Bhagwan @ Large

Enter the land of Sadness

Tivo has died.

Not cable, not cable service or the tuner card tivo uses to speak to them, but Tivo itself. Less than 24 hours after I removed the lesser of two boxes from the network, the greater of went kaput. Receives a signal, but refuses to recognize it. Still talks to the internet, still talks to all my computers, just not the cable company.

This makes me sad. Very sad.

Three hours of life support between me, the cable guy, the cable guy’s tech girl, and then eventually the Tivo guy can not restore the hearing and sight of my 27 month old box, 15 months out of warranty.

A replacement is available to me for the “bargain” price of $149, through tivo. this will come to me some ten days after I Ship my wounded soldier back to them. Alternately, I can consent to have a $300 hold placed on my credit card, have a new box shipped out immediately, then have all but $149 refunded to me upon receipt.

I paid $200 for the box in 2008. There is a math exercise here for those what know me. It goes something like this. Current value of a box that will record, but not receive channels is almost $0. I say almost, because it costs $13 out the door for the service I’m not receiving, and we derive benefit from the functions that still operate (amazon.com and netflix access). negative dollars plus perceived value is greater than 0. A quick replacement is $149, but Comcast had one at my house, for free, and hooked up inside 3 minutes.

Free is better than $149, but not better enough.

I’m currently scouring the intarwebs for any price less than 150, or greater than with better options. mind you, it could most likely be repaired, but any research down those lines must also come up sorter than $149.

I have 90 days to make up my mind. Damnit.

UPDATE: Have just this minute discovered that despite my strenuous objections, and contrary to their (Tivo’s) stated promises, I have already been charged for a replacement Tivo unit. apparently I no longer have an opinion on the subject that is not SUCK.

Current Plan end date = 09/20/2010. 7 X $13 (+7x $4 for the cable card from Comcast) = $119. 7 x $5 (the cost of the Comcast unit which will leave my house at any time) is $35. Added together they do not equal the money I’ve just been charged to do nothing.

Rage…building…

January 5, 230

Not a typo.

Weighed in for the first time in two months, and was neither surprised nor pleased by the result. I haven’t lost an ounce. On the bright side, I haven’t gained any weight since November, but that’s hardly the point.

I currently weigh 230 lbs.

Again.

Three years ago today I weighed exactly 50 lbs less. Two years ago I weighed 50 lbs less. Last year, the number was 40.

To say I am not happy with the results of 2009 would be an understatement. Things more or less went down hill right after that last post, when I ran out of money. Eating habits change dramatically when you can’t buy what you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

By April, I was buying new pants.

I’m wearing them now. They are among the only clothes I have that fit, and this. Must. Change.

No matter what size shoulders I have, 230 lbs is not acceptable. Long-term readers may remember that this was originally my goal weight, at which time I spent a great deal of money on suits that would now fit me, had I not given them away. Especially when compared to the low point of 165 (July, 07).

There are two very apparent reasons for this. One, I’m eating too much of things I should not. I’m not maintaining discipline in my life, sliding here, sliding there, and it adds up. I still eat 4 meals a day, and for the most part, they are responsible ones. But all it takes is one extra snack, one meal larger than it should be, and the body remembers.

Remembers being homeless, starving, 140 lbs. Remembers being so cold on a park bench that no amount of shivering could warm us up, so we just kept walking, eating grapefruit picked from the tree and boiling a 1 dollar bag of rice in stages so it would last all week.

Two, I made a (correct) decision to adopt a gluten-free lifestyle in May of last year. This in and of itself was not an issue, but exploring other food options to replace bread led me back to free-range carbs such as potatoes, chocolate, and butter. these are among my favorite things, and so easily did my body welcome them back into my life. Discovering how to have pizza again, gluten-free beers, mashed potatoes, cake, cookies…

This is why I can’t have nice things.

I am on notice. I have put myself there. 50 lbs by Opening Day. That’s three months from now, and I have a closet full of not cheap sporting apparel that will thank me for it.

After all, Opening Day 2006 was the decision to start losing weight in the first place.

Packing responsible, not-snacky lunches all this week. Baked a fresh loaf of bread last night, and took care to slice it as thin as possible with my hands and knife. menu items planned for the rest of the week, new cycle starting on Monday.

It’s time for change.

This has been your state of the Bhagwan address. Expect more, or rather, less.