As a Direct Result of the Absent-Mindedness I Outlined in a Previous Post. Or Maybe It Was Just Laziness.

The analog signal broadcasting television recently switched over to a digital signal. This was originally planned to happen on February 17, but the date was delayed because the nation wasn't prepared.

The news anchors announced this delay with all the seriousness that would accompany the death count in the war in Afghanistan, like one might say "Hurricane Katrina washed over New Orleans, rendering homeless the thousands WHO WEREN'T PREPARED." Their tone implied images of impending doom, the moon turning to blood, wars and rumors of wars, and the ushering in of the Apocalypse.

Tyler and I laughed about this together, stressing to each other that all that was going to happen was that THE TV WAS GOING TO STOP WORKING. Wasn't that a blessing in a round-about way? We could play board games, make cookies, read books together as a family. These are the perks always advertised in TV shows when the TV mysteriously stops working.

I was all aboard this train of thought, until I remembered that it was February and March was just around the corner, and the last time Tyler and I WERE NOT PREPARED for want of a TV was when we were first married and our cinder-block-walled apartment in Provo didn't received reception AND MARCH MADNESS WAS ON. Tyler called the cable company and asked if he could get the ESPN package. You mean regular service with ESPN added on? No, Tyler responded. Just ESPN. And ESPN2. That wasn't an option, so Tyler spent the next three days on the roof of the complex creating all manner of bunny ears until we got a fuzzy barely watchable CBS signal.

March Madness 2009 was upon us, the analog signal was about to cut out, AND WE WERE NOT PREPARED.

But, lucky for the Howes, the date was moved and we watched March Madness in peace. The impending doom was delayed and, being Tyler and Laura, we still weren't prepared for the new apocalypse and our reception cut off last Friday. We cavalierly let the signal go fuzzy, thinking a lack of reception wouldn't be a big deal. What we weren't anticipating, however, was The Attack of the Bad Seventies Information Program. NBC, in place of programming, is sending on an analog signal an explanation of analog vs. digital TV, created in the style of the calculus programs from the Utah Educational Network. Tyler noted that they had to have filmed the program recently, since it speaks to such a current issue, but they must have dusted off their three-piece polyester suits for the explanation. The TV executives must have thought that Nixon's administration could convince the masses to buy a digital box better than Obama's.

The mullet the authoritative engineer is sporting? Now THAT's a natural disaster.