Prime won't play on the Wii so we dropped that.

Netflix wins for now but if Amazon can get their selection up and make Amazon Prime play on the Wii we'll probably switch to that service.

Enlisting Aid at $1 Per Incident

Waking up in the morning with that familiar bad taste in my mouth and the daily coughing and heartburn should be sufficient motivation to improve. To avoid all of the bad foods, but no. No it is not.

Just one piece of candy from the work bowl sets off the cravings and drives me to the vending machine or the candy bowl again.

I made a deal with my son that if he catches me eating any food with more than 4 grams of sugar per serving he gets $1.

Today's losses stand at $1.00 so far.

A Simplified Plan

Being depressed and angry won't get me any skinner but making and executing a plan will.

I have failed in all attempts in the past but current failure does not make it so that I cannot succeed in the future.

Here is the plan based extremely loosely on the food pyramid from The Culprit and the Cure by Steven G. Aldana.

These are my mimimums:

• Eight servings of whole grains
• Five servings of vegetables
• Two servings of fruits
• One serving of dairy or a calcium supplement
• One serving of protein
• 45 minutes of exercise every day
• Wake up by 5:30 am every day

These are the minimums. I can eat as much of any of the above that I want but the minimums must be done every day unless I am fasting.

The following are to be avoided completely:

• refined sugar except in regular whole wheat bread, pasta, or similar whole wheat product
• white rice or bread products
• sugar substitutes except honey

Here are the problems that I expect to have and my plans to overcome the problems:

Eating too much at dinner - load up a small plate or bowl once and do not get seconds
Avoiding candy and the vending machine at work - Leave my money in the car
Staying up too late thus making it hard to get up in the morning. - All screens and speakers are off at 8:30 pm.

Tomorrow is day one.

Dieting Disaster... The Last Time

Since my last writing my dieting has been a disaster. Each day is going to be the last time I eat poorly. It is depressing and embarrassing.

Sugar has to be a drug and is addictive similar to a drug.

UPS, Where are you?

So, I have a package due today from UPS and its status is "out for delivery". This is amazing information considering the network it takes to get a package from the manufacturer to my home. However, I have places to go and things to do. I'd rather not hang around all day waiting for the package that may not get here until 7:00 pm. I'd also rather not have the package sitting on my doorstep or miss receipt of the package because I am not there to sign for it. Here is what ups says about it on their web page: I tracked my package and saw that it's out for delivery, but it is 5:00 p.m. Will my package arrive today? Yes, UPS generally delivers to residential addresses Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., and to business addresses during their normal business hours. In the U.S., Canada, and Europe, your UPS package cannot be scheduled to arrive at a specific time of day. UPS Ground packages are delivered any time between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. UPS Standard packages are delivered anytime between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. OK UPS and Fedex, you know where your trucks are and you know about how long it will take for your drivers to get to my neighborhood. Why can't you give us a two hour window so we can be there when the driver asks for a signature or does his ring and run delivery. He might even appreciate my dog not greeting him when he arrives.

Diet Restart: No Sugar

The Paleo diet worked but is too difficult to maintain. I'm going instead for avoiding all refined sugar.

Humans have lived for all of recorded history on grains. Civilization would not be possible without agriculture so grains can't be all that bad. Sugar is a different story. Refined sugar is a relative newcomer to us.

Avoiding sugar will eliminate virtually all processed foods and is quite simple to follow. Easy to follow, no, but simple.

I had a last binge today before going on the plan tomorrow and boy did I binge.

Sugar is like a drug. Just a little bit sets off intense cravings for more. I expect an unpleasant and intense withdrawal period until I get off of the drug.

Netflix, Blockbuster, and Amazon Prime

Netflix did and about face on their two websites deal but not the price increase.

In American business you can go from hero to villain quickly and thus it is with the Netflix CEO. I felt sorry for the guy. He made a miscalculation and botched the communication and people are ready to crucify the guy.

Netflix is still a good deal and has by far the best selection. $8 a month is a steal to have instant on demand access to thousands of commercial free movies and television shows.

That said, I was not willing to go for a total price of $16 for the DVD's as well.

