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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A $60 Box for $296

We live in a great country. We can turn on our television sets anytime of the day or night and have literally hundreds of programs to choose from. There is so much stuff floating around out there in the air that it is a wonder we can see the trees. Us RVers are just like the rest of the population of the United States. If a study were done (and there is probably government money for such a study), the percentage of RVers who love to watch TV would probably mimic the percentage of nonRVer TV lovers across the nation. We all watch TV to a certain extent, so the new government mandate of broadcasting in digital format by February of next year affects us, as well.

In our Montana, we have 2 television sets, one in the living area and one in the bedroom. Both sets are analog. We have an antennae on the roof and it comes into the RV in the bedroom closet. There is a little switch in there to turn it on or off. Our TVs are also cable ready. On the outside of our rig by the front door is a place to plug in for cable if we are in a campground offering cable. If we always stayed in campgrounds with cable, we wouldn’t need the converter box, but we don’t. In fact, this year it seems like we have had cable less than we ever have in the past. Since we often use our antennae for TV reception, we need the converter box.

We had heard the government was giving a $40 coupon to every household needing to install the converter box. Gene applied for the coupon, but was denied because our mailing address (which is his office in Nashville) is not a residential address. The government knows stuff like that. Oh well, the converter box isn’t very expensive in the scheme of things (only $60). Gene called WineGard, the company who made our antennae as well as the switch in the closet. They also make converter boxes. In his conversation with them he was able to learn that we only need one box. With that box, they would include the extra wiring for the second TV.

Now Gene is a CPA. He can discuss with you in depth about the flow through method of accounting for the investment tax credit, but when it comes to home repairs, he’s fix it challenged. I’ve learned to trust his judgment when he says he’s uncomfortable fixing something. At those times, it is truly best to call a repair professional. He decided, after talking with the WineGard people, that it might be best to have Camping World install the converter box. After all, our TV in the living room is bolted to the inside of a cabinet. We don’t even know how to get it out of there. Besides, in addition to the converter box, we wanted them to secure our TV a little better because it has a tendency to slide around when we are traveling. Our appointment was today.

Just as a reminder for you non-RVers, when we have anything done on the RV, we have to take it in for service. It is like a car. If a car needs repair, it is taken to the shop. We have to take our home to the shop to have the converter box installed. We hitched up last night because the forecast for today called for rain. We were ready to pull away by 7:30 AM for our short 40 mile drive over to Syracuse. That’s 40 miles on the New York Thruway which translates into $6.05 for tolls each way. That, of course, is in addition to the 6 gallons of fuel for which we paid $5.03/gal yesterday.

We had our directions and found the store easily enough. It is always a little disconcerting to see a “dead end” sign on a road we are supposed to take, but it turned out fine. The parking lot was huge at Camping World and we had no problems. We noticed, while standing in line at the service desk, a large sign that said service was a flat rate of $109/hour. Well, well, well. I wonder how long they can make this little job last? When Gene had made the appointment, he stressed the fact that this was our home and we really would need it back the same day. They told him then to expect to wait “hours”. At least the waiting room was really nice with cable TV and a coffee pot. Nice restroom, too. And the showroom was full of new Winnebagos. That was fun. Peanut sat quietly in his carrying cage for the entire time, never once making a sound. I walked out on the lot to see the new Montanas, but they were all locked. I decided I’d rather not see them than to see them with a salesman. I had my book and my computer. And the waiting went on and on.

After about 3 hours, they finally called us to pay up. As it turned out, they were unable to better secure our TV without taking the whole front off the cabinet. That reduced our bill by $200 they said. Somehow they forgot to do the “free roof inspection”. For some reason, they needed to install 2 boxes instead of 1 like WineGard had said was possible. When we got back to our campsite and looked at what they had done, it was clear even we could have easily done that ourselves. We would have saved $12 in tolls, $30 in fuel, $142 in labor, $6 for “extra supplies needed to complete the job”, $6 for “protective coverings to include shop towels”, and at least 6 hours of our time. However, in the end our bill was only $296 instead of the $498 they estimated. We are very happy and it didn’t rain after all. We are truly blessed.

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