The Cable TV Debacle
I decided to add cable channels so I’d have them at least through election time. That’s when I’ll want to have a news channel on.
My son-in-law and I both tried hooking it up last Saturday with what Cox Cable sent me. But we got nowhere.
Appointment With Cox Cable:
So I made an appointment with Cox Cable, as I carry the insurance where they have to come out and fix things at no extra charge.
They no longer use Cox Cable employees to come to your home to fix things. They use separate contractors. So I had no idea who he was from his truck signage. Didn’t much like that.
He said Cox decided that it is too expensive to insure and license their own employees. So now they contract the work out.
It took him 3 hours to get things running. Every time he’d get one of my two TVs going, the other one would go out. Finally they had to go to my account and completely redo it.
How Could Things Have Gotten So Messed Up?
I don’t quite understand that. But they said there was some error that was keeping things from working.
He said he’d never seen such a mess trying to get cable TV going. He changed boxes 3-4 times on each TV.
And I finally ended up with one of those big ones from yesteryear in the living room because he ran out of boxes to try.
He said the boxes they mailed to me didn’t work. Don’t they test those things?
He Couldn’t Remember His Mask:
The whole thing was unsettling. The guy kept taking off his mask and walking toward me.
Then I’d have to get up (of course I had my mask on) and move away from him and stop him from moving toward me. I held Charlie the whole time.
That was nerve-wracking enough. He kept saying he was sorry, that he kept forgetting to put his mask on.
Well, I thought to myself a number of times, then just leave if you can’t remember. This is ridiculous.
Covid Cases:
The numbers of Covid cases are skyrocketing all over this country. When on earth are the powers that be going to figure out that this scenario isn’t working?
That if they send children to school in this environment they might as well just strap bombs to their little bodies before they go in the door.
I wish a woman was running this country. A mother. Because I have a feeling her interests would be leaning toward the safety of children instead of to politics or money. At least that would be my hope.
Trying to wish this catastrophe away obviously isn’t doing any of us any good. And the number of deaths just keep rising at a very alarming rate.
Beyond Tired:
I’d gotten so little sleep that when I woke up yesterday morning my back, my hands and shoulders and my ankle were already throbbing before I even got out of bed.
I stumbled through the day on the verge of exhaustion. And having someone in here that I constantly had to move away from because he kept forgetting to keep his distance made me nervous.
Well, now it isn’t working again in the bedroom and they are coming out on Friday between 3-5. Oh, joy.
I wish I’d never started it now. He was the first person who has been in my apartment except for my daughters in all these months.
Frustration:
The man was nice, but obviously forgetful. He kept having to call the office and I understand taking a mask off for that. And I understand that he was very frustrated over the whole thing.
But put the mask back on for heaven’s sake. Especially when you’re less than 6 feet from me, which should not be happening in the first place.
Then after he was finally gone I couldn’t recall all that he’d touched because he’d been here for 3 hours. And I wasn’t even with him when he was back in the bedroom.
Sanitizing:
So I went around trying to sanitize what I thought he might have touched. And finally I just burst into tears over the whole episode.
Ah well, a good cry seems to make things better, doesn’t it? And I finally got a good night’s sleep last night. I went to bed before it even got dark.
Brenda, This was reported August 5th. It is encouraging news.
New coronavirus cases staying low
Meanwhile, the number of new COVID-19 cases in New York State continues to remain low with less than 1% of people who were tested Tuesday showing a positive result, Cuomo said Wednesday.
Cuomo said 636 of the 72,668 tests were positive, or 0.87%. The numbers were slightly higher on Long Island and in New York City where, respectively, 1.2% and 1% of COVID-19 tests given Tuesday yielded a positive result.
“Our progress is thanks to the hard work of New Yorkers — even after two and a half months of reopening, the numbers have continued to go down,” Cuomo said in a statement.
