Tuesday, October 07, 2008
A New Way To Waste Time
I don't know if this is a big coincidence, or if there's a cause-and-effect relationship going on, but the day before my last blog post (over a month ago) was the day they installed the DirecTV in our house.
We decided to change our television service as a means to be more loyal to the BYU Cougars. Nearly all of their games this season are on the stupid mtn. network (so stupid the official name of the network neither 1. spells out the word "Mountain" nor 2. capitalizes it), and the only way to get it out here is through DirecTV. And even then that's only because of a massive uprising of Mountain West Conference fans who have been pushing to get it distributed better.
So we took a look at the packages available, and found that when we do away with the expanded channel set and the sports pack that are necessary to get the mtn., we'll actually be paying a little bit less for TV service than we were through the local cable company, Cox. Plus, as Shelly has recently documented, we get DVR service for a mere $5 a month (she said $10, but she's wrong).
The best part about the deal was when I called up Cox to discontinue our cable TV service. We also get cable Internet through them and after searching through the available options, it was clear that Cox is our best bet, so I told them that I would like to discontinue the TV service but keep the Internet service. They asked me why I wanted to get rid of the TV, and I told them frankly that there was one particular sports channel that I wanted that DirecTV had and they didn't. Of course, the representative I was speaking with had never heard of the mtn. But then she did a very strange thing. She said, "OK, Mr. Astle. Now, in appreciation for sticking with us on the Internet, I'd like to offer you a $5 per month discount on your Internet service." I heartily accepted her offer, but wondered why she was making it. I had already told her that I was willing to buy her service at the regular price. And then she goes and sells it to me for a lower price. That's not good business. But it's good to me, so I'll take it.
And since we've had everything set up, things have been wonderful. We get all sorts of crazy channels we don't ever watch, XM radio music channels we don't ever listen to, and every single BYU football game this season. We've tried to be generous and invite anyone interested over to watch the games with us. I'm sure we'll be particularly popular on November 22, when the mtn. shows the BYU-Utah game, especially if everyone's dream scenario - two undefeated rivals playing for a BCS game and maybe even the National Championship Game - actually plays out. You're welcome to come over - just bring a snack.
We decided to change our television service as a means to be more loyal to the BYU Cougars. Nearly all of their games this season are on the stupid mtn. network (so stupid the official name of the network neither 1. spells out the word "Mountain" nor 2. capitalizes it), and the only way to get it out here is through DirecTV. And even then that's only because of a massive uprising of Mountain West Conference fans who have been pushing to get it distributed better.
So we took a look at the packages available, and found that when we do away with the expanded channel set and the sports pack that are necessary to get the mtn., we'll actually be paying a little bit less for TV service than we were through the local cable company, Cox. Plus, as Shelly has recently documented, we get DVR service for a mere $5 a month (she said $10, but she's wrong).
The best part about the deal was when I called up Cox to discontinue our cable TV service. We also get cable Internet through them and after searching through the available options, it was clear that Cox is our best bet, so I told them that I would like to discontinue the TV service but keep the Internet service. They asked me why I wanted to get rid of the TV, and I told them frankly that there was one particular sports channel that I wanted that DirecTV had and they didn't. Of course, the representative I was speaking with had never heard of the mtn. But then she did a very strange thing. She said, "OK, Mr. Astle. Now, in appreciation for sticking with us on the Internet, I'd like to offer you a $5 per month discount on your Internet service." I heartily accepted her offer, but wondered why she was making it. I had already told her that I was willing to buy her service at the regular price. And then she goes and sells it to me for a lower price. That's not good business. But it's good to me, so I'll take it.
And since we've had everything set up, things have been wonderful. We get all sorts of crazy channels we don't ever watch, XM radio music channels we don't ever listen to, and every single BYU football game this season. We've tried to be generous and invite anyone interested over to watch the games with us. I'm sure we'll be particularly popular on November 22, when the mtn. shows the BYU-Utah game, especially if everyone's dream scenario - two undefeated rivals playing for a BCS game and maybe even the National Championship Game - actually plays out. You're welcome to come over - just bring a snack.
Comments:
Until this season, I could watch more BYU games living in Virginia than I have been able to in the year since I moved back to UT. Made for one more-than-slightly disgruntled cougar fan! At least I get to watch them while they're playing well - though they had better start playing better than they did against USU last week.
Post a Comment