I tried Blockbuster's rental service to get access to the video games but quickly found that most of the titles I was interested in have very long or long wait times. We'll try the free service for a month but are very unlikely to keep paying the $10 a month. Our public library has less wait times for most game titles and it is totally free.

We also signed up for a free trial of Amazon Prime but the movie selection looks bleak compared to Netflix.

Cars 2: Mater is not in Radiator Springs Anymore

From the opening scene to the closing credits Cars 2 is an action packed worldwide adventure that has Lightening and Mater far from Radiator Springs.

The first character we meet is Finn McMissile. Finn is the James Bond of the cars world. Finn in true Bond style does just fine with miles of water between him and any road. He is soon in the midst of the first of many chases, explosions, and close calls.

With Mater's unwitting help, Lightening is soon convinced to join a world wide race. Lightening takes Mater along for the ride, but it is soon Mater that takes center stage.

Their friendship is tested as is Mater's belief in himself as Mater is mistaken for a crack American spy.

Mater and Lightening narrowly avoid their final trip to the junkyard many times as they race, fly, and blast their way through stunningly realistic Cars versions of Tokyo, Rome, and London. The racing action and death defying near misses continue throughout the movie as Mater, Finn, and another British spy named Holly Shiftwell piece together and work to foil a sinister plot to take over the world.

Pixar did an impressive job on the graphics and the action and the movie was an enjoyable ride.

Despite the action and the whiz bang graphics the film felt more like a video game than a movie. At least two cars get killed in the movie. One gets smashed into a block and the other gets blown up in an interrogation and torture scene reminiscent of a gangster movie. I did not expect this in a G rated film.

Overall it is a decent movie and an impressive visual work but it felt more like a corporate marketing effort than the heartfelt and appealing stories I'm used to seeing from Pixar. Perhaps this is the Disney stamp on their now subsidiary Pixar.

Vacation Crash and Burn

I went on vacation and totally blew it with the Paelo plan or any other form of restrained eating. The gluttony was fun, but all things come with a price. BMI = 26.6

Netflix is Too Good to be True

I predicted it would end and it seems that Netflix is on its way out. I hope that I'm wrong about this but Netflix may have jumped the shark. The recent price hike combined with splitting the DVD and Streaming service is the first major sign of the possible death of Netflix.

Since my first red envelope arrived with a Netflix DVD I have thought that it was too good to be true. It was what I always wanted in media content. No annoying advertisements and I pick what I want to see when I want to see it. When they added streaming it was even better and far too good to last.

The problem is not Netflix. The problem is Hollywood. They want us to watch their morally bankrupt content by either paying for the movie tickets and/or the DVD's or by watching the show with 1/3 of the time taken up by advertisements.

Along comes Netflix. Now, for about the cost of one movie ticket I can watch exactly what I want commercial free when I want it. It takes up no storage space on my shelves or on my computer hard drive and I can watch as much or little as I want.

This is simply too good to be true and the movie companies and cable companies will not stand for it. The streaming takes up a great deal of cable bandwidth and people are watching Netflix instead of their advertisements.

Hollywood and Big Cable Provider X want to charge us for the bandwidth and to price Netflix out of business. We will probably watch the media whether Netflix exists or not but Hollywood controls the content. Why should they want to give any control over to Netflix?

I can do $11 a month but $16 seems too much for having to deal with two websites. First you raise the price by 60% or so and then you tell me that I can't search on the same website for a DVD and the streaming. I don't really care if it is streamed or on DVD. I just want to see the movie or TV show.

Because fuel and food and just about everything else but my wages are going up in price I have seriously been considering pulling the plug on my Netflix subscription before this price hike for less service announcement. I expect that many others are in the same boat.

I could be wrong about this jumping the shark thing and I hope that I am. Netflix may have it right that streaming is the future. The move will either end up in the business school textbooks as what not to do or it will turn out to be the right move. As Hastings said, only time will tell.

