Well, we recently took the ulimate step toward pulling our island vacation life into the 21st century, by getting a TV and installing a satellite dish.
And God looked down on us and said "So you want a reason not to leave the house, I'll give you a reason not to leave the house!"
In the four days since the dish went up, it has rained all but one afternoon (during which we were fortunate enough to squeeze in a dive.) Before that, we had been able to go to the beach just about every day.
On the positive side, we were able to watch Croatia stun Germany in the European Football Championships, while waiting out a torrential downpour.
And it's not quite as frivolous as it looks, since there are no monthly fees to pay when we aren't here, and the cost was pretty reasonable (even with the crappy exchange rate.) For about $800, we got a TV, dish, and decoder box, including a 3-hour installation, which gives us access to about 750 channels (with only about a dozen or so in English) for as long as it takes the dish to rust away from the salt air!
I've already learned a few things from the unfiltered satellite programming. Based on the huge number of channels broadcasting in Arabic, I can surmise that citizens of western cultures aren't the only ones prone to becoming couch potatos who want to sit around scanning for the opportunity to call up "Hot Girls, who are waiting to talk to you." In fact, there are about 100 channels offering some variation of "Hot Girls waiting to talk to you" in just about every language known to man, including titles like "Hot Arab Girls" and "Persian Sex World."
I'm quite sure the right wingers would be quick to accuse the Arabic language channels of disseminating terrorist propaganda. Of course, mixed in among the Arabic and other channels are "The Pentagon Channel" and "Voice of America," offering an image of the large American military footprint that conveniently leaves out shows like "This Week in Blackwater Target Practice!"
As for the English programming, unless your primary interests are the weather or Wall Street, there isn't a whole lot to choose from.
Right now, however, I'm content with being able to satisfy my newly acquired obsession with the weather!
Some bonus dive pics:
That's just about enough Seenos! I'm already jealous that you are on your little Croatian Isle - scuba diving. Do you have to rub it in that you now have access to "Persian Sex World" whenever you want! You're Killin Me!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's not as good as it looks! Just a bunch of pictures of topless women holding telephones. In fact, if you look close enough, you can see just as much in the last dive pic I posted (plus an equivalent bonus for the ladies!
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