Ok... by and large I LOVE Netflix. It allows me to not have, and more importantly (with the exceptions of the Food Network and The Discovery Channel), miss cable at all. Cause all the T.V. and movies that I could possibly want are delivered right to my mailbox. Really, quite an ingenious idea and I totally wish I had thought of it first.

Except for when things like this happen.

Yesterday I opened my mailbox to find the wonderfully delightful surprise of the Battlestar Galatica mini-series waiting for me. After much happy dancing--a truly awkward and retarded event that involves hopping from foot to foot, Netflix pressed to chest in a sweet, sweet embrace, while emitting a sound not unlike the the squeal of a baby pig (which, incidentally, my hot downstairs neighbor caught me in the middle of--doh!)--I ran upstairs for an afternoon of BSG rapture.

I should've known.

I pop the DVD in, walk out of the room while it loads to get a blanket, and come back to find...The Blue Screen of Death. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, this is the screen that pops up on your T.V. as the DVD (presumably) loads. Usually its there for like 5 seconds and then happy previews pop up. When something goes awry and amok, this damn screen lingers and lingers while the damn player informs you that it is "loading."

I pop the DVD out, blow imagined particles off of it, and pop it back in to be greeted once again by The Blue Screen of Death. WTF, man! I pop the DVD out AGAIN, get a paper towel with some glass cleaner on it and wipe from the center to the outside (NEVER, Netflix informs one, wipe the DVD in a circular motion as this will only damage the surface). I figure, this has GOT to work, so, for a third time, I pop the DVD back in and wait expectantly for opening credit.

Blue Screen of Death.

I try, in vain, for the next 45 minutes to make the damn thing work. This is, after all, one of my days off/writing days and as I am well ahead on my thesis I had reserved the entire day for nothing but BSG goodness. Apparently Netflix thought otherwise.

Disgusted by multiple failed attempts to bring my beloved story up on my T.V. I contemplated briefly the merits of watching it on my computer. However, I quickly discarded that idea, as my computer has been a cranky b*tch as of late. So I reported the damn DVD damaged, packaged it up and sent it back with a few silently uttered oaths (may the fleas of a thousand camels infest the slippers of all Netflix executives).

The only reason this seriously pissed me off is the fact that I had SET ASIDE special this entire day to watch disc one and two of BSG. Let me tell you, that takes some careful planning and coordination to make sure that the DVD is there on the right day! I had waited in extreme anticipation for 48 hours for the damn disc to get to me and then its broken. I couldn't even productively write for the rest of the day because I was so bitter about the fact I wasn't watching Battlestar Galatica. And this isn't the first time this has happened to me. I still have no idea what happens in The Island because I missed 20 minutes in the middle of it and it repeatedly skipped at the end, thus pissing me off enough that I just returned the damn disc to Netflix. And then lets not forget the time I received a disc... in two pieces. But mostly I'm just bitter that I've got to wait until potentially Saturday to find out how the whole story begins.

*Sigh*