Cutting the Cord

Ahhh, the love/hate relationship with cable TV.  The world’s best babysitter and yet the biggest ripoff around.  

I have never been more fed up with Time Warner Cable than I had been in the last few weeks.  Our service had been spotty, particularly with the phone.  First a lot of static on the line and then it went out completely.  Hours on the phone with the service center, disconnected twice.  One service call and a new modem later and we were back in business.  Except we weren't...within a week the phone went out again.  We were told we would be credited for the days our phone was out.  The bill was the same as usual when it arrived.

That got Ted and I thinking.  How much were we really using the cable?  Internet, yes...but TV and phone?  The kids were watching much more than we were and to be honest they were watching way too much.  When Ted and I did watch TV it was more often than not a broadcast channel. Truthfully, we seemed to be too busy to sit down and watch TV on a regular basis  We didn't own a DVR and didn't want one either.  If we didn't have time to watch the show the first time around chances were we wouldn't have time to watch it a second time around.  The home phone exists more as a safety thing that anything else.  With two small kids in the house we want the ability to call 911 quickly and easily.  Let's ignore the fact that they seem to know how to use our iPhones better than we do. We realized it was time to research alternatives.

At some point I decided to give Time Warner Cable a call to see what else was available from them.  Imagine my surprise when I went on their website (to look up the number to call) and found out, hey brand spanking new customers can get the Triple Play for a mere $79 a month PLUS a visa gift card for signing up.  But us poor souls who have been loyal customers for 10 plus years?  We pay over twice as much for the same service.  Grrrr...

So began my call to them where I explained to the agent that I was looking for options to lower my bill.  He was happy to help and knew he could come up with a great alternative!  A few simple questions, a brief hold and then…VIOLA!  A solution you’re going love for $155 a month!  Huh?  That’s what we pay now after taxes and fees, I’m assuming you’re “solution” is the price before those pesky little things.  And, call me crazy (many have) but when I tell you I want to lower my bill, I actually want to lower it.  Yes, he told me, but you get more value with this option.  He was adding the movie channels and a DVR!  I didn't want any of those options and I told him as such (see above paragraph on how we felt about the DVR).  I didn't even bother to ask him what the price would be after about 6 six months when whatever deal he was giving me would expire.  I could tell I was getting nowhere and my blood pressure was rising.  Rather than saying something I would really regret I hung up.

Infuriated at their lousy business practice, I put in a complaint to TWC.  Yeah, yeah, I knew it was meaningless but I had to do something.  My inner Frank Meagher was fuming (love ya Dad!).  It did make me feel better.  The next day I received a reply to my complaint.  Hmmm, maybe they are on their game I thought.  It was a form letter..."Please bear with us."  Bear with you??????  Excuse me?????  I don't need to bear with anything.

So we made the choice to ditch it.  Unfortunately, not everything because TWC has the monopoly in our area on reliable internet service.  But at least the cable and phone were going.  We decided to give Ooma a try for phone service.  You have to buy the modem up front but then the phone service costs practically nothing a month.  It arrived last Wednesday and we unhooked the cable phone modem to hook it up.  Ooops, that cut off EVERYTHING.  No phone, no internet, no cable.  All evening on the phone with TWC to determine that a tech would need to come out on Friday to fix it all.

Guess what happens when you go two days without cable.  You realize you don't need cable.  Hate to break to you TWC all you did was make the decision easier. We've got antennas hooked up. We're looking at on demand options through the internet and the XBox.  

I turned in the equipment yesterday.  There were a lot of other people in line holding equipment too.  The couple in front of me were cutting the cord too.  We talked about how freeing it felt.  And get this, here's the take home.  We're saving $120 a month.  One Hundred and Twenty Dollars.  I practically danced out of there.

Twenty four hours later?  We're just fine.  Yes, the kids are going through withdrawal but you know what? Their playing more.  And truthfully, anything they want to watch is still available to them on the computer. And here's another dirty little secret.  The picture on the broadcast channels?  It's clearer through the antenna than it ever was through cable.

Life goes on.

I have officially lost my mind

My cousin Alyson and I at the Olesak Half Marathon, Westfield, MA, April 2012.  If you look quick, you'd mistake us for Olympic marathoners.  Kickin' it with style as always.  And that picture may or may not have been taken right before Alyson told me she really hated me for convincing her that running a half marathon was good idea.  No joke, girl was serious.

 

The boy knows how to push my buttons.  I think he knew all along if he kept at it…subtle hints here…constant Marathon Training Academy podcasts there…he would get to me.

