Normally, I have a morning routine. Nothing too exciting, of course. I just get up, do the shower thing, and then watch the lo-cal news while I drink coffee and try to ignore the news on the Internet. Not today, though. Today I awoke to my cable box displaying “E-13” and showing nothing on the screen except for an “initializing” page. When in doubt, turn it off and on (then unplug it, then unplug it and leave it off for a while). When none of that worked, I was forced to call support – only to find a recording saying “yeah, yeah, we know, so don’t bother us.” Well, alrighty then. They better hope I don’t get used to this, or I’ll be saving myself quite a bit of money every month.

I’m now watching – more listening than watching, actually – last night’s ‘Countdown’ on the Internets. I believe it started last night (the trouble, not Countdown; I mean, I know Countdown started last night), but I was busy watching the SU game on ESPN3.com, so I didn’t have the teevee on. So this means I also didn’t get last night’s recordings – most notably Stargate: Universe. So this really blows. I mean, not as much as shit backing up in your basement, but still.

Speaking of shit backing up, I called the County yesterday to see if I could get the plans for my septic system. I’m not having any problems at the moment, but I’d like to know where everything is at, just in case. So I talked to a guy who did a search and called me back. Normally they’d just fax it to me, but there are lots of “notes” on mine, because they had “problems” installing it, and he wants to go over it with me “at the site.” And he happens to live out my way. Very nice guy, but this doesn’t sound as if it bodes well. I see more money hemorrhaging away from my bank account in the near future. Oh great.

Looks like I picked a lousy time to quit drinking beer.