307. If All Goes Well

If all goes well, by the end of today we'll have a new internet provider, phone provider, and cable provider all wrapped into one.  We will have entered the 21st Century and will have a DVR. (And isn't it great how we broke up Ma Bell only to wish she were back again? Yeah. Pendulums and stupid ideas and all that.)

Hopefully we will be able to learn how to use the DVR.  I am clicker challenged.  I hardly know how to turn a TV on, and definitely can't make the VCR work. The last time we bought a combined VCR/DVD player, it sat in the box for probably eight months 'til Abigail and Ryan came home for a holiday break and set it up for us. Odd that I'm so computer literate, and grew up being able to prime a pump and fix a lawnmower or a sewing machine from the age of, I don't know -- nine or so, and drive a standard-shift vehicle from the age of 15. Maybe earlier. And yet I still can't function a TV remote. Maybe it's just a matter of caring/not caring, then, eh? 

BUT I am excited about having HBO back again, which is a part of the new package. That might make me learn how to run the remote AND the DVR.  We gave up HBO about 15 years ago, or something like that, when the big tuition (and how!) started. We also at that time felt like it was just the same-old-same-old on HBO and we weren't getting our money's worth. Of course, immediately when we unsubscribed, that's when The Sopranos started, and all those other wonderful series that I feel I've missed out on. 

If all doesn't go well, on the other hand, I could be on complete radio silence.  I can only imagine how much of my hair will be torn out if I lose the internet due to some snafu, or if the new cable hookup is so powerful it blows out the computer or the TV.  (By the way, did you know the real definition of snafu is:  [s(ituation) n(ormal) a(ll) f(ucked) u(p).]  That gives me such a feeling of happiness and entertainment, I can hardly tell you. I know; I'm weird.)  Thanks to the wonders of the BlackBerry, I will still get my email, but I would sooner pull my fingernails out by their roots than post a blog entry via the BlackBerry.  I am not a control freak at all (no, srsly), but let me just say that I will not be the member of this household who is home to supervise the installation of the new hardware today, and I won't be home 'til very late.  And while the other person in this household is intimately familiar with the TV remote, the computer is altogether an alien entity to him.  See the symbiosis there?  Nice how that works. No fighting over the electronics.

I walked him into my office and loudly and clearly said, "The guy will ask to see where the MODEM is. This is the modem; this thing right here."  A glazed look came over his eyes. I said, "When he asks where the MODEM is, please walk him upstairs to MY OFFICE. He will know what to do." 

Well.  We'll just see how this goes.

This is all to say that I should probably do a couple of blog entries ahead.  Right now, though, I do not feel inspired. 

Always living on the edge.  That's me.    

Comments

[Mel]

It's probably a little telling that you referred to the remote as the "clicker".

[Kristen]

Yee gads--all that stuff from one corporation. Makes you feel a little monopolized, doesn't it?

[Sarah]

I hope the upgrade is smooth.

[Opal]

*finger crossed* for a smooth installation. :)

[Elizabeth]

Hope it goes well! Re: DVR, perhaps Abigail will visit over Thanksgiving?

[Dave Daniels]

Good luck with all that. I'm trying to get away from ComCrap, their rates are going up again. AGAIN!!!??? I'm actually thinking of doing away with it and using the digital antennae instead.

[sandy]

Oh, gosh, you are going to LOVE the DVR. It is one of those things that make using those video recorders so yesterday! So...1990's...so white bread.
xo

[gayle]

Those packages of everything-in-one sound so wonderful and organized, right up until you lose all services at the same time due to some glitch (or snafu) on their part.
I've got my fingers crossed for you for a smooth transition! (But it's slowing down my typing...)

[Carole]

I've got my fingers crossed that your switch over goes perfectly.

[carol]

The DVR is a lifesaver. I hardly watch anything when it's on. Tape everything (shows MY age) and watch later so you can FF through commercials.

[Ann]

I'm with Carol! I couldn't watch TV without my DVR - you get to bypass all those freakin' commercials!

[Joy]

Good luck! I'm still the designated recorder here, in spite of the fact that Maintenance Guy can fix/operate practically anything else ;)

[Lisa H.]

You will love DVR! I don't know how we existed without it. We rarely watch live t.v., only shows that we really like that we've DVR'd. Good luck with the installation.

[Marcia]

We've got DVR, I think. When we got our three-fer bundle, they couldn't hook the cable up to the big TV because the line was bad. So, they hooked it to my little kitchen TV and the DVR doesn't work with that because it's got a built-in VCR. But, now, b'cause the cable is hooked to it, the VCR doesn't work, either. So much for technology. And I've got TWO clickers to turn the damn thing on. Crossing fingers for you, Norma!

