Luggage

I can't believe the airlines are going to start charging for the first bag checked in on a flight.

 

Especially when we're essentially forced to check bags because of (a) the liquid restrictions and (b) the fact that all the carry-on bins are already full.

 

So... now, everyone's going to try to carry on their luggage... and they're going to end up with overflow problems and a lot of gate checking... and they're going to crackdown on bag size and all that other crap or else nothing will fit... and then you're going to end up with people like me who have actually read the contract of carriage and know that they won't reimburse you for certain items and tell you to carry them onboard... and then, we start the circle again.

 

What a mess.

 

Not to mention, that for your $15, you get no guarantee that American Airlines will get your bag to your destination on time.  Intact.  Without anything stolen or missing.  So you're paying for a service that, if you don't get your bag, isn't really a service.  And, according to NY1, the current plan doesn't include any way to get your money back if your bag isn't there.

 

I need to start looking into baggage shipping services.

 

But for right now, I'm just not flying American (not to mention my previous experience during the mass cancellations).  We'll see what happens when all the other carriers pick up the same plan.  Sigh.

DVR

So, the DVR saga.

It worked fine last night (thank goodness). I watched the season finales of Bones (sigh), Gossip Girl (yay) and Desperate Housewives (mixed). Everything on our DVR list was fine.

I turned on the TV this morning and went to the DVR list to unmark some watched programs and mark all the new ones taping tonight (Idol, Hell's Kitchen, Reaper and Shark) to save. My jaw dropped in horror.

The top entry on the DVR list was an episode of Project Runway from February 13th.

February 13?! Seriously?! What?!

How did the DVR go from having multiple (at least 15-20) programs from the past few months to having nothing after February 13? And how could it have all these programs from February when these were deleted ages ago? Connor Chronicles, Cashmere Mafia, Project Runway... these episodes have been gone for months!

I tried a few things to fix it, thinking my eyes were tricking me or that it was just a glitch. Nothing worked. February 13 was the most recent thing. I tried playing those programs and of course, the DVR couldn't find them. Because they were not THERE! They were deleted!

On the way to work, I started recreating the list, thinking about what I had and had not watched. Thinking about how I was relieved that we watched Lost over the weekend. That the 2 big shows on the DVR for which we have a lot to watch - Chuck and Heroes - and the last two Journeyman episodes were still there and from before February, so they still worked. I came up with 2 episodes of Moonlight, the last episode of Ugly Betty and the series finale of New Amsterdam. I'm not sure what else was missing. But I didn't think too hard about it because I was confident we would get it back. After all, my theory was that somehow the list had pulled up some stored directory but the shows were probably still there, but couldn't be accessed.

I called the cable company from work and they said I had to call back when I was back home. I didn't think about it too much during the day at work, but I was able to play one episode of Moonlight in the background while I was working.

I got home, spent over 40 minutes on the phone with the cable people and they are sending a technician at the end of the week. I begged and pleaded that they walk through it with me over the phone because I'm not a technical dummy instead of having to set up an appointment, but no luck. The minor things we tried didn't work. And I'm not sure the guy even understood the problem until the very end. To summarize, deleted programs from months ago there. Recorded shows from recent days not there. It's really bizarre. How do things like that happen? How does the list come up "frozen in time" as of February 13, with things marked to save, etc. that were deleted ages ago? How does this happen?

After I got off the phone with the cable company, I unmarked all the items marked to save that I knew weren't on the DVR because they had been deleted. At that point, I unfortunately had to switch from theory #1 to theory #2. All the programs since February 13 have been deleted. They are not hiding on our (almost full) drive. They are gone. Because I unmark those programs and not one of them is in danger of deletion. And it tapes all 4 hours of today's programs. And not one of them has deleted. That can only mean one thing. There is room on the DVR. Usually every day we unmarked the number of hours taping that night. So it was almost full. There is no way it's almost full now. It must be gone.

I am trying to think of what was on there other than the shows I listed above, but I'm not sure. At least we can get through some Chuck and Heroes maybe. We'll see.

Sigh. Saga.

Vote

I got 2 votes in!

Busy

I have yet to get a vote in during an American Idol finale. Season 2, of course, was the worst, but tonight, I haven't been able to vote either. I don't recall how many finales I bothered to vote in. Usually I don't bother because I know it will just be a busy signal. I have to either like someone enough (see Clay, Cook) or really, really, really dislike one of the contestants (see Fantasia, Taylor).

Of course, I'm voting without watching the show. Which I'm watching now. I love Andrew Lloyd Webber. And I have a ton to say about my troubled, troubled DVR. Sigh.

The Song

[American Idol spoiler ahead]

I heard a rumor about this, but Archuleta really sang Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me. As in, Clay's song. Another reason for me to not vote for him. Not that I was planning to anyway.

Cancelled

So... the full list of shows I watched regularly this year and which were cancelled...

 

Moonlight

Cashmere Mafia

New Amsterdam

Shark

Women's Murder Club

Men in Trees

Big Shots

Journeyman

 

The only ones I'm not that upset about are Cashmere Mafia and Big Shots.  They entertained me while they were on, but I didn't care that much whether they stayed or not.  I guess I watched Cane too, but I stopped because I got bored.

 

But the others (Shark aside) have one thing in common.  They weren't the typical procedural drama.  Is that all we want on tv?  Different variations of CSI and Law & Order? I wish that weren't the case.  I'd rather have my vampires and immortal Dutch men and time traveling journalists and the quirky residents of Elmo.  Unfortunately that means I get attached to the good new shows and inevitably each May (or earlier..) get upset at the networks.  I think this year's anger gets directed at CBS.  I would put ABC in second, but they redeemed themselves by saving Eli Stone and the whole slate of new shows much earlier in the year (Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, etc.)

