The Daily Babble

The online version of the North Coast Journal article on blogging now has hot links in place. There's nothing like actually looking at what the article is talking about to give the article real dimension. It's one of the beauties of the Internet. Kudos to the staff, as busy as they are.

When my interview with Australian radio was set to start, the interviewer called to say there had been "a small explosion" in the studio and could he call back in a half hour? Yes, and he did, and we had a good conversation, though my mouth wasn't working at maximum efficiency. I know what it's like to have to scour a tape to find clearly enunciated and pronounced sentences that make some sort of sense.

Now I'm scheduled to do an hour of on-air chat a couple of Monday mornings from now on the Jefferson radio network, six stations in southern Oregon and far northern CA. We'll be taking your calls...

Right now, on a surprisingly sunny day (all clouds in the forecast) I'm stuck at home waiting for the Cable Guy. Does everybody expect him to look like Jim Carrey? I do, and I didn't even see the movie. We've been getting poor reception for some time on broadcast stations, though not always the same ones. (Both TVs.) I'm dreading this encounter, which is why I put off calling for so long. But the Steelers are in the Super Bowl, and that makes a clear picture serious business.

I'm dreading it partly because we're now a non-priority customer (my phrase). Several months ago I dumped all but the basic channels (broadcast plus public access, C-Span, and gee I guess I got some Religious Ranters channels too). I would have kept some cable channels, but it was an all or nothing choice. Still, without the increasingly maddening and depressing cable news channels, my quality of life has improved, and my cable bill is down to $12 a month.

That probably does not make the cable company happy, and I suspect our bad reception is semi-intentional. They make their money on the premium channels. They may be happier if we ditch their service altogether than hang on at this profitless level. Paranoia? You don't know capitalism as its practiced today. Few people even realize that cable companies enter into agreements with local municipalities to serve the public interest as a condition of being granted a monopoly. One of those quaint holdovers of the past. But we'll see.

UPDATE: Cable Guy was here, it all went pleasantly, and it's more or less fixed. Even though the problem was probably with VCR connections, he gave me new connectors without charge. It reminds me that as hard as Cox makes it to even talk to someone there (and getting a notice on their cable access is needlessly complex), once you get to the local people, they usually go out of their way to help... Unfortunately however the sun is now gone. That's the North Coast.