We have a busy day ahead of us today, starting early. For the last few weeks, our Dish Network receiver has been acting up. Several times we have lost all of our local channels, they’re not even listed on the channel guide, and when we try to watch anything on television it switches to internet streaming. Then, after anywhere from 12 to 24 hours, everything comes back to normal.
I spent a lot of time on the phone with Dish customer service, going through the troubleshooting things they tell you to do on the phone, all with no success. One of their techs ran a check on the system from their end and decided that either there were tree branches blocking the dish or there was a problem with the receiver. I assured him that there was nothing blocking the dish, and he ran another test and decided the receiver was the culprit. So someone is supposed to be here this morning between 8:00 AM and noon to fix the problem. Of course, last night when I turned the television on everything was back to normal again. Go figure.
Also today, Lowe’s is delivering a new refrigerator and gas range sometime between 9:30 and 1:30. There was really nothing wrong with the ones that were in the house when we bought it, except they had some years on them. But we did not like the refrigerator’s cold-water fill, which requires holding down a button while water comes out of a small spout on the inside of the refrigerator. I’m drinking a lot of water these days as part of my diet and really missed the way our previous Samsung refrigerator had a cold water pitcher built into the door that stayed full all the time. Lowe’s was having a sale on appliances this week with several hundred dollars off so we decided to take advantage of it.
If everybody arrives on time and gets done without any delays, and if the weather cooperates, Kenny and I and granddaughter Hailey and her husband Toby may go out to one of the informal target shooting ranges around here and burn up some ammunition.
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of my standalone mystery, Black Friday. We all know a person like Raymond Winters. He is Everyman. You see him daily on your commute to work. He sits in the cubicle next to yours. He’s the guy plodding through life, just going through the motions. He’s not happy. His work is not fulfilling. But he never expected anything more. At 41, he’s stuck in a rut, without the energy to climb out. Sure, he dreams of a different life. He dreams about it a lot. But Raymond knows the difference between dreams and reality.
Then Raymond’s life takes an unexpected sharp turn after a chance encounter with a strange woman. Overnight he finds himself alienated from his family, shunned by his neighbors, and questioning his own sanity. Raymond is in over his head, and if he survives, life will never be the same. It’s a tale of betrayal, lust, and broken dreams that you will remember long after you finish the last page.
To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.
Thought For The Day – Those that are busy rowing the boat; don’t have time to rock it.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Do you get your veteran’s discount? We bought a fridge at Lowe’s several years ago on sale plus got a veteran’s discount. When the service man was there to correct an error the delivery people had made, he discovered a very small dent in one side that would be completely hidden by the cabinet when finally installed…didn’t affect the working of the fridge at all, just cosmetic. He called the store and they gave us the option of replacing the fridge with a like new one or taking off half the cost we had paid for the one we already had. My mom didn’t raise no dummies so we have a great fridge for less than half the original cost. Great company to do business with. In fact, our granddaughter just started working there last week!