Setting up new TV (our first dealings with HD), 'Star Trek', 'Lake Tahoe', 'Californication', 'Humboldt County', Black Friday patrol, 'Stranded', 'Dead Like Me', 'Long Way Down'

(posted from home)
(This post covers 17 – 30 November, 2009)

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Monday, 30 November-

Today I had some office work to do and calls to make. I also spent time checking out the Cyber Monday deals and did find a good deal on iWork for my MacBook Pro ($55 for the normally-$99 Family Pack). I'm working on the longer-range plan of converting from Windows to Mac in our household and so I'm spending lots of time on the Apple website and in various Mac forums.
No walk today because of my toe. It's going to be a few days.
I started watching Disk One of 'Long Way Down', a motorcycle adventure-touring tv series. Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman ride BMW 1200GS bikes from the north tip of Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa.

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Sunday, 29 November-

Today I did my regular Sunday thing. I rode the motorcycle to the Tollgate Starbucks for a nice, long, leisurely read of the Sunday paper accompanied by a cappucino and an iced passion tea.
I then took a walk-jog at Rocky Ridge Park. My regular route has changed slightly but if anything it's a tad longer given that a trail closure forces me to take a more circuitous (though pleasant enough) route to rejoin the route on the other side of the closed segment.
My strategy for the last several visits has been to walk the uphills and jog the downhills. If I jog the uphills, I end up slowing down to the point where I can walk that fast. Walking gives me a break from the pounding and a bit of variety.
The strategy allowed me to set a new record for my course today--- a 1:18 total. I did have a problem, though. On the last segment of the course I accidently kicked a rock very hard. I didn't break my toe. By the time I got home I had to limp into the house and that evening the toe was throbbing so I had to take Ibuprofen.
I watched two more episodes of 'Dead Like Me'-Season One. Love it!


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Saturday, 28 November-

I spent the morning on the web, still trolling for uber-bargains without luck. Around lunch time I rode the Concours to town to return videos, then drop in to Starbucks to read the Times.
Back home I spent the better part of an hour talking to Labashi (at her Mom's house in Michigan) via Skype. Her Mom's knee replacement went well and recovery seems to be well underway.
I spent the latter part of the day updating the blog. I decided to skip the walk today and push a bit harder tomorrow.

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Friday, 27 November-

I took a quick spin around the Webosphere 'bargain' sites but again saw nothing interesting. I also restarted our Netflix membership and rebuilt our movie queue. I had cancelled last August just before leaving for the Oregon Trail trip. Since returning home we've been picking up movies from our local California Video store and sometimes from Blockbuster but the pickings are getting thin and Blockbuster raised prices. I can get a month of movies from Netflix for the cost of a weekend of movies from Blockbuster.
As part of my Netflix restart I wanted to try Instant Movies on the Mac (looks good!). I think I found a new series for us. I watched the pilot for 'Dead Like Me' and loved its wit.
That afternoon I took along a few Wal-mart bags on my walk and picked up roadside trash. I filled eight bags and dropped them along the road as they filled, then went back later in Mocha Joe and picked them up. I still have more to do.
That evening I watched 'Stranded' on DVD. This is the story of the 1972 plane crash in the Andes where the survivors were forced to resort to cannabalism to live the 72 days to their rescue. The story was told years ago in the book 'Alive'. The documentary-film version relies heavily on recent interviews with survivors.

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Thursday, 26 November -


I spent the morning looking for Black Friday bargains but didn't find anything interesting. Late in the morning I drove to Maypo's home in Chambersburg for a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
No walk today.


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Wednesday, 25 November -

After reading about Black Friday specials, I spent much of today web shopping and researching Netflix-capable devices (like Roku). It soon became apparent that the good stuff isn't making the Black Friday list. You can get a Blu-Ray player on sale but not one that streams Netflix instant movies.
I went in to Blockbuster to return DVDs coming due this weekend (in case I want to stay over) and then walked-six.