 

My rational side still doesn’t think it’s possible.  But the emotional side, the side that kicks in when I get my runner’s high at about mile 5 of a long run, that side of me just imagines what it will be like to cross the finish line on mile 26, that side is all in.  Of course that side doesn’t think about what’s going to happen in miles 6-25.  But the two sides are starting to meet in the middle and find some common ground.  The 14 mile run in August was a huge boost to my confidence…with six more months of training, I just might be able to pull it off.

 

And then…the offer.  Just a little something to push me over the edge.  Let’s not do just any ol’ race.  Let’s pick one somewhere I would like to go…right near all of my favorite chocolate shops.  I’ve wanted to go back and explore Biltmore since we went two January’s ago.  We didn't get the chance in July since the weather turned rainy on us the day after we arrived in Asheville, prompting an early return home. We’ve seen the house but there’s other places on the grounds to poke our heads into. And I always thought the grounds would be such a great place to go for a nice long run.  And WOW, look at how beautiful that hotel is, right on the grounds.  You know what happened next…

 

Ted and I are registered for the Asheville Marathon on Biltmore Estate in March.  And once our race spots were secure, we immediately booked our rooms at the Inn at Biltmore Estate.  I have officially lost my mind.  Ok, in all seriousness…I know full well I’ve got some serious training in front of me.  I also know that I need to plan for a run/walk scenario for this race and train for it.  But my legs are telling me I can do this, that with the proper training and running plan, not only will I finish but I'll be in downtown at my favorite Chocolate Lounge in time for a late lunch/dessert.

 

Stay tuned, the road ahead should be interesting... 

Second Grade

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Lucky Number Seven

I had to stare for a minute at one of the birthday cards that came in the mail this week.  A big number 7 on the front.  Seven? Really?  We’ve been at this parenting thing for seven years?  How is that possible?  But it is, Katherine turned seven on Wednesday.

You lose track of time when you’re in the middle of the day to day grind. I don’t always think of it as a routine but it is one and it’s constant…time to get up…where’s your socks…dinner’s ready…brush your teeth….let’s go go go!  Spring turns into summer.  One day it’s June, the next it’s the end of August.  You pick your head up and your baby girl is seven.

She’s inherited her father’s height; we’ll see how tall she gets.  Sometimes its seems like she is all arms and legs.  Her eyes are bright blue and there’s a small crop of freckles on each cheek.  Together they give her a certain sparkle.  She’s inherited my strong emotions, the littlest thing can be a sudden crisis.  Her hair is still trying to decide whether it’s going to be curly or straight, some days it’s full of body, others it’s flat.  She’s excited about starting second grade next week and she has an opinion on just about everything if you ask her.  She still sings along to the radio in the car, something I hope she never feels too embarrassed to do.  We’re still waiting on that first loose tooth.  She’s a budding gymnast who loves to dance around in skirts and play with her dolls but then join her dad in watching Ninja Warrior and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Clearly, she won’t be bogged down by stereotypes.

Happy Birthday to my little girl!  I hope number 7 for you is full of luck and happiness!

Papa and Gram's Room

I’m getting the itch to do some redecorating…or at least some rearranging.  I’ve said before how I usually thinking of fall and the start of school as more of New Year time of year than the actual New Year.  I think it’s also the cool temperature we've had over the past two days that are getting me motivated (in thought at least).

My target is going to be our “bonus room”.  One of the things that we like about our house when we bought is that the bonus room is actually an integrated part of the house rather than a room that was slapped up on top of the garage.  It’s a good size too and gets lots of light.  When we first moved in it was our TV room and Ted’s unofficial “man cave”.  Nine years (and two kids) later it is now our office/guest room.  Since our parents are the most frequent guests, the kids have officially dubbed it “Papa and Gram’s Room”.  When the Papas and Grams aren't staying there it becomes our office/laundry room/I don’t know where to put this so I’ll put it in there room.  Last year I decided that instead of trying to share a desk and computer time with a chronic gamer I needed my own space and bought in a small folding table to set up my laptop and scrapbooking supplies.  Since both of the kids play with the kitchen set and Katherine is not fond of having Teddy in her room, I moved it in there in hopes that it would get more play time.  See what I mean?  It’s time to get in there a change things up a bit.

This will definitely be a minor renovation primarily because I like the paint color that is in there.   That is a fancy way of saying I am not THAT motivated to get out the paint brush and all of the bedding coordinates with that paint color.  I am not interested in purchasing all new bedding right now.  SO, what’s my plan you ask?

