On behalf of the vast left wing conspiracy, I bid you all Happy Holidays from all of us here on the front lines of the war on Christmas. We’re not exactly exhibiting a festive atmosphere here at my household. The wife and I are both on call today, though hers only last until the end of the work day, and mine extends until tomorrow morning at eight AM, when I’m released from yet another week of unpaid after-hours servitude. My wife’s present to me today was to give me permission to not go with her to the in-laws’s house. Not that I don’t enjoy seeing them, of course, but I could get a call about a database-related emergency at any moment, and then I’d have to leave and spoil all the fun (because the only thing worse than being deprived of my presence is to be graced with my presence, only to have it suddenly taken away).

Instead, I guess I’ll just spend the day alternating between the Doctor Who Takeover Marathon (leading up to the highly anticipated Christmas Special) on BBCA and “The OA” on Netflix (started watching yesterday and stayed up past my bedtime last night). I’ve been watching Dr Who all week (or at least the past few days – not sure how long it’s been running), courtesy of a free trial of DirecTV Now, which ended yesterday (I cancelled it, but fortunately also cancelled the PayPal recurring payment, because the fuckers tried to charge me anyway).

DTV Now wasn’t bad, by the way, but with a bit of a clunky interface, a flakey Android app that kept crashing, no Android TV app (though you can cast it), no DVR capability, and no 5.1 streaming (except on some limited on-demand stuff and not via Chromecast), it just wasn’t worth the money. Plus the only thing I watch Live TV for is the local news (locals not available so I have to watch OTA anyway), SU sports (let’s just say there’s not much of incentive there), and football (also mostly on locals and every team I give a shit about seems to be a loser).

I’m now trying a free week of SONY’s Playstation Vue, which has an Android TV app and cloud DVR capability. Plus 5 simultaneous streams compared to 2 for DTV, though there’s still no 5.1 stereo, and SONY doesn’t have a deal with Viacom, so no Comedy Central and no CBS on demand stuff.

So I guess I’d better get going – all this teevee isn’t going to watch itself.

Whatever holiday you happen to be celebrating (or not) or whatever else it is you’re doing (or not), I hope you have a good day.