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Tuesday, 24 November-

This morning I walked up to the garage to pick up Mocha Joe. Ol' Joe needed brakes, rotors, and front shocks and could use a set of tires. It seems like I just bought that set of tires but come to think of it that was July 2008 and I put 16K on them going to Alaska, 6K to Florida last winter, and 12K to Oregon and Texas since then. Still, it seems early for tires, particularly given the replacements along the way. I might get another 10K if I push it to the wear-bars but I don't think that's wise given some of the conditions I get into on the road.
I spent a few hours on the Web researching tires. I also have been reading about routers since I'm thinking of replacing my ancient g-router which is giving us some hassles.
I walked-six before dark and that evening finished 'Humboldt County' on DVD.


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Monday, 23 November -

Maypo must have over-loaded my head yesterday. I woke in the wee hours and couldn't get back to sleep. I got up shortly after 0300, dressed, and went to the new Giant supermarket to pick up a few items. (I ought to do that more often. There wasn't any problem with crowded roads nor was there a line at the supermarket!)
I stopped in for a cappucino at McDonald's (not bad!) on the way home and felt good. When daylight came I drove Mocha Joe up to my local garage for today's inspection and walked home (it's only about a mile).
I did catch a short nap before lunch and that afternoon did my six-miler. That evening I started 'Humboldt County' on DVD but faded out quickly. I ended up abandoning the movie about a third of the way through.


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Sunday, 22 November -

I spent the day with Maypo today here at my house. We drove in to Panera for lunch and then worked on my electrical problem with the front pole light (looks like I've gotta run a new line out to the pole). We covered a lot of ground in our conversations as we worked. It was great to have him here and get his opinions and tap into his expertise.
No walk today.


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Saturday, 21 November -


This morning I spent a few hours cleaning up the house for my visitor tomorrow, then drove into town to continue researching Blu-Ray players and home-theater systems, trying to find a good mix (not to mention a good price).
The sound on the new TV is tinny. Consumer Reports rated it 'Fair' and it's okay with the sound set to 'Clear Sound' but not when it's set to 'Dynamic'. I don't think I really want a home theater system, just a decent set of stereo speakers. I pulled a set of powered computer speakers out of storage and after running down an RCA-to-1/8”-plug cable at Radio Shack I have at least a temporary solution but if I found the right deal on something fancier I might jump on it.
I also learned this morning that my cheapo Sony DVD player is the source of an edge-lighting problem on the screen of the new TV. Thank goodness. I was afraid I'd have to return it and then what do you do if the new one does the same? In the meantime I had signed up for High Def Forum to start posting questions to others with some experience with these units but that now appears not to be needed.
That afternoon I walked and jogged the five-mile course at Rocky Ridge Park, then dropped in at the nearby Texas Roadhouse for ribs.
That evening I finished the first season of 'Californication. Yep, I like it.

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Friday, 20 November -

I continued researching and adjusting the HD tv today and figured out how to connect-up the other TVs in the house. The trick was to use the component connections rather than the HDMI connections.
After my regular walk I watched 'Lake Tahoe', an interesting little Mexican film. The New York Times reviewer gets it right (IMHO) when she says of it: “So different from the usual fare that it might have arrived from a different galaxy.” Indeed.
I also watched the first disk of 'Californication'- Season One. I don't know yet. I THINK I like it. It's a morality tale in an immorality/amorality wrapper.

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Thursday, 19 November -

This morning I had my somewhat-dreaded appointment with my urologist, Dr. Baselli. The dreaded part is the thought of what it will mean if the latest CT scans show any significant change to the growth on my kidney. But it turned out there's no significant change. I will have to come back in eight months for a follow-up scan but otherwise, there's no reason for concern.
While in town I picked up some DVDs at Blockbuster; 'Californication', 'Lake Tahoe', 'Humboldt County', and the new 'Star Trek'.
Back home, I fired up the new tv for the first time and began the process of finding the right combination of settings to suit me, taking a break late in the day for my six-miler.
That evening I watched 'Star Trek' and was disappointed, both in the movie and in my new tv. The movie plays in a super-wide-screen format which means there's quite a lot of black space above and below the picture.
The movie is too much a JJ Abrams knock-off of 'Lost'. The plotline had some interesting twists but at one point Spock uses the old Sherlock Holmes line: “Eliminate all other possibilities and the one that remains must be the truth, however unlikely”. Do they think nobody reads Sherlock Holmes any more?