 

I also wish they would realize that the old way of counting viewers just really doesn't work anymore.  And that not all of these shows are really "failing."  Sigh.

Next TV Season

If the schedules from the upfronts for the next tv season stay the same, here's what the DVR is looking at:

 

Monday

8: Chuck, Gossip Girl, Sarah Connor Chronicles/Dollhouse, Dancing with the Stars.  PROBLEM!  The DVR can only fit 2.  Dancing with the Stars is of course getting pushed to online viewing, but what to do about the other 3!

9: Heroes, 24 (in '09)

10: Boston Legal, My Own Worst Enemy/Philanthropist

 

Tuesday

8: 90210, Idol (in '09)

9: Fringe (speaking of Fringe, there is a huge ad in the Post today), Surviving the Filthy Rich, Dancing with the Stars results show and that ripoff the Mentalist (which I will only watch if it gets amazing reviews)

10: Eli Stone, Without a Trace (although I gave that up this year because of time issues, so maybe not)

 

Wednesday

8: Pushing Daisies, Bones, Top Model (also gave that one up this year because of time issues, so maybe not), Knight Rider (maybe?)

9: Private Practice, Idol (in '09), Stylista (maybe?)

10: Dirty Sexy Money, Lipstick Jungle

 

Thursday

8: Ugly Betty, Survivor, Hell's Kitchen (in '09)... PROBLEM in '09 if nothing moves!

9: Grey's Anatomy, Kitchen Nightmares

10: Life on Mars, Eleventh Hour (maybe?)

 

Friday

8: Bones (if they insist on putting it there in '09), Crusoe (maybe?)

9: Ex List (although this is Moonlight's spot...)

10: Numb3rs

 

Sunday

8: Amazing Race, Merlin

9: Desperate Housewives, Medium (in '09)

10: Brothers and Sisters, Kings (in '09)

 

So the only real problem is Mondays at 8.  Why Chuck and Gossip Girl are up against one another, I have no idea.  I would say I could dig out videotapes and use my old college tv/vcr combo... except I just remembered the switch to digital in '09.  Hmm.

DVR

If the TV schedule for the fall and spring stays the same, I have a definite problem with one time slot and a potential problem with another, but the rest should be handled fine by the DVR.

 

And I'm slightly amused that every year Fox puts Bones in a Friday night slot for midseason, and every year so far, it has not come up there at midseason.  I sure hope it doesn't, but I just wonder if it's becoming an inside joke at the network.

 

I'm still annoyed with CBS, but not just over the cancellations.  Mostly that they have a new procedural which is a complete rip-off of Psych, down to being set in the state of California.  Lame.

 

More later over lunch.

Stupid CBS Part II

So the new lineup from CBS includes a show about a detective who used to pretend to be a psychic and has a "blatant lack of protocol," and solves crimes using "razor sharp skills of observation." 

 

Sounds like a Psych rip-off to me.  Without the humor.  And almost exactly the same set-up.  Except Shawn is an independent contractor. And this guy is no longer pretending to be a psychic.  But he used to!   It will be a high bar to match Shawn Spencer.  Very high.  Since Psych is brilliant.

 

Yes, I am still bitter about the cancellation of Moonlight.

Stupid CBS

CBS cancelled Shark too?!?

 

Why don't they just rename themselves "CSI"?

 

I hate that Survivor and Amazing Race are on CBS, because I can't give those up.  I don't know what new shows they're coming up with, but I'm already biased against them.  It'll just be more of the same.

 

And they wonder why viewers don't get into a show.... maybe it's because you're just going to cancel it before its time!

Networks

I am not happy with the cancellations of TV shows that I like.  I have lists of shows that the networks prematurely cancelled that I liked.  And this year, with the strike, some shows got to last longer so much longer than they would have without the strike (Journeyman would have been off the air almost immediately) but I can't believe they're cancelling some of these.  Since in some cases, it's their own fault (Men in Trees...)!

 

I was happy to hear that Eli Stone was coming back (thank goodness) but around the same time heard Women's Murder Club was out.  And before that, Men in Trees was done after this summer (a true ABC mistake, moving it all over and sending it to hiatus, how is anyone supposed to know it's on?).  And New Amsterdam isn't coming back (sigh). 

 

And now, one that I really disliked hearing...... CBS is cancelling Moonlight?!?!

 

Arggggggggggggh.

Burgers

Mmm, turkey burger from goodburger.  Originally I was thinking of ordering sushi and being healthy, but I ended up getting a turkey burger and onion rings.  Oops.

Sleep Deprived

I did not sleep through the night.

 

Again.

 

Sigh.

 

Did not wake up from sneezing attacks.  But do not know why I woke up twice.  Ugh.

Sneezy

I'm feeling very relieved right now. I just slept through the night for the first time in a week. I realize that this isn't much of an accomplishment, but every night for the past week, I have woken up at least once (usually, multiple times) in the middle of the night with some form of allergy attack. Most often, I sneezed myself awake. The first night, I woke up 3 times with sneezing incidents. As the week went on, the sneezing fits kept pushing themselves back an hour, until Friday when they woke me up as an alarm (that, I could deal with). But not getting real "rest" for so long has really made me exhausted. So, I am quite relieved that I actually got sleep last night (although I still feel tired). Hopefully sleeping through the night is a pattern that will continue... instead of the other one.