Ever since I got back to Colorado from Las Vegas with my Dish Network box I have been without TV reception. I tried everything - all their diagnostic tests, moving cables around, swapping out the boxes with the house next door - nothing worked, so I finally had to arrange for a technician to come.

The charge is $95 unless we sign up for their monthly $6 service plan. The help desk guy said to sign up for it, then cancel it. There is a $25 early cancellation charge, but that is still cheaper than the $95.

The big worry was that the cable from the satellite to this house had gone bad because it is buried under the driveway between the two houses, and the lay of the land at my house is not conducive to satellite dish placement. I literally sat with my fingers crossed while he performed the various tests.

Turns out the problem was that our satellite dish, which is at least 20 years old, was not compatible with the new DVR box we got last August. It had sort of worked through November, but not like it should have. I decided since I was going to take it to Las Vegas and would have a free service call to install a satellite dish at that house, I'd just wait to get it straightened out there.

It hadn't worked right here because we were missing a part on the new box - the part on the dish didn't enter into it - so once we got that part, all was well in Las Vegas for the winter. But that new part made the box incompatible with the old dish hardware once I got it back to Colorado. The part he replaced today was the thing that gathers the signal off the dish itself and transfers it to the cables that come into the house, he had to climb up on a ladder to do it.

Now, mind you, all this doesn't explain why the old style box from next door wouldn't work over here. I decided it is one of those things where it doesn't pay to over think it: if it works now, don't question why.

As a bonus, I found out all about the technician's life, clear back to his grandparents coming from Poland and going through Ellis Island to settle in Kansas City, his two previous marriages, his daughter, his autistic stepson whom he no longer sees but misses because the second wife who ran off with the no-neck Harley rider has custody of him after he forgave for two previous cheating incidents. And a few years ago, his brother and stepbrother showed up at his house in Kansas City and kidnapped him here to Colorado so he could be set up with a girl he knew in high school, and now he's married to her. He told me his entire work history and how much he loves his job. Servicing satellite TV is recession-proof, and he always has plenty to do. He doesn't drive a Dish Network van, so I wonder if he is some kind of independent contractor. The kidnapping sounded like an intervention, and I could see where he could have needed it, but now he's okay.