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Saturday, November 22, 2008

Alternative Energy Source


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I'm on a candle kick. This is the only place I dare to light one due to one stupid cat and two kids, who apparently are moths...

Dear US Government,
     I am writing to thank you for promoting the upcoming switch to Digital Television. I am one of the 19 million households not currently subscribed to cable or satellite service. I appreciate the coupons made available to us through my (considerable) tax dollars, enabling me to purchase yet another electricity-sucking device to keep plugged in, thereby enhancing my electric bill. Lorraine at the Swan's Island Electric Co-op will be thrilled to hear it.
I spent some time today familiarizing myself with the new converter box, and after the Benedryl I had to take for the allergic reaction to all the dust on the labyrinth of wires behind the tv/vcr/unused stereo equipment wore off, was able to set it up properly. I am happy to report that I am now able to receive two stations! 
     Unfortunately, I found out a few hours later that the system is not compatible with fog and/or high winds, as I promptly lost both of those stations due to those factors. This does not bode well for me come February. I anticipate wind at that time. And, if the past serves as any example, there is the very good probability of peanut-butter-thick fog, from April through, Oh-I don't know....August? 
     I spent some more time on my knees behind the tv cabinet (admiring my newly-cleaned labyrinth of cables and wires) unhooking the converter box so that we could watch something tonight on the old, crappy, fuzzy, snowy analog signal. And I have a nagging worry: what are we to do in February, when this old and crappy signal is no more? While the rest of the world revels in the glory that is digital programming, we will be enjoying a black screen. 
     I have seen the future, and is it not pretty. I see myself moving from free tv, to paying for increased bandwith to watch online. Hmmm, makes me wonder, whose idea was the switch , anyway?????
Signed,
Not-in-a-very-happy-place.

3 comments:

  1. I'm in a similar boat, but I use Hulu.com for all my TV watching. Forget a converter, especially if you can figure out how to output your computer to your TV so the whole family can watch.

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  2. Hope the moths arent helping you out! We have digital TV here and it is murder trying to get my parents hooked up...just because I havent made the time to venture around the back of the TV/DVD/VCR to get it all hooked up. It is so true that they tell us to conserve power but make it so that we have to plug in another item. Shame on them...Give us free or atleast discounts for the amount of items we have plugged in.

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