This is a re-enactment of me fixing the television. More on that in the ‘Notes’ section.

(Sunday Paper, Year IV, Issue 14)

I’m not afraid to admit it:

I have trouble keeping up with technology.

If I’m tasked with figuring out a new device or computer program I’m not afraid to plug things in and push a few buttons and figure it out.

But if it’s on my own time, I tend to prefer something analog to something digital.

I’d rather call you on a land line than a cell phone.

(Though, as I’m sure you’re aware, I’d really rather not talk on the phone at all.)

I’d rather read the newspaper on paper than a digital device.

Same with books.

I thought of this twice this week, because of two separate technological incidents…

Maybe you can relate.

The first issue I ran into twice in a month: this time because Sara Bareilles’ album came out on Friday, and the first time when Matt’s new album came out.

I download the albums I buy through iTunes - and since both of the albums featured songs that were released individually ahead of time, I had a few songs, then the rest of the album downloaded when the full album was released.

The result is that I have an out-of-order album. Which bothers me, because - well, I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that something out of order bothers me, but I’ll explain anyway - the artist puts the songs in an album in the order they’re in for a specific reason, and this downloading system prevents the listener from getting the album the way it was intended.

Maybe there’s a simple fix for this. I don’t know. I realize I could create a playlist with the songs in the order the artist intended, but I want to just click the album and hear it.

You know what wouldn’t cause this problem and would allow me to listen to the songs in the proper order?

A CD.

So I’m working through that.

A shocking revelation on day two of the baseball season.

And then baseball season started and I went to check on the app on my TV (it’s an LG, which is relevant) that allows me to watch the Mets on the television instead of my computer, and that app no longer works. I tweeted about it, and LG implied in a reply (an IMply, haha) that Major League Baseball ended the relationship with LG (I assume they used to be sponsorship partners or something?) so it was out of their hands.

Anyway, that led me to buy a Roku this week, which turned out to be pretty easy to install. And it seems to work better than the app that was on the TV. (The TV, you may remember, I bought last year and I suppose it’s more high definition than the last TV [which wasn’t high def at all] we had but doesn’t seem to be very good high definition. I don’t know. Dag-nabbed newfangled technology.)

For some reason, though, I turn into an old man with new technology I install in my home. I must have texted Kevin 100 times to ask him questions about the Roku and whether I was doing the right thing. (Like I said, it was super-easy. I could have left the poor guy alone.)

But this is what happens - if something doesn’t seem right, like my TV’s high def (or lack thereof), I just assume I did it wrong.

And then there’s something like the Roku, which was easy to install, didn’t cost very much, and now allows me to watch the Mets at my convenience on the TV without tying up my computer or my phone - and being able to watch every Mets game here in Framingham was something I could only dream about as little as 20 years ago, when that was only possible if you had a specific kind of satellite dish.

I guess sometimes technology can be pretty wonderful.

Writing

*Another busy week, and I am trying to work in some running and some yard work…so I’m having trouble figuring out how best to organize my hours when the girls are at school. It’s a good problem to have…but I always feel there’s room for improvement in my time management.

Comedy

*Kind of ate it at a couple of open mics early in the week…but I guess that’s what open mics are for. They weren’t well-attended when I went up, so I’m not sure I’m ready to give up on the material quite yet.

Saturday night was the show at Sofa Cafe I’ve been telling you about for a couple of weeks. It’s been in the works for about six months, really, and there will be plenty to read about it soon, so stay tuned for that. It went pretty well, though, I thought. I like doing shows in that space.

This week I’m at 730 Tavern in Central Square in Cambridge on Wednesday night, and then Saturday is the April Comedy Night at Exhibit ‘A’. Tickets are still available…you can get them at this link. Info about all of my upcoming shows is at the ‘Comedy Shows’ link at the top of the page.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

*I alluded to how much I’m enjoying the Roku, but the funny thing about it is it probably has tons of benefits but I’ve only used it to watch baseball…and to be honest there’s really nothing else I could see myself using it for. But we’ll see…baseball season is going to end eventually and I’ll still have a Roku.

Notes

*Oh my goodness, did I ever have a revelation writing this blog. I started thinking about why the Roku was in such high def and how crappy my TV looked…and remembered how bothered I was that the high def cable box didn’t come with an HDMI cable, which I thought might be the solution, and I figured I’d come back to that at some point…and then forgot about it. So I think I’m buying myself an HDMI cable and seeing if I can actually get quality video on my TV.

*(Truth be told, other than watching baseball, I just don’t watch all that much TV these days.)

*UPDATE - in the interest of full disclosure, I wrote this all Friday afternoon and I’m leaving it up to document my idiocy - but then Friday night it dawned on me that I had an HDMI cable sitting around (long story - but it comes from the Switch) and late Friday night I plugged the HDMI cable into the TV and hooked it up to the cable box from the proper output and BAM I have high definition TV. And I feel like a complete dummy that it took me more than a year to figure this out.

*But, like I said, I don’t watch all that much TV these days.

*Just a full season of baseball and football and college sports. You know, just the events that are enhanced by high definition. Yeesh.

*Hey, if you don’t already Like this dummy’s Facebook page or follow this dummy on Twitter, you can do that here.

*Did you see the Jets unveiled new uniforms this week? They look pretty good - I like the white jersey a lot. I like that they have a fresh look for what could be an exciting young team. I don’t like that they held a release party for the uniforms where it took a half hour until they actually revealed the uniforms. (I didn’t watch it - definitely would have 10 or 15 years ago - but I did fast forward through it to get the flavor of it.)

*It’s been a good start for the Mets, including a great, exciting comeback win yesterday, but they had a great start last year and then things did not go well after the first month of the season, so I’m not going to get super-excited about them. But I am a little excited about what this year could be like.

*”Oh, John, before you go,” I hear you saying, “wasn’t this week supposed to be your big doctor’s appointment?” Wow, good memory there, Mom. (Or whoever else reads. I don’t know.) Turns out that appointment got pushed out a few weeks - it’ll still happen, but at the end of the month. I’ll probably write about it - I don’t know.