NOTE: This post was written on Monday, but seeing as I have not had internet to upload the picture and post it online, I am just now getting it up. You can assume my access to the outside world is back - I will update later. Enjoy!
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A Tree is Ruining My Life!!!!!!!! I know, that sounds dramatic. But its semi-true! This tree...
...has really wrecked the last week of my life. And its all because I tried to tighten up my budget and save money - punished for trying to be fiscally responsible. Don't laugh.
I did a lot of research last week and found that if I dropped Verizon and joined DirecTV for cable and Cox for internet, we could save $50 a month! That may not sound like a lot of money, but its the lottery for us this spring. So, I did what any normal person would do. I had Verizon disconnect on Saturday morning before the DirecTV dude was set to come install it that day. We knew we would have to wait until Tuesday for the Internet, but a few days wouldn't kill us. Or so we thought.
I think the DirecTV installer spent less than 3 minutes on my balcony with his rusty compass and then just shook his head at The Tree. It was blocking the satellite so it just wasn't going to work out. I tried arguing, begging, anything, but he refused and left. So, then I did what any normal person would do at that point. I called every other possible provider in our area but none of them had reasonable rates. So then I did what any normal person would do at this point... I went crawling back to Verizon.
I HATE Verizon. And no, I'm not being dramatic and even though my mom taught me never to use the word "hate" I do mean it this moment when I say that I HATE VERIZON AND THEY (and The Tree) ARE RUINING MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!
Phew, okay, I think I can let it go now. Long and short is Verizon would not turn my cable and internet right back on and not only would they not give me their current promotional rate, they wouldn't give me my old rate AND they wouldn't come install it until Thursday night (this was 10am Saturday morning). ARGH!
So we missed the last bowl games, we missed the Redskins game, we missed the National Championship game and now we're 2 weeks behind on "our shows." Also, when we go home at night, there is no internet. We are completely cut off from the world.
Now, I had a revelation last night that perhaps Verizon and The Tree weren't ruining my life but giving me a few days to re-evaluate our priorities. I'll be honest, when Caleb and I get home at night, we turn on the tv. He watches tv while I make dinner, we watch a show together while we eat and then I usually catch up on something he doesn't like to watch while he studies or reads on his ipad. We haven't been able to do that the last few days.
Instead, we've eaten at the table together; we've talked about our days; we played with the dogs; read real books; straightened up around the house. It's been nice. Even last night when we sat in our living room together, just the lamps on listening eagerly to the radio broadcast of the national championship game, it was nice. I felt a little bit like an old person, but it was pretty fun.
I am in no way saying this will be the future of our lives. We need the internet to pay our bills, for Caleb to study for school, and for me to blog. But, it has been an interesting social experiment to prove that we can survive without it. So when I moan and complain on here in June that we still aren't eating at the dining room table, remind me to turn off cable and the internet for a few days.
It reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom really made an effort for us all to sit down as a family and eat around the table. TV off. As we got older things changed a bit and we couldn't always all be together or sometimes Monday Night Football was on mute, but we all tried to unplug for a few minutes and spend time as a family. Caleb and I don't have kids now (and none are in the near future!) but I am choosing to remember The Tree as a reminder about what is important. Would $50 a month have been nice... definitely. But as we start 2013, its important to keep our priorities straight and I want Caleb and I to start habits now that we continue whenever we do have a family, one of them being eating dinner together around the table without the tv.
How I got from yelling at a tree to thanking my mom for not letting us watch tv during dinner as kids... I'm not quite sure. Check back again in a few days when I (hopefully) have internet again and can post an entry on 2012 with pictures (that aren't taken on my phone and then uploaded using Starbucks' free internet in the city). Until next time!
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A Tree is Ruining My Life!!!!!!!! I know, that sounds dramatic. But its semi-true! This tree...
...has really wrecked the last week of my life. And its all because I tried to tighten up my budget and save money - punished for trying to be fiscally responsible. Don't laugh.
I did a lot of research last week and found that if I dropped Verizon and joined DirecTV for cable and Cox for internet, we could save $50 a month! That may not sound like a lot of money, but its the lottery for us this spring. So, I did what any normal person would do. I had Verizon disconnect on Saturday morning before the DirecTV dude was set to come install it that day. We knew we would have to wait until Tuesday for the Internet, but a few days wouldn't kill us. Or so we thought.
I think the DirecTV installer spent less than 3 minutes on my balcony with his rusty compass and then just shook his head at The Tree. It was blocking the satellite so it just wasn't going to work out. I tried arguing, begging, anything, but he refused and left. So, then I did what any normal person would do at that point. I called every other possible provider in our area but none of them had reasonable rates. So then I did what any normal person would do at this point... I went crawling back to Verizon.
I HATE Verizon. And no, I'm not being dramatic and even though my mom taught me never to use the word "hate" I do mean it this moment when I say that I HATE VERIZON AND THEY (and The Tree) ARE RUINING MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!
So we missed the last bowl games, we missed the Redskins game, we missed the National Championship game and now we're 2 weeks behind on "our shows." Also, when we go home at night, there is no internet. We are completely cut off from the world.
Now, I had a revelation last night that perhaps Verizon and The Tree weren't ruining my life but giving me a few days to re-evaluate our priorities. I'll be honest, when Caleb and I get home at night, we turn on the tv. He watches tv while I make dinner, we watch a show together while we eat and then I usually catch up on something he doesn't like to watch while he studies or reads on his ipad. We haven't been able to do that the last few days.
Instead, we've eaten at the table together; we've talked about our days; we played with the dogs; read real books; straightened up around the house. It's been nice. Even last night when we sat in our living room together, just the lamps on listening eagerly to the radio broadcast of the national championship game, it was nice. I felt a little bit like an old person, but it was pretty fun.
I am in no way saying this will be the future of our lives. We need the internet to pay our bills, for Caleb to study for school, and for me to blog. But, it has been an interesting social experiment to prove that we can survive without it. So when I moan and complain on here in June that we still aren't eating at the dining room table, remind me to turn off cable and the internet for a few days.
It reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom really made an effort for us all to sit down as a family and eat around the table. TV off. As we got older things changed a bit and we couldn't always all be together or sometimes Monday Night Football was on mute, but we all tried to unplug for a few minutes and spend time as a family. Caleb and I don't have kids now (and none are in the near future!) but I am choosing to remember The Tree as a reminder about what is important. Would $50 a month have been nice... definitely. But as we start 2013, its important to keep our priorities straight and I want Caleb and I to start habits now that we continue whenever we do have a family, one of them being eating dinner together around the table without the tv.
How I got from yelling at a tree to thanking my mom for not letting us watch tv during dinner as kids... I'm not quite sure. Check back again in a few days when I (hopefully) have internet again and can post an entry on 2012 with pictures (that aren't taken on my phone and then uploaded using Starbucks' free internet in the city). Until next time!
Hey! I popped over here from a comment you left and then noticed that you have not one but BOTH of my silly blogs on your sidebar. Thanks for that, you're awesome!
ReplyDeleteAlso, about the whole "unplugging" idea. Ryan's and my cable and internet went out a couple of months ago (due to a big storm if I remember correctly.) It was only three days but we had the exact same experience. We took long dog walks and get this...did a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle together. It was annoying at first but turned out to be nice little break in the end.
2000 pieces? That's crazy!!! I'll have to remember that the next time they predict a blizzard up here.
ReplyDelete