The MacGyver of TV Viewing

Okay, calling myself MacGyver may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's how I like to think of myself.

Last night I came home from work to find that my phone, WiFi and cable were all down. I called the cable company, who was no help. "We'll send an agent out Saturday morning," the phone technician told me. I calmly thanked the man, hung up the phone and proceeded to freak out.

Forget the fact that I had nine different shows set to DVR that night and they'd all be missed. I had no TV to watch. None. Zilch. Nada.


After naively thinking that we could still watch The West Wing on Netflix (we are in a government shutdown after all), I was kindly reminded that to stream, you need Internet. So, my husband and I looked at each other and said, "Guess we'll go to sleep?" It was 8:45PM. The 10 hours of sleep we got were pure bliss. But, I never want to have that much sleep again if it means not being able to watch TV.

When I woke up this morning, I ran into the living room, hoping it was a bad dream, but alas, the cable was still out. I ALWAYS watch TV in the morning while getting ready for work. There's so much TV that I watch that my husband doesn't (like uh, the Kate Gosselin episode of Bethenny), that I try to sneak it all in in the morning. The morning routine is just not the same without TV. It's like coffee.

Speaking of coffee... With no cable and no WiFi to spare, I loaded up my phone (3G style, which ain't so cheap anymore with the new data plans) with Hulu Plus. As I got ready this morning, my iPhone and Law & Order: SVU came with me. Making iced coffee in the kitchen? My phone sat on my cutting board. Blow drying my hair? My phone (with the volume on super high) sat against said coffee next to the bathroom sink. Yes, the above photo is not staged. That is my life. (And yes, I think standing a phone against a glass of iced coffee = MacGyver.)

So, that is what happens when I have a few hours without TV. I mourn, I freak out and I MacGyver (now used as a verb). And during this time, luckily -- but unluckily for them -- ABC's Lucky 7 got cancelled, so that's one less show to catch up on.

Tonight I will experience one more TV-less tonight. Who knows what I'll do? Eat? Clean (probably not, because the vacuum is way too loud for Hulu Plus)? Sleep?

And tomorrow, the cable guy will come and, fingers crossed, all will be right in the TV world again.