Tree, pre-ornaments

I Feel Famous

I just logged into my blog for the first time in a week or two. (Fortunately for everyone out there, I lost my motivation for Corporate Rant, part 2, whoever that was going to be against - can't promise it won't show up later, though! On the other hand, I'm very pleased with Prana, the company that is replacing my faded T-shirt, no questions asked!)

I discovered today that I have COMMENTS!

Given that I started writing the blog for myself and have told very few people that it exists (and even fewer where to find it), I never expected to get comments. It's surprising how fun it is to log in and find them! Thanks for reading, my faithful three! :)

Corporate Rants, part 1 - DIRECTV

Let me start by saying I have no issues with DirecTV on its own. It's been fairly reliable except during storms (to be expected), and I was happy with the combined DirecTV/Tivo box for several years. Unfortunately, three years in, I started having problems. I was offered the choice of a refurbished box identical to my old one or the new DirecTV DVR and chose the reurbished box. Good. For a year.

Then I had more problems and had to get my box replaced again. Despite asking for (and being promised) another Tivo box, they sent the DirecTV DVR. Since I was busy getting ready to go on vacation, I decided to give it a shot.

I HATE it.

I have to caveat my rant by saying that I haven't spent a lot of time online looking for how to use the system. Maybe there are solutions to some of my issues, and maybe someone will respond with some how-to's. However, I can say that the system is unintuitive and that the system defaults are horribly user-UNfriendly. I've given myself about 5 months to get used to it and I still detest it.

Here's why:

1) The fast forward and rewind are timed poorly. With Tivo, I rarely overshot my goal (i.e., the start of the program after commercials) by much. With DIRECTV's DVR, I always overshoot and have to go back. It's not a question of reflexes - the overshoot is by roughly 2 minutes every time.

2) I can't figure out how to skip to the end of a program and rewind from there. This is important because...

3) The system has recently started to regularly ask whether I want to delete a program while I'm in the middle of watching it. I might be 5 minutes in. I might be 30 minutes in. I might be 2 minutes from the end of the program. The full hour is recorded, but all of a sudden it wants to know if I want to delete. --No! I want to finish watching the program!-- I start the program over and attempt to fast forward to where I was before - I make some progress, then it asks me again if I want to delete. It would be slightly better if I could skip to the end and rewind to where I stopped watching, but I can't do that. The only resolution is to reboot the box. Of course, if I'm currently recording something else, that's not an option unless I want to lose the recording.

4) Let's say I have 5 episodes of The Simpsons to watch. I watch one. I go back to the list and want to watch the next one. Instead of taking me back to the same basic area of the list where I left off, it takes me back to the beginning of the list, every time.

5) I have never gotten a message that scheduling the recording of one program will conflict with another program. Is that because I've never scheduled a conflict? Is that because it has its own rules about what to record when there's a conflict? The TV schedule seems erratic this fall, so I'm not sure whether shows aren't getting recorded or whether my shows are repeats.

6) Information about why a program wasn't recorded is very limited. Tivo had a great History list that showed everything, whether it was recorded, why not (if it wasn't - a conflict, a repeat...), and whether it's already been manually deleted. That was useful information!

The technical issues are getting worse. Today I've had to reboot the machine 3 times already. I could go on with more usability issues, but I've run out of steam for today.

I want my Tivo back!

Unfortunately, I can't get another combined DIRECTV/Tivo box because of contractual issues between the companies. The DIRECTV DVR doesn't work well. I can't do dual-tuner recording from DIRECTV if I get a standalone Tivo. I can't get standalone Tivo and get dual-tuner recording unless I'm also willing to invest in a $300+ Tivo box and HD - and I'd have to switch to cable. Sigh. I'm so depressed.

Update on the List

I am still chipping away at the List. I am up to 34 on one of the alternative lists (and I've doubled the original list), despite switching to "pleasure reading" the week and a half I was in Italy.

I have finished:
1984
To The Lighthouse
Howard's End
Neuromancer
The Call of the Wild
Atonement
The Sun Also Rises
The Old Man and the Sea

I could tell exactly where I put 1984 down the other two times I tried to read it - the long treatise on history/political theory. Ugh. I still had to wade through it, a decade later.

Thumbs up: Atonement, Howard's End (A Passage to India is next), and the Hemingway (more because it's an easy read than because it moved me, though the last quarter of The Sun Also Rises was surprisingly gripping).

One thing that's surprised me is how many of these books touch on controversial or taboo topics for their time: excessive alcohol consumption, sex out of wedlock, promiscuous sex, drugs, violence and death. I wonder if these themes are the reason these books were never required (or even suggested) reading during my high school years in small-city Virginia.

Not a Wimp (Yet)

I am a convertible girl. For years I've driven convertibles and been proud of my ability to brave the elements. I've driven with the top down when it was 90 degrees out (just crank the AC), when it was sprinkling (just drive fast), and when it was in the low 40s (just crank the heat and wear warm clothes).

When I recently graduated to a car with heated seats, I thought I'd be able to extend my top-down driving for a few more weeks each year. However, for some reason, the whole top-down thing has seemed less appealing this year. I'd go out to the car in the morning, debate, and go for the warmth of the raised roof. I was afraid I'd become a wimp, or worse, Old with a capital O!

However, I'm proud to report that yesterday I wore the scarf and gloves with the top down, seats on their highest setting, and heat going at a mere 41 degrees. All I needed was the perfect sunny, blue-skied day to tempt me!

How the Other Half Lives

No, not the rich people. The early birds.

Since my trip to Italy, I've been seriously jet-lagged, but in a good way. I've been waking up at 6 AM, which gives me almost 3 hours before work to do whatever I want. In two days, I've done two loads of laundry, raked about half the leaves that constantly blow into my front yard, and read several chapters of my book.

I'm not accustomed to doing anything in the morning other than rushing around to get ready and then running out the door! But people all over the world, the early birds, wake up early in the morning and LIVE part of their life.

I'm pretty sure it won't last, but I'm enjoying it while it does.

Dropping like flies

My team at work's gone from 5 to 1.5, the result of layoffs and personal ambitions. I feel weary just thinking about it.