Dead TiVo’s Aren’t Much Fun

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Well, our TiVo started to die.

For a few months it’s been locking up on us … didn’t seem to mater what it was trying to do. Record, playback, or just sit idle.

While we were on vacation, the Linksys WRT54G wireless router got screwed up … so the Tivo wasn’t able to download any new program info. Thus, it ran out of data.

When I got back and reconfigured the router (not sure why the router got screwed up in the first place), the Tivo tried to download 2 weeks worth of data.

Unforunately, it kept locking up when it was trying to process the downloaded data.

I figured it must be some corrupt data … so I decided to reset the entire thing and have it reload from scratch.

I ran the reset … and it locked up a few times when trying to download the data again.

Even after it was able to download the data, it kept locking up.

I called TiVo and they said it was probably dieing … and offered me an exchange. Exchanges cost $149. Oh well, better than buying a new unit and signing up for a new lifetime subscription (which, btw, is going away soon).

I opted for the advance exchange … where they send me the new unit before I send the old one in. Standard deal … they charge the credit card for the new unit and the cost of the old one … and issue a credit when the old unit arrives.

Got my RMA and waited for the new unit to arrive.

Yesterday, the new unit arrived. Same basic unit, except it doesn’t have the front panel buttons (which I kind of liked).

It took a while to get it configured, because it had a much older version of the OS pre-installed … and I thought my only option was to use the phone. We don’t have a phone line near the TiVo, so I had to use the wireless phone jack. It has a lot of static on the line, so the connection was much slower.

Eventually it finished the setup and we were off and running.

Now we just have to setup all our Season Passes and favorites again.

Luckily we had the snapstream so at least we could time shift our viewing.

[tags]Tivo, TV, Television[/tags]

Washing Lip Balm

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I just washed a pair of pants with some lip balm in the pocket … the washing didn’t cause any problems, but drying caused the lip balm to melt … and stain just about everything that was light in color in the load.

I’m not sure how I’m going to get the stuff out … or if it’s even possible. Maybe “Shout” will get it out (I made a rhyme, just in time).

Chicken & Egg

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I have come to a realization … in the morning, it’s much easier (and safer) to drink your coffee with your eyes open … however, coffee is a great aid in getting your eyes open. So how do you accomplish one without first doing the other?

It’s a chicken & egg thing, I suspect.

Who says I’m not a philosopher?

[tags]Coffee, Chicken, Egg, Morning[/tags]

Timezone

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We’re still getting used to the timezone. Woke up very early (at least I did).

Asked about the internet access at the front desk … was told it’s still not working. Oh well, I kinda like this ‘not working’.

Snorkeled on the beach park down the way from the Condo. Not great, but not terrible. Got some pictures, but nothing that knocked my socks off. Still getting used to the camera The shutter release has a delay and I really can’t use the viewfinder at all. The display works, but it’s hard to see underwater.

On the drive back, we stopped at MacGreggor point to see if there were whales to see. Saw some big whales AND a Coast Guard air/sea rescue practice. They had a big plane dropping markers near some flares in the water. Very exciting.

Dinner at Maui Fish & Game / Maui Brewing Company. “Beach blond Pale Ale was good.

More fun with the car: To add insult to injury, we found on the headlights on the car were poorly aimed. Mostly down and to the left. Strike three. We are definitely going to get the car swapped.

Just another day

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Got the Maui News at the front desk … asked about internet access. Was told it was still not working. Darn, I’ll have to download my mail via my phone. Oh well. I can cope. I hope Ginny can too.

Drove around the island a bit … saw a blow hole and surf. Nothing to exciting, but enjoyable,.

Since we were out and about, I decided to take the cell phone charger so we would be sure to have a good charge. I plugged the charger in and got no power. I know the charger works, so it had to be the power outlet in the car. I tried the other power outlet and got nothing. Another strike against the car. Ginny and I decided to see if Avis had anything available, because she knows they had Ford Escapes.

Stopped for a smoothie. Return trip was on a one lane rode that was ‘exciting’. Ended up following a big 4×4 pickup that would win in any argument 🙂

Since we were not quite adjusted to the time zone change, we decided to eat in. We stopped at the Star Market and picked up some light food. Various poke’s, rice, a bottle of pino, soda, cereal, bread, coffee etc.

When we got back to the condo, I decided to see if the internet access is working yet. I plugged my portable wireless router into the ethernet on the cable modem and it worked! I had to agree to their AUP, but after that it seemed to work. Ok, I figure it must be working. I’ll sign up tomorrow. I figure one day charge won’t be too bad.

Paradise

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We have arrived. Another trip to Maui.

Picked up luggage with no problems.

Got car with lots of problems.

When checking in, we inquired about upgrading to a SUV with 4wd … we’re planning on driving out to Hana later in the trip and taking the back road for the return. Driving with more ground clearance and 4wd would make the trip much nicer. They had a Chevy Envoy. We rented that, but when we looked at it I decided it was too big for my comfort. I went back in and asked for the original midsize we had reserved.
Went to get into that car and received an olfactory assault as soon as I opened the door. It smelled like it had been driven for weeks without every getting cleaned out (or the driver taking a shower). It was also very dirty and beat up.

Told the rental agent and got a different car. This it was a Silver Chevy “Classic … went to the parking spot they said it would be in, but found a tan car. Asked one of the parking lot workers where the car was and, after about 5 minutes of looking, found it.

This car wasn’t much cleaner, but it didn’t stink. It had a LOT of scratches & dings, both inside and out.

Not wanting to deal with another trip into the rental office, we took it… but took extra time to document all the damage.
It didn’t drive well either, but it did drive.

Traffic to Napili was horrible. Took us about 2 hours to get from the airport to the condo.

We checked into the condo … very nice unit. Bed is comfortable and clean. Nice appliances. Internet access is available, but not working at the moment. We were told to check in later to find out when it’s fixed.

We’re obviously still on Chicago time, so we went to bed early.

Patch the server

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A co-worker (Jon) sent out a email notification indicating that one of our internal server applications would have to be restarted in order to implement a modification … or “Patch”.

Being the smart-ass that I am … I replied …

Me: Man, you have got to get those servers to kick the nicotine habit … they are just not handling the patch that well

Jon: Ya, well the Nicorette kept gooping up the CPU fan, so we had to try something different

Jon’s response almost made me fall out of my chair laughing.

(Yes, I am easily amused)