• Move the kitchen set out.  Unfortunately that was not a good spot to entice the kids to play with it.  What is a good spot?  In our kitchen.  There are many times where I’m loathing having so many toys out everywhere but I also realize, out of sight, out of mind in terms of those toys getting played with by the kids.  So in the spirit of “you only have little kids once”, I moved the little stove, fridge and pantry down to our kitchen.  It’s already a hit.


• Rearrange the furniture.  We've had the same arrangement since we moved the guest bed in there.  While it worked at the time with addition of a second “desk”, things look kind of strange in the current arrangement.  So I’m thinking of moving the bed to the opposite wall, moving my desk in front of the front window…and then…I’m still thinking about it but we definitely need a new layout.  Of course a new furniture layout means some of the pictures will probably get rearranged as well…


• New curtains.  Time for the current ones to go.  Nuff said.


• New desks.  While the folding table is functional, it’s kind of, well, ugly.  Does not do much for the ambiance in there. And I’m using the big wicker chair which is not supportive to getting some work done.   Ted’s desk if falling apart…literally.  We know that one day the bottom is just going to cave in on itself.  This may take a while, we've actually been looking for new desks for a while and not found anything that we’re enthralled with, either because of looks or because of size.


• A headboard.  Somehow we never got around to buying a headboard or foot board or anything for that bed.  So it’s just a mattress set on a frame.  I've started scouring craigslist to see if I can find something.  A few contenders, lots of options.  But let me say this…some people sure have awful taste when it comes to furniture.  There were a few posts I opened and thought good luck with getting rid of that.  Then again, they bought it so someone else probably will too.

To get things rolling, here are some before picks.  I had already moved two of the three pieces of the kitchen set out but you can see what the place normally looks like on non guest weeks.  I’ll post pics along the way because I’m thinking this will be done incrementally rather than all at once.

The Smells of Running

We'll take a brief break here from the normal updates on our coming and goings.  Although, I should mention that I finally finished sorting all of the pictures on our computer by year and month.  Moment of silence here to honor this momentous occasion (cause it was a task, let me tell you).  OK.....thank you.  Yes there are pictures from June and now July to file and an update to write on our awesome ten year anniversary trip to the mountains but that's current times, not pictures from up to three years ago that were still hanging around in random folders.

Running...it's smelly.  I know that doesn't surprise you.  But I'm not talking about the obvious odors that arise, shall we say, from such a sweaty activity.  Actually, and I know this is TMI, you really don't get a whiff of those until you finish your run. Thank goodness. While you are running, you're smelling the wonders of the world that is all around you.  Not all smells are pleasant either.  But if you are like me a simple sniff can immediately transport me to another time and place. I'm not sure we think about smells this way but it's true.  And a long run is the perfect opportunity to do some daydreaming...or reminiscing.  So what do I smell?  And where do they take me?  (OK, for those of you with little kids, immediate reference to Frannie's Feet..."Where will my feet take me today?"  Seems appropriate.)