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Wednesday, 18 November -

This morning I drove to Mechanisburg for my routine dental checkup and cleaning. Afterwards I went to the Best Buy to look for Apple gear and a Blu-Ray player capable of connecting to Netflix. I left empty-handed, though. Since we're so close to the Black Friday sales, I thought I should wait until next week.
On the way home I stopped in at the Blue Ridge Cable office to swap my set-top cable box of an HD-capable version and to sign up for additional HD channels on a six-month special offer.
I walked my six-mile loop late in the day and that evening picked up some cables for the television installation from the local Radio Shack. I spent the rest of the evening reading about the installation and trying to figure out how to avoid losing any of my existing capabilities while gaining the new HD capabilities.

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Tuesday, 17 November-

I spent much of the morning catching up and posting the blog update. In the afternoon I drove in to Sears to pick up our new television set (a smaller flat-screen) while Labashi prepared for her trip to her Mom's house tomorrow. She helped me unbox and install the television on its stand but we won't be connecting it up until tomorrow.
I walked-six late in the day, just before dark.


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Windshield replacement, back into daily walks, 'Sin Nombre', 'Eddie Izzard Live at Wembley'

(posted from home)
(This post covers 7 – 16 November, 2009)

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Monday, 16 November -

This morning I had my CT-scan for my appointment with my urologist later this week. This is a follow-up check on a kidney problem detected last year. My X-ray tech did a great job of making today's procedure a routine one.
Later that day I did my six-miler while Labashi worked in the yard (on this beautiful Indian Summer day) and then we picked up the television stand that evening at Hake's. On the way home we split a good filet mignon at the nearby Logan's Roadhouse restaurant.

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Sunday, 15 November-

Today we pulled out Labashi's 14' orchard ladder and began trimming the Canadian hemlocks which make up the border between us and the neighbors. We had to use both the pruning pole and pruning chainsaw (an 8-inch chainsaw on a 12-foot pole) to top the trees. The idea is to stop their vertical growth at about 16-18 feet.
Labashi also wanted to go buy the TV cart we had seen at Hake's later in the day. I double-checked the TV on the Sears website and found their price for the television we want has gone up $150! And, worse, a search of the internet revealed it's still the cheapest price available. It appears Sony (and everybody else) had kicked up the price and I had missed a great deal.
But I remembered the sale tag at our local store had said the sale is on through 11/28. I called the store and found their sale is still on even though the Sears.com site doesn't show it. And though they don't have any in stock, I could pick up one Tuesday at the store.
We buzzed in to Sears and bought the television, then dropped by Hake's to pick up the TV stand only to learn it's buried in the warehouse and we couldn't get it today.
Back home I walked-six and we finished up '30 Rock' Season Two.

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Saturday, 14 November -

Today we picked up a replacement speaker-phone at Staples ($28) and went looking for a tv stand. We're close to buying a television to replace our old Sony 27” CRT and have been putting off the buy because we've not seen anything acceptable. But I think we found it today at a local furniture store (Hake's on Route 74).
We then drove across town to have the excellent ribs at Texas Roadhouse and then grocery-shopped at the nearby Wal-mart.
I walked my six-mile loop and we tried watching 'Eddie Izzard at Wembley Live' but abandoned it due to boredom and switched to '30 Rock' episodes.

