Digital cable & maybe some sunshine

I have thought long and hard whether I wanted to go to digital cable. Well I finally took the plunge and got it.

The cable guy came yesterday to hook me up. I got a regular digital box for the bedroom and the DVR box for the living room. I asked him if he could also connect my VCR/DVD combo up. He said he could. Then he proceeded to clear a space on top of my entertainment center. I asked him what he was doing and he told me that the DVR box was going to sit on top of the entertainment center. The hell it will I tell him. I asked him if the DVR box can stand on end next to the TV? He tells me it can't and neither can my VCR/DVD. So needless to say, I only have the DVR box until I figure something else out for the other. I guess I'll have to have my friends son do the connection when I finally figure this out.

Anyway, it didn't take him long at all to do the conversion. I asked him while hooking everything up if he was going to show me how to work this. Of course he says. OMG. The remote is very intimidating for someone like me that is clueless about this new technology. He is whipping through the controls on the remote and talking the whole time. I am trying to write some of this stuff down. Finally I said, 'Look. You have to go slower. I cannot comprehend what you are saying and doing.' He was nice about it and slowed down. My one major concern was setting the DVR. He talked me through that and showed me. He told me to just play and I would learn. Easy for him to say. Once he leaves, I'm on my own. And I know I can screw something up.

Off he goes. I start to play and did figure out most of the remote and different menus. I have to say the one thing I like very much is pausing a program and restarting it. See I'm not one to sit for any length of time. I'll get up and go to the bathroom. Or make coffee. Or get something to drink. Or go for a smoke. Or just get up and walk around. So that pause button is very useful.

I think so far my favorite channel is Encore. I watched two movies last night. And yes. Paused both.

I also like having the Game Show Network back.

When I was ready to go to bed, I decided to try the DVR. I go through the menus to program it. The TV program I was trying to set was already in progress. When I went to turn the TV off, a message popped up saying 'in order to record, the TV must stay on.' I scroll down to cancel recording and turned the TV off. A bit later I tried to turn the TV back on. Nothing. Of fuck. I broke it already. I tried doing some things, but still nothing. I ended up calling the cable company. The person I spoke with said she would resend the signal and transferred me to something who could help with the TV. A message came on to leave my name and number and someone would get back to me. I just hung up and went to bed. The only thing I could think of is I broke the TV and now I was going to have to buy a new one. I woke up a little after 3: this morning. I tried the TV hoping that it was just a glitch and the TV would come on. No such luck. I just went back to bed. This morning I put the TV on and still nothing. I knew that it had to be the box and not the TV, so I started playing with the box. Somehow, and I don't know how I did it, but when the TV came on, the box turned off. When I turned the TV off, the box came on. One button push later, I have my TV back. I'm almost afraid to try the DVR again.

All in all, I like digital TV. I think the picture is clearer. And once I figure out the DVR, all will be good in my world again.

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There is a possibility that we will have sunshine sometime today. This is a major event, especially for me. You see, we haven't had sunshine since Tuesday.

We had the remnants of Hurricane Ida that turned into a nor-easter. It started Wednesday with rain. Then the winds came. The winds were so strong that the tide couldn't go out. All of the barrier islands flooded and most shut down with bridge closings. There is a lot of property damage and beach erosion.

I'm lucky where I live. It doesn't flood, but we need sun now to help dry us out. And help lift our spirits.