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Schnauzer

Schnauzer

Pretty Sure You are Wrong
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Well, Murphy's Law was on full display at the Schnauzer household on Saturday. The Schnauzerrette was out of town so I was watching our kids and preparing for a fun, uninterrupted day of college football on the tube ALL DAY. No distractions, no guilt. Of course this plan began with the 11:00 AM Gopher kick off.

But, as I turned the TV on to watch the pregame, I found out right away I had no satellite signal. I knew it must be weather related but it wasn't snowing that hard (I have very few weather issues and when I do it is only for a few minutes). But, for some reason this was different. An hour later I still had no picture... a record. So, I went outside to look at the dish on my roof, and saw that it had the wet snow stuck to it and THAT was the reason I had no picture. I could wait it out (let it fall off on its own), or do something about it. I came up with a ladder option from my deck to my roof on the ice and snow (OSHA would NOT approve), and managed to crawl up there without killing myself and cleared the dish.

I then went to watch the game. Just as I got inside (15 minutes before kickoff)... the power went out, and stayed out until LAST NIGHT. I was babysitting so I had to stay home. I had to listen to it on the RADIO.

How'd the Gophers do?

Just kidding on that last sentence. But suffice to say I was really, really, really pissed.
 

Short term pissed off.
Long term, great story to tell the kids for years.
 

Watching it at a buddy's house when the power went out. He didn't have a battery-powered radio. Ended up providing updates via ESPN on my phone, but at least they won.
 

I also was forced to miss about 95% of the game. I'm (sarcastically) convinced that this was the reason the Gophers were able to be in a position to pull off the win.
 

A super-fan such as yourself should have been rewarded. I honestly feel bad for you.

Hopefully you'll see us hang one on the Hawkeyes.
 


My power was out as well. Saw the first 5 minutes, then power came on for 20 minutes and then lost it until late Saturday night. Perfect day to stay inside and watch college football. Had to listen to Dave Lee:( I did updates to a buddy who also lost power.
 

I hope I'm not pointing out the obvious but you could get in the car, drive until you find a bar with power and watch the game on TV. Smoking isn't allowed in bars anymore so bring the baby!
 

I hosed off the Dish at the half and got to see the second half. Plus, the game was replayed at 1:30 AM Sunday morning, so I was able to DVR it. Oh, and here's the end:

B1_football1_BM_1_0.JPG


Buy that generator!!!
 

at the bar said:
I hope I'm not pointing out the obvious but you could get in the car, drive until you find a bar with power and watch the game on TV. Smoking isn't allowed in bars anymore so bring the baby!
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Or drive down to the YMCA/lifetime/24fitness throw the kids in the pool or kids care and grab a treadmill in front of a TV. Make sure you get a treadmill with a cup holder so you have a place to put your beer. If you are really lucky your gym might have a leg curl machine set up in front of a TV and you can kick your feet up while you watch the game.
 



After Illinois' last TD, I had more shoveling to do and almost said "Eff this." My laziness paid off, however, and I got to watch the comeback.

gloved, I always find the recumbent bike to be the best for watching the game. I think I burned off a whole 5 calories last time I watched a game at the club.
 

I was looking to see if there were any replays of the Gopher/Illinois game once my power came back on last night. I didn't see an option. So, the power seems to have stripped me of every opportunity to see the game, including second opportunities. Does anyone know of a rebroadcast on BTN?

Also, I thought of the bazillion Gopher Hole complaints about the radio delivery as I was in the rare personal situation of having to listen to the game on the radio. All in all it wasn't TOO bad but I did notice a few of the things people always complain about. Unless your ear is completely glued to the radio, it is sort of tough to know what is going on. I noticed a couple situations where Dave Lee was describing one of the teams moving the ball "Down to the 20 yard line" when in fact they were moving it OUT to the 20 yard line, as in they still had 80 yards to go. I also noticed he almost always describes what is going on in a bland way, and then raises his voice in a vane attempt to show emotion after the fact. It is sort of like the job my parents used to do when they attempted to film some of my high school games. The action would be in focus as the ball was snapped but then the camera would slip to their shoes as they forgot their job in favor of actually watching it themselves, only to reaquire the action as the teams headed back to the huddle. Dave Lee seems to describe the action a bit under his breath once the ball is snapped, almost mumbling, and then remembers there is an audience listening to him after the play is dead.
 

I also missed the game do to snow on the dish. I live in a condo, so, I couldn't go up and do anything about it. However, it would not have mattered because I had set it to record on the DVR and I turned on the TV for the first time Saturday at 2:30. What the?!?!? When the signal was finally back, I scrolled through the guide and found the repeat broadcast on the BTN overnight and watched the game Sunday afternoon.

