This is a very good point, and one worth considering. I have two criteria for judging DVD purchases:[ul][li]Will I want to watch this over and over? (This is the most commonly-used criteria for purchase, and has justified such additions to my library as Grosse Pointe Blank and The Godfather set.)Will I be likely to want to watch this at a moment’s notice? (This gets called into service with certain favorite titles which, while I might not intend to watch them often, I occasionally want to see right now, such as my two favorite films of all time 'Round Midnight and The Conversation.)[/ul]Outside of these criteria, something must have a powerful appeal on some other basis. I bought Swamp Thing because it may have some collector appeal later … and to see Adrienne’s boobs again in all their glory. My purchase of 24 fits into this “special” category as well. The show has oddly managed to become something that partially defines who I am, if only here at the SDMB. I’m that 24 Club guy (one of 'em, anyway). That has the potential to develop into an area of expertise for me. “Question about 24? Knead’ll know!” This is something I am happy to cultivate, and is well worth the $45 or whatever I spent on it.[/li]
Hell, my master’s degree only cost me two bucks. (But that’s a story for another time. ;))
Well, since we AREN’T talking about 24…
Okay, since you asked … 
One of the benefits of working in Hell was that they had two education benefit tracks: the “job-related education” track and the “career-related education” track. Either way, they pay for tuition, fees, books. For a while, you had to keep a 4.0 to get 100% reimbursement. By the time I was through, you only had to pass. After working there for a year, I became eligible for these benefits and trotted up to personnel to make sure I knew what I was getting into.
“Explain ‘career-related’ to me,” I sez.
“It’s for people who aren’t doing the job they want to do because they don’t have the education for it,” they explain.
“Like folks who want to be investment bankers but don’t have their MBA, that sort of thing?”
“Exactly.”
“And what is my commitment to my demon overlords when my education is complete?” You see, I was familiar with corporate we’ll-pay-for-this-but-if-you-leave-before-we-think-you-should-you’ll-have-to-pay-us-back schemes, and I wanted to know how long they thought was appropriate.
“None.”
At this point I casually picked my jaw up off the floor.
“And who has to approve this?”
“Your immediate supervisor and your business unit manager.”
One easy sell and one clueless buffoon. Sweet Jesus. I’m goin’ to grad school! One internal form, one grad school application, and one copy of 3-months-before-expiration GRE scores later, I was on my way. With the forces of darkness picking up the tab.
Fast forward three years, two-and-a-half of which were occupied by my working 50-70 hours a week and going to grad school at the same time. I’ve ascended from Hell, moved to Charlotte, and gotten a job doing something closer to what I’ve dreamed of doing since the seventh grade. I get a letter from the registrar’s office. It seems that for my last semester, the state legislature hadn’t actually decided how much tuition was going to be. What I paid was an estimate. What I got reimbursed for was the same estimate. What I needed to settle up with them on now was the actual bill.
Two dollars more than the estimate.
I actually called them up and had the following conversation:
“Um, I’m sitting here, looking at my diploma and wondering, entirely out of curiosity, what would happen if I didn’t pay this?”
“It would go on your record as an unpaid bill.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
“You’d have to pay it before you could register for clases in the UNC system again. Do I gather that you don’t intend to pay this?”
“Oh, heavens no. Having this story to tell will be more than worth the two bucks! Besides, I might want my Ph.D. some day! The check’s on the way!”
If I had a bank that sent back cancelled checks, I would have framed that one and hung it next to my diploma.
Rock on!
While I will agree that Hell does suck, I have to give them credit for such a program.
And they say corporations don’t care…
Sweet story!
Sorry to try to tangent this baby off the bridge, but Munch here has an emergency. You see, I saw a header-ad on Yahoo! saying that I could get a Start Trek Nemesis theme for My Yahoo! Well, I checked it out. I’m not a big Star Trek geek, but I wanted to see what else they had.
Well, they had a bunch of crap. Unfortunately, I can’t get my old colors back, because I customized them. And now I can’t remember a damned one of them.
Anyone out there want to recustomize my My Yahoo! settings so they look identical to a “Microsoft Word XP” theme?
(I haven’t updated messenger in a while, so I may be off slightly, but it should be the same general thing)
click> login> preferences> appearance
“Main messenger” drop down menu, choose “default”, then click the “fonts” button, and also choose “default”.
I hope Spit’s suggestion is helpful, because I got nothin’ here, buddy.
Updating list of related threads:
Updating list of related threads:
Trying to find “24” season 1 conversations!
24 (Spoiler if you haven’t seen latest episode)
I just got into my hotel room, and there’s a TV guide in the room. The cover reads:
“What makes 24 Tick? Plus: An episode summary and a sneak peek ahead.”
I can’t imagine there’s actual spoilers in there, but just in case, the guide will stay closed. For what it’s worth, it’s the Jan 4-10 issue.
Good to know! Thanks, Nelson!
A special message from your host
I’m gonna post this info a few different places, not knowing who might be affected. Please forgive the cross-posting.
I was trying to tape the 11:00 p.m. ET Monday night rerun just now on FX. For some unknown reason, they were airing NASCAR qualifying or some such similiar nonsense, and didn’t start airing 24 until about 11:10 p.m. ET.
Be aware that if you had your VCR set to tape FX tonight from 11:00 to 12:00, you have about 10 minutes of NASCAR at the beginning and (probably, time will tell) are missing the last 10 minutes of 24.
FX is scheduled to re-run episode 11 again at 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
That is all.
I confirmed before drifting off last night that the 11:00 airing did indeed run over to 12:10 due to its late start, so again: if anyone had a VCR set to tape from 11:00 to 12:00, you’ll need to get the 5:00 airing today.
Updating list of related threads:
What do you tweakers do when teaser commercials come on? I’ve seen one or two this season that reveal what is going on in a general way right off the bat.
La la la la la la la! I’m not listening!
Time to go to the bathroom.
Switch the channel.
Check the rice.
Scratch.
All of the above seem to be excellent options that I have employed on multiple ocassions. Since they’re so short, and you see so many over the course of the season (plus the fact that they’re all about the same with no context), I’ve most likely forgotten every single one of them.
It’s like seeing a commercial for “King of Queens”. I’ve seen the commercial, but I have no idea what it was about.
I treat 24 promos like Calvin Klein perfume ads. I look for boobs and try to ignore anything that’s being said.
Quite literally, I stick my hands over my ears and go “La la la la” while trying to spot the remote. When I find it, I hum louder, remove my hands, grab the remote and change the channel.
Outstanding. Y’all are like the Sherlock Holmeses of TV watching. Or would MacGuyvers be more fitting?
No eating, drinking, or drugging as of yet. The good news is you won’t need a bedpan nearby while you watch.
Well, I’m off to eBay to search for an affordable Vegas Elvis jumpsuit in my size. Ten minutes to Springer.
I’m more the Remington Steele type, myself. Except for the hair.
And the body.
And the face, really.
But I’ve got that citing old movies thing down pat.
Ah, that’s why I’ve set up the angles in my apartment so that I can, uh, sit while watching TV. Don’t miss a beat.