I Want My Rachael Ray

I knew I should probably get up, but there was this gentle rain falling and the bed felt so good. Then the phone rang. Well, it was nearly 8AM. I hadn't made a welfare call to my dad. So I expected it would be him. And it was.

"Are you still asleep?" Obviously not, I wanted to say.

"No, but I'm in bed." I admitted.

"There is just this nice, gentle rain falling."

"Yes, that's why I was still in bed. I wasn't really asleep." I wasn't actually.

Changing the subject deftly, he said, "I can't get channels 31 and 32. It's the food channel. And HGTV. They are just black."

Ah, my dad loves Rachael Ray. I said I'd check into it and got up and found the channels on my cable. There was Rachael all right. I checked and found the same channels on the digital spectrum and called and told him those numbers. No joy. After getting some coffee, I tried an online chat with Time Warner. I got a note that my analyst had 'left the room.' So I tried the phone number for service, reluctantly. I was fearful that they had decided the channels belonged in a separate layer which we were no longer providing for the astronomically high charge we pay for his cable. But, no. The guy I got on the phone (after only a few button pushes and amazingly quickly) said that the channels were being provided in a 'new way which requires two-way communication.' Hmm. Is someone monitoring my dad watching Rachael? Anyway, it was the old and universal answer to computer problems. (Yes, that cable box is just a computer.) Boot to the head. In other words, I had to convince my dad to cycle power on the cable box and wait for it to boot.

My patient explanation of the process didn't raise his confidence or mine. "I'll try it as soon as I'm finished watching this program," he said. I haven't heard if it worked. A check of the line-up showed that he could catch Rachael at 10:30.

Today's picture is from a market in Paris. Something to go with the food channel theme, you know. I guess I have to check out this Rachael Ray. And wonder if my dad is spending too much time alone.