Donkeyhoetee September, 2008 Archive

September 19, 2008 Lifestyle Changes and Bozos Abound

Two days ago I quit cold-turkey. No, not cigarettes...I did that back in 1990. Same year I retired from an active, er, womanizing life (is there a correlation?) And not from drinking, because I need the occasional glass of wine to help me forget about the other vices I've given up.

Nope, this time I'm giving up, cancelling and otherwise turning off my satellite TV service after 13 years of cable and then 16 years of satellite! I'd become drugged by the banal programming. I tended to turn the evil critter on in the AM and leave it on until I turned in at bedtime. It became a companion in an otherwise quiet house, and, although I only occasionally watched the programs, it did seem to be provide a degree of social comfort.

But it has stolen otherwise productive time from my routine in it's own addictive way. I originally signed up for the service to receive movies, nostalgic programs, and scientific presentations like the programs that used to be broadcast on WTTW out of Chicago. Increasingly I've noticed that much of the good programming has migrated to added package channels, leaving less and less decent programming on the standard package deal. Meanwhile, the monthly costs have increased nearly 100%.

There are a few things I'll miss, like the Hallmark channel, WGN America, BBC America, TCM and a few others. And clever programs such as Monk. And, I doubt that I'll be watching much local programming, because "Deal or No Deal" and "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" and most of the evening broadcast programming is totally mindless drivel. And I have never saw any sense or entertainment in unbelievably moronic soap operas. The only thing worse is the evolution of the court tv programs. Where do they find these people? Where do they find these judges? Then there's always the religious channels and the mandatory children's programming featuring purple fuzzy creatures that talk like my neighbor, the moron, and questionable babbling things with antennae and televisions in their tummies.

So, you may ask, what's my plan for entertainment? Well, I have well over 400 movies with about 300 on VHS and 100 on DVD. I purchased a Samsung VHS-to-DVD recorder, which is capable of other recording conversions as well. This has dual-layer DVD capability (not available on my older computer-based system. So I can watch my old VHS tapes while transferring them to DVD. DVD's fit into a motorhome lifestyle better than bulky VHS tapes. and the $5 per classic DVD's at Walmart provide a few nifty new additions to the repertoire.

Then there's my vast collection of books, not to mention a similar collection of music. My books are my treasures and I used to read two a week, but have neglected them in recent years. I look forward to that very special enjoyment where imagination takes precedence over the often poor interpretation created for the electronic or movie screen. And, I have a lot of wonderful vinyl records that can't be found on cd, so years back I set up a quality system transfer music from vinyl to WAV or MP3 formats on my big Dell desktop where I can edit them for "pop" and "hiss" and burn them to cd's. I used to spend quality hours listening to my favorite tunes. I finally obtained an MP3 ipod ripoff and enjoy the tunes I loaded into it...it's less bulky than the portable cd player and more reliable than the combo tape and AM-FM radio I've used in the past while mowing the lawn or doing chores on the tractor. I do have to find a lightweight headphone to replace the earbuds that came with the device, however. The earbuds are not designed to stay in my obviously mutant ears.

On Other Fronts:

Autumnal color is slowly coming to the North country. The oak by the lake is showing large patches of golden leaves. Some maples are already crimson, although the large maple out back is just beginning to show traces of color. The thing that is most noticeable is the rapid change in time for the sun to rise. For months during the summer the sun would be up at 4:30 AM. Lately the sun doesn't rise until after 6 AM. The local hummingbirds have already migrated south. I keep the feeders full of go-juice for those hummers passing through on their way down from Canada. The geese left suddently several weeks ago. About half the mallard population is also gone.

The local US Postal Office managed to "lose" one of my packages. Two independent services confirmed that the package was delivered to the local PO back on Monday. After Tuesday's mail delivery with still no package, I drove in to our local one-room post office, located behind a cheese store (this IS Wisconsin!) and inquired regarding the whereabouts of my package. Of course, I had my online printout in hand. The postmistress told me that she has experienced many incidents where people have brought in similar documentation and the office had not received the item in question. I further discovered that the rural driver was a substitute on the days in question. I have encountered only a very rare mess-up with my mail in XXXIX years until the last year when the local PO hired this substitute. To make the situation more interesting, my regular driver came back on duty the same day the missing package arrived in my mailbox. The temp driver deserves my "Bozo 3" award.

The candidate for "Bozo 2" goes to a weird fella doing business on ebay. His listings are under one company, yet he responds to your email as Alex from another company. His packaging is posted from another company, although the package comes sealed in a box with tape having yet another name and logo. There are several other business names that I have encountered through massive quantities of emails. The problem began when I bid on a USB external dual layer DVD drive and won it (winning is not always a good thing). I paid for it immediately and the package arrived within reasonable ground shipping parameters. However, the drive would not be recognized by any of my computers as a USB device. I emailed this individual who has more aliases than Carter has pills, on numerous occasions regarding this situation, and I included my credentials as a BSEE and an A+ Certified Computer Technician (I picked that up several years back for the fun of it).

I carefully explained that the device did not function as advertised and I had bid on it to provide an external dual-layer DVD backup of my data drives on several computers in various locations. His knowledge of English is similar to that of a Himalayan Yak (apologies to all yaks reading this missive). He suggested I remove the IDE drive from the USB/IDE case he shipped, rip out one of my drives on the big Dell and install this lesser drive in it's place to see if it would work! IDIOT! TOTAL IDIOT! And he expected me to honor payment for a drive that didn't work except if it was placed in a functional situation (still unproven) where it did not serve the purpose for which it was intended, and such modification would void any claim I was entitled to.

I have a number of Asian friends including a fraternity brother living in China. I respect their culture and their people. But I expect to be dealt with on an understandable English level when dealing with companies doing business in the US, I realize this is a foolish endeavor since every other major company is outsourcing their support to foreign countries. Don't be fooled... the language problems as well as the cultural attitudes have been carefully analyzed by the companies utilizing foreign service representatives. Yet this outfit operates out of Brooklyn, NY, and certainly cares little for doing business with responsibility and honor. As much as I appreciate entrepreneurial endeavors and muti-cultural business opportunities, there are some people who violate the trust of these ideals. This guy shipped me a defective and untested device and is only willing to refund me the bid cost of the device, while I have to eat shipping and handling costs bi-directionally...roughly 20% of the item cost. It's a new form of Internet ripoff. I'll publish the aliases once I verify the basic refund has been made to my account. Then I will probably file a grievance with paypal for the remainder. Maybe we can put these people out of business.

And if you're unsure about the recent US financial debacle launched by the idiot (Bozo #1)- GW Bush, who uses our taxes to bail out his big business buddies. It simply indicates that GW Bush is using our tax dollars to avoid another Great Depression caused by him, during his lame duck days, only to leave our country with an inconceivably huge deficit, a legacy for the next president. Serves y'all right not to have impeached GW back when I first recommended such action!

If you, my dear reader, still want to vote republican in the next election, let me know... If there's too many of you mindless republicans, I'll be tempted to transfer my dwindling funds to offshore accounts.... Be prepared to lose even more of your hard-earned money, unless, of course, you're AIG, or Exxon ....

Until later.....DKHT