They Giveth and They Taketh Away

On Christmas Day my in-laws surprised us with a new TV.  We plugged it in and to our surprise we were getting channels we had never gotten before.  You know, the ones you get when you do a -?  Like, channel 3-1, 3-4, 83-3, etc.  This was all new to me, and I know everything is "digital" now, but how did my cable company know we had just plugged in a new TV?  I know, I know, something is in the TV that makes it pick up the new digital channels, but it was just a little weird to me.  It reminded me of what a good friend used to say in college everytime we would watch a movie, "How do they know what size TV I've got?"  (you know, the little message that tells you this movie has been adapted to fit your TV screen?)  Anyway, we have been enjoying our newfound digital bliss - - especially Brad.

You see, we haven't had ESPN for years.  And I'm not exaggerating.  We've been paying $10 for our cable service for a very long time, and you just don't get much for 10 bucks.  But alas, the new TV was giving us ESPN!  Brad has been in a dream-like sports mode for these past few weeks, and I have to say the whole family has enjoyed it.  They giveth.   

Last night Gogurt was in temporary control of the remote and he told his Daddy something was wrong, bad wrong, ESPN was scrambled!  This put my boys in crisis mode........maybe it's temporary, maybe everybody's ESPN has crashed, maybe if we turn off the TV and then turn it back on, ESPN will reappear.  But no luck.  Today when I returned home from preschool, my dear hubby had written a note on Poptart's dry-erase board easel thingy.  It stated, Still no ESPN :(  He had drawn teardrops from the eyes, even. 

I have called our cable company for an explanation.  Did you know the cable guys have some device in their truck that tattles on people who are getting channels they are not paying for?  That's what happened to us!  That little device tattled on us, and the cable guy came and put a filter on our line (per the person I talked to on the phone).  Therefore, no ESPN.  They taketh away. 

So, I've upgraded - sort of.  Our cable company was running a promotion (aren't they always?) that would give us LOTS more channels for $15 more a month.  Then in a year if we want to go back to our $10 a month package we can. 

I am a little nervous about this--I immediately started second-guessing my decision to upgrade.  But, it's just for a year--after that we'll decide whether it's worth the extra money. 

Just so you think I'm not SO naive, I understand this was probably all a marketing ploy by the cable company--they let us have ESPN just long enough to think we couldn't live without it, then they took it away.  And like good little suckers, we upgraded and agreed to fork out some more money. 

Oh well, at least we won't have to watch The Weather Channel anymore for our most exciting entertainment.