The snow is gone, and so is the satellite dish... Oh yes, you all loved the dish story- so I will add more... Apparently, gale force winds are the norm here- and so are crappy satellite installations. So the wind blows and the pole that the dish is on moves- back and forth, back and forth. Well recently it got to the point where the pole was in the ground, but you could pivot it. Hmm, not so good for reception. Soo... I decide that I am going to do something about it! I stop by the hardware store and pick up a shovel and cement. Oh yes, I am going to put this pole in right! I position the pole correctly to watch my Laker game Friday night- and luck was on my side because I didn't lose reception until about 20 min after the game ended. So early Sat morning I walk outside to begin the mission. (Let me remind my CA friends that it is about 30 degrees here). So I take the shovel and begin to dig. Oh wait! It turns out that the ground is FROZEN SOLID! Digging a 3 foot hole is one thing, digging it into solid ice- ummm time for plan B. Particularly because at this temp, it might take the cement 3 weeks to cure. So, I look at the yard and see that my Directv dish is still up. So I pull it off, and swap the Dish network one on there. Clear view of the sky, not right in front of the house, on a sturdy cemented pole (old fence post). Money. I hit up radio shack, bought 50 more feet of cable and routed it across the edge of the lawn. Took me awhile to get the dish positioned perfectly- at one point I had a speaker pointed out the window. It was playing a tone indicating the signal strength. Well, to entertain Lucas- I put on a DVD- but with no sound (since I needed it). Anyway, just as I was zeroing in on the perfect position, I start to hear Mozart from his Baby Einstein video. I walk into the house and Lucas had the remote in his hand and was saying, "Did it!" He had somehow figured out how to switch the audio feed on the picture in a picture to his show. This was particularly amazing to me because I still don't know how to do that... (I cannot begin to tell you how many cool features he has found on my cell phone). Anyway, the dish saga has ended momentarily. Hopefully this setup will survive the next bout of 60 mph winds...