By Lisa L. Colangelo and Matthew Chayes
[email protected], [email protected] @lisalcolangelo
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
Hey Brenda, you can real time livestream MSNBC, CNN, Fox, whatever your cup of tea on LiveNewsNow.com or Streamfare.Net w/out paying for a cable subscription. Once I figured out how to watch it all online, I dumped cable and use a streaming device to watch Youtube or whatever. Saving $60.00 mo.
Brenda,
I think everyone who has cable has had these problems. I call it one of life’s universal problems. Last week the search engine Edge from Microsoft was automatically downloaded to our laptop and our big desktop in lieu of their old Explorer program. Well, it was a disaster for our laptop! I have Geek squad insurance and called up Best Buy to make an appointment to bring the laptop in. Three days later I make the 45 minute drive to Olympia. I mask up and go to the door; a nice young woman directs me to the Geek squad area where I stand in line. A few minutes later, I’m handing my laptop over to the tech. I explain the issue and what the problems are. I ask him what day it will be ready. He looks at me and says, You drove up from Elma? I was surprised, most young people don’t seem to notice much. Turns out, he has an Aunt that raises heritage sheep and Llamas for their wool in our county. Long story short, I have met her through their fiber guild festival. Suggested I might do an hours worth of shopping… I came back and he said NO CHARGE! I tipped him with a gift card usable for any retailer within the mall. He fixed everything and explained how screwed up everything the app was! He bemoans how technology can victimize seniors …ME Kids are more astute and accepting of senior’s deficiencies with today’s technology! He charged me nothing! Said it was a ten minute fix, but had many before me… What a gracious gentleman! God Bless!
maybe this would work for you.
https://www.roku.com/products/roku-ultra
I have Roku. That’s one reason it made things complicated for me. Too many remotes to deal with.
Brenda, I am so sorry for your awful experience!! I went to WalMart yesterday, albeit reluctantly, and could not believe the number of people without masks. I asked one woman to please put one on and she said ‘I cannot hear you with your mask on’. Of course she had planned this response and was defiant. She then stalked me and gave me dirty looks. My husband told me I am going to get shot here in ‘conceal and carry’ Trumpville. I am sorry, but this *is* political. The anti-maskers are simply emulating 45. I am so angry on our behalves. I refuse to compromise when it comes to health.
I’m sure you saw the obit of the wife who blamed her husband’s death on those who refuse to wear a mask. (couldn’t paste here) I feel the exact same way.
Sorry to be to angry, but damn. Peggy
Stop being angry at people who don’t wear masks, as long as you are wearing your mask then consider the non-mask wearers “Walking Dead”!
Oh, Brenda. I’m so sorry you had to go through that experience. I understand your frustration with the service person. They should know the “guidelines” and follow them. I purchased some disposable masks and gloves off Amazon just in case someone needs to come into our home. I understand that wouldn’t have prevented him from taking the mask off but if he had gloves it may have been one less concern. The situation we are in is unsettling and it’s hard to see through to the other side. Your blog posts give me comfort by helping me feel less alone and I hope your writings help you as well. Feelings are all valid and I’m thankful for your willingness to share yours…. I know I have many of the same ones.
I’m so sorry to live in such FEAR! You have asked people to be nice in responding to your thoughts and to your blog; but I found your comments to be terribly incendiary when you said: “Covid Cases:
The numbers of Covid cases are skyrocketing all over this country. When on earth are the powers that be going to figure out that this scenario isn’t working?
That if they send children to school in this environment they might as well just strap bombs to their little bodies before they go in the door.
What an awful thing to say and to leave for us to visualize. There is really NO excuse for it.
Well, since this is Brenda’s blog, she can pretty much say exactly what she wants to say. And, if it offends your sensibilities, don’t read her blog. Simple.
She is right. Covid cases are skyrocketing all over the country, and people are dying at an alarming rate. Unless the powers that be get together and listen to the scientists, and act accordingly, it isn’t going to get any better before cold and flu season hits.
It is how I feel. This is my blog. Just don’t read it if it offends you. What deeply offends me is over 150,000 needless deaths. The federal response has been abysmal.