Netflix still has by far the best selection and there are many customers out there who, like me, either watch Netflix or nothing at all. If I have to choose between commercial television and nothing, I'll take nothing. So it is commercial free DVD's or streaming or nothing. I'm also far more interested in watching natives climb trees, a panther hunt down its next meal, or how the Allies clobbered the Nazis than watch the latest he man action hero or the barely dressed bimbo that Hollywood likes to send my way. The documentaries are not the high grossing and high demand type shows that Hollywood will charge a premium price for so Netflix may be just fine in the long run.

My finger is hovering over the "cancel my subscription" button on Netflix and Qwikster but I want to see what Qwikster and the streaming only Netflix has to offer first. If they will throw in video games for not much more then it might be a great deal.

Sept 17, 18, & 19

I set the paleo diet aside for a time due to vacation. I traveled all day on the 17th eating lost of granola bars and other such food. My worst offense was a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll at the airport. This caused a burning in my throat almost immediately afterwards.

It is hard to say no to family meals and I partook heavily and paid a heavy price in sleep as a result.

Ignoring a problem or thinking that this time will be different does not help to resolve said problem.

Days 14 and 15

Not quite Paleo but did keep the calories down. Juicing is messy and time consuming. Had lunch at an all you can eat resturant and ate all I could eat. Ate no dinner and was still up past midnight with heartburn. BMI = 25.3

Day 13

Ate very little solid food. Mostly juice smoothies and juiced vegetables. A ate two small samples of not so good for you food they were offering at the grocery store, a few cashews and a couple of dates.

The smoothie from the grocery store I ate at lunch was large and consumed far too fast. The result was belching and a feeling of pressure in my throat. Fortunately, this did not last and was not severe.

I discovered that it is recommended that dark green vegetable juice consist of no more than 1/3 of the juiced drink. Based on my experience the last few days, I can vouch for the wisdom of that advice.

I am starting to feel calmer, mentally sharper, more in control, and less anxious.

BMI = 25.5

Paleo / Caveman Diet Day 11

Image from: http://www.marksdailyapple.com

Woke up thirsty. It must have been the salt laden cashews from last night.

I had an apple for breakfast and belched most of the rest of the day. It had to be the apple since there was little else in my stomach. Had a light salad for lunch and a 100% fruit smoothie for dinner.

Yes, I'm hungry but pain and the fear of far more pain are great motivators.

Same BMI as yesterday.

Days 9 and 10

Yesterday I had some spicy salad dressing. I blame the salad dressing for the sour stomach I woke up with today.

Today I ate only natural foods but at what should be bedtime the belching and upset stomach make sleep a long time coming from here.

Despite my meals being all natural I ate a large quantity of sugar. Natural sugar, yes, but still sugar. I had grape juice. I also had spinach, broccoli, carrots, and celery all put together in a nasty tasting 12 + ounces of juice. After work I had dates, agave nectar, a grapefruit, and more grape juice.

Quite a few cashews also went down the gullet.

The only non caveman thing I ate was about two ounces of puffed rice.

I know that foods high in sugar make heartburn worse. I also suspect that the juice didn't help. At any rate my stomach is not happy right now.

Perhaps I should just not eat at all.

BMI = 25.7

Day 8

I started doing some juicing a few days ago. A few fresh apples makes a much better apple juice than you get in the store. Even broccoli juice tastes better than expected. The carrot juice tastes like dirt.

BMI = 25.7

Days Six and Seven

Day six went very well (BMI 25.8), day seven, today, did not.

Today's BMI was 25.8.

We had a staff meeting with food. I decided to eat a hamburger with bun and a chocolate chip cookie. The cookie was a big mistake. First I felt it my throat right away and second sugar is like a drug. Get a little and you want more. I ate the free candy and then granola bars, which are more like candy bars, when I got home. As of this minute, I'm back on the wagon.

Caveman Diet Day Five

Today was not easy. The vending machine was calling. Cereal looked good. Nevertheless I stuck to the plan. I had a big piece of chicken with some barb-b-q sauce and a little catsup. for dinner. The sauce and catsup was a bit of cheating and the chicken was far too large.

Not a perfect day but far better than virtually every day for the last 30 years.

BMI = 26.1

Day Four

I woke up with my mouth coated like I have for several decades. However, those days are over.