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Friday, 13 November -

Today's a rainy day thanks to Tropical Storm Ida's remnants. We're actually lucky in just getting some light rain while Virginia Beach and the Carolinas were really hit hard.
I spent much of my day on the Web. No walk today.
We watched 'Sin Nombre', an interesting and violent movie about a young immigrant couple trying to travel from Guatemala through gang-infested Mexico to the U.S. This one will make you feel lucky to live the life you're living.

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Thursday, 12 November -

I spent much of today researching a replacement for our antique Linksys router. We're having a lot of unexplained dropouts and lock-ups with our wireless connections and it's time for a technology upgrade anyway.
I also spent hours with SearchTempest, a Craigslist multi-city search engine. It's easy to get caught up in it given how easy it is to find all the ads within hundreds of miles on one search. I like to look for less-than-common things like Rokon two-wheel-drive motorcycles to see what's out there.
That afternoon I rode the Concours to Rocky Ridge park for a walk. I did my five-mile loop in 1:21 with a combination of fast-walking and jogging.
That evening we continued with '30- Rock' Season Two.


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Wednesday, 11 November -


Today I took Mocha Joe in for an oil change at Wal-mart. It seems like I was just in there a few months ago (I had the last one done in August) but on the other hand it's over 12,000 miles later. I'm still happy with the Mobil One oil and the thorough job Wal-mart does.
I also stopped at Tractor Supply, looking for a motorcycle hauler and shopped for a phone at Staples before heading home for my six-miler.



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Tuesday, 10 November -

Today I drove to Chambersburg for a tax appointment. After the meeting I had lunch at the local Fuddruckers and then met with the real-estate agent handling the house my brothers and I have for sale.
I made it back home in time (barely) to walk my six-mile loop before dark. Fie on this early-sunset stuff!

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Monday, 9 November -

I drove Mocha Joe into York for the windshield replacement this morning. While the three-hour installation was going on I walked over to the nearby Starbucks, then on to the Panera. I had my laptop along so the time went quickly. I see Panera is now changing their wi-fi policy to limit sessions to 30 minutes during lunch and supper times. I can't really blame them, given how many people I see using their laptops for extended times in busy Paneras. The 30-minute limit at the busiest times seems like a reasonable balance.
On the walk back to the shop I looked for a replacement telephone at Office Max (our ancient Panasonic wall phone died recently). After picking up the van I shopped for a phone at Wal-mart, then stopped at the local Toyota dealer to look at an FJ Cruiser on the lot. I can't believe they want $27K for a three-year-old FJ when new ones can be had for under $30K. In any case, I don't think I'm really an FJ-guy. I like the vehicle's looks but it wouldn't be all that useful to me. It's not big enough to live in (a la Mocha Joe) so I wouldn't have it where I'd need it, i.e., in the Florida sugar-sand or a Death Valley backcountry 4x4 trail.
I walked-six that afternoon.


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Sunday, 8 November -

After a morning patrolling the web news sites, I rode the Concours to the Tollgate Starbucks to exercise the bike and to read the papers. I like this particular Starbucks because it's not quite so busy and it has comfortable chairs for reading (unlike my regular Starbucks which took out the reading chairs to make room for more tables).
Later in the afternoon I walked my six-mile loop and then we watched several episodes of '30 Rock' Season Two.


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Saturday, 7 November

I spent the morning updating the blog, then made arrangements for a new windshield for Mocha Joe. I believe this is the fourth windshield on this van, all replaced because of cracks caused by flying stones from oncoming cars. My last windshield cost $280 and this one was first quoted at $230 but when I said I needed to make a few more calls before deciding, the guy changed the offer to $175 at the same place I got one last time.
That afternoon I walked my six mile loop.