• Asphalt, we'll start with the obvious one here.  Normally, you don't smell the asphalt but occasionally if I'm running on newly paving roads and especially if it's warm and sunny, the asphalt smell floats up.
• Fertilizer.  I've mentioned in a previous post that my grandparents were faithful Chem-lawn customers back in the day.  Therefore there was always the distinct smell of fertilizer (and driveway sealer...that too) whenever you got out of the car at there house.  That's not the only memory I have around lawn care smells.  I worked at a lawn and garden center in high school, back in the day when I thought I was going to be a botanist or horticulturalist when I grew up (No joke...freshmen biology and chemistry took care of that dream).  Lest you think I was tending to the plants, not so fast.  I worked the cash register, which placed right next to it was the fertilizer and manure.  I think it was placed there because it was an easy sell as people were wheeling through their annuals and perennials (and we sold a ton of it) but MY GOD did it stink.  Let me also say that there was NO AIR CONDITIONING and half the building was a greenhouse (What was I thinking?  Clearly my sister, who spent a summer making ice cream sundaes in a nice, air conditioned Friendly's was the smarter one here).  After a while you tuned out the smell, although every person that came in did ask..."how can you put up with that?"
• Fresh cut grass.  I'm not sure there's any specific memories here but if its spring or fall when I smell it, I always think of warm summer days.
• Mucky, swampy water.  Not pleasant but thankfully brief as I run by the dam at Bunn Lake.  However, I always think of driving to the beach.  You that point when you're almost there and you have to drive through the marsh beforehand?  This may be a Cape Cod thing but I think even in NC you can smell that just before you reach the Outer Banks.
• Hay, a barn smell.  Hands down, the Big E every time (for those of you not in the know, that's the New England state fair, which happens ever year right next to my hometown).  I spent A LOT of time there growing up, working our church's restaurant, marching in parades in high school, etc...  What trip to the fair would be complete without a tour through the animal barns pet some sheep?
• Rain evaporating from the road.  Yes this has a distinct smell.  I've run a few times after storms and this smell along with the fresh breeze is always wonderful.
• Smoke, like someone is burning leaves.  Although people do this all during the year, I always associate it with fall.  Makes me think of late October, Halloween time.  Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and all that.
• Charcoal...heaven forbid this smell happens in the second half of a long run.  Cause then it's just plain cruel.  I spend the next five minutes trying to guess what exactly they a barbecuing, or more importantly what I WOULD BBQ if that grill was mine).
• Wood...construction.  Their starting to building again in our area.  One thing I thing of here is Ted's apartment when he lived down near Fort Bragg.  It was a new complex and they were still building when moved out so the whole time he lived there the smell of fresh wood was constant.
• Moth balls.  There is the house that I run by that the owner put moth balls down around the mailbox. Instantly I am upstairs at my grandma's house.
• Pine trees.  Either Christmas trees or Cape Cod.  The place where we camped was in the woods with tons of pine trees (and skunks).
• Dryer sheets.  We don't personally use fabric softener or dryer sheets thanks to both Teddy's and my sensitive skin but I still love the smell of fresh laundry.
• Lilac.  This is by far my favorite floral smell.  Growing up there were lilac trees (or are they bushes?) in the neighborhood and there was always that one week in the spring when they would all bloom.  I don't know if it's lilac I'm smelling during spring runs but I hope it is.
• Sweet floral smell.  I'm just assuming any other floral smell that wafts past my nose this time of year is not lilac.  Could be honeysuckle.  It really doesn't matter, it smells great.
• I don't know the source of this one but...and go with me here...every time I smell it I swear it smells EXACTLY like the bathrooms in the Parish Center at church growing up. Like the cleaner they used, a GOOD bathroom smell. I know, crazy that I would make this association but seriously it does.  I am reminded of coffee and donuts after mass on Sundays. How we had to hurry up and get over there because there were only so many chocolate covered donuts with sprinkles on them.  How the parents would just let the kids loose to run around while they sat and talked.  Good times.

All of these smells are brief, just a second or two in the wind as I breeze by.  But paying attention to the smells is fun and helps my mind to wander as the miles go by.  Part of running for me is a chance to get away for some time to myself and (as crazy as this sounds) relax in a way.  This sniffing and mind wandering clears my brain.  I swear tonight I smelled someone frying potatoes.  Must have been the heat...

Wrightsville Beach 2013

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since our annual family beach trip.  This year's trip was great, I think the kids enjoyed the beach much more this time around...at least they seemed to play in the sand longer without the immediate "let's go to the pool".  Teddy took a few diggers in the waves but that's to be expected, right?  In fact, on our second morning Katherine asked if we could stay an extra day.  Unfortunately we had to head home right after breakfast to get ready to get back into the grind.  Ted and I are contemplating a day trip, we're lucky that Wrightsville is only a couple of hours from home.

So what did we do?  Besides digging in the sand we took the kids to explore the Battleship North Carolina, a World War II era battleship. I was a bit nervous about this with Teddy because of all of the climbing.  He thought it was great and happily declared "I do it myself!" at each ladder, which led to one parent hovering in front of him and one hovering behind as he climbed up or down.  Katherine didn't care for the tour around the lower decks but she loved seeing how high up we could go.  All I gotta say is that I could never serve on a Navy ship, those are some tight quarters!  I can't imagine the amount of space has gotten any better in the last 70 years.

I think the highlight of the trip for the kids was the pirate tour. Yup! After a quick boat ride over to Masonboro Island, Captain Don Juan Cortez took the kids on a treasure hunt.  If you have young kids and are planning a trip to the Wilmington, NC area, I HIGHLY recommend this.  Wrightsville Beach Scenic Tours offers it.

Full album of pictures are up on the photo site (link on the sidebar).  This one may have to be on this year's Christmas Card:

I even got in a great run early Monday morning along the beach while everyone else was still tucked up in bed.  The bunny pictures you see on the album are from that run...a beach bunny!

The kids have started their summer travels, their up at Papa and Gram Coberly's for a long weekend.  After that it will be up to Massachusetts at the end of next week.  Ted and I are basking in some kid free time!