Getting a snowfall in late March or early April is almost normal in Wisconsin. It seemed like we in Shawano County might get away without getting any until the 25th arrived.
Waking up to snow two days after my birthday was not unexpected. It was predicted. I remember, during the years of my childhood, when my birthday party often had to be cancelled due to a snow storm.
Back in those days, somehow neighbors and relatives knew when birthday parties were. I sometimes wonder how the word got out, due to the fact my parents didn’t have a phone until they had retired off the farm. I don’t think most of the neighbors or relatives had telephones either.
I had one day a week ago, when my landline phone was dead. It was fixed the next day, and then I was constantly being interrupted by telemarketers.
People of the current times would wonder how anyone survived the late ’40s and ’50s. No phones, no Internet, no Wi-Fi, no “I” anything, no texting, no e-mail, no Facebook, no tweets, and more shocking still, most of us did not even have a TV. Those who did, didn’t have a remote.
Just imagine the horror of having to get up from your comfortable chair or couch, walk up to the snowy-screen, black and white, TV set, grab the channel knob and change the station. Those who lived in certain areas may have had as many as three channels to choose from.
Fast forward to 2015 and what do I currently have? I have four TVs in my house, yet I live here alone. Sometimes I feel very spoiled. Other times I feel kind of silly. Do I really need a TV in my office, my basement, my bedroom, as well as the living room?
Those thoughts hit me on a morning like this, when I turned on the DISH Network receiver and the television only to see a blacked out screen, with the dreaded words, “complete signal loss.” Then they give me a list of possible problems. I looked out my window and knew what my problem was — there was snow on the ground, which means there is snow on my dish. So, of course, the signal is blocked.
Do I need TV in the morning? I asked that of myself as I prepared to don pants and coat. Somehow, I want to get a local station on to find out the latest news and weather. With that in mind, I grabbed a broom and trudged out to the northwest corner of my yard to sweep off the dish.
The sad part of the whole thing was that when the TV came on, I had the updates I wanted within a few minutes, and then, despite the fact I get multiple channels to pick from, I found nothing that I felt was worth watching. Perhaps I could have heard the news and weather on the radio and waited until the snow melted off the dish.
Even though we didn’t have all of the things that people think are needed in this day and age, it seemed a much simpler time. In fact, I spent the better part of a day this week trying to get DISH Network back here to bury the cable they left lay on the lawn in late November 2014.
The guy came to put in new receivers and insisted that the dish had to be moved. He moved it but neglected to tell me that he didn’t bury the cable. I noticed it when the snow melted, and insisted that it is not my responsibility to bury the thing. So they are coming and, after some back and forth, won’t charge me to do that job.
Simple life, though harder work, or modern life, with modern conveniences — sometimes I wonder which is better. However, I am trying to learn to go with the flow.
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