Another Curves franchise closing

I haven't always been consistent, but I like exercising at Curves.  The equipment is hydraulic, designed for women, and doesn't require adjusting or setting weights.  The one I belonged to changed locations in 2006, then closed this summer.  I transferred my membership to another location, and now it is closing too.  I can transfer again, but will probably just drop it and try to motivate myself to use the Gazelle.

Cable TV

I have been very frustrated by my cable TV provider, which is also my internet & phone provider. The VOIP phone system has always been a problem, but it is cheap and we have cell phones.  The current problems started last month when their website for online payment was shut down for upgrades.  I called to pay my bill by phone and got hoodwinked into signing up for Broadstripe forever.  A couple of days later, I noticed I had lost all of my premium channels.  I called support, and they sent a tech to troubleshoot, who told us we were no longer enrolled for any premium channels.  I called support again, and told them to switch me back to my old plan.  We got the premium channels back on one box, but not on the other.  I called again, and they sent a tech to replace the boxes.  Then, we had the premium channels, but were still missing EWTN, which I had before all this switcheroo.  I called again, they resent the signal, and now we had EWTN, but lost the premium channels again.  Finally, after about the 6th call, I have all the channels I had prior to being hoodwinked.  In the middle of all this, I got a cable bill for $254.  No way do I intend to pay that much for cable TV.  After a few more phone calls, they found the billing error.  I've had the same cable provider for over 20 years, but they've changed hands 2 or 3 times.  This last change has me thinking of switching to FIOS or Comcast - both are available in my area.  The price for FIOS is about the same.  Comcast is slightly less, but didn't offer the Western channels that hubby likes except in their most expensive package.  I could live without cable TV - could get me a digital converter for broadcast TV, sign up for Netflix, and be happy with it.

New grandaughter

Daughter & son-in-law have new baby girl.  Lily, 6 lb, 2 oz, 18 inches.  Born 6:59 am Oct. 9, 2009.  That makes 6 grandchildren.    

Star Wars in Concert

http://www.baltimorearena.com/event-more-info.shtml?e_id=246

I might want to go to this.

Musical Thriller

Went to Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia, MD last weekend with my daughter to see Sweeney Todd.  I had not seen the movie with Johnny Depp, and I wasn't familiar with the story, so I didn't quite know how they'd pull it off in a musical.  It was a twisted tale, but they made it more funny than scary.  Not your average musical.

Red Head

I decided to go red.  I've had my hair red before, but usually I get blonde highlights.  I let the highlihgts grow out so I could get a perm and I decided I liked the curls more than the highlights.  My hiar doesn't take both perms & highlights together - gets very dry & looks like straw.  But lately, my hair has been looking very drab, so I wanted to spice it up.  The red color is non-peroxide, so I can use red on top of the perm without damage. 

VCR, DVD & DVR

I have 2 working VCRs - one built into one of the TVs and another stand alone.  I recorded with the first one I got in the 80s, then just used them to play VHS tapes bought or borrowed.  I never tried to record with any subsequent VCR models - whenever I thought I might want to record something, I didn't have a blank tape or couldn't locate a manual.  I also have 2 DVD players, though the one built into the one TV broke rather quickly. I have a few movies & series DVDs, and have thought about getting Netflix or similar service through Blockbuster, more for series DVDs rather than movies.   I briefly had DVR service through the cable company, but I didn't use it often enough to make it worth the extra cost.  I decided to re-learn how to use the VCR to record.  Several things led to this decision.  Most of the shows I like are on at 10:00 and I'd really like to go to bed before 11.   I don't like Jay Leno well enough to watch him every night at 10:00 - I would only watch his 11:30 show when I couldn't sleep.  The 10:00 NBC shows either changed networks or moved to earlier time slot.  I'm often not home for shows I like that come on at 8:00 or 9:00.  I bought some blank tapes yesterday - they're realy cheap now - and found some directions online to set my VCR and record a movie while I was out.  It worked great.  I found the remote for the stand-alone VCR and will try recording some shows that come on at times I'm not usually home, or that come on opposite something else I like.  I know this seems like something old & outdated, but it works for me.