Whether you watched Cheers in the 80's ... or Seinfeld in the 90's ... or The Office in the 00's ... everyone's known for decades that Thursday night is "Must See TV" night.
Normally we're an NBC house ... and Thursday night means Community, Parks & Rec, The Office, and 30 Rock ... two hours of solid programming. A few months ago, CBS announced they were moving one of my favorite shows, The Big Bang Theory, to Thursday nights ... but, since we have a dual-tuner DVR, the move was nothing to get worked up over.
In any case ... this week was premiere week. Now, I'll be perfectly honest ... normally, I totally geek out on this time of year. First, I love fall and the changing of the leaves and the crisp, cool air ... but I also love recording all the new fall shows and seeing which ones are good and which ones are crap. But this year, since (my ex-husband) has been so sick, well ... television has been about our only source of entertainment.
Now, before you pass judgement, allow me a few sentences to explain. One of the many side effects of chemotherapy and radiation is a weakened immune system. We were never "outdoorsy" people by any stretch of the imagination ... but we went to movies, went shopping, and generally left the house. But now, the same common cold that might keep you or I in bed for a day or two will put (my ex-husband) in the hospital for a week or more. So, other than doctor's visits, he spends most of his time at home. Which brings us back to ... television ...
This year, I was especially geeked for premiere week. I was looking forward to Mike and Molly and the new season of The Mentalist ... I couldn't wait to find out what happened after "the kiss" on Community and I am all over this whole Sister Wives thing on TLC. Hell, I was even willing to give $#*! My Dad Says and Outsourced a try even though they looked like ... well, like $#*!.
And so it goes ... last night, (my ex-husband) and I are 15 minutes into premiere night ... 15 minutes into Big Bang Theory ... Sheldon, Penny, and Amy Farrah Fowler are on a date ... and just as Sheldon opens his mouth ... the TV screen goes blank. The DVR was dead. Deader than dead. No power ... nothing. Everything else had power ... the television ... the surround sound ... the wii ... everything but the DVR. I unplugged it and plugged it into a different power strip ... nothing. As Monty Python would say, the DVR is no more! It has ceased to be!
I called Comcast and, naturally, they can't do anything over the phone. They verified that our account is fine ... our service was fine ... the hardware had just gone out. Fifteen minutes into premiere night ... the hardware went out. And so, we went upstairs, I took a shower, and watched The Office in bed.
This morning, mysteriously, the DVR is back on. According to the programming, it looks like the power came back on around 8:05 last night ... so everything after eight o'clock recorded as planned. But it doesn't matter ... because I'm done. This is the same DVR that goes "haywire" about once a month and loses all of our favorite channels. I've been fighting with this damned thing for two years ... and it's time to go. Tomorrow morning, I'm unplugging it, driving down to the office, and asking for a replacement.
God, it takes so little to make me happy ... wouldn't you think it could've at least held on until a commercial ...
There was something in everything about you
Baby come back, you can blame it all on me
I was wrong, and I just can't live without you
Player - Baby Come Back
