For days there has been no surfing, no CNN or MSNBC, no local news, no NASCAR race, and a tropical storm--Hermine--snuck up on us without my even knowing. All I can say is thank goodness for the internet.
Finding online news is easy. I learned out about Hermine from postings on Facebook from my favorite weather gurus. My NASCAR fix was satisfied by Justin.tv, where I was able to watch the races Saturday and Sunday nights. (See my NASCAR blog).
And I did enjoy catching up on some reading.
Taken by surprise
I never thought we would lose service, since we had just gotten a brand new HD system installed about two weeks ago. I couldn't have been happier at the time. We don't have an HD TV, but getting one has moved up on the priority list as something we "need."
Friday night, while watching TV, the screen went blank. We had lost the satellite connection. That was weird, since the upgrade we just got included a new dish, a right out-of-the box receiver, and new connectors at the dish. My husband John, did the techie thing -- he turned the receiver off and then on again. It worked.
Saturday morning, however, it didn't. He called Dish Network. Customer Service folks are all very nice, and helpful. I was excited because they said they would send out a technician that morning.
Great, I thought. In the past, and we have had this service for years, we had a much longer wait for needed service.
The tech, a nice young fellow, came out as promised, replaced some things that I don't even care to know about, let alone identify. He said it the receiver was bad and would need to be replaced. He would order it.
"You should get it tomorrow," he said, giving us his phone number. He instructed us to call him the minute it arrives. He will drop what he is doing and come over to hook it up.
I reminded him that tomorrow was Sunday and Monday was a holiday. I know UPS didn't deliver. He said FedEx might deliver on Sunday. I had my doubts. He said he would call when he found out something. That was the last we heard from him until he stopped by to pick up a tool he left here. He said he would come back Monday and replace all the cables from the dish to the back of the unit. We stayed around the house all weekend, waiting during what was arguably the most beautiful weekend this summer.
John called Dish Network Monday afternoon after not hearing a word from our tech. We now had no satellite service from Friday to Monday. They promised to send a technician out Tuesday between 8 a.m. and noon. It is 10 a.m. and I am waiting, and am not really happy.
If anyone has had a similar experience, leave a comment. Let me know how it turned out.