I must say, while I was disappointed to not watch the game not knowing the outcome, it did make it MUCH less stressful watching the replay of the game knowing we win (didn't know the score, however). So, in the second half I could just smile knowing everything was going to be just fine.
 

Nice to know I wasn't alone on that one. I too had to set up a ladder to climb up to the garage roof. Luckily the dish is close enough to the edge of the roof that I could brush the snow off with a broom while staying on the ladder. The part that pizzed me off is that I had TiVo'd the game, since I had to take my daughter to basketball practice. I wound up missing the first quarter. OSHA also wouldn't have approved of my ladderwork. My wife is in Europe on a business trip right now, and as I was up there I was thinking of how mad she would be if I wound up calling her from Regions.

Highwayman, I also thought about the hose option, but its a PitA to drain down the faucets again. I was explaining all this to my brother in SoCal, and had to put up with a bunch of grief.
 



We lost power from about 9:00am Saturday until about 7:00am on Sunday. I thought to myself "I bet this is the week they finally get on track & I'm missing it", I was right.
 

Yeah, My electricity stayed out long enough to ensure I couldn't see or record the replay of the game either. I figured BTN would show it again at some point this week, even if it were overnight but a search revealed my chance is over for now. It will probably reappear next August when BTN is gearing up for another season. Dang... Well, the pictures in the paper sure looked like everyone was happy.
 

Schnauzer said:
Yeah, My electricity stayed out long enough to ensure I couldn't see or record the replay of the game either. I figured BTN would show it again at some point this week, even if it were overnight but a search revealed my chance is over for now. It will probably reappear next August when BTN is gearing up for another season. Dang... Well, the pictures in the paper sure looked like everyone was happy.
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That's too bad you had to miss the game and with no possibility of catching it on a replay.

There's nothing you can do about a power outage, but RE: snow sticking to the satellite dish, I like the idea that someone on here posted the other day, and that is to take a supersoaker filled with windshield washing fluid and spray the dish off that way. I'm going to have to give that a try when we get snow here, cause my roof is 20 feet off the ground and sloped at such an incredibly steep angle that I get creeped out just looking at it, much less thinking about trying to find some way up there just to clear off the satellite dish.
 


Seany said:
That's too bad you had to miss the game and with no possibility of catching it on a replay.

There's nothing you can do about a power outage, but RE: snow sticking to the satellite dish, I like the idea that someone on here posted the other day, and that is to take a supersoaker filled with windshield washing fluid and spray the dish off that way. I'm going to have to give that a try when we get snow here, cause my roof is 20 feet off the ground and sloped at such an incredibly steep angle that I get creeped out just looking at it, much less thinking about trying to find some way up there just to clear off the satellite dish.
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That supersoaker idea is a good one. I'll have to file that away. Beats teetering on a ladder in a snowstorm. Mixing in some dishsoap with the windshield wiper fluid would help. The surfactants will help keep snow from re-sticking. And the glycol in the wiper fluid will keep the stuff from freezing on the dish, which would create as many problems as it solves. You could nuke the solution before you put it into the soaker. Help to melt the stuff, plus you'll catch a wicked buzz from the glycol fumes.

I can't help it. I'm just a chemistry geek at heart.
 

Too Long in the Wasteland said:
That supersoaker idea is a good one. I'll have to file that away. Beats teetering on a ladder in a snowstorm. Mixing in some dishsoap with the windshield wiper fluid would help. The surfactants will help keep snow from re-sticking. And the glycol in the wiper fluid will keep the stuff from freezing on the dish, which would create as many problems as it solves. You could nuke the solution before you put it into the soaker. Help to melt the stuff, plus you'll catch a wicked buzz from the glycol fumes.

I can't help it. I'm just a chemistry geek at heart.
Click to expand...

I know. Reading some of the lengths (climbing up ladders and up on rooves in the middle of a driving snowstorm) that people were going to to try and clear off their dishes was pretty nerve-wracking to me just reading about it, so I thought that supersoaker thing was a hell of a good idea. I wish I could remember who posted it so I could give them credit, but ah well. Anyway, I will keep your suggestions in mind.

We haven't had any snow yet here, but this is Maine, so we will. And this is my first winter season with a dish, so reading about all your experiences with the snow and dish problems made me aware that I'd better prepare myself for the inevitable ASAP. Plus, this gives me the perfect reason to buy a supersoaker. See, it's 'practical'. ;)
 

The super soaker was not an option for me because my dish is located near, but not on the peak of my garage roof. I only have ladder access to it from the deck on the back side, and the dish faces the other way. The bad news is I am SOL for a situation like this without visiting it in person. The good news is Saturday was only the second time in 7 years this has been an issue. If I had waited and not done anything, the dish cleared itself after an hour or two. But, the new problem at that point was the power was out so it was all academic by then.

It was just a severe case of Murphy's Law for me. I was not meant to see that Gopher Victory.
 

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