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just...wow.
September 30, 2013
Thank you, AT&T. Every aspect of our TV and Internet experience is vastly improved. I am astounded at the difference, and when I realize that we have this amazing new package, and are paying $70 less a month than we were...I'm close to teary-eyed.
Seriously. Time-Warner was screwing us, on both fronts. Over-priced, unable to deliver reliable television without locking up, fuzzy picture quality, withholding channels that I pay extra for due to contract disputes, outdated equipment, horrible customer service, and that's just the TV.
We've also had to deal with slower and slower speeds from Roadrunner, increasingly frequent outages, and what they deny is throttling, but is sooo totally throttling.
When I spend $80/month just for "high-speed" internet, I believe I should have a reasonable expectation of being able to watch videos on YouTube. And I haven�t been able to count on that for the last year or so. Oh, the commercials always came through, but content? "An error has occurred". And an added issue with the internet service is the ability to put the phones on the Wi-Fi when we are home, and we had nothing but trouble there, as well.
BUT. The new service seems to have cleared it all up, so I am pretty pleased. Plus, we have more DVR capacity, a ton more features and capabilities, a wireless receiver for the bedroom (or anywhere else we want it!) TV, and up-to-date equipment that doesn�t take up tons of space. And, as I said, $70 less every month.
Downside? I had to give up everything I had recorded on the old DVR, and I had to give up my Chicago channels. ATT only lets you be in one "local area"...and it is Milwaukee. That was pretty hard...I have started my workdays with WGN Morning News for 20 years, and it is a very tough give to not have that anymore. But other than that, we're golden.
I am feeling some serious blah-ness and fatigue the past several days, but I think it has do with the perimenopause that depression or thyroid. (It is so vexing to have several simultaneous conditions with the same symptoms!) I am having a period of sorts--all the symptoms except no real flow to speak of--and that is probably what is dragging me down.
On top of that, I'm not sleeping very well, and I woke up this morning with an unfortunate gastro-intestinal issue. Probably due to the fact that I ate too much of the wrong things yesterday, but who knows. Breakfast was soft-boiled eggs and toast, which is pretty tame. But lunch was ham & cheese on rye w/mustard, a couple of my homemade dill pickles, and potato chips. And dinner was Spouse's maple-brined pork roast, served with stuffing, sweet potatoes, baby peas, and my homemade applesauce, and followed by my homemade apple pie (a la mode). And a large glass of chocolate milk, and no, I am not pregnant.
And I'm not thrilled with the pickles. I think the tweak in this recipe that makes it lower-sodium is to up the sugar. And I really don't care for a garlic dill pickle to taste too sweet. These are, to my mind, too sweet. But that's why I only made one jar--I wanted to see if this was a recipe worth having. Nope. I will stick to Grandma J's recipes from now on. That lady made a righteous pickle.
I have my week of b-day vacay coming up next week, and while I would love to get tons of necessary stuff done, I am afraid it will end up being me being lazy and resting all I can. I need to be able to get some stuff done, though, so I will try to come up with a reasonable list for myself.
I did get through one mini-project over the weekend; while the ATT tech was here on Saturday morning, I went through all the junk in my antique walnut dresser that was my grandmother�s. Threw away one trash bag full of crap, and donated another one (full of old table linens) to Goodwill. I still have lots of stuff in there to go through, but I came to the realization that I was never going to get through the important stuff (lots of photos) if I didn't do some serious triage.
Here's a tip: if you want to put me in a merciless junk-tossing mood, just tune in to a Hoarders marathon. I'll be turning the closets inside-out in no time! It never fails. Spouse turns on one of the seemingly endless iterations of hoarding shows, and the next thing I know, I am feeling claustrophobic and buried under clutter, with a desperate need to claw my way out.
I have some issues, I know. Blame it on having grandparents and parents who have bad hoarding tendencies. It is just too close to home and too damned sad for me to be able to watch that stuff, and it triggers a sort of oppositional behavior in me.
I am totally uninterested, as I hit 50, in acquiring any more tangible, physical stuff. I've stopped buying paper books, DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs, photo prints, dust-catchers, tchotchkes, or anything that isn't utilitarian in some way. I actually needed a few decorative items when we remodeled the bathroom, and it had been so long since I had actually shopped for something like that, I'd kind of forgotten how!
I live in a tiny house and I just can't deal with all that stuff--so I don't acquire it. And I pretty regularly take on a "clean-out" project and chuck a bunch of crap I already have.. So I'm pretty sure I am not a hoarder...but with my family history, I am taking no chances.
Reading: Yes (I am a bit embarrassed to say), I am STILL reading "Emily of New Moon" (1922), Lucy Maud Montgomery. It�s very good, but rather long. And I have been quite busy, with little time to read.
Listening: Psych Furs, Train, Pixies, Spin Doctors, the Replacements
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