You’ve missed my point. The part of strapping bombs to children….think about what you wrote…
I did think about it. And it seemed apt to me. Please don’t tell me what to write on my my own blog. That is not your place.
I agree ,She can say whatever she chooses And she is 100% correct,We have no leadership what so ever on this
are you kidding don’t order cable if you’re so afraid of this fake virus
Are you referring to the fake virus that has killed 160,000 people so far?
oh that’s terrible. My mum’s phone (she is 85) went blank the other day and she has a pacemaker connected to it all. The technician’s upgraded her almost to emergency level and came the next day. She too was all masked up (she struggles to breathe in them) but they didn’t even need to come inside which was so good to hear.
We have just gone into six weeks total lockdown here in Melbourne Australia with a curfew also. Its incredible. We have had almost 250 deaths Australia wide and Melbourne’s infection rate keeps increasing so this is the only way the premier feels we shall get on top of it. Everything is closed except supermarket, pharmacy and bare essential services. We had a point of zero infection rates but there was a major quarantine breach (any traveller from overseas was in mandatory hotel quarantine at the expense of the state) however the security guards were inexperienced, no infection control and some even slept with the guests. They then took it home to their families and it spread. What a debacle.
Please take care now and I hope the issue is resolved soon for you.
Hello Brenda, I could not agree more, a good cry seems to help anything. It is so frustrating, technology, people and the world. Frankly I would not let anyone in the house. Surely there is some other way to see the chanels you are interested in.
I cannot remember if I asked you this before, if so, I forgot. Do you have a recommendation for someone to migrate from Blogger to WordPress? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I do not want to lose 9 years of blogging. Thank you
Have a great night.
This is who moved my blog from Blogger to WordPress…https://moonsteamdesign.com/
I hate the new technology we have these days. It’s more of a pain in the butt than it is being able to have all these channels, etc at our disposal. My mom doesn’t even have a TV and doesn’t want one. I can’t say I don’t blame her. I can’t even tell you last time I turned on my TV. I don’t think I’ve watched it the entire summer.
Anyway, back in April we had to have AT&T come into our house for a modem/internet problem. This guy didn’t have a mask on at first either (!!) and I asked him to put one on. And the problem ended up taking HOURS and even having to do things with the neighborhood wiring outside. I agree it is very nerve-racking to have a stranger in your house like that, especially for a long time. I absolutely hate it.
I hope you get some better rest tonight.
I watch News on my wifi on tablet or laptop. I want nothing to do with cable! Yes I would get better internet through my local cable but it is so expensive and I have huge amount of data through ATT & it is less than $42 a month compared to about $150 to get best internet thru cable. Could go lower package but they hit up for overages and right now, 2 years later with ATT I haven’t even EVER come close to overage. So I live with what I got and pay a lot less.
I watch all news channels on my IPAD. All you need is wifi. No need to mess with cable and their crazy service and prices.
I keep forgetting to tell you about an interesting show we stumbled across on the Fox business channel called Strange Inheritance. My husband’s cousins have a lot of treasures from the family but I only have a few pieces from my family. At least we have memories.
