Up until the end, this post was supposed to be titled "Unplugged" and it was supposed to be about how I spent at least 36 hours outside the Information Age. No TV, no cable, no Internet. It was supposed to be about how shockingly productive I was without being able to switch on and drop out. I might have even thrown in a life lesson or two, or said something pithy about how we need to disconnect every once in a while in order to reconnect with the world around us.
But that, as we say in my business, would be "burying the lede."
And the lede is this: I got my cable stolen.
Our story begins late Tuesday night, when I got home from work and turned the TV on, flipping channels while waiting for Poker After Dark to start. There's no picture. This, by itself, isn't particularly unusual - I just figured the cable had gone out for one reason or another, possibly weather-related. So I figured it wasn't anything more than that. But it went on (or didn't, as the case may be) for a little longer, and I just figured the cable was OUT out for whatever reason and went to bed.
I got up on Wednesday, still nothing. Or possibly nothing again; I'm not sure at the moment. My Internet wasn't working, either. And again, I didn't really think that much of it because I assumed it was being fixed. So I went out hunting for a new battery for my digital camera (which I'd found two days earlier after having it go missing for three months, but that story's not nearly as interesting) as well as my bi-weekly grocery shopping trip. No luck on the battery. There's a non-zero chance they don't make it any more.
I got home... still nothing. Now it's officially ridiculous. I called the cable company - it's about 8 by this point - and they told me they'd send somebody over the next day (today, now).
Now it's today. And we've all been there with the cable company. They tell you 10 to 12 and it's always closer to 12 than 10. In this case, it was after 12 when the guy finally called (I'd actually called them again just to make sure I didn't miss their call the first time) and he said he'd be over in 10 minutes or so.
When he showed up, he immediately told me to turn my TV on. I did. It came on.
What he said next was the last thing I expected I'd hear.
Apparently what happened was one of my neighbors had enterprisingly gotten into an outside cable connection and cut off a set of fittings, then illegally hooked up his own to that set. The set they cut off happened to be mine.
I was stunned. I actually said, "I didn't think this still happened in 2008."
By this point my modem had come back online too. I didn't think to ask how he knew what had happened, but he had obviously checked the box outside and cut off the illegal connection before he came in to see me. He did cut me some new connectors because my picture had gone fuzzy, so that was nice of him.
After he left, I plopped down in my chair and just started laughing. I got my cable stolen. In 2008. Think about that. It's absurd.
Semi-related tangent: The first story that came up on Yahoo after I started Firefox: the LifeLock guy getting nailed. Seriously, who didn't see that one coming.
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Friday, September 21, 2007
Back To Borgata: WPT Borgata Open 2007
So what's changed since the last time I went to one of these?
- The casino. An expansion that cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars and is still going on added another hotel tower, a larger poker room and racebook, and several new restaurants (with Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck among the names attached.)
- The set. The dome cameras on the table that were introduced during Season 4 are still there (and have actually proven to be pretty useless), but you've seen the new, darker, bordering on post-modern look of the Season 5 set.
- The network. Season 6 will be on GSN Monday nights starting next March or April.
- The structure. The days of the blinds increasing at warp speed appear to be at an end. The WPT has slowed down the speed of play by extending the levels to 90 minutes, which allows for more play without things reverting to all-in pushfests.
- The hostess(es). WPT has decided that it now takes two women to adequately replace Shana Hiatt. Or, at least, one and a half.
This, friends, is Layla Kayleigh:
As you can see, there's a lot going on here. She's tiny (5'2"), even in four-inch heels. She's from England and if you watch G4, you've seen her on "The Feed." She's easily the most fun hostess they've had since Shana.
You'll also be seeing Kimberly Lansing once or twice during the upcoming season:
She wasn't here, though.
SPOILER ALERT
Seeing Mike Matusow in the entryway to the Event Center was a bad sign. But there he was, still steaming somewhat after being eliminated in sixth place after Eugene Todd got knocked down to his last 25,000 chips. He was being consoled by his girlfriend (the new term is "outkicking your coverage") and Mike Binger, who finished third in the WSOP main event in 2006.
