In a vain effort to be able to afford college for Annabella, a few weeks after she was born we cancelled our premium cable. Before that I never realized just how basic, Basic Cable could be. Currently we get a pair of PBSes, Fox, CBS, NBC, the WB, UPN, ABC, and for some reason The Discovery Channel, The OLN Network, and The Oxygen Network. You'd be surprised at just how much bad tv can be on such a small group of channels.
It was with much reluctance that I declined the lucrative offers from Comcast sales people trying to convince me to upgrade. The angel on my shoulder was warning, "Upgrade, and Annabella will have to work her way through college at Hooters," while the devil on my shoulder was asking, "How much more Dr. Phil, Christopher Lowell, and bad Oxygen movies can you watch?" Have you noticed that the Oxygen network plays that stinker of a movie, "Anywhere but Here," every five minutes?
But since we've decided against adding a deck out back, we now have some extra cash to put away to save Annabella from the fate of serving chicken wings in a tight t-shirt. And although I didn't go as far as seeking out the cable upgrade, I did decide that the next time someone offered us a better package, I would take them up on it.
It didn't take long. A few days ago a very nice man named Clifford Jones called from Dish. One fifteen minute conversation later he had offered me 70 channels for $30/month (up from the $16 we pay now). We can cancel anytime, plus we get three months free of HBO.
But here's the icing. They're giving us a PVR. For free. Even if you don't have a baby, I think you can agree that the PVR is the most important invention ever. And they're giving it to us. For free. I hardly feel worthy, but after watching more episodes of "For Love or Money 2" than I'd care to admit, I think I've earned it.
All the fun starts on Monday.
That's funny, I have about 100 channels and they are all suck. Aside from the reruns of The Family Guy, I can't say cable is worth it. At least with the PVR you can record something in the event a worthwhile program comes on. They seem to put the good stuff on when noone is watching.
Posted by: Dave | August 30, 2003 at 05:27 PM
Hey! OLN rocks! They show American Shooter and Shotgun Journal. :)
Posted by: Vern Anderson | August 30, 2003 at 05:32 PM
With a PVR, you can record GOOD educational shows ( like Sesame Street, Mister Rogers etc. I think Noggin even has the Electric Company reruns ) for Annabella, dub them over to VHS, removing the commercials of course, ( I know those PBS shows don't have comercials but watch closely and you'll see they are sponsored by cereal companies at the beginning and end of the shows ). That way you'll know what she's watching later on in life and it'll be better than those loud cartoons they have now-a-days, and you'll feel less guilty about getting those extra channels too.
Posted by: dean | August 30, 2003 at 06:00 PM
I was actually surprised to find that Oxygen won't be showing "Anywhere But Here" AT ALL next week. Instead, they're showing "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Dr. T and the Women" - kinda shocking, as they hardly ever run those movies.
Truth is, most basic cable disappoints me. I used to love Bravo ("Inside the Actor's Studio" was a hoot), but they completely lost me when they started showing commercials. Then, the other day, I noticed that they were running "Twister." A network devoted to the finest in art and culture, a network that introduced me to Jean-Pierre Jeunet ... and they're running "Twister."
I don't get it.
Posted by: Lee | August 30, 2003 at 06:06 PM
you got a pvr? i knew we should have held out for longer, we got the same deal here but no pvr, damn!
Posted by: Glugory | August 30, 2003 at 06:44 PM
I wish I got the Anime Channel and G4
You can only watch so many Korean soaps before they bore you to death.
and Who's to say A will go to college? She might be like me and mooch off a disability she doesn't have.
Don't mean to scare you Megan. I'm just pessimistic by nature
Posted by: John Weston | August 30, 2003 at 08:17 PM
Good move Megan. I've had the Dish PVR for sometime and it's great! I've been a Dish customer for about 7 years and I'm very happy. Some of the cable channels here are of very poor quality and more expensive. The Dish or Direct TV is the only way to go!
Doug in Minnesota
Posted by: Doug | August 30, 2003 at 08:41 PM
Tell Annabella to do a summer apprenticeship at General Motors. They'll lay her off at the end of the summer and score massive unemployment paychecks for years. Funny how not working for GM can pay you 3 times as much as working at McDonalds.
Posted by: MikeFromMichigan | August 30, 2003 at 09:05 PM
tv. good.
Posted by: Shiloh | August 30, 2003 at 09:36 PM
Congratulations on your dish upgrade. We recently cancelled our dish mainly because we were paying $35 a month and found out I was only watching TechTV and Pam was watching not much else.
It was a little much and found that our selection of movies on VHS and DVD worked for us to keep from having to watch any more Judge Joe Brown. ;)
Posted by: Lance | August 30, 2003 at 09:53 PM
Maybe what we all need is a little less TV. Look at Chuck Palahniuk; he moved onto the wrong side of a mountain and couldn't even get Satellite TV and the next thing you know he's pumping out a new novel every year. Loosing TechTV made me take a more philosophical bent in thinking (as opposed to Athlon vs. P4). This however led to the unfortunate side effect of alternately sounding like an old hippie or the guy in Donnie Darko who said all human action was out of either love or fear.
