Waiting

God, God, GOD, why do they make me wait so?

So Eric bought an Apple TV the week they came out. So far we've been pretty unimpressed with it. He even tried to sell it on eBay last week- and there were NO BIDS! Here's a list of all we didn't like about it:

• It doesn't support a whole lot of popular video formats. This really, REALLY limits it in terms of high-def video- which is what we really bought it for. We wanted to stream hi-def content to the TV. You CAN re-format files, but to get HD content on the Apple TV, you had to use a certain bit rate, one that was pretty low, apparently, so the video quality suffered.
• Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound was not supported. So even if you streamed a standard definition video to it, one that had surround sound, it only played in two-channel stereo. Again, you could reformat. The Apple TV will play DTS 5.1 sound. But almost NOTHING has DTS encoding. I sent it a file with DTS and it played fine... but after watching it, it wouldn't go back to its regular sound codecs and had to be restarted.
• Even if you bought a movie from iTunes, the video quality was slightly less than that of a DVD. So why bother?

So at Macworld, Steve Jobs made me really happy by announcing that iTunes would start offering HD movies, WITH Dolby 5.1 sound, available for purchase AND for rental! And that I won't have to use the computer to do it- I can do it straight from the Apple TV. Whoo hoo! A software update will enable all the wonderfulness.

So where's the damn update? Yesterday, iTunes said movie rentals were available, but I didn't see any movies that could be rented. Today, there are movies to rent- but none are hi-def. It's not a bad deal. $3.99 to rent a standard def movie. You have, I think, a month to start watching it. Once you start, you have it for 24 hours. I'm not one for watching movies on the computer, though. When hi-def is available, it'll be $1 more. And if you have a flat panel monitor or a laptop, your comp will support hi-def. If you have a hi-def TV, and DVI output on your computer, you can get a cable to connect the two, even if you don't have an Apple TV and feel like putting the computer next to the television.

So where's the damn update for the Apple TV? It's coming "sometime" in the next two weeks. TWO WEEKS??? No!!! I'm whining like a baby about this. I know I am. It's pure greed and childishness, but I WANT IT NOW!!! DAMN!!!! Want want want!

Speaking of TV's, as you know, broadcast is moving fully to digital soon, a year from February. So, the Government will help you buy a converter box that allows your analog TV to receive digital signals. You can get $40 off the cost of the converter box by applying online for a coupon. However, the coupon supply is limited. So, avoid the rush. Get your coupons ordered early. Your coupon will be mailed later when the converter boxes are in the stores. Sign up now. It’s first come first serve. Now, if you have a cable box or a satellite box, you won't need a convertor. You'll need one if you use an antenna and don't have a TV with an NTSC tuner in it (if you've bought a TV in the last year or so, you may already have an NTSC tuner). BUT, even if you don't need a converter, sign up anyway. I'm gonna sign up and sell 'em on eBay.

Been waiting all day for the weather. We could get 2-4 inches of snow tonight. Or freezing rain. Or rain. Depends on the temperature. I WANT SNOW (along with my Apple TV software update). Right now, at 12:42 am, it seems to be giving me some sort of "wintry mix." I see some snow, and I hear some ice. Go away, ice! I want snow!!! I think I may also hear some regular rain, but that could be the neighbors' "water feature." Now I definitely hear regular rain. Dammit. Not good for sledding- we've got a great hill just down the street.

I tried to make an appointment with a doctor yesterday to get back on my meds. Yay, meds! But the receptionist was confused by my insurance. The member number didn't start with what she wanted it to because I don't work for a local company. She said she'd call back. She didn't. Now THAT'S a great way to treat psychiatric patients. Makes me think of the lovely University of Memphis. They have a counseling center (which turned out to be pretty useless) staffed my students getting their Masters degrees in Psychology. First off, both of the counselors I saw told me that to help my depression, I should do something nice for myself, like go to dinner or see a movie. I said, "The PROBLEM is that I HAVE to do nice things for myself to keep myself from drinking bleach! I see 4 movies a damn week when I ought to be in CLASS!" The other problem was their receptionist. You know how low-paid retail workers sometimes act like they really, REALLY don't want to help you? That was the receptionist at the U of M counseling center. Your mental breakdown and attempted suicide was interrupting her game of Minesweeper. Oof!

That's the news from here. Since Monday's a holiday, I thought it might be nice to go out of town Sunday night. Have a break. I thought we might go to Cherokee since we haven't been to a casino in a long time, and stay at this really cool, haunted hotel. Check out www.balsaminn.com. Eric was up for it. Then, when he got home from work, he decided he didn't want to go anywhere, we didn't need to go anywhere, and we're not going anywhere. Dammit!

So that's all. Be good, kids.