I miss regular television

A few weeks ago, I somehow was left in charge of the television remote at my parents' house. I started flipping through the channels, and was thrilled to find a mini-marathon of Friends going on. So, I left it, hoping there wouldn't be anything too inappropriate, and the rest of the family (when they wandered through on their way to their various Sunday-evening activities) wouldn't mind.

Turned out, they played some of my favorite episodes. AND, my family not only didn't mind, but sat down and watched with me! Nothing better than my dad laughing his head off about the epic battle to prove the girls know the boys better than the boys know the girls!

"What was Monica's nickname when she was a field hockey goalie?"
"BIG FAT GOALIE!"
"That is correct!"

I felt pretty lucky that the episodes we watched were some of the less-naughty ones, and definitely some of my favorites, like The One with All the Thanksgivings, and The One with the Prom Video.

Ever since that day, watching with the family, I've missed having regular cable television in my house. I'm glad I have access to Hulu and Netflix, and that they enabled me to mostly catch up on Parks and Recreation and other stuff, but... especially now that the new Fall season has started and I can't watch most shows until the next day at the earliest, I miss being able to just flip through the channels. And having DVR was sooo convenient.

I don't miss the cable bill, though. So, for the most part, I'm happy with my choice to downsize. At least this way I watch slightly less 'cause the t.v. isn't just on all the time.

Aw, Friends. Thanks for reminding me why I enjoyed you so much! Good television isn't always easy to come by!

And there was much rejoicing!

I don't know if you've noticed, because I've never been consistent, but there have been a definite lack of photos on my blog lately. I've been having issues with my scanner since... geez last winter(?) that I've been too lazy to put much effort into (printing and copying parts worked fine, but not the scan function), and a few months ago my computer stopped recognizing my camera. I've been getting aroung the camera issue by downloading photos on my parents' computer and using a photo-sharing site, but that took an undesirable chunk out of my family time and was annoyingly cumbersome. I've been grudgingly doing without the scanner.

To make a long story short (too late), last week my adored besty Kate took a look at my computer. After she confirmed that the computer and camera both work fine independently, she offered some suggestions. I bought a memory card reader to work around the photo problem, which solved the camera problem brilliantly. I was even able to use the reader for another memory card and retrieve some videos I had missed! And night-before-last I uninstalled and reinstalled the scanner software -- twice. I have done it before, but Kate recommended I replace all of the related software, too. Last night when I turned on my computer there was an upgrade available and after I installed it MY SCANNER WORKED!!!! I scanned a photo that's been ready and waiting for nearly a year! The software works a bit differently than it did previously, but as long as it keeps working I am happy to adapt to the change.

(Meanwhile, yesterday I discovered that my DVR has some new functions, and some of the old functionality has been tweaked in a way I am not thrilled about. Sigh... I was so used to the old way! The new way is so glitchy!! Stupid skipping to some pre-determined spot in the show when I rewind instead of playing where I actually stop...grrr.)

Does this mean I will be posting more photos? No idea. Maybe. I kind of like the idea of a photo-a-day blog, or at least a photo to go with each blog, even if it doesn't relate. I'm not really a photography-enthusiast but I like keeping records -- visual, auditory, and written. I am just excited that it's an option again! I love it when my technology tools work with me! It's so frustrating when they don't!!

Chaosity (or Chaos City)

My goal over the weekend was to get my clothes all unpacked and put my bedroom in some semblance of order. That didn't happen. It is now Wednesday, and I'm still half living out of a suitcase. At least as of last night I'm pretty sure where everything is. I had issues on Friday when I literally couldn't find anything that matched!!

What did I do instead? I spent pretty much all of Saturday trying to hook up the new VCR/DVD player, and new printer/scanner/copier. Now, I pride myself on being the one person in my family who rarely has trouble with setting up electronic devices. I've either helped someone else or done the hook-ups myself on at least seven different occasions. You might say it's sort of a hobby of mine. I had almost no problem with the printer, though the set-up CD seemed to take forever to install.

No, the issue came with the VCR/DVD player, because I had a foreign element thrown in there: the DVR cable box. Hmmm.

I'll back up. My old DVD player has been having issues for about 2 years. It would play a movie, but if I stopped it or shut off the machine, and then tried to go back to it later, the DVD player would tell me it didn't play that type of disk. Then, I'd have to put in two or three other DVDs before the player would recognize one. "Cleanse the palate" as it were. I'd let the recognized movie play for a few minutes, and then put in my original disc, at which point I'd have to find again where I had been when I shut it off. All very frustrating. More than once I wanted to throw the stupid thing at the wall. The VCR worked fine, but that blasted DVD side...!!!

