This trip was part of our long distance relationship.  Ciri was stationed in Germany while I was still in California.  I spent Christmas out there with her.  I had such a great time not only because it was time with her, but also because it was my first time around a culture not my own.

Ciri is a veterinary technician and a total bleeding heart. I have a house full of cats to prove it. She’s done well in the past year, until now – um… sort of.  Meet the new “addition:”

She’s sort of a new addition.  I say sort of because the conditions that we agreed to makes the “addition” actually a “fosteree.”  Ciri is supposed to go out and find her real family or a at the very, least, a new family.

The only reason the dog is even being allowed here is this:

We think she was hit by a car, receiving some hip fractures along with the nasty wounds.  She’s a very mellow and friendly dog; it’s really sad to see animals this way, but I’m glad we could offer her something more than a concrete run.

Luckily, Ciri’s coworkers found the owners and the dog went back to her family earlier this evening.  I hope she heals well and lives a long life.

I don’t think they would have found each other if not for the microchip implant.  Love those things.  Anyway, thought that would give some insight into my “twit” from last night.

I love movies.  Netflix has always been our go to service when we want to catch up on new releases.  Netflix has been worth every penny since I started my subscription almost a decade ago.  From bachelor life, to married life in Germany, to a family life here in North Carolina, Netflix has been there for us.  Today, I use it more than ever with the streaming options, but there’s a new player that has gained popularity in recent years. Redbox.

Couldn’t hurt to try, right?

Genius for the iPhone recommended the Redbox app because I downloaded Phone Flicks, a Netflix browsing app.  For kicks, I downloaded it, found the nearest Redbox, and browsed its selection.  The app is SLOW, but nifty because you can reserve movies straight from your phone.

The next time we were at the grocery store, we decided to rent something from it just to say we tried it out.

We rented Made of Honor. Cool premise, poorly written. It’s getting two stars on Netflix.

The next day I try to return it to the same kiosk but unfortunately, it was under some sort of “Inventory Maintenance,” whatever that meant.

How does it make sense to put their machine in maintenance mode RIGHT BEFORE THE MOVIES ARE DUE?!  If the machine is full or broken, then say so (and why you’re at it, pass that information to the iPhone app too!); if your not full, but getting a software update, TAKE MY MOVIE ANYWAY!

If at first you don’t succeed, try a Walmart.

The movie is late by now.  There is another location down the road at the local WalMart.  All I want to do is return the movie and get out.  I get there and a woman is chatting on her phone staring at the screen.  I think she notices me and starts paging though the catalog.  A couple walks up and gets behind me.  The woman is still on her phone but she looks over to notice a line.  “Oh. I’m sorry ya’ll,” she says and continues her conversation on the phone as she finalizes her choice.  At that point I realize why it’s only a dollar – well, two dollars now.

I quietly turn in my movie and head back home.

I’ll stick with the original red: Netflix.

Once I get home, I get on my computer and send RedBox an angry email. This was almost a week ago and I have yet to receive even an acknowledgment mail.  (As I edited this, Thunderbird alerts me to a new email from, you guessed it, Redbox customer care.  More on that in a bit.)  I also run a quick search for “Red Box sucks” and find that the problems I ran into is fairly common.

Long lines, a crappy app, and kiosks that work sporadically? No thanks.

The email I received contained an apology and two free movie rentals.  Even though I really don’t want them, we’ll end up using the codes just because Redbox can be convenient. I explained how crappy their service/application/kiosk was and told them what I ‘m telling you now: Netflix is still my number one.  Once those two codes are used, though, I don’t think we’ll ever go back.

Ciri received a few parvo cases at the emergency clinic she works at and she has to wash her hands with this super sanitizing chemical. The problem is that she has washed her hands so many times that she’s received a chemical burn. She refuses to see a doctor. I swear medical people are a pain in the butt when it comes to their own health.

Left Arm

Right arm.

So, what do you think? Doctor, right?

No pics from Christmas, those are here.

Fun month, I have over 200 pics in my December folder from both mine and Ciri’s pics.