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Back into our home routine; ‘Last Chance Harvey’; ‘Terry Fater: Live from Las Vegas’ ; ‘W’ ; New clothes dryer

(posted from home)
(This post covers 30 October – 6 November, 2009)


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Friday, 6 November-

Today we re-leveled our stove and fridge. The door on the fridge has decided to not fully close so we took it off the hinges, greased the hinge-pins and re-assembled, then played with the leveling legs until it now closes on its own.
Since we had the leveling tools out we also leveled the stove so it no longer tends to pool the melting butter on the frying pan at the front of the pan (apparently a pet peeve of Labashi’s!).
I also took care of a few chores--- starting the KLR motorcycle with a shot of Sta-Bil in the tank; scheduling tax appointments; working on a printing problem for the Mac Book Pro and catching up the blog.
In the afternoon I walked my six-mile loop, then that evening we watched several ‘Pushing Daisies’-Season One episodes.


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Thursday, 5 November-

This morning we returned a dryer exhaust pipe to Sears. One odd thing about their delivery system is we were required to buy an installation kit consisting of an electrical cord and 4” exhaust pipe. If either isn’t needed, it can be returned, but must be available for the installer, just in case. That doesn’t sound too onerous since we could do the return whenever we had occasion to come back into town. But today was the day the computerized cash register chose to freeze up during the return process and caused a half-hour of hassle while they worked through that.
I also started looking for an espresso machine. I’ve taken a liking to cappuccinos (now that I can only have the very-occasional Frappacino) and would like to try making them at home. After finding machines at Wal-mart and Sears I researched them on Amazon, Consumer Reports, and CoffeeGeek.com and found those aren’t likely to give acceptable results.
The better machines are in the $250 range and if I’m to believe CoffeeGeek, I’d have to spend that much again for an acceptable grinder to make espresso worth drinking. Yikes!
I also tried to buy Doubleshot Lights (I can’t have the regular Doubleshots because of high carb content) at my local grocery store and at Wal-mart. I saw them in Nebraska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and California on our trip. From my winter trips, I know I can get them in Florida and (I believe), the Carolinas. My local Wal-mart says they can’t order them and I’m guessing that’s going to also be the answer from my local Giant.
That evening we were each busy on the web until late, then caught three 30-Rock episodes before turning in. I’m reading ‘Jaguars Ripped My Flesh’ by Tim Cahill, a late-80’s book from my bookshelf. Tim was one of my favorite writers as a columnist for Outside Magazine in its early days.

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Wednesday, 4 November-

Today we worked on the web and did some chores while awaiting our dryer delivery. I had started a round of battery-charging for the motorcycles and boat batteries so had some dis-connecting and re-connecting to do.
The delivery went off without a hitch and only took about 20 minutes total for delivery, installation, haulaway, and paperwork. The delivery guys really had their act together.
I spent an inordinate amount of my afternoon washing our old sailboat. The humid summer weather had caused it to develop a coating of mossy growth which took a long time to fully remove. I’m glad to see the solar ventilation fan is still running. I think that’s two years old now.
No walk or movie today.

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Tuesday, 3 November-

We voted in the judges-and-local-officials election today, then drove on into town to buy a dryer. We chose a Kenmore 800-series model with a heat sensor and moisture sensor. It was rated a Best Buy by Consumer Reports and Labashi’s very happy with the controls, features, and layout (not to mention the 20%-off sale!). We were surprised to learn we could have it delivered tomorrow and both the delivery and haulaway charges would be rebated.
Back home I walked my six-mile loop again and then that evening we watched four episodes of ‘30 Rock’ Season One. I had watched this season online on Netflix Instant Movies but Labashi wasn’t available at the time and I thought she’d like it (and that indeed is the case).