No grain, no processed food, and no milk products. This is the first day I've stuck with the diet completely. I had very little coughing little pain and only a little swallowing. I also ate relatively little food. BMI = 26

Day 3

I fasted for two meals and ate cereal and milk for dinner.

Caveman Diet Day 2

- 2.5 pounds from yesterday. BMI = 26.1. Target BMI = 21.7

I stuck with the Paleolithic diet except for a small KFC biscuit.  I ate far too much and did not chew thoroughly and suffered heartburn as a result. The bacon was not so good and neither was the greasy chicken breast. It was great going down but getting to "enjoy" it for much of the day was not so good. 

Some itching in the roof of my mouth possibly due to the KFC mashed potatoes. Coughing, belching (nobody was around to offend), and swallowing for much of the day especially after I ate too much. Part of the coughing was as a result of allergies. I was sneezing badly last night and part of today. I believe that most of the coughing etc. was due to reflux. Eating a large quantity of dates and drinking a large amount of commercially produced fruit juice didn't help either.

Paleo Day 1 (9/3/11)

Day one was not completely Paleo. I had a sandwich I had made two days before that had bread (of course) and cheese. I hate to waste food.

GERD Elimination Plan

My question is what is the best way to solve the GERD problem quickly and permanently.

I have been to doctors who have diagnosed me with asthma, allergies, and GERD. Only the last doctor, an ENT suggested GERD and that was after a second visit. The allergy inhaler did nothing to improve my symptoms. The Prilosec did help my symptoms but I believe also sent me to another doctor visit with lower abdominal pain.

Ending today I tried a rapid weight loss plan using Slim Fast shakes. I have lost a few pounds but it has not been good on my lower end so I'm ending that plan as of today.

After much research on the internet and quite a few years of these problems worsening, my hypothesis is that my GERD has the following causes:

• The fat around my stomach pressing on the stomach and pushing the stomach contents up my esophagus.
• Eating too fast
• Eating too much
• Sugary and processed foods especially chocolate
• Foods that I am allergic to according to a recent test (Corn, milk, oats, peanuts, potatoes, soybeans, and wheat)

I also believe that the GERD is a life threatening emergency that must be stopped as fast as possible and through any reasonable means necessary.

I will test this hypothesis by going onto a paleolithic diet for at least 30 days and by chewing all food until it is completely liquid in my mouth before I swallow it. The ENT recommended that I try the paleo diet and my research points to this as a possible solution as well. 

The theory behind a paleolithic diet is that humans developed over millions of years as hunter gatherers and that our bodies are best suited for that type of foods.  Modern hunter gatherers don't suffer from the heart disease and obesity that we "civilized" people do.

I have no desire to live in the bush wearing a loincloth and being a snack for bugs on a regular basis, but the idea behind the paleolithic diet sounds reasonable. At any rate it will cut out the processed foods that I know are not good for me.

I will report the results as they occur in this blog.

Steve Jobs

I knew this day would come. Steve Jobs is no longer at the head of Apple.

No doubt he has put together a competent team and Apple will continue to do OK for some time but there is only one Steve Jobs. It takes a visionary to produce the types of game changing products that Apple consistently produced under his leadership.

It is likely that Apple will eventually become just another big corporate blob. Once a founder leaves active management of a company the company is never the same. Few successors have the vision to lead a company the way the founder does and this founder is one of a kind.

Thank you Steve for all you have done for me and millions of other users of Apple products. The world will be less without you in your black shirt announcing another product that we didn't know we had to have.

The Audit Process

In another life, I worked as an auditor. I learned a great deal but am glad to no longer be auditing. For any of you sadistic people who think you might want to be an auditor, here is an old post from another blog that I had misspellings and all.

Manager: “Here is your audit budget. Go do the audit. How long will it take.”

Auditor: “Hello, I’m here to do the audit.”

Fiscal Officer: “We are glad to see you (lie). Here is the broom closet you can work in. Please don’t get too comfortable so you will leave quickly.”

Some time later... Business/Agency staff: "So, when will you be done?"

Manager: “Are you done yet? When will you be done?”

“Why are you looking at that? Keep your focus on what is important.”

“Are you done yet? When will you be done?”

“You need to be done by Friday.”

“Why are you looking at that? We need to keep focus on what is important.”

