Thanksgiving Fun - Part 3

Several times over the week, I watched people respond to my Aunt Laura's loving attitude. People do things for her because she's so nice and sweet. I don't think she realizes that not everyone is like her. This is one of those instances:

The Cable Guy.

When Aunt Laura chose her new TV, she went for a big one. She wanted a 50-some-inch screen, but the TV niche only fit the 47-inch screen. Actually, I think the niche was 48 inches wide and the TV was one of the new high-def plasma screens, 47 3/8 inches wide. It was a tight fit.

On Tuesday, the guy from Dish Network was scheduled to come to the new house and hook up the satellite. I was outside when he was heading in, and I overheard Aunt Laura welcome him. Before he got inside, he learned that his name, Mark, is Aunt Laura's favorite name. That was her son's name, but he died several years ago.

Then Mark came inside and I followed to watch the action.

Mark took one look at the TV and said, "I can't do this job. That's an HDTV and the work order from the satellite company doesn't include that." Apparently, he's a subcontractor and is only authorized/able to do the work the company tells him to do. Mark is a nice man, and calls Dish Network for Aunt Laura. He was on the phone for awhile, and rescheduled the job for her for December 1. Then Laura commented that the three bedrooms need cable.

So Mark told Laura that she needs to make sure the rooms are wired. If her grandson can do it, he can buy the wire at Home Depot and it will save them the $59/hour that Dish Network will charge. Aunt Laura says, "My grandson is a CPA; he hires people to do that sort of thing for me." Then I pipe up.

"If you're a subcontractor," I ask Mark, "can't you do it for less than $59 an hour?" He gave me a sly look, and said that he doesn't take side jobs, but he knows someone he can call.

While he and I are talking, Aunt Laura calls her daughter, Chris/Lil. She's talking to Chris about why Mark can't do the job today and Mark steps outside to call his friend about the wiring. Aunt Laura says, "Oh, he's walking out the door. I don't know where he's going!" Then she hands the phone to me.

Chris tells me to make sure the three rooms get wired for regular TV and the family room for HDTV, and remember to include local and Spanish channels. I repeat everything back to her and think I've got it down.

Mark returns to the room, and says he has a friend who can do the wiring job for $100 cash on Friday night. Aunt Laura says okay.

Mark calls Dish Network back, because the job has changed again; now instead of one HDTV hook-up, we need an additional 3 rooms. Then I tell him about the local and Spanish channels. Aunt Laura talks for a moment about how important her novelas are and she's so grateful I said something. And then she's asked about TIVO.

Sometime during all this, my grandmother came in the room. At the mention of TIVO, she says, "What is that? We don't need that. I have my VCR to record." The rest of us know that they'll use it all the time, so after a few confusing moments of defining TIVO, we get the message to Mark that we want it for the main TV only.

Mark is still on the phone with Dish Network, so Aunt Laura asks about when the old house will be hooked up and transferred to her brother's name. Unfortunately, that information can't be looked up without his phone number. After trying a few different numbers, Aunt Laura says to wait just a minute and walks across the yard to her brother's house. I was washing dishes, listening to Mark tell the satellite people, "I'm just holding the line."

When all was said and done, we got the job rescheduled for December 4, and the wiring for the day after Thanksgiving. Poor Mark. He didn't get paid for this job, and he missed his next job because of the amount of time he spent with us.

All in all, I enjoyed every minute.

Conclusion
On Friday when we returned from an all-day outing, the guys were there wiring the house. Aunt Laura was confused about why they wanted $100 when the TV still didn't work. After figuring it out, she said, "Let me get my checkbook." Of course, they were expecting cash, per the agreement with Mark, and their faces showed dismay at receiving a check. Chris says, "Don't worry. My mother's check is good." And they left, the wiring complete.