This past week NetFlix has suffered from crippling shipping, receiving and communications problems. I typically go through 6 DVD's a week with the DVD rental business and I am accustomed to fast turnaround on movies. This past week's interuption in my movie queue stood out as the exception to their typical high quality service. Today I received an email notifying me of the troubles they've been having and volunteered a 15% discount on my next month's service. While the interuption was frustrating I am feeling good about my movie watching partnership after their proactive and responsible ownership of this problem. In this era of abusive, shoddy and inconsistent customer service from cell phone companies, cable providers and internet services this accountability stands out as a shining example of what companies should be doing.

Here is the text of the email sent to me:

We're sorry your DVD shipment was delayed
Dear Peter,

As you may know, we had issues with our shipping systems this week. As a result, we didn't ship DVDs to you in a timely manner, and you likely didn't receive email letting you know we got a DVD back from you. Our shipping systems are working again, and any outstanding DVD shipments are being mailed today (Friday).

We pride ourselves in delighting you, and we've let you down. We apologize, and we will issue a 15% credit to your account in the next few days. You don't need to do anything. Your credit will automatically be applied to your next billing statement.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us at 1-888-638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

 

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Police say they arrested a man after he ordered his pet to attack two officers. Lucky for them, 9-foot-long pythons aren't very obedient.

Police arrived at Rodriguez's apartment after receiving a report that he was threatening his girlfriend with the albino python.

After the building's superintendent opened the apartment door for the officers, Rodriguez allegedly threatened them with the snake and told it to "Get them!"

Read It At The AP

A friend of mine forwarded me an offer from GothamCityPizzeria.com that promised a free pizza from Dominos promoting the Dark Knight movie. This promotion offered 1 free pizza from a Domino's location in a specified city. I am the recipient of the free Richmond pizza. When my pizza arrived it came with a FedEx envelope with a special item from CitizensForBatman.com. I discovered insides the envelope 1) a batman mask and 2) a message from Citizens For Batman with a telephone number and a secret clue. I called the number and a message  answered "CITIZENS FOR BATMAN, ENTER YOUR CODE." I entered and it says "PETER, YOUR DELIVERY HAS BEEN CONFIRMED". What else can I expect from Gothamcitypizzeria.com now that they know who I am?

Below is a photo of the mask and the message.

 

 

 Thanks for the free pizza tip John!

 

and no I am not stealing gas! The last time I filled my Nissan Maxima's fuel tank was March 20th, as I now approach the E I feel compelled to share a tip. Stop driving your car. Save money and stick it to the devilish petroleum industry. Stop driving your car. 

Spring is here, spend some time outside, go for a walk. Just remember one thing: Stop driving your car. 

Saturday morning we arose at the exceedingly early time of 7:30 am to run 6.2 miles in the cold pouring rain. Yes it's true and no I'm not crazy. 29,998 other Richmonders joined us in our 10k trek down glorious Monument Avenue. Each runner motivated to run by their independent desire to accomplish their running goals but running together with a sense of community. Michael Paul Williams sees the race as both a terrific example of the entire Richmond region coming together with a common community spirit , yet at the same time a metaphor for our regional failings to cooperate as a team.

He's stunningly right on this point. Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover have the unfortunate tendency to compete with each other as runners do, striving for their own successes instead of seeking the broader goals of a team, a team Richmond.

Sometimes when you have nothing good to say it's best to say nothing at all. I thus limit my commentary to Goodbye.

National Journal's Wake Up Call had this goody in the morning clips:

A homeless man informed us last night of his mechanism for refrigerating beer: "I drink half the six-pack, and stick the rest in the coin-operated Washington Times machines -- you know, cause no one reads that paper. I come back the next day, and I have 3 cold beers waiting for me" (Wake-Up Call! reporting).

We should try this trick with the Richmond Times Dispatch boxes, I bet they are equally suitable cooling/storage devices. 

 

The next president needs to be ready for that 3 AM phone call. Do we really want another George W. Bush answering that important phone?

Today State Senator Ken Cuccinelli launches his campaign for the 2009 Republican AG nomination and in a shocking move, violates state law with his campaign website. Misdemeanor Cuccinelli took the seal of the commonwealth, a seal reserved exclusively for the official business of Virginia and loaded it onto the header of his campaign website.

The Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth's website clearly states:

Section 1-505 of the Code of Virginia provides that the seals of the Commonwealth are deemed the property of the Commonwealth; and no persons shall exhibit, display, or in any manner utilize the seals or any facsimile or representation of the seals of the Commonwealth for nongovernmental purposes unless such use is specifically authorized.

As an elected official Cuccinelli should know by now that you are not allowed to stamp unofficial and especially campaign materials with the Seal of the Commonwealth. It's a sign of inexperience or poor judgement to slap an image onto a website without the authority of its owner. Cuccinelli is a patent attorney he deals with copyright, trademark and technical law all day long, doesn't he know this?

Some might say "well the state seal appears on the state flag, can't he use it on his website? It's in the public domain for crying out loud!" Yes, the state flag has the Seal of the Commonwealth and if he wanted to show his Virginia credentials he should have displayed a representation of the Virginia flag. This rendering displays the seal on a red background obviously not a legal implementation of the seal from a flag based image.

As a citizen of Virginia I call on Sen. Cuccinelli to remove the official seal of Virginia as soon as possible. If he continues this campaign illegally utilizing the commonwealth's property I should hope the Commonwealth's Attorney of Fairfax County launches an investigation.

UPDATE 8:45: I just spotted a document on the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website noting: 9. The Seals shall not be used in any matter that might resonably be considered as being for a political purpose.

UPDATE 1:24 AM: The offending image on his site is remedied with a clipart state flag.

Ben Smith at the Politico has the stunning revelation:

A voter at Sen. Barack Obama's town hall meeting in Greensburg, Pa., yesterday asked whether he would consider eliminating the penny.

"We have been trying to eliminate the penny for quite some time -- it always comes back," Obama said. "I need to find out who is lobbying to keep the penny."

Somebody in the crowd pointed the finger at Illinois, the home of Abraham Lincoln.

I'm impressed that Barack Obama has the courage to take on the beloved penny but shocked that he's going against his homestate's interest in the penny.