My parents, heaven bless them, bought me a new VCR/DVD player for my birthday. Awesome!! As I looked over the description of functions on the box, I wasn't sure it would do all I needed it to, so on Friday night I returned that one and asked those clever blokes at Best Buy which machine would best fit my needs: plays DVDs and VHS, records television shows from t.v. to VHS, and records from VHS to DVD and DVD to VHS. Ah, Best Buy. How I love that store! It's curing me of my fear of talking to strangers for fear of bothering them even though they work there and they EXPECT me to ask questions. And yet, for some reason there wasn't anyone in the department that night -- the one time I go specifically to talk to someone! So, I stood around trying to look confident but also like I needed help, and eventually two guys from another department came over. One was pretty knowlegeable, and told me that if I planned to hook up the machine to the cable box, I could get a machine that was $100-$150 cheaper than one I'd have to hook up to an antenna! Score!! I picked one of the two he recommended and took it home.

Then I did something I almost never do with electronics: I opened the box the first night I owned it. I don't know why, but I like to sit on them (figuratively speaking) for at least a week or two before opening them up and playing. I grow attached to the old stuff and want to get in "one more" use, and setting up the new stuff can be such a hassle.

One of the reasons I am generally successful setting up electronic devices is because I read take absolutely everything out of the box, and then read the directions. In theory, this works well (and often does in practice). However, this time there were two different options for set up. And since someone decided that words are not necessary, even to describe what the heck the outlets are that I'm plugging wires into, I got frustrated with trying the decipher the pictures pretty fast. This, compounded with the directions' assumption that I have a high-def television, which I don't. And, of course, the DVD player/VCR didn't come with all of the wires I needed. Sigh. I tried to devise which wires I needed and made a 10 o'clock trip to Wal*Mart. I'm sure I looked a little crazy tromping through Wal*Mart at 10pm on a Friday lugging around a step ladder and a bunch of t.v. connection wires. I got more than a few odd looks.

Saturday I took a break to set up my new printer which, as I said earlier, wasn't too difficult. I came back late that night to finish up with the VCR/DVD player. I managed to get all the wires in the right place, and only opened one too many boxes of cords. I'll have to return the rest this weekend.

So, to make a long story short -- too late! -- I'm all set up and ready to watch movies, DVDs, DVR, and all that jazz. The rest of my house still looks like all of my boxes exploded, but I have time, right?

Victory!

I am finally caught up on my posts from my birthday week. Check out "Family and Dinner" and "Spoiled by my Girlfriends". I apologize for not having them up sooner, and hope you enjoy reading my rambling happy memories from a great week!

This last week was not a good one. Work has been stressful, and although I am living in my condo there is still much to be done to get it liveable, and I'm not used to sleeping in my bed, and a few of my neighbors are noisy. Change is good but hard!

Thursday was by far the worst day at work. I missed a meeting and then through a misunderstanding missed a lunch out with the entire office. I was frustrated and angry and tired.

No doubt that's why my Heavenly Father sent me a blessing: my Comcast bill. If you'll recall, after 8 hours and two technicians, I was told I would not be charged the $50 fee for the internet and cable hook-up. Alas, when I opened the bill, the charge was there. I was so mad! Are you kidding me? I've already been through so much aggravation with the company I was somwhat ready to chuck Comcast and find a new cable/internet company.

On Thursday I called Comcast, and calmly explained to Latonya in Billing that I'd been promised I wouldn't have to pay the $50 fee because it had taken 8 hours to finish the installation. I could have been Angry Megan and yelled and taken my frustration out on this girl who was trying to help me, but I don't really like Angry Megan. She's mean and scares people, and she's always followed by those obnoxious cronies Remorseful Megan and Guilty Megan. I will do my best never to introduce any of you to Angry Megan. I chose to be calm and pleasant because I was grateful just to be heard and have the charge removed. Latonya said to pay my bill, and they'll credit the $50 to the next month. Because the whole 8 hour experience had been so bad, I asked if I could have a month free. She said No, but then said she'd see what else she could do and put me on hold for a few minutes. When she came back, she said she could give me three coupons for free Pay-Per-View! Admittely, that's not a huge deal, but it felt like a victory anyway! I felt so good when I hung up the phone! I complained; I was nice; I got what I wanted!