[Jean]

Don't worry. DVR is easier than a VCR. Even Dan can do it and he's one of those people that's happy if the computer just turns on when he presses the button. Every time we move, it's me that has to hook everything up. I can not, for the life of me, get him to understand the TV in/out thing. If you can figure out all the little buttons on your special little typewriter, you'll have no problem with the DVR.

[Angie]

Good luck, Norma!

[jessica~]

Haha, good luck with the upgrades. I don't have HBO and netflix all my shows a season behind. LOVE Entourage and would probably watch more if I had HBO. ...and snafu???? Who knew???

[Cathy]

You'll do fine. We just completed the bundle with our provider, and we did run into a snafu--but it's been taken care of, and we have a credit to our account because of it. (It wasn't major, but they wanted to change our phone number when we had clearly stated we wanted to keep our old number. It took an extra two weeks for them to wrangle it from the phone company.)

[marianne]

I still have a hard time getting the 'source' to go from 'tv' to ... well all those other 'places', Bobby even has a computer hooked into the tv... sheesh. Good luck to you, I think you'll do just fine. Giggle pie, modem, glazed eyes. hee.

[Cathy-Cate]

Danger, danger, Will Robinson!

I, um, think the combined DVD/VCR player we got when the last one died a painful death has DVR capabilities, but I've never used it. (slinks away)
(comes back to say: *actually, I don't watch very much TV, so I guess I have an excuse; but it would be nice to capture the small amount of TV I want to watch*)

[Mary]

Computers, keyboards, their peripherals...they are intuitive...or maybe we just learned to use them earl-one enough and they have not changed much over the years. Today's remote controls? NOT EVEN. And every device has it's own magic wand! So you're definitely not alone in that too-much-a-pain-in-the-butt to figure it out category, especially when the NEXT remote will be doubly complicated.

Good luck with the switch.

[margene]

You need to be prepared for the worst! Good luck!

[Cheryl S.]

Maybe you should try a Harmony Remote. It can be programmed on the computer (it walks you through it), and has one-button functions like "Watch movie", "Watch TV", etc. - then it sets everything up for that function. We just got one at Costco recently, when they had a coupon for it, so it was half price.

[Vicki]

We've had the bundled services for a while and it's been good, for the most part. I'm with Dave, though, in that they're pretty much pricing themselves out of my budget. I need to do the calculations -- chucking it all for a digital antenna (the freebie from the cable company due to a contract dispute with a local network isn't too darn bad) and a DVR or Tivo (can't live without it now!) vs. status quo.

I hope the installation goes well!

[Jo]

I have one of the same breed in my house, too!
When I set up one of my old computers for my daughter, he thought it was his.
Only problem...he doesn't even know how to turn it on.
But he can sure point the clicker! :)
Hope your tech conversion flows like the Mississippi!
Knit on!

[Kristine]

And you know FUBAR, right?

F(ucked) U(p) B(eyond) A(ll) R(ecognition).

And PCMCIA? In terms of computer hardware?

P(eople) C(an't) M(emorize) C(omputer) I(ndustry) A(cronyms).

They make me happy, too.

[Cookie]

You should have left the cable dude a note with a map to the modem. ;^)

And don't worry. You'll figure it out. You're not like my mom, who upon getting cable remarked that she couldn't find the H for the HBO on her remote.

o.O

[Kathleen]

I'm not sure if "all goes well" and "new internet/telephone/cable provider" can be said safely in the same sentence.

Good luck!

[Joan in Reno]

When my Ph.D. engineer, university professor husband was alive in the 90s, I was the one who hooked everything up and set the VCR to record his football games when we went out. He couldn't figure it out. Go figure! You could figure it out if you cared enough. We know you're smart enough. Motivated? Maybe not. Good luck with the change over.

[kmkat]

I love snafu. In return for reminding me of it, I will give you another one: fubar. Let me just say that the "bar" means "beyond all recognition." You are on your own for the rest ;)

[sueinithaca]

I hear you on the clicker-challengedness. My kids want to watch Bob the Builder, but there's something a little wonky about the VCR to TV communication. After less than a minute of fiddling, I dclared it "daddy's job" ot fix Bob, and told them they'd have to watch something else instead. Stupid tv. Not worth the trouble it causes.

[--Deb]

Good luck! We don't have a DVR yet, but it sure would come in handy ... so, figure it out, would you? Think of poor me, longing for one...

[Brenda]

My computer savvy husband (the one that works for a software company) can't figure out how to use the remote with the DVR. I have to "drive" whenever we watch TV. He also just requests what he wants recorded and I set it up. You'll figure out something that works in your relationship too. I will say, we LOVE our DVR. Live TV wastes so much time, with all of those commercials and all. I love zipping past them to get back to the show. Good luck!