Between Jim the installer and Chuck the service agent (with a little help from my own ingenuity), we got my TiVo up and running this morning. And if I was tempted to play with my new toy all day, you'll have to forgive me, because I'm going to be away from it for ten days.

Packing, laundry, errands... all this got put off so I could whiz around the channels, pausing live TV and setting up recordings of shows that I'll never get around to watching because there just aren't that many hours in a day. I found out one thing I didn't know: I can watch one recorded show while another is being recorded, but I can't watch a show live while something is being recorded on a different channel. (That makes sense, I swear.)

Anyway, there isn't a lot I can do as far as programming TiVo to search for shows I might like, or setting up wish lists, or anything like that. All that will have to wait until I get back from the lake a week from Sunday. I'll have plenty to keep me occupied during those ten days, so I won't miss my new toy too awfully much.

I was up an hour earlier than usual this morning, and about three hours earlier than I wanted to be. Or would have wanted to be, if I wasn't (a) getting my TiVo set up, and (b) leaving for the lake. Since I don't sleep anyway when this much is happening, it hardly mattered whether I was awake lying down or standing up.

And the installer was right on time, knocking on my door at 7:30. I have to admit he was a much nicer guy in person than he seemed when he ignored my phone calls for a week and then insulted my choice of TiVo over Ultimate TV once he finally did call me back.

He still tried to pitch Ultimate TV, and the whole time he was setting up the TiVo for me, he would say, "This part usually doesn't work for my customers." And then when it worked, he'd say, "Maybe you're one of the lucky ones."

He spent an extra fifteen minutes or so trying to find a local access phone number for me. The receiver kept accepting the wrong information, before he was ready. Finally I said something like, "You know, if you have another call to make, I can probably do the rest of this on my own."

So he handed me the remote, and while he was writing up my receipt, I finished the programming. I think it just takes a lighter touch on the remote than he was giving it. I haven't had any trouble at all, and I've been playing with it all day.

Meanwhile, I had one load of laundry that I ran out of time for last night, and it took all day to do it. I forgot to put it in the washing machine. I forgot it was in the machine and kept forgetting to put it in the dryer. Then (wait for it...) I forgot to take it out of the dryer.

But that was the last of my crises, and I'm just waiting for David to call and let me know when he's picking me up. Then we're off to the lake in the big red truck. We'll go through Napa or Vallejo to get on Highway 80 East, then head north on 505 at Vacaville. That's the shortcut to I-5, which takes us through Redding and on to Shasta Lake. And this is the last you'll hear from me until at least Sunday, July 22.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement, and thanks for reading. See you later.