I think Heavenly Father knew I'd need something to feel good about this week -- something to boost my self-esteem. It came in an odd way, and I am thankful for it! I was bold! Hooray!

Saved by Michelle

I took Friday off work for several reasons:

1. I wanted to work a bit on my condo.

2. I needed to be there when the cable guy showed up.

3. My birthday is on Sunday and even though I didn't go out of town I wanted a vacation.

It was a rather busy day! I vacuumed and cleaned and painted with my mom. We arrived at the condo after lunch just in time to keep the cable guy from leaving (has anyone else had the people say "I'll be there between 1 and 5pm", and actually have him arrive at 1:10? No? Me neither. But of course, if I'm not there right on time... Silly Murphy's Law).

So, the Comcast cable guy, Eric, starts working, and checking my three cable outlets. I wanted cable, internet, and DVR. According to Eric's reader, non of the three cable outlets in my condo were active. Bad news: he isn't authorized to string cable in a 6-plex. Good news: he might be able to work around it to achieve an active connection. Bad news: he needs his reader to do it properly, but not only is it running out of batteries, the charger is at his house in West Valley. Bah! So, he had to leave for about an hour to get it and come back.

He was back by 3 and finished setting up the cable and DVR. We ran into a snag with the computer, though. My laptop wouldn't recognize that it was hooked up to the internet. Eric fiddled with it for quite awhile before admitting he was new and didn't have much experience with my type of computer. At 4:30 my mom left. About that same time, Eric decided there was nothing more he could do, so he called his supervisor, Jay, and asked me if I'd be willing to wait an hour or so for Jay to come and finish up. I said Fine. Whatever. I just wanted it done (maybe that wasn't the best attitude to have). I was fairly polite about the whole thing up to that point. After all, he was doing his best.

Eric left and I took a nap and then watched some t.v, and then read a little. Man, I was bored. About 6 o'clock, Eric shows up again, and says Jay is stuck at another job so Eric's going to give it another go, but has no more success than he did before. Now, also, he's complaining that he wants to go home, and is frustrated that he doesn't know what to do (hadn't he said that before he left the second time?). Yeah, this is not helping my confidence in him. At that point, I was glad that I didn't have a date that night, because I probably would have had to cancel.

I did have plans to hang out with my best friend, Michelle, who I hadn't seen in months. I called Michelle and told her I didn't know how long it would be, so she offered to bring dinner to me. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! She and her daughter Abbie brought some Little Caesar's Hot and Ready pizza, which we shared with Eric while we waited for Jay to show up. Jay finally did, and about 8 o'clock sent Eric home.

Are you paying attention? I have now been waiting for 7 hours.

I am so glad Michelle was there to get me through it. She and I chatted and I showed her around. I felt badly that there wasn't much for Abbie to do. She watched some Handy Manny for awhile, but she was obviously bored. She is such a good sport. Michelle is a terrific mom; I'm always impressed and a little jealous when I see them together.

Jay kept trying different methods, and finally told me I might have to reset my laptop in order to get the ethernet working. Then he decided it was something else, then thought of another something else. Bah!

At 9:20 he said, "it's 9:20, it's time I go home". He thought he knew what would get the connection working on my laptop, and so we scheduled ANOTHER appointment for Saturday afternoon. Oh joy, I get to spend even more time dealing with this. Jay did say since it's been such a hassle he was going to wave the installation fee. You bet he was! Doesn't he know I'm not getting any younger?

I can't help but think it may have taken less time if either one of these cable dudes had not have to leave the building every half hour for ten minutes to smoke a cigarette. Yeah, they're entitled to breaks and this was frustrating for all of us, but 8 hours? Seriously? And it's still not finished?! Grrr!

Michelle and I went to Cold Stone for the ice cream we'd promised Abbie for being so good (and also, I adore Cold Stone). We then went back to their house and put Abbie to bed. Michelle and I sang to her in harmony -- I haven't sung with her in so long! -- we said bedtime prayers, and then I left them alone while Michelle finished the routine. Then my best friend and I laughed more than we expected while watching What Happens in Vegas.

And, of course, we had to stay up and talk until a mildly ridiculous hour, which is what we do every time we get together. Michelle and I have been friends for 14 years. We understand each other and have been through a lot together. I love her. I'm so grateful she rescued me today! I don't know what I would have done if it had just been me and the chain-smoking cable guys all night!!