It's all a scam, people! Rise up! Revolt!!

So - I get to spend part of today negotiating new car insurance.

See, my old insurance wasn't charging me the "surcharges" for having a ticket. I was being charged a higher rate for having a bad driving record, but not charged for the individual infractions. Does that make sense to you?

Me neither.

I pointed out that I could get my old rate through a competitor. They don't care.

And yes, they will still take the money come January 1st, no way to stop it. BUT if I cancel the policy before the 1st, they will reimburse that money back to me. So, there's a germ of good news there.

Insurance is such bullshit. I understand the basics of it - pay a little bit each month to safeguard you from ever needing a huge amount of money in a hurry. But the realities (that the minute you actually USE the insurance that you're paying every month for, they start charging you an arm and a leg because you're a "risk") make my teeth clench.

I'm feeling some anarchy coming on. Watch out.

Loot exchanged for more tangible LOOT

So, over lunch I took my Sam Goody $50 gift card and I went shopping. I needed a perk-me-up.

Sam Goody is overpriced, so I had made a list of cds and music to look for and see what the prices were at. Sure enough, most cds were priced at $20 and most movies at $30. Rip off!

But, I am so good. I picked up the Broadway cast recording of "Into the Woods" (irony! if I'd had this last week I could've included it on Wired's compilation!). I picked up the movie soundtrack for "The Majestic" (yay! swing music! honky tonk!). And on the cheap movie rack I found the widescreen DVD of the Wachowski Brothers' movie "Bound". SCORE!

I almost picked up "My Neighbor Totoro" on DVD, but it was pan and scan. Ick. My kids are growing up with widescreen, just to prove these stupid marketers and their "family movies should be cropped because kids don't care" attitudes wrong.

Next up, I'm going to see if I can get the widescreen Totoro from Amazon (where I have a $75 gift certificate).

Monetary Thinkings

So - I think I'll use my cash loot to
1. pay off people I owe money to (people, not credit card companies)
2. buy myself a treat

I know it is not the 100% responsible thing, but since this money was meant to be a holiday gift to me, I want to use some small part of it for its intended purpose - something nice for me. (Honestly, if I used the whole thing, Monte and I could have a nice weekend getaway, so I think I'm being pretty practical for me by only getting a small luxury.)

So.
What shall I buy myself? I think I have come upon a brilliant idea. A regionless DVD player! (Michaellee, can you remind me how to get one?) Monte and I can split the already low costs! And then, as a follow-up special treat, I can buy My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki's Delivery Service on DVD widescreen!

So, two questions:
1. where do I get this fabu DVD player again?
2. any recommendations on a good place to order other-region anime titles from?