What's (not) on TV today?

It's strange how dependent we get on things. We don't even realize it until something stops working. This morning, before I left to get a haircut, Frannie (my resident sister-in-law) mentions that her TV wouldn't come on. What she meant was the Direct TV DVR box wouldn't come on. She "fixed" it by turning off the surge suppressor power strip the box is plugged into, waiting a few minutes, and then switching that back on. She was quite proud of herself... until she found out she couldn't change channels or access the guide or do anything, really.

By then, I was well on my way to the barbershop so I had no idea anything was wrong. Until I got home. And then I was told about that. And, of course, that it was affecting the living room unit and the master bedroom unit. Of course, I had already started fixing myself a hot dog sandwich (two hot dogs, sliced down the middle, cheese, mustard, toasted whole wheat bread.... mmmmm, mmmm... but I digress) and so calling Direct TV would have to wait. When I did, I learned that it was impossible to get through to them. The lines were overloaded.

So I went online where I learned nothing about the problem. By now, however, I had deduced that sometime overnight Direct TV had downloaded new software into all the DVR boxes linked to their service and had fouled them all up. Why else would three un-linked to each other DVR boxes in my house act the same way? This was confirmed by the fact that you could not access any sort of support assistance online either.

Isn't modern technology wonderful?

Well, I guess I will finish that book I've been reading and get one or two more from the library.