“I called and you were not at the desk.”

“I sent you an email and you did not respond within 10 milliseconds.”

“You must not make up any hours you missed because your child was in the ER. We must stick to a strict schedule here.”

“Are you done yet? When will you be done?”

Manager: “You can finish that in the office.” (Or.. you’ve been there too long. It makes me look bad. Get back here so we can keep an eye on you sorry, incompetent, dishonest self. Why are you not like Mr political, jock, wonder boy?)

Fiscal Officer: “Thanks for coming. Glad you are going. Don’t hurry to get back. Thanks for what you found (lie).”

Auditor arrives in the office with a mess of audit work papers.

Manager: “Are you done yet? When will you be done?”

Finish jumping through the audit useless workpaper format hoops.

Turn in to manager:

A few days, weeks, or months later...

Manager: Here are your review notes:

You did not underline in red.
This index does not match.
Your work is not easy to follow.
This heading is missing.
Why did you not look at that?
This does not add up.
You did not inital this page?
Does this page really need to be here?
You did not write the purpose and source on this page.
Where is the support for these numbers?
Is this really worthy of a finding?
Can we water it down a little more?
Did you write the update letter?
When will you be done with the review notes?

Auditor: Calls Fiscal Officer, “I need to get this, this, and that.” (because I was rushed out because I had to be done by Friday).

Auditor: Turns in the revised work and the update letter.

Manager: “This, that, and this are still wrong.”

“Is this really an issue? Can we water down the issue some more?”

“You need to rewrite the update letter.”

Manager approves the update letter.

Auditor takes update letter to Fiscal Officer.

Fiscal Officer: “Thanks” (Lie)

Manager: “You took too long. You need to stay focused.”

“Here is your next audit assignment. When will you be done?”

The workpapers go on the shelf for one to three years.

Subsequent auditor on the next audit of the same place: “Why did that idiot do it this way?”

Workpapers go back on the shelf never to be looked at again unless a major issue blows up. In that case the workpapers are thoroughly reviewed to see why the stupid auditor was not focused on the problem at hand? Where were the auditors? Why was this not in the audit report? Can we sue them?

Old Blog

My old blog is here.

Backpack Update

Since my review of the Targus backpack, the main zipper on my backpack finally gave out completely. While I was researching to find a new backpack, I found something about Targus having a lifetime warranty. I investigated this at the Targus website and discovered they indeed do have a lifetime warranty.

I submitted a customer service request via the Targus website and they sent me a brand-new backpack.

This is customer service and a warranty that one simply cannot argue with.

The new backpack is made from a somewhat different material than the old one. It seems to have more nylon and is not quite as soft. It also seems that the zippers are not quite as rugged as the old one.  That said, it is still a well-built backpack and may be as good as the old one. Without the old one to compare I with it is hard to say for sure.

My old backpack was at least five years old and it may have been quite a few years older than that. To get a complete replacement for a pack that old is incredible.

Way to go Targus!

Targus 17” CityGear Chicago Laptop Backpack - Product Review

I've owned this backpack for at least five years.


Pros:

• Tough
• Can carry half the world
• Sits upright by itself. No leaning on anything else needed
• Pockets are well designed
• Well padded shoulder straps and good weight distribution

Cons:

• Big. Very big.
• Did I say it is big?
• Not the most professional looking item that one could carry.

Summary:

This is bar none my favorite bag. The zippers are starting to wear out and the water bottle mesh is starting to tear but this backpack has seen many miles. It has gone with me just about everywhere for at least five years. I'm talking cross country flights with children, boy scout camp outs and hikes, to work, to church, everywhere.

I've tried several different packs, briefcases, rolling bags, messenger bags, and so forth and have gone back to the Targus every time.

One of the best things is that it sits upright by itself so my water stays put and things are easy to get to. My former employer provided me with a similar Targus bag that was equally well made but it did not sit up by itself. I used my personal bag rather than use the employer provided one because I liked mine much better. If my Scottevest does not work out and this one wears out completely I'll probably buy another one.

