Exceedingly Mundane

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We woke up this morning to find that our new cable provider, Comcast, has shuffled our channel line-up. And I’m not talking about a couple of random changes, or removing one channel to add another. I’m talking about a whole change up in our channel listing.

Let me tell you, for a TV-aholic like myself, this is not a good thing. We had upgraded to digital cable last year when we got our new hi-def plasma television, and it’s taken me a while to learn a lot of the new channels. There’s so many channels on here, that I don’t like just scrolling up and down through them — it takes too long. I like to memorize the channels that I watch often, and just punch in the number and flip right to them. WELL. Today, they are all different. They’ve totally moved such channels as our hi-def ABC, NBC, Fox, as well as channels like Discovery, TLC, History Channel, all of the sports channels, all of the news channels, Spike, Family Channel, Hallmark Channel, etc. It’s enough to make me not a happy camper for today.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg though, and I know the worst is coming. We also get our Internet service through our cable company. Soon, I’ll have to change over my email address and go through all of those hoops to get it all changed. I have SO many things tied to my email address, and its going to be a pain in the patoot to get it all switched over. I just hope that we don’t lose our Internet access for any length of time. I hate being without my Internet!

So, that’s my gripe for today. And it’s also a segue into today’s Question of the Day: Do you have cable or satellite TV? Do you have memorized the channel numbers of your favorite channels, or do you just surf through the channels? Also, do you get your internet service through your cable company, your phone company, or another way? We are going to look at changing to satellite later this year, so inquiring minds want to know!

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  1. Susanne Said,

    We have satellite. I love it. You can arrange your channels the way you want into categories such as “Favorites”, “Movies”, etc. You can pause & rewind live TV, you can record programs. To me it doesn’t compare to cable.

  2. Heidi Said,

    Comcast did that to us a couple months ago. I still don’t know all the channels, but I do know my favorite ones. We just have analog cable. We don’t feel the need to have more than 70 channels, lol.

    Did they send you a pamphlet with the channels? Those are helpful.

  3. Debi Said,

    OH that would drive me crazy too!! Gosh, that’s frustrating! We have cable and I have memorized the channels for a lot of them – Lifetime, CBS, NBC, USA Network. We have around 78 channels and I have most of them memorized. We also get our internet through the same cable company.

  4. Susie Said,

    We have DirecTv, and we really love it. It’s a good thing, too, ’cause it ain’t cheap. I’m sorry that Comcast is getting all crazy on you. You’re having a bad month with electronics, aren’t you? 🙁

  5. Cam Said,

    What a pain! I don’t blame you for being perturbed. If they didn’t send you a little card that has the new channel lineup, you might be able to get one off of their website. Those help a lot!

    QOTD: We have satellite, Dish Network specifically. It’s cheaper than cable (here, anyway) and we get more channels. I don’t have them all memorized, but I have my favorites memorized.

    We get our internet service through the cable company, but we don’t pay for it. We were always too cheap to pay for anything but dialup, but a couple of years ago, one of Philip’s business associates got tired of always getting a busy signal when he tried to call. So he offered to pay for Philip to get a cable modem, and he pays for it every month–it’s now part of their contract with each other! Sweet deal, huh? And get this…when the cable guy came to hook up the internet connection, he ended up also turning on the cable that runs to our TV…so we get some of the cable channels on our TV-namely, the local channels, which is great because we don’t get local channels through our satellite (unless we pay extra).

  6. Dawn Said,

    i have digital cable. Bright House has a feature that you can tag channels as “favorites” & scroll through just those if you want to. i use that feature a lot. i am skeptical about satellite where i live because of the severe weather we are prone to for much of the year. so i stick with cable, even though it means i can’t get the NFL & now, the MLB special packages. i would rather get virtually guaranteed service. i have had very few issues with Bright House over the last five years.

    i have the package they offer that is digital cable, DVR, cable internet & phone service. i’ve had very good luck with Bright House, so i’m pretty comfortable with that decision & the price is right. 😉

  7. Marianne Said,

    We switched to Direct TV from Comcast just over a year ago — I love it (I truly, truly hate Comcast, but that’s a rant for another day). We have all the channels we want, and it’s less expensive. The picture is great. And … they introduced me to TiVo for which I am eternally grateful.

  8. Michael-Lover of Amy Said,

    We are stuck with Comcast because of the dependence on the DVR. We could not live without it. Amy records about 3 cooking shows a day plus Rachel Ray’s talk show and Days of our Lives. I record 24, wrestling, ER, Las Vegas, and a few other random shows. I think the only other reason to keep our current package is the upcoming final semi-season of the Sopranos.

    Recently they took away about 5 of our more-watched channels, the extra west coast feeds of the HBO and Encore channels. We get our internet through Comcast as well. I keep hearing Clark Howard say how inexpensive high-speed net access is in Europe and that it should be here too, damn monopolies.

    Our house has a Dish but I’m not sure for which network, but it will always be an option. The lady who lived here before us uses it and then went back to cable.

    I appreciate you stopping over at Valtool’s Box. In addition to the strep I have been dealing with a 50ft red oak that fell over behind our house this morning. I am pretty positive it’s all on our neighbor’s property including the root system, though it sits outside their fenced backyard. I went over and cleared the debris from their driveway. and I got my boss’ chainsaw and started working on the log itself. The neighbors are both high school teachers and I was able to reach the wife right after it happened, but I like that I can try to help them out. I even got a removal estimate to cut and remove and it was $350, so I figure Dave and I can knock it out on our own and save them the money.

  9. Karla Said,

    Comcast recently bought out Time Warner…our cable provider. ICK!

