Monday, March 09, 2009, 04:27
Are We Having Fun Yet?
Are we having fun yet?
With digital television, that is.
Those of us who live in rural areas are having tons of fun with digital television. Or rather, we're having fun with no television. And we're not the only ones, either. A number of neighbors in our area are experiencing the same problems: little to no signal strength and no way to get more signal strength.
Saturday, Randy attempted to hook up the third of the digital antennas that we have purchased. We have a converter box, of course. But the television needs an antenna to help with the signal. We had one that worked reasonably well and managed to pick up about 25 percent of the signal strength about 25 percent of the time. (When you can't get television at all, 25 percent is better than nothing, right?)
Unfortunately, when I came home Thursday, I discovered that one of the kitties must have jumped up on top of the kitchen cabinet and knocked the antenna off. That was the second antenna we had bought. There's a beam running through the center of the house, and the wall between the kitchen/dining room and living room is designed with a two-foot open space between the top of the wall and the bottom of the beam. This leaves quite a nice space to put an antenna.
But when Randy came home that night, he discovered the antenna the kitties had knocked down no longer worked.
Magic Ritual
Prior to the kitties breaking the antenna, when we wanted to watch television, Randy had a series of steps he followed.
Step #1: Turn on the converter box.
Step #2: Turn on the television.
Step #3: Climb up on top of the counter to reach the antenna.
Step #4: Adjust the knob on the antenna.
Step #5: Climb down off the counter.
Step #6: Turn in a circle four times.
Step #7: Touch his nose.
Step #8: Attempt to find a television station.
I'm really not certain of the exact sequence of steps. I thought the whole process was rather confusing and complicated myself. The two steps I am certain about is turning in a circle four times and touching his nose. Randy said he got that from Radar O'Reilly on the old M*A*S*H television series.
Anyway, after following these steps, about 25 percent of the time he could find a television channel.
Then the kitties broke the antenna.
Another One
When we went to town Friday night, we bought another antenna. I needed horse feed and cat food, so it wasn't like we went just to buy an antenna.
When we arrived back home, Randy managed to get the new antenna to work for about 10 minutes. Long enough for us to develop an extremely false sense of hope. Just when we thought it was going to work -- there it was. The message on the blank television screen: NO SIGNAL.
Randy had to work Saturday morning, so he returned the antenna while he was in town and found another one.
After an hour of fiddling with the new antenna, he concluded it was not going to work, either.
Public Television
"The new antenna won't even pick up public television?" I said. "We could ALWAYS get public television with analog."
Public television was one of the channels we could count on because the tower is practically in our backyard. It's about two miles away cross country. We use it as a weather device, too. If it's foggy and we can't see the lights on the tower, we know it is REALLY foggy. If it is cloudy and we can't see the lights on the tower, we know the clouds are low.
"Shoot. We don't need an antenna for public television. A coat hanger stuck in the back of the converter box would probably pick up public television," my husband said.
"A coat hanger?" I said.
"Or a piece of co-ax cable," Randy said.
And with that, he went downstairs and rummaged around until he found a short piece of co-ax cable. He attached it to the back of the converter box and voila!
We had public television.
"A piece of wire. That's all we need for public television is a piece of wire?" I said.
"Looks that way," Randy said.
"You're a genius. An absolute genius!" I said.
"Well," Randy said. "I don't know about that."
The truth is, with a piece of co-ax cable, we don't have to worry about the kitties knocking anything off the top of the cabinet. And the co-ax cable was cheap, too. It was just something laying around from something else.
Exterior Antenna
We do have a converter box for the television in the living room. And that television is hooked up to an exterior antenna. Reception on that television is not great, either. We can get just a handful of television channels -- sometimes.
Randy says we could hook the small television in the kitchen to the exterior antenna, too, with a splitter. But the problem then is that each television gets only half the signal from the antenna. And when you are only getting about 25 percent of the signal strength 25 percent of the time to begin with. . .
The problem here is that we are in amongst a bunch of big hills that block the television signal. I don't think we can get an antenna high enough to get above the hills. We could buy two new televisions (one for the news and the weather and whatever else when we are in the kitchen/dining room and one for the living room to watch on the rare times we are in the living room).
But I would rather not buy new televisions. In the first place, it is wasteful to trash televisions that used to work just because somebody got a bug up their nose that all television should be digital.
But new televisions wouldn't help because there would still be the problem of the signal and the hills. Cable is not available out here. Of course, we *could* get satellite television.
The only problem is -- I am NOT paying for the privilege of being bombarded with useless advertisements. If they want me to listen to their advertisements, they had better not expect me to PAY for listening to their advertisements. That's what's wrong with our society, anyway: rampant greed, rampant advertising and a desire to bleed consumers dry on all fronts and expect them to BUY, BUY, BUY, BUY in order to support the economy -- when they can barely afford food, clothing, shelter and medicine when they need it.
Anyway, I'll get off my high horse now -- before I fall off.
Revolution
So, in the end, that's what we've gotten out of the "Digital Television Revolution" (as I've heard it described) -- public television with a co-ax cable.
Actually, when I think about it -- it's a hoot and a half. Three antennas and all we really needed was a piece of cable.
I don't know why they call it the "digital television revolution." Well, maybe I do. It has revolutionized me right into listening to more public radio. And that's actually a good thing. There's more substance on public radio. More things for me to think about.
Then again, Randy does say that sometimes I think too much. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Sunday, March 08, 2009, 05:17
Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake
It was warm and sunny here at Rural Route 2 on Saturday. Well, warm relatively speaking. The sun was shining, and the temperature was in the upper 30's to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I am surprised that the snow we got last weekend has all melted, although there is more snow (and rain or freezing rain) in the forecast. It is especially surprising that the snow has melted since it was below zero only last Monday morning.
Unfortunately, we also will be starting Daylight Saving Time Saturday night. So, I am making Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake for coffee after church on Sunday. I figure folks are going to need *something* to help them perk up after losing an hour of sleep.
Here is the recipe.
Enjoy!
LeAnn R. Ralph
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Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake
This recipe is baked in an angelfood cake pan. Make and serve for a special occasion -- or “just because” when you want a delicious treat!
2 cups warm water
4 teaspoons of bulk yeast (or two packages of yeast)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil (or other cooking oil)
2 eggs
5 to 6 cups of flour (I like to use 1 or 2 cups of whole wheat flour and the rest white flour).
6 tablespoons butter (melted)
1 cup of sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons cinnamon
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let stand for a couple of minutes. Stir in sugar, salt and cooking oil. Beat in eggs. Add 1 cup of flour and stir until smooth. Add 2 more cups of flour and stir until smooth. Add remaining flour -- enough to make a dough that is a little sticky.
Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
While the dough is resting, grease the angelfood cake pan. Mix up the sugar and cinnamon. Melt the butter.
Tear off chunks of dough the size of a small egg. Roll the dough between your palms to make it smooth. Roll in the melted butter. Roll in the cinnamon and sugar. Place in the bottom of the angelfood cake pan. Don’t fit the dough balls into the pan too tightly. They need room to rise. Line the bottom of the pan, then add more layers until the dough is all used.
Allow to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn the coffee cake out onto a large cake plate.
To serve, use a fork to separate pieces of the coffee cake.
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