The Voice Of Reason

A few people on my flist are doing that 30 day meme. I don't think i'll do it because i know i won't keep it up the whole time but some of the topics do interest me. I've put the meme topics below at the end behind the cut in case anyone's interested. Besides i don't really think most people would want to know, in detail, things like what i ate today, or what i wore or my dreams in great details. I don't even remember most of my dreams and many of them that i do remember just after waking can be pretty bizarre. One of the topics i know i could write a lot about, though, is my parents. I won't, not now, but all i will say is that i know i've been very lucky to have the parents i have. My dad is gone but i still feel him with me and feel his influence every day, even if it's just a silly pun i might make or understanding when someone talks electrical stuff. (he was an electrician) My mom and i have always been close, a different kind of close than she and my sister have. They have motherhood in common which, of course, i wouldn't have, me not having any rugrats ;) My parents are very special and i count myself lucky. I know i said that already but it bears repeating. My whole family just rocks, anyway, but that's for another post another time :)

Continuing the dvr saga... it looks like it did record something last night and this morning i was able to set up some series programs to record and set a movie to record during today while i'm at work. The box had turned itself off overnight though i'd left it on with the tv off as is my habit from the old box but apparently that's normal according to someone at work that has the same one. I also found out that apparently i can actually hook up an external hard drive to this one (and maybe that also means a usb flash drive, too) which would be great for being able to keep a movie i will want to watch again once the movie channel isn't carrying it anymore or for recording something that Mom might want to watch. Gives you extra Hard drive space too, which is useful since if you record in high definition, it eats up a lot more space.

This new box has a 250 g. hard drive which is bigger than the old one which might have been a 160, not sure. He gave me a brochure on the hook up procedures but i haven't looked at it or the back of the box yet. If it can go to a usb flash drive as well as an external, i might run out and get a 4 or 8 gig usb key. I do have an external hard drive but would prefer to just leave that plugged into the computer but i could use that if i had to. It would save me downloading movies and risk dubious quality but if it doesn't actually work or i can't make it work, i'm no worse off than i am now.

( meme me )

Wouldn't you just know it? I finally get a dvr, something *everyone* says i'll absolutely *love* and i won't know how i got along with out it.... and the fucking thing seems to be a dud! It was installed on Saturday. It seemed to be ok, i recorded something, i set up a couple of series schedules. Then Saturday evening i had the sound muted for awhile and then it wouldn't un-mute. I thought i just had the wrong button pressed on the universal remote and changed that, even tried to power off and no joy. I actually had to unplug the thing to reset it. I may still have got my buttons all mixed up, i can't remember now so i'm tentatively putting that down to user error.

But Sunday evening i was working on something on the computer with the television on low. I realized it was awfully quiet and looked around to see a blank screen. Hmmm... I changed the channel.. oh good, there's picture and sound.. but wait... 30 seconds in and the screen went blank again. And continued to do that. Again i unplugged the machine and it reset itself. No more problems like that but now the dvr functionality seemed to be unavailable or disabled or something. I couldn't get through to the cable company, just sat on hold for so long that i gave up. First thing Monday morning, i tried the box again, and couldn't get into any dvr functions. I got through to the cable people straight away and she sent a reset signal to the box which usually takes 10 - 20 minutes to rebuilt the menus and things. by the time i went to work a half hour later, still no dvr functionality and no hd channels either. Rats....

I got home from work and tried it again. Same thing. After Corrie, i called up and first they restored the HD. Probably the morning reset didn't include that i guess. She sent another signal that resends the software down. Still no good. I called back an hour later and now they've set up a service call for me. Rather than wait days for an evening appointment or nearly 2 weeks for a saturday, i'll have to take this afternoon off and wait for the cable guy. Again.

This just pisses me off! Get a new "toy" and it doesn't work and it's so disappointing! Not a very good first impression, that's for sure. I'm sure i will love it once it's all sorted out. I hope they just put in a new box altogether rather than see if the current one needs adjusting because i don't really trust it now. I guess that's the beauty of renting it though, they have to fix it and i don't have to be worried about waranties or anything.

I have succumbed to the inevitable. Using the vcr with the new tv really shows up how much the quality is lesser and i've decided to bite the bullet and pay for a dvr. Everyone says i'll wonder what i did without one and i know that's true but it still annoys me that i have to pay 15 dollars a month plus taxes for the machine rental. They are about $500 plus 15% tax to buy one and that is just as much of a rip off if you ask me. The cable companies have such a monopoly on it! You can't buy one online because it has to be programmed for the local cable company apparently. That sounds like bullshit but that is what they are telling us and the lads in the shop say the same thing. So i'm going digital finally. I also figured if i'm going that way i might as well pay a few dollars more and try the HD channel feeds as well. Both are on for a 6 month free trial so if i don't really find the HD does anything for me, i can get rid. I dropped one of my digital theme packs (4 or 5 channels) and that pretty much pays for the HD if i end up keeping that bit.

They're coming a week tomorrow to hook it up. They make sure it's hooked up and that it records properly. I can ask questions and get a quick demo. I like that i can finally tape one thing and watch another or tape two things at the same time (though not able to watch a third thing, but it could be useful if there are two movies i want to tape on at the same time as sometimes happens). The series set up is useful too as i tape a soap every day and can now tape a second that overlaps coronation Street. I always miss the second half of it because i change the channel. With the normal digital box you have to leave it tuned to the channel you are watching to tape something. (Or tune it to the channel you want to tape and turn off the telly as i do for daytime or overnight taping). Welcome to the 21st century!

It was a short week. We had Monday off for a holiday. From here to Christmas there is one holiday a month :) Next one is September 6 for Labour day. I'm still basking in the afterglow of the reunion last weekend. It was like one massive love-in. Woodstock or something. Everyone was so up, so happy. It didn't matter that i didn't know 95% of the over 700 people there. You'd see two people run squealing into big hugs and you'd just smile anyway. And that was just the men! ;) No, not really. lol But even men were hugging in a manly fashion or enthusiastically shaking hands. Everyone was smiling so much you'd think they were going to chew off their own ears! Wonderful! I think DHS really raised the bar for reunions! I almost don't want to go to another one because it just won't be as good.

The money raised is going to a scholarship fund and they're thinking of ways to add to that. Maybe making a dvd of the slideshows that would be nice to have as a souvenir or, for people that couldn't go, maybe a slide show of people's photos.