Service Technican Visit

I'm back!  Just got off another five straight days of work.

The past week has been pretty busy.  Five straight days of work from last Wednesday.  Yesterday I had my satellite service technician stop in for a "free upgrade" (only cost $49.00).  I thought that would be a short visit.  Little did I know he completely rewired my whole house for my five satellite TV boxes.  Uh huh, now I know what I was "eligible" for a "free" upgrade.  Only a "small installation charge."

I've been using satellite TV for my cable channels for over ten years now.  I won't mention the name but you can figure it out.  I don't use the other cable service (that starts with a "C" - again I won't mention their name because they always comment on my blog whenever I mention their name) because they are too expensive and their customer service sucks.

My satellite tv offers excellent service.  I never used their second line which is their line for ads pushing special pay per view services.  They're been pushing me for years to use it but I didn't see why I needed it.  I have NO INTEREST in a pay per view boxing match in Las Vegas.  Well guess what?  Now I have the line, whether I want it or not.  My new upgrade includes one line that cover both my regular cable service and the ability to download pay per view movies.  Well guess what?  I'm still not using it.

I hate having service people traipsing through our house in their big clumpy boots who know where they have been?  Bill hates it too.  So I laid down all my scrap rugs down in my office so the service guy would't be walking on my beige Berber carpets.  The service guy saw this and offered to put on his booties.  That was nice of him.

After almost four hours he was finished.  Now I'm set up in my kitchen, home office, bedroom, bonus room and basement room for high definition TV!

Hopefully this is the last visit for a long time from a service technician.

I can't believe how many visits we have had from service technicians since we move into Casa Tipton-Kelly back in November 2006.  If I would have known we were going to have those many visits I wouldn't have had wall to wall expensive beige carpets installed.

Bill and I just want our home back...for us.

Judge Judy

She shouts!

She insults!

She's sarcastic!

She's rude!

She's Judge Judy!

One of my little pleasures of daily life that I sorely missed when I moved to Delaware in November of 2006 was that I could no longer get the "Judge Judy" show on my television.

In Pennsylvania I had satellite television with local channels, which means I could get the syndicated "Judge Judy" show daily. In Delaware I could not get local channels thus I couldn't get the "Judge Judy" TV show. I went four years without "Judge Judy!" Last month DirecTV finally came through and now I can get the "Judge Judy" TV show right here in my comfy, cozy home here on the east side of Route 1 in Lower Slower Delaware.

Who is Judge Judy? Judge Judy is a former family court judge from New York who was discovered during a "60 Minutes" profile. For almost the last twenty years she has had her own TV show. She is the top rated syndicated TV show in the land and for good reason, she is good!

While Judge Judy is all of the above things I said about her, you have to understand the context in which she responds the way she does. Once you see the characters and their court cases not a who appear before her in court and their cases, you will understand all too clearly.

Judge Judy is real.

Judge Judy is smart.

Judge Judy is right.

The success of her show has spawned other "judge" shows but none come close to the authenticity of Judge Judy. Most of those other judge shows have come and gone and for good reason. They are fake and put on.

Then there are the reality shows like the rude restaurant owner (I can't even remember that idiot's name) and the some other shows on Bravo TV like the fashion show with Iman and the beauty salon show. The stars of those shows try to be like Judge Judy but they only come off as mean and cruel. There is only one Judge Judy.

Snag (what I will now call Bill, my partner heretofore referred to as S.O.) hates Judge Judy as does my good friend Bob C. They think she rude. Well............yes but as I've said she has good reason to be rude. Sometimes you have to hit a mule with a two by four between the eyes to get their attention.  She cuts through the BS and gets to the core of the matter. I love the look on the faces of some of plaintiffs and defendants when they realize their usual tricks aren't going to work with Judge Judy.

And then there is the other reason I like Judge Judy. It came to me the other night when I arrived home from work at the hotel late a night and turned on my DVR which had previously recorded the Judge Judy show that had aired earlier in the day. As the opening theme song played a warm, comforting feeling swept over my body. For an instance I didn't understand and then a very familiar feeling came to me.

When I lived in Pennsylvania I lived the next road over from my Mother. About three or four times a week I would take a ride over to visit my Mom. She would be lying on the platform bed that I had given her many years her cat Molly cuddled up next to her. I would walk in her living room and take a seat in the small rocker next to her bed. We would talk awhile and then she would grab her remote control and turn on the "Judge Judy Show." The opening song and credits would appear on her 30 inch Sony TV that my brother had set up high in the corner of her small living room. Then we would sit back and watch "Judge Judy" together.

Now when I watch "Judge Judy" I feel like I'm with my Mom again.


That is a good feeling.

Angst

The problems continue. Below is an e-mail that I sent to a friend this morning. I was hoping my next blog posting would be a happy, upbeat blog posting. It was not to be. The past week or so, I’ve noticed that I can’t get some channels on my DirecTV satellite TV. I don’t want to give anyone headaches by going into the boring details like I did with my previous blog postings about my PC troubles with Vista. All I know is that I hate having strangers tramping through my house, with their shoes on (who knows where those shoes have been), checking off their check list of the usual suspects. I know what the problem is with my DirecTV. The satellite dish was knocked off of it’s settings during the 60 mph sustained winds we had at the end of the year.

The last time the DirecTV repairman came out, it was obvious I was his first patient because he kept referring to his manual. He checked all the connections which meant pulling all five of my receivers out of wherever they were accumulating dust. In the end, it was the dish, as it always is. What really blows their mind is when they check my main electrical switch box in the basement. Every repairman (or woman) from Verizon, to the whole house music people (oh yes, I’ve had them in too when that system went on the blink after a lightening strike), to DirecTV is traumatized once they get an eyeful of that Medusa mass of wires. The problem is NEVER there but I can tell that’s where they see an opportunity to dump the problem. It’s always the same thing isn’t it? Point the finger somewhere else.

The sun is streaming through the window to my left as I type yet another complaining blog entry. I apologize to all for my unending negative blog entries for the New Year. Unfortunately, this is my life. And that is what my blog is all about. I’m still looking for that stretch of time that there are no problems and I can complain about being bored because of my uneventful life. That ain’t going to happen.



Bob,

Now my DirecTV is acting up. I can get two channels on my bedroom TV. Nothing on my TV in the kitchen. It just says “searching for signal.” Bill just found out this morning that he can't get anything on the downstairs TV. I can get MSNBC and CNN on my TV in my office. Yesterday I made the call to DirecTV and the woman made me jump through the usual hoops. Unplugged the TV, reset, check the wires, etc. I think what the problem is that the satellite dish was knocked off its setting with those high winds at the end of the year.

The DirecTV repair guy is coming out tomorrow. The last time the repair guy came out he was looking through his instruction booklet. On the job training. We finally had to have the manager come out and reset the satellite settings on the satellite dish. Fun Times.

Just to top everything off, our new trash guys came out this morning at 6 AM to pick up the trash. Bill still had the trash can in the garage. We get to keep the trash another week. Our previous trash guys (Waste Management) used to come by around noon. This new one is my wake up call in more ways than one. I was still in bed when I heard the grind. Fun times.