My always reliable satellite TV service turned against me last night, and it nearly finished me off. It’s a good thing I’m strong enough to withstand such a blow. It’s a good thing I don’t live and breathe for my programs. It’s a good thing I have cable as a backup.

I was on the phone when the satellite went down. Okay, I guess I shouldn’t say “went down,” as if someone shot it out of the sky, but that was one of the things that went through my head. I took the big flashlight outside to make sure the dish was still on my roof, and still pointed in the general direction of Houston. I checked all the connections. And I followed the onscreen diagnostics about eight times in a row, obsessively trying to help my dish find the satellite again. Everything was working but that.

Finally I did what any longtime computer user would have done. I unplugged my satellite receiver, waited a few minutes, and plugged it back in. It still took another twenty minutes, but I finally had my satellite reception back. It was too late to watch this week’s episode of Surface, but I knew I’d be ready for Gilmore Girls and House tonight. Not, I repeat, that I’m obsessed.

So Sunday night it was the ants that kept me awake. Last night it was the satellite. Tonight? Tonight I’m so beat that the only thing that might keep me awake is seeing my niece and her children on the local news. Wait! There they are, being interviewed at the mall, about seeing Santa on a day when the temperature was a record high 84ºF. There are the boys on the train, and there are all four of them on Santa’s lap, all wearing shorts. (Well, all except Santa.) It’s a darn good thing I had the satellite back for this, so I could TiVo it.