Otterbox Defender Case for iPhone 4

I've owned the Defender Case (www.otterbox.com) for almost a year as of this writing:
The good:

• Protects the phone well. I have dropped the iPhone multiple times with no damage to the phone. It has preserved my phone many times. The case lives up to its name.
• The part that the phone clips into securely holds the phone and also makes it easy to clip the phone in and to remove it.
• The belt clip comes with the case, which does not appear to be so with the other OtterBox iPhone 4 cases.
• The belt clip rotates 360 degrees. I haven't used this feature very much but it could come in handy for clipping it to a backpack.
• Good customer service. When the belt clip broke they sent me a new clip with no argument.

The bad:

• I caught the case on the seat getting into the car and the belt clip cracked then broke. However, OtterBox promptly sent me a new clip when I reported it to them.
• The case is big. That high level of protection comes a price of a much thicker phone.
• The screen protector, which is a sheet of plastic attached to the case, interferes a little with the viewing the screen. This is no worse than any other screen protector and it could be easily removed from the case with a little effort.
• The rubberized case is starting to split. Time to test OtterBox's customer service again.
• This is a strictly personal preference but OtterBox decided we all wanted to show off the fact that we have iPhones. They made a porthole in the back of the case that lets the shiny Apple logo on the back of the phone show through for everyone to see. It would have been cheaper for them and preferable to me to have had a solid black case and let everyone just wonder that brand the brick on my hip was.
• The rubber case grips very well. I it is great for setting your phone down on desk and having it stay there and it gives you a good grip on the phone when holding it. Unfortunately, the rubber cover also grips very tightly to lined pockets in clothing and bags that have phone pockets.

Summary:
I have been happy with the performance of the case. It has protected my phone well despite several hard drops onto the pavement. Three of the four corners of the hard inner shell have gouges in them from these drops. My complaints about the case are minor. When it broke, Otterbox replaced the broken part. My phone is as good as new without a scratch, dent, crack, or ding so the Defender Case has defended my phone well.

Scottevest Travel Vest - Take 2

The new vest arrived today. We'll see if I can let go of my old Targus backpack and all of the junk that is in it.

After a close inspection and a few minutes of wearing the vest my concerns are whether the zippers will hold up over the long haul, if the vest will be unbearably hot in the summer, and if loading it up heavily will cause the collar to become uncomfortable on my neck.

The vest is well designed and one of the best looking pieces of geek gear that I have. It is certainly preferable to a man bag and looks better than a backpack.

Scottevest Travel Vest

My Scottevest arrived today. (www.scottevest.com)

I'm hoping to use the vest to replace my Targus backpack. I have my doubts as to how well this will work but I want to give it a try.

I ordered the size it said to according to the size chart on the website but the vest was too snug so I ordered the next size up.

Medical Reimbursement Accounts

Want to pay for your medical bills with pretax money?

Just open up a medical reimbursement account. These can save money but I'm seriously wondering if mine is worth the days I've lost jumping through the hoops they set up.

If you decide to use one of these be ready to spend hours or maybe even days copying, printing, and mailing in forms to them. Be sure the forms are filled out exactly as they specify and that ALL of your claims have the proper documentation. Be sure to spend every dime before the time expires or you get fired, laid off, or quit your job. Otherwise, they keep your money.

Geox - "Shoes that breathe"... but they don't

Hoping for a cure for my lifelong sweaty feet I ordered two pair of Geox shoes. They are billed as shoes that breathe and seem to have a good idea for a design. However, they don't breathe. My feet are not any cooler in them than in any other pair of shoes. I didn't feel the airflow in them that I had hoped.

Another problem was that one pair of the shoes started coming apart in the insole. I sent the one pair back. The other pair stays for now but they are likely the last Geox shoe's I will buy.

Back to regular shoes, hot feet, and foot spray.

Hey, it is the 21st century. We've gone to the bottom of the ocean, to the moon, and have driven our robotic rovers on Mars. Can't somebody make a pair of shoes that can keep your feet cool?

Asthma & Coughing Update - Prilosec

I've been on Prilosec for several weeks now. It has greatly reduced the heartburn and the coughing symptoms.

This provides evidence that the coughing and difficulty breathing is related to GERD.

Now to get the eating habits under control.