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Monday, 2 November-

Labashi spent the morning researching dryers and then went shopping for groceries. I spent the morning on the web, mostly with Overland Journal and its links. This is a great find for me. Overland Journal tends to concentrate on Land Rovers, Jeeps, and FJ Cruisers but has many articles about foreign travel as well as equipment suitable for traveling in our van.
That afternoon I walked my six-mile loop. I had a close call with a dog at the far end of the loop. I’ve seen this dog once in a while and always walk the far side of the road from it but today it charged across the road at me. Fortunately the owner was outside and yelled at it in the nick of time. However, the owner completely ignored me but yelled at his dog about running out onto the road. He didn’t care about the dog nearly attacking me; he just didn’t want the dog hit by a car! It’s time for me to start taking along my little can of dog-spray. (We bought this dog spray called “Halt!” at the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota. That’s what the bear researchers there use to deter black bears. We also have a stronger pepper spray we bought at Glacier National Park for grizzlies).
That evening we watched the Oliver Stone movie “W” with Josh Brolin. Good movie! I was afraid Mr. Stone might stray far into caricature-land, particularly with the malapropisms in the President’s speeches but I didn’t feel that happened. Josh Brolin’s portrayal of W is noteworthy and Richard Dreyfuss’s Dick Cheney seemed spot-on.
We also watched a ’30 Rock- Season One’ episode.


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Sunday, 1 November-

Today Labashi and I went shopping for a dryer. After a bit of research on the internet, we went to Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Sears. I was interested in a GE but the door fit was inexplicably poor compared to the other brands. We ended up tentatively picking a Sears dryer but Labashi will do some research on Consumer Reports before we actually buy. In the meantime, she’s air-drying our relatively small amount of laundry.
While in town we had an early supper at Texas Roadhouse and agreed they have the very best ribs and rib sauce right here at home.
We returned home in time for me to walk my four-mile course along the creek.
That evening we watched the extras on the ‘Planet Earth’ DVD set.

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Saturday, 31 October-

This morning I finished processing the mail and took care of mailing checks for things like auto registrations. I also updated the MacBook Pro’s software and ran a thorough security scan on the XP laptop (which now takes several hours to wade through a check of its 650,000 files!!!!).
Yesterday evening Labashi had found our dryer no longer tumbles so I pulled it out and tried to find some reason for that. I couldn’t find anything but I’m also not about to turn it over to an appliance shop. Looks like it’s time for a new one.
But I do have to say we’re happy with the service this old Kenmore gave us. We had that dryer in our previous house and we moved here more than twenty-eight years ago! We bought it two to three years before moving here so it has been working fine for over 30 years. Thank you, Mr. Sears and Mr. Roebuck!
That evening we watched ‘Terry Fater: Live from Las Vegas’ on DVD. We had seen billboard after billboard in Las Vegas advertising Terry’s live show but we didn’t know anything about him. But when I saw this DVD in our local video rental store, I thought we’d give him a try.
Terry’s act is largely a puppet act and it’s funny but his singing impressions are amazing. He has his puppets ‘sing’, which of course, he’s doing without moving his lips. Recommended.

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Friday, 30 October-

While we’re away our mail is delivered to a neighbor and he very kindly sends us a weekly summary of the mail as well as any interesting local developments (like updates on the new Wal-mart going in at Etters). If something important comes in, he emails us immediately and if it were really, really hot, he has our cell phone numbers.
Even so, we’re a bit apprehensive when we get our big box of mail when we return home. Who knows what little surprises await?
So I spent today starting to go through the mail looking for ‘gotchas’. And this time it was a new one.
When we’re away for more than a month, I have the cable tv and internet disconnected on a ‘seasonal disconnect’. But to prevent them from deleting my email account, I pay for what the internet provider calls a ‘Mail-Me’ account for $5 a month.
Our cable and internet bills are on auto-pay so I was very surprised to see notices from both the cable and internet companies, one threatening to turn a bill for $2.29 over to a collection agency and the other assessing a late charge of $2 to my bill for $10.
After a few calls I learned that auto-pay is automatically cut off when the subscriber is disconnected, even if it’s a seasonal disconnect. So even though I explained I’d be away for two months, they sent me paper bills and then dunning notices.
Once I explained what had happened, the two companies squared it away. The threat of turning the $2.29 bill over to a collection agency was an empty one (it turns out) and the late charge was dropped.
That evening we watched ‘Last Chance Harvey’ with Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Good one!

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