Technol - Oh Gee!

Dad, this one's for you...

I thought I had everything worked out. The long phone calls to customer service, the discovering that we live in a DSL black hole, the decision to switch to cable internet, the waiting for for the service guys to come hook us up. Last Thursday, the internet problem was solved.

And then...

We started to wonder if there might be a problem with the satellite. It started Thursday, recording the first few minutes of a show and then switching to the NASA channel. Not good when I'm trying to distract myself with an Ugly Betty episode while on the treadmill. When my dad called Saturday morning to get the scoop on the internet situation, I offhandedly mentioned the TV glitches, casually chalking them up to the cold weather or snow. But by Saturday night, we had nothing. Nada. Just this...

And so it began again. The long calls to customer service, the discovering that Direct TV has a much better (and cheaper) package and that Dish wasn't too concerned about keeping us as customers, the decision to switch to Direct TV, and now, again, the waiting for the service guys to come hook us up.

We have been very happy with satellite TV and didn't necessarily want to change providers. But they were not willing to work with us (translation: give us what we wanted - a free upgraded HD box). And Direct TV had a slick ad in Sunday's paper, luring us to their side with 100 hours of HD DVR recording and an incredibly low monthly rate (which over the first year will save us hundreds of dollars). Dish lost us as a customer over a measly $75. See ya.

In the mean time, we are waiting until Monday for the new equipment. This is a challenge for us marathon TV watchers. But our brilliant brother-in-law, Daryl, wondered if we might be able to use our cable internet connection to make a little cable television connection. And what do you think Glenn did with that idea? Oh yeah, he ran with it. It was not too long until we not only could use the internet, but also watch cable on two different TVs. I don't understand it all, but somehow, we aren't going to miss out on too many of our shows. (See, this is where the internet comes back into play!)

And it is quite fortunate that the kids had today off. They are watching their beloved So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol finales (from last year, yes) and other shows they have recorded one last time before we lose everything Monday.

And next Monday everything better be solved. No more phone calls or discoveries or decisions or waiting. I want to watch 24 without commercials next week.