Todd took his hit from Haralabos Voulgaris, who was "the guy in the suit" who effectively folded into third and ended up losing heads-up to Michael Mizrachi as the 2005 L.A. Poker Classic.
Going back to the entryway for a moment, they didn't have the Boot Camp signup booth and the other giveaway stuff that they had two years ago. Instead, there was a cash bar and free coffee. Also, something has changed because they were actually showing the table live in the ballroom as it went on on the set through the back of the room. (Gaming prohibited this in the past unless the broadcast was physically in the same room.)
Vince Van Patten has written a poker mystery novel, of all things.
The heads-up match between Roy Winston and Scotty Yoon probably should have ended three hours earlier than it actually did. One of only two "fireworks" moments during heads-up, Yoon turned a straight to stay alive, then scratched and clawed his way back from what had been a 13:1 chip deficit to only being down 9:7. He got into this tournament on a $200 satellite, which is more than he says he's ever won playing poker.
I want to see if they show Vince shooting off a burst of Silly String when the straight hits during that hand. And who knew they still made that stuff?
Scotty was late coming back from the last break. We suspected that Roy (an anesthesiologist) had put him down. "Must be present to win."
----------------
Now playing: Sting - Desert Rose
via FoxyTunes
- The casino. An expansion that cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars and is still going on added another hotel tower, a larger poker room and racebook, and several new restaurants (with Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck among the names attached.)
- The set. The dome cameras on the table that were introduced during Season 4 are still there (and have actually proven to be pretty useless), but you've seen the new, darker, bordering on post-modern look of the Season 5 set.
- The network. Season 6 will be on GSN Monday nights starting next March or April.
- The structure. The days of the blinds increasing at warp speed appear to be at an end. The WPT has slowed down the speed of play by extending the levels to 90 minutes, which allows for more play without things reverting to all-in pushfests.
- The hostess(es). WPT has decided that it now takes two women to adequately replace Shana Hiatt. Or, at least, one and a half.
This, friends, is Layla Kayleigh:
As you can see, there's a lot going on here. She's tiny (5'2"), even in four-inch heels. She's from England and if you watch G4, you've seen her on "The Feed." She's easily the most fun hostess they've had since Shana.
You'll also be seeing Kimberly Lansing once or twice during the upcoming season:
She wasn't here, though.
SPOILER ALERT
Seeing Mike Matusow in the entryway to the Event Center was a bad sign. But there he was, still steaming somewhat after being eliminated in sixth place after Eugene Todd got knocked down to his last 25,000 chips. He was being consoled by his girlfriend (the new term is "outkicking your coverage") and Mike Binger, who finished third in the WSOP main event in 2006.
Todd took his hit from Haralabos Voulgaris, who was "the guy in the suit" who effectively folded into third and ended up losing heads-up to Michael Mizrachi as the 2005 L.A. Poker Classic.
Going back to the entryway for a moment, they didn't have the Boot Camp signup booth and the other giveaway stuff that they had two years ago. Instead, there was a cash bar and free coffee. Also, something has changed because they were actually showing the table live in the ballroom as it went on on the set through the back of the room. (Gaming prohibited this in the past unless the broadcast was physically in the same room.)
Vince Van Patten has written a poker mystery novel, of all things.
The heads-up match between Roy Winston and Scotty Yoon probably should have ended three hours earlier than it actually did. One of only two "fireworks" moments during heads-up, Yoon turned a straight to stay alive, then scratched and clawed his way back from what had been a 13:1 chip deficit to only being down 9:7. He got into this tournament on a $200 satellite, which is more than he says he's ever won playing poker.
I want to see if they show Vince shooting off a burst of Silly String when the straight hits during that hand. And who knew they still made that stuff?
Scotty was late coming back from the last break. We suspected that Roy (an anesthesiologist) had put him down. "Must be present to win."
----------------
Now playing: Sting - Desert Rose
via FoxyTunes
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