Nearly 7 Years of Rabbit Ears

You guessed correctly: I've finally cracked and tomorrow, between the hours of 9 and 11, the Comcast technician should arrive, and when he/she leaves, I'll not only have faster Internet, but a full complement of cable channels. Hello Sports Center, Top Chef and the Daily Show. Goodbye crappy digital terrestrial signal, which despite the propaganda, was so much less dependable than the analog signal. I'd been considering the change for a while, and after missing a few choice football games because of a bad signal, decided that I could stop being so cheap.

In other news, after wrestling with the boot for over three weeks, my foot is not better. My next doctor's appointment will most assuredly result in a surgery recommendation. And yes, I have an appointment for a second opinion lined up a few days later.

Two Gifts

From opposite sides of the world, two gifts arrived on my (figurative) doorstep in the past few days.

First, a bar of Cadbury chocolate from our friends in the UK. Cadbury sold in the UK is not at all like the low quality chocolate produced for the U.S. market. It's better quality, doesn't have the same level of processed chemicals that much of the mainstream chocolate has in it, and is really, what a good quality chocolate should be. Delicious and flavorful.

And second, from our friends in Japan, dried stingray fins. When I was in Japan for business last April, among many memorable meals was one in which my colleague ordered several small plates of delicious food. I remember fresh tofu (rich and creamy), beef tendon (tasty but too chewey of a consistency for my taste), savory eggplant, and most memorably, dried sting ray fins. Served warm and with mayonnaise on the side, the slightly chewy pieces were similar to jerky in consistency, only with more of a collagen undertone. They tasted like the ocean. I fell in love, and have a feeling that I ate more than my share. According to my host, I was the first westerner he'd been with who relished the dish as much as I did. He's very kind, and brought me a package this week.

I love it when good food arrives unexpectedly.

Capitol Hill Red

Vino Verite, the very excellent wine shop just a few blocks from my house, released their own wine, aptly named Capitol Hill Red. It turns out that the powers that be at the wine name approval place (some bureau or board or something like that) took their time with approvals, because they were concerned about the Communist-type connotations of the brand. Jokes on them, because obviously, the bureau had no idea about the neighborhood that lent it's name to the wine.

I tasted, the red table wine is still a bit young but very drinkable. I think I'll let it age and crack it open at a dinner party.

Biggest Loser - tonight

I have the patience for only one reality TV show in my life at a time, and right now, it happens to be the Biggest Loser. I'm not sure it's a coincidence that I started watching around the same time I was starting or finishing or something to do with 20/20.

The show does a few things not so well, but I like the basic premise: if you want to lose weight, you need to work hard and make some decisions that are somewhat uncomfortable. And the work isn't just on exercise and/or nutrition, but those two things, plus a lot of mental stuff. I wish that the show spent a bit more time on nutrition and workout tips, but it is a contest, and the drama and entertainment value (beyond the incredible weight losses) is what keeps us coming back.

Besides, Jillian is hot. I wonder how much she charges per hour of her time?