"Little angel go away, come again some other day.
Devil has my ear today
I'll never hear a word you say
He promised I would find a little solace
and some piece of mind, whatever
Just as long as I don't feel so
desperate and ravenous.
I'm so Weak and powerless over you."
- A Perfect Circle, "Weak and Powerless"
Posted by: Space Monkey | August 30, 2003 at 10:04 PM
yea there is not much on tv anymore it is sad but true disney and techtv and my wifes fav is lifetime well i did say my wifes. and dont forget catoon network my son would die if he could not watch that well have a great labor day
ps you get half of all of leo's books sold huh could be A's college fund lol
Posted by: ken | August 31, 2003 at 02:58 AM
Megan, did they mention anything about fees for that PVR? They have a fee structure in the works that will vary from $0 to $10 a month depending on what programming package you have chosen.
You can find more info at http://www.dbstalk.com/. Look in the Dish Network DVR Discussion Forum.
Welcome to dish! Miss you on The Screen Savers!
Posted by: boomerang | August 31, 2003 at 04:47 AM
Love your writing.
Wasn't it Gerber or someone like that that had an insurance policy,(whole life type) that was only a few dollars a month? By college time it would have a nice size cash value to use for college.
Just think, if you guys smoked you could quit for a good cause and safe a bundle.
Ralph
http://www.darkstar.us
Posted by: Ralph | August 31, 2003 at 06:06 AM
Hey Megan,
I have Dish Network here and we just got the basic unit but, we got the America's top 150 package with the HBO's and the Cinemax's and the like and I kinda like it but, maybe one day we'll upgrade to the PVR. I do find myself watching TechTv hoping for a quick glimpse of you somewhere but, alas I havent seen you lol. maybe one day I ll get lucky enough to see you walk by the camera or something lol. Anyway, Good luck with your dish and hon, dont worry Annabella will have money for college even if I have to send her some to help out. :)
Posted by: Andrew | August 31, 2003 at 07:50 AM
Megan,
I currently get two channels and although I would love to get DirecTv, I don't really complain much. I'd love to get TechTv though, but alas, I chose having broadband over lots O' channels. WOuldn't you? The free PVR deal - absolutely sweet! As for Annabella working in Hooters, I really doubt she'll ever come close to that kind of job. If she has any sort of mind that you have, which I think she does, I'm sure she'll go far in life.
Annabella for Gov. !
Mx
Oh yeah, what about all the news about how TechTv is for sale?
Posted by: Mx | August 31, 2003 at 08:12 AM
Megan,
You should set up a Pay Pal account that deposits all the proceeds into Annabella's 529 account. I'm sure we call spare a few bucks to make sure that you've got some decent TV to watch and your wonderful daughter doesn't end up a Hooster's girl.
Jamison.
Posted by: Jamison | August 31, 2003 at 11:42 AM
"Upgrade, and Annabella will have to work her way through college at Hooters,"
The angel on your shoulder said this? hmm...
The angel should have said: "Annabella will be a genius and get a ton of scholarships" and then pat you on the back for thinking of her college fund before she reaches age 1.
My college is 32,000 a year, (on campus) (one of the best art schools in the country)
I wonder how much college will cost in 18 years.
Posted by: Paintbrush29 | August 31, 2003 at 01:48 PM
Heya!
We have an 18 month old, and our PVR is a lifesaver. You can watch the same show OVER AND OVER again w/o having to rewind a tape, or even search for the tape. And believe me, when your kid finds a show she likes, she will want to watch it ad nauseum, and not having to fool with cassettes is a BLESSING.
Prowler7
Posted by: Prowler7 | August 31, 2003 at 06:26 PM
My daughter's favorite movie:
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
I STILL remember most all the words.(And she is 20)
"Candy's Dandy; but Liquors Quicker"
Ralph
http://www.darkstar.us
Posted by: Ralph | August 31, 2003 at 06:41 PM
I was watching the "Charlie Chat" on Dish the other night and he said all the current PVR models will not be charged for PVR services ever,just the people who buy the new upcoming models MIGHT have to pay. I better go my power just went off and I am on the Battery
Tim
Posted by: weeniewawa | August 31, 2003 at 07:02 PM
even with more channels sometimes there is nothing to watch
we are really hoping that the comcast in our front yard will soon be available for us to hook up to and not for the channels of tv but for the high speed internet
thanks for sharing all the baby pictures with us
Posted by: mary kelly | September 01, 2003 at 10:01 AM
So what's so bad about Hooters?!?
Posted by: Razeel | September 01, 2003 at 10:35 AM
I got digital cable, I only watch 3-4 channels 0n a regular basis - TechTV, CNN, MSNBC, Discovery Channel.
I watch techtv most of the time.
You're right megan, there's not a lot on tv and it is overpriced.
Cable internet is overpriced too. With digital cable + cable internet, it's like $100/month.
Posted by: Steve | September 01, 2003 at 04:13 PM
"So what's so bad about Hooters?!?" Absolutely nothing...Chicken wings anyone?!?
Posted by: Joe Shmoe | September 01, 2003 at 04:20 PM