The Conical Glass: The monolith, part 3

Friday, February 23, 2007

The monolith, part 3

So yesterday, two guys from Comcast came out to install the new cable cards. Joe was back at work, so I was left to deal with them. It didn't go very well.

When they arrived, I explained about the guy who had been here on Tuesday, and that the cable card hadn't worked. One of the guys nodded and said of course it didn't work, we only needed cable cards in the TiVo, not the TV. Despite the fact that they acted like they had never seen a TiVo before (apparently they're not very popular items in this service area), they seemed to know what they had to do. They inserted the cable cards and then had to spend an hour on the phone having them activated, a lengthy process that involved reading long strings of numbers off the screen. Finally, it was all set and I was able to tune in all of the high-def digital channels. (To be honest, there doesn't appear to be that much HDTV on during the day, except for some kind of skateboarding exhibition on INHD and a wild animal show on PBS.) As far as I was concerned, yay, it worked. The technicians gathered up some cables and left.

After they left, I called Joe at work to tell him the good news. He was furious that they hadn't installed a cable card in the TV itself. I pointed out that we only watch programs through the TiVo, but he said that he had made it very clear, to me and to Comcast, that we were to have three cable cards installed.

30rock

Stupid TV! It was screwing up our lives. After a brief sojourn to Forbidden Island, we went home and watched "30 Rock" in high-def. I have to admit that it did look really good.

This morning, I asked Joe if he could reconnect our old TiVo, since there were still some shows on there that I wanted to watch. Guess what -- it turns out the cables and splitter the Comcast guys had taken with them were ours. I had just assumed that they wouldn't take something that didn't belong to them. Obviously I am too cowed by authority. I called Comcast and our stuff is allegedly going to be returned to us sometime today. I have now ceded all responsibility for the TV and its associated accoutrements to Joe. If you're looking for me, I'll be in the bedroom reading a book.

posted by 125records @ 10:21 AM

3 Comments:

At 3:59 PM, Joe said…

After I calmed down and the dust settled, it turned out Sue was right all along (as usual). We don't need a 3rd card, especially when it costs $7/mo. The cards in the TiVo were more than sufficient to show Tina Fey in all her lovely glory.

Still, it would've been nice if the Comcast guys had explained to Sue why they detached the splitter & cables, and had left them instead of spiriting them away.

Sue's right - all this tsuris over the TV! Ask me again in May...
At 4:31 AM, yellojkt said…

They took your splitters? That's outrageous. The last time the cable guy came, he left me an extra since my old one was so bad.
At 5:48 AM, Jestaplero said…

I don't have HD. Is Tina Fey's scar really noticeable in high def?

Whenever I've watched HD at other people's, I've found it distracting and a little disconcerting how much facial detail is revealed. (I think Tina's scar is, like, s o o o hot, so that probably wouldn't bother me too much.)

Like you, I used to be easily cowed by authority. Becoming a prosecutor got me over that really fast. When I started in the job, I let the cops and judges push me around. Needless to say, the results were disastrous. Now I don't take shit from anybody. I...I can't. So, you can do it, too. It just takes a little internal rewiring.

BTW, believe it or not, MY COUSIN VINNY is about as accurate a depiction of a criminal trial as I've seen in a fictional film. My uber boss, the ____ County District Attorney, actually used scenes from the movie in the Trial Advocacy class I took with him. The cross-examination scene is textbook. That's pretty much how it is - at least it is in the borough of NYC I practice in. (Marissa Tomei's uncle is a real-life criminal court judge in NYC - maybe that explains it!)