Technology has gotten no nasty that even the “pros” can’t figure things out any more. I’m glad that things are – sort of – working, and I don’t understand why you need two separate boxes? What kind of boxes are they? I had my own awful recent experience with technology. Saturday night everything was fine, internet and phone (land line) working. Get up Sunday morning – nothing. Phone totally dead, no internet on computer. I don’t have a cell phone so I couldn’t even call somebody! I checked the phone line every couple of hours and about 7:15 p.m. after being out more than 12 hours, there was a dial tone. I quick turned on the computer. I had reception for about 15-20 minutes and then it died again. Was out more than half the day Monday and then about 1:30 p .m. Monday it decided to come back on. I can’t figure out what’s going on. I have no idea if it’s the internal wiring or some problem outside, but even if I knew, I could not “fix” it myself! Decided I absolutely need to break down and get a cell phone. So yesterday I took 2 buses to get to the nearest Target where there is a Consumer Cellular, intent upon buying a phone, signing up for their AARP discounted service and having the service turned on then and there. Except the Consumer Cellular representative is no longer at that Target, or most of the other Targets in my area. The young clueless fellow behind the counter said that the company pulled most of it’s representatives out of the Target stores on July 1st. It would have been nice if EITHER the Target website or the Consumer Cellular website had STATED THIS! The two remaining representatives are in Target stores far beyond the reach of any public transportation, which I am limited to since I do not drive (never learned, so even if I had access to a car it would be useless to me). Still had internet service when I got back home so I went online and bought a phone and signed up for the service. I was very nervous taking the bus but 3 of the 4 rides there was hardly anybody on the bus and people had their masks on. The 4th ride, the transfer ride going back home – fortunately only 5 minutes long. There were more than 10 people on the bus but the driver let me and I was glad but also anxious; the next bus would have not come until 50 minutes later. I guess I look like a harmless old lady and he felt sorry for me? I really don’t want to go on the bus again, but when you don’t drive you have little choice how to get around if it’s too far to walk to where you need to go. Oy!
They told me some of the problems I’ve been having with my internet going out is because people are working from home now.
So sorry you had to go through that experience and nothing working to boot. It does affect your mind and body. I do feel for the poor workers who answer the phone. Our county had a tornado, 8.42” of rain, flooding and power outages from the tropical storm yesterday. We didn’t have much damage. Just saw on t.v. In our county a road washed out stranding 7 homes. They are all fine and made a pulley system over the 20 foot, maybe 10 feet wide gulley to get food and supplies in and out. I can’t even imagine how or when they will be rescued. Wishing everyone peace and health.
Brenda, I completely understand your frustration and worry. I had a similar experience when a maintenance man came to my place at the beginning of this Covid pandemic. I live in Miami, and there is no way that I will let anyone in my home now.
On the subject of cable, you said you wanted to have news channels for the upcoming election. Sling is great for me as it has CNN and a number of other channels that I enjoy. Best of all, no one has to enter my home.
Take care.
I tried Sling. The channel I watched kept going out on Sling.
That was an awful ordeal for you to go through! The guy was probably very nervous and frustrated because he was having a hard time setting everything up and that is why he kept forgetting the mask! I’m sure you were overwhelmed trying to sanitize everything! I hope when someone comes back on Friday things go better!
Fixed that problem. I got the one in the living room working and took back the gear for the bedroom to the store. I’ll just have it in one room and won’t have to have anyone come back.
Peg said what I thought ~ file a complaint! I’m glad you finally got some sleep ~
Glad you had a good cry and finally got some sleep! What a horrible experience!
Unfortunately all of these cable/phone/internet companies are the same. They just want your money, but no one know how to do anything or fix anything, or answer a question not on their Checklist. It is a complete nightmare.
Yes, Brenda, sometimes a good cry clears things up. With all that’s going on, things get on my nerves more than usual and I need to step back and try to regain a renewed perspective. Good for you for keeping your distance and for reminding the cable man to do the same. I will say, it sure takes time to learn new habits and methods of interacting with others. I hope you get your cable working correctly. I have a small house with an antennae on the roof but here in Southeast Michigan I can pull in channels from Detroit, Canada and Ohio and parts north of me. And then I have the old-fashioned disks mailed from Netflix. Hugs to all.
And that is why I don’t have cable. When I first moved here, I had the predecessor of what they now call Spectrum. I went through three cable boxes the first year! They would screw up the wiring when connecting or disconnecting other tenants (apartment complex). And each time I had to be off work to be here during the service “window” or go to their office to exchange the box. I positively do not have the patience to deal with them again. Ever. But I hope that after you went through all that, you have what you set out for.
Brenda, that whole situation is unacceptable. Call Cox Cable and file a complaint.