I saw the hawk (or falcon)

I saw the falcon today. Well, David thinks it's a falcon. I'm not an expert and I didn't get a very good look. It could have been a hawk.

Whatever it was, it was gorgeous.

Scout and I went outside to romp in the fresh snow, and I just happened to look over at one of the feeders and see the falcon on the branch. He blended in almost completely with the trunk of the lilac bush, and for one tiny moment our eyes met and then he flew up to the higher branches of the maple tree.

From that vantage point, I could only see his underbelly, which was creamy and, from what I could see, without a lot of markings. His tail seemed to have some black stripes on it. Looking in my bird book, I don't know if it's an American Kestrel falcon or a Sharp Shinned Hawk. I wish I had gotten a better look at his fact, but I was so startled that he was there my mind went blank.

I just hope he's there to eat from the feeder, not feed on the eaters!

Why I hate Time Warner cable

More than a decade ago, we canceled our cable service. It was during a "we need to trim the budget" phase of our lives, but the experience was never really pleasant. The pricing is ridiculous and the customer service is horrid.

We've lived quite happily without cable, although over the past years I'd thought about getting cable again, even called and got prices, but the cost was so ridiculous that I just couldn't justify it. But with the new change to digital television, I realized we might not have any other option.

We've been using digital converter boxes for months, and while we get some lovely extra channels, the signal is terrible. If our neighbor moves his car, the signal freezes. If the weather is bad, the signal freezes. If the dog walks across the room, the signal freezes. On some days, the channels won't even come in at all.

So I finally surrendered and called Time Warner. While their regular package is about $65 a month, they do offer a basic package for $10.32 a month. You get about 15 channels (half of which I'll never watch) but I don't have to mess around with converter boxes in every room in the house.

I was excited, because the customer service rep who helped me sign up was great. Her name was Shelly and she was pleasant, helpful and a surprising change from previous Time Warner experiences. She set up an appointment, took my credit card information to pay for the installation and first month's bill, and we were good to go.

Then, about an hour later, I had a question. Oh, stupid me.

The question: if I don't have digital cable, will I still need a converter box? I know, I know. I should know the answer to that after watching a hundred DTV commercials every week. But I just could imagine signing up for basic cable and still needing to use a box. I would have to kill someone then.

So I called and got Dave on the phone. I think he name was Dave; that's what we'll call him for simplicity's sake.

I asked Dave my question, and he asked, in disbelief, what kind of cable service I'd signed up for, as if hell hadn't frozen over yet and he couldn't believe I had cable. He pulled up my information, verified my SS#, and before I could even ask my converter box question, he told me I couldn't have signed up for cable service because we had a past due balance.

Um ... we haven't had cable in a decade. How could we have a past due balance?

Customer service rep Dave put on his stern "you're obviously a dirtbag" attitude while explaining to me that Shelly couldn't have set me up with cable, and that before I got cable I would have to take care of a balance of $22.47. From 1998. No cable for you.

I tried to explain that we didn't have cable in 1998, but Dave, good Time Warner employee that he is, told me I could take it up with Collections and he'd be happy to transfer me.

Enter Larry, who told me that indeed, there was a past due balance in my name for service from 1993 to 1997. While I asked how on earth that was possible, he was already clearing the account. He said we'd probably gotten collection notices from a collection agency, to which I assured him that if I'd gotten a bill for $22.47 I would have paid it. He said that a balance from that far back wasn't a problem anyway, and in two shakes he'd cleared me back to zero. Thank you, Larry!

Then Larry transferred me back to customer service so that I could now ask two questions: is my account set up (since Dave said it wasn't possible), and will I need a converter box. At this point, I was seriously hoping they would tell me that they had to start over, because I would have told them to forget it.

Tanya in customer service answered. I gave her a short recap - I signed up for service, had a question and called back, was told I couldn't have service because of a past due balance, was sent to collections, they cleared up the problem, and sent me back to customer service.

Tanya said that they probably canceled the order, and asked me for my address to check my account. And, she warned in her "you're a past due scumbag" voice, that because we'd had a past due balance, we would need to prepay for our service.

I explained to her that I had, in fact, paid for the installation and first month's service already, and had an approval code from Shelly to prove it.

Why, then, she asked, was I back as customer service? (Do they teach that "what kind of an idiot are you" voice in customer service training?)

Because, I explained patiently, Dave said they couldn't set up service! So I wasn't sure if, in fact, the service had actually been set up.

First, she told me she didn't know who Dave was. Then, after checking my account, she told me in that "you're an idiot voice" that there was an appointment set up for next week.

Um ... I already knew that.

So what's your question, she asked.

The problem, I explained, was that Dave said the service hadn't been set up. So we're set? The account is all set?

She said it was, and then asked me if I had any other questions.

Sure, how about the question I originally called for: Will I need a digital converter box if I don't have digital cable?

No, she said, and then, in a new and surprisingly more pleasant tone, said that if I was interested, they had some good deals on phone service.

I told her that with the problems I was having with $10 basic cable service there was no way I'd switch my phone service. In fact, if the telephone company went out of business and my only other option for communication was to send smoke signals, I'd stock up on firewood before I moved my phone to Time Warner.

My David wants to sell our converter boxes but I'm going to hang on to them. With the service that Time Warner gives, it's just a matter of time before I ditch them.

Birds at the feeder this winter

In addition to the bazillion squirrels that have invaded our yard, we've had some lovely birds visiting our feeders:

Cardinals
Blue Jays
Juncos
Sparrows
Tufted Titmouse
Chickadees
House finches
Two kinds of woodpeckers
An occasional pigeon
One crow (or grackle, I didn't get a close look at it)
A possible hawk or falcon
and today, a golden finch.

And this morning, there was another bird murder. I think this time it was a junco, and my guess is a cat got it while it was feeding near the shrubs. There was no blood, just a whole mess of feathers.

Today, I put our old dog training crate in the yard and put the seeds in there. I want to see if that will help the birds eat freely and keep the squirrels out at the same time.

I see dead fox and coyote

It's been a while since I've posted and I have so much to write about. I'm such a slacker.

But I think you'll get a kick of out of this: a couple of weeks ago I went with David to see the results of an annual Howl At The Moon hunting competition hosted by the Genesee Conservation League. Hunters go out in teams and spend a weekend bringing in as many coyotes and foxes as they can. The winning team gets a cash prize.

David's brother Art and their best friend Cuyler paired up and when David said he was going to see their foxes, he asked if I wanted to go. I said sure, and he warned me that it might be gruesome. Well, this is my year of adventure so I think seeing a bunch of dead foxes and coyotes is about as adventurous as I've been in a while.

Surprisingly, I wasn't totally grossed out. I even took off my gloves and felt the fur on several of them. I actually even caught the tail end (no pun intended) of a demonstration on how to skin a fox. It was fascinating and gruesome. (I think the fox on the left was the one that got skinned.)

I'm not opposed to hunting, but I'm not a fan of hunting and wasting the kill. The officer from the Department of Conservation told me that all of the fox fur gets sold to the garment industry, and the coyote population indeed needs to be controlled. So it's not a wasteful hunt.

I know my other brother-in-law has been collecting fox pelts to have a coat made for his wife. Of course, the cost to do have the pelts prepared and then have a coat made is probably 10x more than if they just bought a fox coat.

David's friend Scott and Scott's dad both were joking that next year David should have me be his partner and we should join the hunt. Driving home, David and I had this conversation:

David: I really need to find a partner for next year so I can compete.

Me: Honey, I love you but I'm not going fox hunting.

David: Honey, I love you too, but trust me, you're at the bottom of my list.