Less for the Same (which is a lot)

Huh? What does that mean, SoulSlam?

Friday was one of those days where a lot of things went haywire. Coupled with the Halloween ritual of taking the kids out for tricks and treats at night and you have a busy (as in a one legged man in a a** kickin' contest busy) day/night.



And it actually began on Thursday evening. I relinquish the man-den on Thursday nights so my wife and boys can watch Survivor, a show which holds no interest for me. Now normally, I would retire to the Living Room, but that's being painted and is in 100% disarray. So I figured, I'll go upstairs to the bedroom, read a little Baseball America, put on something and spend a quiet hour waiting for my triumphant return to my cave at 9PM for some quality Supernatural viewing. So you've got the setup.



But my digital cable is apparently on the fritz in that room (and that room only) - could be the split is on the same as the LR and maybe the guys did something. No worries, I can fix that when I get some new splitters and cables over the weekend. So I disconnect the cable from the box, and plug directly into the Sony 24". No channels above 99, but I can rough it. And that's when I make my discovery, much to my chagrin.



Apparently, Cablevision (owned by the Dolans) have removed many channels unless you have a digital box. Channels like SciFi, A&E, truTV, TLC, Travel Planet, E!, QVC and Animal Planet are gone. No more. So I investigate the IO website, and see they were removed unless you have a digital box. So I look into a little more. That must mean that people with basic cable got a break on their bill, right? Because if you take away 8-10 channels, and you were once offering about 80 or so, then that should be at least a 10% reduction in the cable bill. Great!



No. Cablevision has decided that they would instead offer a free digital box (1) for a year. So that's about a $72.00 value. But reducing a cable bill by 10% would give you about the same savings. And what happens at the end of the free cable box for a year? Then you pay, about a $72.00 value. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but if you don't have the scratch, or if your on a fixed income, it is. And the funny thing is, Cablevision can do this and get away with it. Maybe it's time I look into something else.

Happy Halloween

To all the ghouls, goblins, power rangers, princesses, sports heroes and leprechauns (that's for my son) and whatever else you are dressed as today!

Be safe - be safe - be safe. If you're driving a car today, slow it down, leadfoot. There's kids out there today. If you're trick or treating, be vigilant for those unlucky few who don't read my posts and may forget, while talking on their cellphones and not paying attention.

AND.....HAVE SPOOKY FUN!!!!!!!!!

Fill in the Blank Night

So what did you call it when you were a kid? The night before Halloween I mean...





In my neck of the woods, we called it GATE NIGHT - and people give me a quizzical look when I say that name. And apparently, the yuppies and new citizens of my little slice 'o' heaven in North Jersey have won out because the kids call it GOOSEY NIGHT, which I always found a little fem. But c'est la vie, right?





So I started asking people at work, around town at the Shop-Rite, wherever - "what did you call it oh so long ago?" So here is a list:

GATE NIGHT

GOOSEY NIGHT

MISCHIEF NIGHT

EVILS NIGHT

CABBAGE NIGHT

HELL NIGHT

Let me know if you have a good one. Funny, I had a friend named Flanagan and he called it 'same as every other night - and I still have to get me Da' at the precinct house!'. Poor Flanagan.

And a word to the wise... even though I've grown up, I still play the game tonight. On defense. Like a Jack Lambert, but better looking.

BITTERNESS BELOW!

And since I am a man of honor - congratulations to that team I despise with all my soul, the much-hated Philadelphia Phillies on their World Series win. I can see the pre-season comments in March already - AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

The Curse Gets Stronger

Happy Birthday #8 for my youngest son Ryan today. All you Yankee fans better prepare for a miserable stretch - it's on folks.

Hitting Bottom

Purchased and read an interesting book - "Beyond Belief" by Josh Hamilton and Tim McKeown.

I have a lot of respect for this young man who basically travelled a hard path (of his own choosing by his own account) to come back and play professional baseball at the highest level. Most people know him from this year's Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star Game, and have heard about his return from drug addiction in an abridged way. This book provides details (some graphic) of the "lost" time in his life. Never blaming anyone but himself, it shows Mr. Hamilton to be a person of tremendous value, and one who is intent on telling his story so others don't make the same mistakes. We always say that everyone deserves a second chance, and he is exactly the type of person you should be rooting for. I know I am. Good Luck Josh.

The Flu Shot Conspiracy

Strap yourself in folks, it's a rant today!

Weather here in the Northeast has turned this week, and it's time to turn on the heat! With the leaves falling (are you a leaf-peeper? Then keep it to yourself!) - it's also time to consider that annual 'I have to get mine' - the Flu Shot.

Apparently, the mass hysteria about pandemics and the like are the curse of the modern-age. A couple of years ago, there was a flu-shot shortage which made people act as if they were rationing potable water. But this is also the reason people forward me e-mails about dangerous halloween candy with links to snopes.com. I have no sympathy for a hypochondriacal (nice one, Mr. Webster) world viewpoint!
(And just a reminder, anything you forward me is deleted. I have no time for your nonsense.)

In other words - if a pandemic was really going to happen - and let's think big here, like bubonic plague big, it will. You cannot stop it. Your flu shot is useless. It is based on infection agents that are a known quantity and we can control. Kind of like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

So, if you are really old or really young, a flu shot makes sense, since your immune system may be a bit less than adequate. For the rest of you whining and snivelling shells of humanity, suck it up, live a healthy lifestyle, put on some decent outerwear, and you should be fine.

Say No to Flu Shots!

TBS Responds!

For all of you on the edge of your seats regarding the TBS issue from Saturday's epic blog, you may be interested to know they sent me back an e-mail. Here it is:

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE, PLEASE DO NOT DIRECTLY REPLY TO THIS EMAIL.

Thank you for taking the time to write us at TBS.

Solution:
On Saturday two circuit breakers in our Atlanta transmission operations tripped causing the master router and its backup - which are necessary to transmit any incoming feed outbound - to shut down. This impacted our live feed for baseball from being distributed to any of the other networks in the Turner portfolio and caused the delay in our coverage. Both our primary and backup routers were impacted by this problem. We apologize to baseball fans for this mishap that caused a delay in our coverage.

---

So this is the response it took approximately 60 hours to receive. You can bet a heapin', helpin' of fancy lawyers were involved in this one. Funny, the feed never goes out when they are playing re-runs of Friends or that comedy tour de force Frank TV!