    I can’t stand cable and we are counting the days until we can subscribe to DirecTV. For three years, we have been FORCED to have cable because there is too much tree coverage and the satellite does not have clearance. BUT…this Summer we are moving and will be able to put up our dish once again!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

  10. violetlady Said,

    Well, anything electronic in my home is a constant challenge to my husband and me. We have had a DVD player that was a gift to us for several years and have never figured out how to hook it up.
    We have had satellite (Direct TV) and we have had Comcast which we now have. Our internet is through Verizon, the phone company. That is a constant problem. I remember switching from satellite because they no longer carried a station that I wanted. Right now I am considering downgrading our Comcast service because we don’t need all the channels. We know the channels we watch and the others — well, it’s just surfing.

  11. Debi Said,

    Oh no! That just stinks! I would be thrown into a tizzy. Yep, I just know the numbers of the channels I watch most (which by the way, pretty much match up to the ones you mentioned-the networks, History, Discovery, TLC, Biography, Sleuth, etc.). I do use the guide a lot though (NOT the TV Guide channel thingie, but the really cool one that has everything on it for the coming week along with info about each episode). It’s satellite. And we love it!
    Get our Internet through our phone company though.

  12. Laura Said,

    We have Dish Network, just the basic stuff, and it’s pretty bad. The signal cuts out a lot and we have to wipe snow/leaves off the dish. As you know I don’t watch much TV, but even for us it’s annoying. We’ve looked into cable but it’s so much more expensive.

  13. gail Said,

    We have cable and for the most part I have the channels memorized, although I have been known to surf on rare occasion!
    My internet is through our cable, but you know that because you’ve heard me gripe about it often enough~

  14. Lynne Said,

    We were recently switched from Adelphia to Comcast. Dom is the only one who watches TV and he just surfs through all the channels. He has a few that he knows and watches most often. They did send out a new channel guide which helped.

    Our internet is through Comcast also. Three times this past week I had trouble. I wound up having to get a new modem and new cable wire. Knock on wood, it’s working now. My Adelphia e-mail account changed to Comcast, with the same address (except it’s now comcast.net) and the same password. But I never use that account. I have one with yahoo that I use all the time.

  15. Suzanne Said,

    Now that’s a hot button topic if I ever saw one! We pay WAY TOO MUCH for CABLE, comcast, and I just noticed my neighbor has a Dish. I haven’t begun to investigate, however, the pricing. I have several numbers memorized, but not many. Look online to see if their lineup is up to date.
    I have Comcast now as a Internet provider, I switched from AT&T, a neighbor said it was faster. It was a pain to get comcast to get me figured out. At least you have an expert living there. !

  16. Kathy M Said,

    DirecTv for tv, but comcast for internet. LOVE the directv but hate it when they change the channels around. They seem to do that once a year–not as bad as you experienced.

  17. Southern Girl Said,

    We have cable — Comcast, to be exact, newly changed over from Time Warner, which I bet is what you had before Comcast, too, huh? They haven’t changed our channel line-up, but then I don’t have digital cable anymore – just basic cable. A couple months ago, I turned in the digital cable box, ’cause I realized I hardly ever watched those channels. Of course, the basic cable channel line-up is totally different from the digital, so I was left not knowing where anything was. My solution was to type up a list of the channels in tiny font, print it out, cut it out as small as possible and paste it on the back of the remote. So if I can’t remember where TNT is, all I have to do is turn over the remote. 🙂

  18. Claire Said,

    ARRRGGGGG! I agree! What is this? I’ve got a few figured out but am searching for others.

  19. Kim Said,

    Hey Stacy! We have digital cable. I quit trying to memorize the lineup since Charter changes them around so often. I just use the guide on the screen. I record most of what I watch with the DVR (works like Tivo). Our internet is through the cable company also, but I use Gmail for my email so we don’t have to change email addresses every time we move. I like the way it looks on the screen, the folder options, and the large memory. I like having the high speed internet through the cable because we have Vonage for our phone now, and it is so very much cheaper than traditional phone service. I can make long distance calls all day and they are free.

    Have a great weekend!

  20. Judi Said,

    I guess you have some crappy luck this month with your electronics, huh? We have regular cable. We are thinking of going digital though. We have Comcast. I memorize my favorite channels and punch in the numbers. Hubby however cruises through each channel until he comes to his favorite which drives be batty!

  21. southernfriedgirl Said,

    I have cable and cable internet which I love. I have a horrible DirecTV story for you if you want.

    In a nutshell, I would like Mr. DirecTV’s head on a stick to decorate my backyard.

    Oh, and I have some channels memorized but I am a scroller anyway.

  22. deb Said,

    I harbor a special hatred for our cable company. I’ll even name it – Charter Communications. We subscribe to digital cable tv, lease a DVR as well as using their internet connection. I gave up on keeping track of the tv channels…I just let Scott deal with it.

    We’ve talked about getting satellite but I don’t want to go through the hassle of switching. It’s hard to do when we both work all day…one of us would have to take a vacation day just to be home to do it.

    I turned off our land line. All we use now are our cell phones. That cut out one monthly bill which helped a lot 🙂

    Hope you’re having a good weekend, Stacy!

  23. Gibby Said,

    We had satellite, but we cancel in protest. They were raising our rates and taking away the channels we like from the cheaper package.

  24. mamichelle Said,

    Yeah, we’re not totally thrilled with comcast either. We have everything but phone through them. The only really nice thing is, we don’t pay a dime!! My mom works for them (and hates it) so it’s half priced or something like that and she pays the bill.

    We’ve thought about switching the phone service too because she can get it really cheap but when cable is down, so is your phone service. I guess it’s no biggie since we all have cell service through another carrier.

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