God's sense of humor

So, you know I love the Olympics. I look forward to them for a year beforehand and have a period of grief after they're over. A former co-worker actually gave me a "sorry for your loss" card after the 2000 games ended. I guess it's one of those rare rituals in our world - there are traditions and surprises and old things done anew. And it happens infrequently enough that it never becomes rote.

I woke up on Friday and was still feverish, so I stayed home and got to watch  the opening ceremonies on the Canadian channel. I have no idea of how they got all of that Tai Chi synchronized, well, aside from it being the only thing those 2008 people were preparing for during the last 12 years of their lives. Which begs the question - how on earth are they going to reorganize their identities now that the performance is over?

Anyhoo. After my fever subsided and my nose stopped running (for a brief time) I went to Melissa & Kate's wedding and had a lovely time - all the more knowing when I got home I'd be able to turn on at least the Canadian channel and catch basket weaving between Croatia and Latvia or something. So I enjoyed the ceremony on the water, the food, the wine, the toasts, the cake cutting, the first dance, and then headed home for the long awaited Olympic fix.

I got home and turned on the tv and... it was pitch black - with a "signal not received" in the middle. Hunh? So I flipped through all the channels. All were the same or static except the plain old regular channels - which are all fuzzy. I figured, (denial), it'll all be okay in the morning. I'll wake up and it'll All Be Okay. 

This morning, first thing, I tried again. "Signal not received" glared back at me.

This is where God's humor (or vengeance) comes in. About 14 months ago I moved into this condo. I went to plug in the TV and lo and behold, I had cable. It's not a building amenity, so I figured they hadn't turned it off after the last owner left. Same thing happened with my internet. I turned on the laptop and, viola, internet. I went back and forth and back and forth on the morality of using these w/o paying... with the TV I figured (with lots of support from the peers I consulted), well, it's their responsibility to come turn it off- so once it turns off, I'll call and start paying. A month went by, then two, then six, then a year, then 14 months. Then they turned it off. Last night. The night before the actual sports were broadcast. Right at the exact moment I actually wanted - no, needed - cable. 

I keep hoping that if I give it a few hours, it'll come back on. So far, no luck.

Well, at least NBC is showing live video on the web. Thank goodness I still have the int