It's 12:30 am here in Alaska and that means it's 4:30 am back in Jacksonville. Each day, by the time our normal daily activities are over and we can sit down, our family and friends at home have been in bed for hours.
Since we left the lower 48 and started our trek across Canada and every since we've been in Alaska, television has been sketchy or non-existent. We have a dish on the roof of the bus, but it turns out it is too small to acommodate the curvature of the Earth. So, that means that if we don't have visiting family with us, Richard and I must entertain each other.
Ha! Neither of us sing or dance and since we are heading toward 40 years together, we pretty much know each others war stories and how we feel about every subject on the planet. Last night, our first night alone in about two weeks, Richard rose from the recliner, made the announcement that tomorrow he was going to do something about us not being able to watch television. He went to bed, leaving me in a state of shock.
Let me explain why--when DirectTV and Dish first came out, we had to have one. Of course, Richard always said it was because of me that he worked so hard to make sure we had television. Yes, I like having a TV going especially when working because my mind works best with noise going on. If my surroundings are quiet, my mind drifts to the distant sounds and the next thing you know, I'm looking out the window to see what that far away noise is. TV drowns all that out and I know where the noise is coming from. As I said, it's late here, so don't expect me to make too much sense. LOL
I can't tell you how many hours we spent with Richard out moving the satellite and me yelling out the window. This is pretty much how every conversation went:
Me: The signal is 45.
Him: 55?
Me: No, now it's dropped to 35.
Him: Don't tell me until it gets over 75.
Silence for a few minutes.
Him:What's going on?
Me: It's at 45.
Him: Well, tell me that so I know I need to go a little further.
Me: You said not to tell you until it goes over 75.
It was at that time he would usually throw me a dirty look and I'd send him one right back. Good thing dirty looks can't kill.
Me: It's 75.
Him: Okay, I'll lock it there.
He comes into the motor home and slams the door. The signal drops instantly. He looks at it and asks by I said it was 75. I try to tell him it was until he slammed the door. At which time, he explains that since the dish was not attached to the motorhome, the vibration of a slamming door could not cause it to drop. At which time, I tell him that I just lied so he would come on in. BTW, he has NO sense of humor what so ever. Anyway, this went on every night we were camping for at least 10 years.
Oh, he tried several other types of receivers, but it was always the same song and dance. Remember we don't sing or dance, so therefore, it was not a pretty sight. When we bought the bus we have now (5 or 6 years ago) we had an on-the-go dish. When I was first introduced to this concept, it was as if the heavens opened up, rays of beautiful sunshine shone all around me and I heard a band of angels sing Shall We Gather At the River. No special reason, I just happen to love that song. :-)
So, last night, when he announced he was going to do something about not being able to watch television, the vivid recollection of years past almost forced me into a fetal position. Sure enough, this morning, he took off for town and when he came back he had a new dish bigger than the one on the roof.
I took a tranquilizer and took my position at the bedroom window ready for the familiar exchange which was about to happen. Two hours later, he stopped long enough to take me to IHOP and as soon as we got back, he was at it again. After a couple of calls to Dish technical support, we had success. Problem is-there is still something wrong. We can get local network channels, but only one of the other channels. A few hours ago, Richard watched Two and a Half Men on a local channel and then he went to bed, leaving me to watch OWN, the only working channel. The funny thing is that the only thing on that channel has been hours of Dateline about people murdering their spouses.
I personally think that is pretty ironic. LOL
Until the next time,
Dolores
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