netflix

It’s Wednesday, which means I might watch a movie tonite.

Okay, you got me, I might watch a movie almost every night. But it being Wednesday seemed as good a reason as any.

In addition to the umpteen hundreds of movies we already own, I have three from Netflix:

1 Drunken Master PG-13 Foreign

2 Whale Rider PG-13 Drama

3 Secret Things NR Foreign

Hmm…

Just for kicks:

What is the wait time Netflix shows you for The 40-Year-Old Virgin?

You’ll have to add it to your queue momentarily if it isn’t already there.

Thanks.

It’s a scary place, but here’s just an example of what goes on in my mind:

I presently watch about ten movies a month from Netflix.

I have 261 311 movies in my queue. Or at two to three years worth of movies.

I just spent an hour looking for more.

Update: found another one. Sheesh.

It is well documented amongst the thirty eleven hundred blogs I have researched that Netflix engages in something called “throttling.”

This is the term for when Netflix decides, in their infinite wisdom, that are renting too many movies on their “unlimited rentals” plan. It is debated about whether or not Netflix actually does this, or if it’s pure chance or luck of the draw.

Here’s me: I pay to have three movies at a time. When a movie arrives, it is usually because I, ya know, wanted to watch it. So I do. A lot of times I watch it that night, but sometimes it hangs around a few days. Whatever. There are a lot of movies I want to see; some for the first time and some because I like them. So I rent movies, and I watch them, and I return them.

Well all was well and good for a long time. The Netflix warehouse is about 1 day away by mail (an hour and a half if you were to hop in your car and drive there), so we kinda had a system going there. I would pay my monthly dues, they would ship movies, I would watch and then return them, they would ship more movies. (I’ve written about all of this before).

But then, they decided I wasn’t terribly important anymore, or something like that. Now, when they receive a movie back from me (usually the day after I mail it), they show it has been received, but then they say my next movie is “Shipping tomorrow” Or sometimes the day after that. And it has slowed things down.

I thought it was my imagination, but I checked my rental activity:

In march I watched 10 movies. This was when I signed up, it wasn’t a full month - just 12 days.
In April and May there were 14. June we hit 16! July (when I was away on vacation for a week and a half) we still watched 13. In August back to 15.

Lesson learned? I watch too many damn movies. Between them and blogging, it’s a wonder I ever leave the house. Ahem.

So I see you asking yourself: what happened in September?
8 movies. Half of what we normally get to see.
So far in October? (it’s the 18th) - 3 movies.

Now, I can’t lay all of this on Netflix. Perhaps I’m watching and returning them slower. I haven’t the time or inclination to do an in-depth analysis of shipping times. But we’ve gone from fifteen / sixteen movies a month to six or eight. That’s half. And I’m still paying the same monthly fee.

No wonder their stock is up.

I’m sure some of you have little rituals around your house. One of ours is that when we arrive home at the end of the day, the kids go get the mail. Since there are three kids and only one mailbox, well, we kinda take turns. (the baby can’t even reach the mailbox, but she is right there with the others, trying)

So we get the mail out of the box, which is by the curb, and carry it inside. Some days it is a fantastic happy fun event, where there are magazines and brochures, and maybe Publishers Clearing House, etc. The baby LOVES carrying in the postcards that come with pizza coupons on them, so colorful!

But nothing, nothing is as cool as a Netflix envelope.

In reality, nobody at our house really cares about Netflix, except me. I’m the one who logs in and looks for movies to put in the queue. I’m the one who rates movies I’ve seen (or we’ve seen) and checks the recomendations and new releases. I’m the one that makes sure, after we’ve watched a movie, that it gets properly bundled in it’s little envelope and returned to the Netflix dwarves who will then send us our next movie.

But opening the envelope? This is the best. thing. ever. Almost as good as Christmas. Ok, not that good, but in August, it seems almost as good as Christmas.

So not only do we take turns actually getting the mail from the box, and bringing it inside, we also get to take turns Opening the Envelope. Last night my oldest opened it. He can no, of course, read.

Child: “Sin City.” Can we watch it?

Me: Er, no. See what it’s rated?

Child: “R” For sustained strong stylized violence, nudity and sexual…

Me: See what it’s about?

Child (reading): “Murder, corruption and cover-ups are all part of Sin City’s daily routine in this dark film…”

Me: No, you can’t watch it. Especially on a school night.

Mom (overhearing): “NO. You CAN’T WATCH IT.”

Child: “Dang. Do we have any more movies?” (looks for another envelope)

Child 2: “Sin City, can we watch it?”

Etc.