trade-offs

When we decided that Verizon DSL just wasn't cutting it and that we needed to switch to Charter cable for the Internet, we knew that we would also have to switch to Charter for television, even though we were happy with DirectTV satellite. We knew that calling Charter and saying we wanted Internet only would never get past their sales reps. So we now have Charter television as well as Internet.

A few things we've lost. I no longer have the Cooking Channel as a supplement to the Food Network. I no longer have Comcast Sports California which carries the A's games, only Comcast Sports Bay Area which carries the Giants games. But how many A's games did I actually watch last year?

A few things we've gained. The Monterey/Salinas NBC and CBS stations. The STARZ and Cinemax movie channels which we dropped when my company's former CEO cut salaries and DirecTV raised prices. The complete local forecast on the Weather Channel.

And of course, much faster Internet speeds.

The losses are primarily on my side. Terry is happy with the new television package. And if Terry is happy I am happy.