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More Purchases...

March 14th, 2010 at 04:12 pm

SO...

Surewest originally gave us their old DVR with our free TV trial. We've had it for months, because though we would cancel with them, they asked us to wait and try their new DVR when it came out. (Did I mention how awesome the new one is???)

So, we are arranging everything, and realize we no longer have a clock in our main living area. (Dh finally admitted that we no longer need the non-working VCR - used only to tell time). BM gets to rip the old VCR apart at camp this summer, actually. The new entertainment center isn't big enough for it. I am glad to be rid of it.

But, no clock??? I asked dh if it was possibly the Dish DVR that told time. (There was something remotely redeeming about Dish???) No - he tells me it was the Surewest one, and he has already told them that "no clock" sucks on their new DVR. Though it's really the only thing that sucks. Le'ts face it - VCRs had clocks - the DVRs that replace them should have clocks.

In the meantime, we have no idea what time it is!!

BM likes clocks, and collects them. I thought about bringing one of his analog clocks downstairs, but realized with no backlight or anything, it's kind of useless. We spend so much time in front of the TV at night. We could check the TV for the time, but oy vey. It's been a PITA.

In the end, we perused digital clocks online a bit. I was kind of peeved at dh for ordering something so boring for LM (for his new bedside radio/alarm clock). There was some really cute/hilarious clocks (that cost less, to boot).

I think we will probably pick up a cheap digital clock display this weekend, and I will put something on my wish list for the end of the year (Birthday/Christmas). I saw some really clever/cute clocks, but can't justify spending another dollar right now. Anything will do, in the interim. & I always need things for my wish list. So, phew!

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Dh has already arranged to take the old TV up to the cabin next weekend.

Who is this man??????????

Big Grin

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AND, $70 to run a CAT 5 wire to the phone jack by the TV. (Don't ask me the details - over my head). Will be a good investment. Our whole house is hard wired for our computer network. We have already invested somewhat in it, and makes sense to add the main living area. The TV has some pretty neat internet capabilities. The TV can then network to our computers so we can access music and photos, etc. It will be pretty sweet.

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Oh yes, and I got an interesting letter from our HMO. They "forgot" that they doubled our "out of pocket" and so have misbilled all our co-payments for most of the year. (Which explains a lot - I had no idea why our pile of doctors visits in March were free, since we had $3k left to get from "maxed out deductible" to "max out of pocket").

They said they were NOT retroactively billing the messed up copayments, and so at first I thought maybe it was all for the best. You mean the tons of doctor appointments we had in early March are all "free"? What was an extremely frustrating week was maybe for the best?

But then I read further and it said no retroactive billing for before March 1. We had like 5 doctor visits after March 1. Ouch.

Their billing is always terrible, slow, and hard to understand. So this will just add to the usual. I suppose there is still a silver lining because it might take them 3 years to figure it out and send us are "correct bill." & really, I kind of expected a bill all along. So, eh. Just one more notch in the "what the hell is their billing department doing over there???" I don't keep this insurer for their billing department, that is for sure.

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I think this week is mostly calm.

I worked too much all week and I promised the kids I would do a billion things with them today. Oh, just about 3 more weeks of SUPER CRAZY. I usually have plenty time with my kids, so I know I have been gone too much, when they jumped all over me, clung to me, and asked me a bajillion questions when I got home last night. I am sure I promised them more activities today than I could possibly do. But what I remember promising was a bike ride and some Wii sports. I think I Can handle that! Big Grin I will also cook up some potatoes for breakfast and figure out a good meal to cook today for guests.

Last week was super crazy because dh did some last minute (emergency) volunteering and we had 2 kind of unexpected houseguests. It was just kind of crazy crazy crazy. Hopefully today will be more mellow.

My folks are visiting though. I have really only seen them once since dh has been out of the hospital. Which is absurd - but they were hit hardest by the bug that everyone in the family got during that time. They were out of commission for weeks. Hopefully this is a sign of some normalcy returning. We usually spend a lot more time with our families! So I am excited to see them and to spend time with everyone healthy and WELL!

4 Responses to “More Purchases...”

  1. girltherapy Says:
    1268592127

    I would bet that when YOU owe THEM money, the billing will be super fast! Just the way it goes!

  2. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1268603390

    You probably can find a small cheap digital clock (with back light) for less than $5 at Wal-mart. Or, for less than $10 a bigger one.

  3. Broken Arrow Says:
    1268668608

    Oooh, I assume he has a media or file server set up. What is he using, do you know? I've been tempted to do something like that as well. Nothing elaborate, like wiring the entire house for video and audio or anything. Just one server where the kids and I can all share the same files when they are here.

    But most of the time, it's just me (and the house isn't mine), so it's still hard for me to justify even spending a little bit on a small network server (~$100). Just one of those many things I'm still dragging my feet on. Big Grin

  4. monkeymama Says:
    1268686602

    girltherapy - my HMO is extraordinarily slow at billing (still waiting for bill from January 2008). So don't expect much improvement for this year.

    FT - I was thinking of running by Walgreens tonight. That sounds good.

    BA - when we first got our house (2001) my dh was not a fan of wireless networks for security reasons, etc. Plus, with the new home we figured we'd take advantage of all the Cat 5, mostly pre-wired. I think we just hired someone to add one of the bedrooms to the pre-wire. We just networked all our computers together for file sharing/printer sharing, etc. He had some grand plans somewhere along the line. Eventually we switched to wireless, but he still uses the wired network for some things. I am sure it is a mix, at this point. We also have some external drives we access with our computers and such. & it will be really nice to add the TV to the mix. It's kind of the future, I suppose. We already have internet hookup with the TV (TIVO and WIi), so exactly what he hired this person to do is beyond me. Needs more than just internet to connect to the network? With the TV? I don't know... Maybe just needed a split because he has too many things plugged in!

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