—– It seemed like a good idea at the time. We have Comcast cable television and we routinely complain about the rising cost of the service, but we use our TV every day and it requires a cable connection. The “idea” was to add a small TV in our kitchen and split the cable. It worked great. During breakfast or while cooking meals, the little kitchen TV worked perfectly, however, a few days ago it suddenly displayed a message, “No signal”.
—– “I suppose Comcast has done something to prevent our kitchen TV from receiving a signal,” my wife said.
—– “Have you checked the main TV?” (It’s the one connected to the cable box.)
—– I picked up the remote and turned it on. As you’ve already guessed, it was dead in the water as well, and that’s how our splitter caper began.
—– “Well, sir,” said the Comcast technician I called, “your cable box is not responding to my reset signal. We can send a technician or you can disconnect the box, take it to our store, and exchange it.”
—– No problem! I disconnected the box, took it to the store, and received a newer, more powerful model.
—– After installing it, I followed instructions to activate the new cable box but received an error message on my TV.
—– “Hello! I’m trying to activate my new cable box and getting an error message.”
—– “No problem, sir! I’ll activate it remotely. Your cable box will briefly turn off and then come back on-line.”
—– I waited, but it didn’t happen. The technician tried three different tactics and none worked.
—– “Sir, do you have a splitter on your cable?”
—– “Ah . . . well . . . a . . . well, yes I do.”
—– “More than likely it’s the problem, so I’m scheduling a technician to come to your house to fix it. I apologize, but the earliest appointment time is in two days.”
—– I groaned but agreed.
—– Meanwhile, I bought a new splitter, just in case, and I’ve prayed to the gods of technology for the visiting technician to be understanding. We don’t want to pay for another “box” so we can watch our little kitchen TV.
—–As I write this, I’m waiting for the technician to arrive, and yes, I’m feeling anxious. I have the new splitter in a brown paper bag, hidden discretely in my office. I know being truthful is the best policy, but I’m not saying another word unless asked.
—– “Oh, oh, there’s the doorbell!”
—– The Comcast technician smiled, pushed a few buttons, sent signals. and suddenly our TV returned in living color.
—– “The activation process had been interrupted,” he said. “I’m activating it now.”
—– “What about our kitchen TV,” I asked.
—– “Do you have a splitter on the cable?”
—– “Unfortunately, I do.”
—– He shrugged and said he would check the signal. Then he disconnected the kitchen TV and reconnected it to his magic box.
—– “It’s a good splitter,” he said, “but you’ll need a box on the TV to receive a picture.”
—– There was no “shame on you,” or guilt feelings at all. I’d been caught red-handed but he was not blaming me for illegal behavior. So I shrugged and said okay. He smiled, brought in a “box” from his truck, connected it, and then handed me an agreement for another $2 to be added to our bill.
—– “Is this our only option,” I asked.
—– “This is it,” he said as a matter-of-fact. “Comcast has blocked the signal.”
—– I looked at the beautiful picture on the kitchen TV and felt a deep need to end the Splitter Caper, so I signed with chagrin. Now both TV’s sparkled with clear reception, and with a remote in each hand, the “caper” ended. Technology . . . . Who needs it?
You cheapskate——-all of this for,$2.00 a month? How much did your splitters cost? Sounds to me like you just wanted to get away with something—–you bad boy you!. Anyway thanks for the laugh. Skinhorse.