Cheap DVD rentals

Redbox has come to St Louis. The have installed DVD vending machines in most of the McDonald's restaurants in the area. How it works: You go to the vending machine, press the "rent a DVD" button on the touch screen, and it gives yo a list of what's in the machine at the time. When I went last night, it was mostly new stuff, there was a fair selection, enough that there were several to choose from when Karyn's tastes were taken into account. The thing is, you don't have to return the movie to the same location, but to any location in the area, and the vending machine recognises the insertion of the movie and alters its inventory selection accordingly. The best part? It's just $1/night (plus tax). And when I went to get a DVD last night, a redbox rep was restocking it with some for-sale DVDs too. As I had to wait for him to finish, he gave me a discount code for a free DVD rental!

The process was simple - after seeing what was available and making my selection, and selecting the option to rent with anoffer code, I entered the code, got the full discount, and then swiped my debit card (so that it would charge the successive nights should I keep it more than one). It then asked me if I wanted to subscribe to their email newsletter. No big deal, just enter my email address, and I'm set. Whirr-Whirr, and the DVD pokes out of the slot. Very quick and easy.

Watching Madagascar with my wife in front of a roaring fire made for a pleasant evening.