We have always had cable for our Internet. When I was working we needed a reliable source and cable was really the only good solution. We didn’t however like cable TV, so we subscribed to DirecTV for our local broadcast stations. The 1st of the year our HOA decided to sign us up for a bulk deal from the cable company and our fees went up to help cover it. We no longer get billed for cable service. It is part of the HOA services fee.
This new bulk deal includes cable TV, but as a streaming service. It also includes the Internet at a 1 gigabyte bandwidth. The cost seems to be a wash. We no longer pay for our Internet and the fees went up almost exactly that amount. The cable TV streaming is a bonus.
It took some getting used to new menus, new streaming devices provided by the cable company and a new channel line up, but after all is said and done we were able to cancel DirecTV and save money.
This opened up a Pandora’s box. Many of our neighbors are elderly and making the change was not something they could manage on their own.
After I got ours working and figured out all the ins and outs, I volunteered to help one of the neighbors. She was very reluctant to the change, so we did one TV first as a trial.
By the end of the week she was completely flustered and wanted me to switch her back to DirectTV. Mind you I made her cheat sheets, gave here a channel line up, setup all of here “dvr” cloud recordings, etc. But in the end it was just too much change for her to handle. She is on anxiety medication and has a lot of health issues to boot. The training I gave here became more of a counseling service than an install. I walked here back for the cliff and returned her to something familiar.
It was a stressful thing for me because I felt like I failed her. But she has had several strokes and even brain surgery so I realized she was just not capable of making this switch. It really had nothing to do with me.
So now she has told others that I am an expert on the new system. I found out at the last happy hour in the clubhouse. I didn’t volunteer to help anyone else. But maybe I should put my shingle out. I can make it work. The question is do you really want it.
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