i'm not a math person. i'm not an electronic person. i can find my way around on a computer, but i don't know the intricasies, nor could i tell you the difference between java and perl.

so it's not surprising, that electronics do nothing for me. i mean, when we had a cell phone, i could barely figure the damn thing out(too much stuff)nor did i really have the desire to.

but guys' attitudes are different. what's the saying, whoever dies with the most toys wins. my sister-in-law's boyfriend is a freak about electronics. he's had at least a half dozen different speaker systems in his car, five different cell phones in the last year and a half, and his dream job was when he worked at circuit city. he got the job there because he spent so much time in the auto-stereo department, they just offered him a job. not only did he get to play with everything, but he got some amazing deals and discounts just for working there.

my husband is no exception. he was in awe over plasma screen tvs when they first came out. he's dying for a pda. hell, my t-85 calculator just about made him cum.

i had to buy the damn thing when i was in college, for dreaded algebra. i squeeked out of beginning with a c. in intermediate, everything clicked and i actually came out of that class with a high b or low a. i was thrilled, thinking i was finally getting the hang of it. since each section builds last, i thought i might do pretty good in college algebra. boy was i wrong.

so i had to buy this stupid $100 graphing calculator. it took me forever to learn to use it and i never fully did. the teacher would always have to walk me through it several times.

but mark was so excited when i brought it home. he started reading the inch thick instruction book that came with it. then he found out he could write programs on it. oh my...his wet dream come true. next thing i know, i have a card game on there and he's written me a program so that i can compare prices at the grocery store, which i never used.

when we moved here and his sister needed to use it, we let her. unfortunately she took the book also and didn't clean out her locker in time at the end of the year, so she lost the book. mark was livid. can we say livid. now it's just a calculator. that's it, that's all.

so we go to the cable company the other day to get the new dvr. he's wanted one since they came out.

the lady takes our two digital boxes(something he also had to have when they first came out) and scans the serial numbers in as returned. meanwhile, mark is waiting patiently, elbows resting on the counter, his chin in his hands. she turns around to pull the large dvr box from the shelf. i just happen to look over at mark and there's a gleam in his blue/green eyes, and one of his legs is slightly bouncing in anticipation. he looks like the neighborhood fat kid waiting on the curb for the ice cream truck.

i chuckle at him. he throws me a smiling, shut up, you don't know me. (our little joke when i peg exactly what he's thinking)

on the ride home, he's holding the remote, switching it from hand to hand, trying it on for size, pushing this button and that.

when we arrive, he immediately has to hook it up. he pulls it out of the box and z's eyes light up just like his did. both are beginning to foam at the mouth. i don't understand all the fuss myself, but figure that boys will be boys.

but after he hooks it up, we can't get it to work. some of our channels aren't showing up and we can't get the guide to work.

as usual, he thinks the worst. "it was a wasted trip, we won't even be able to go back until monday and i'll miss the race anyway, the whole reason we went to get it in the first place. all that for nothing."

calm down, i tell him. it's probably something really simple and when we get back from picking up our food, call the cable company.

i was right. yay! i was right and inside i'm doing my little happy dance. i tell him "i told you it was something simple" (i have to take advantage of this fact when i can, because believe me, i am seldom right...although i always am in these sorts of cases)

when the lady took our stuff back, she didn't reconnect our services. all it took was a flip of the switch by the lady on the phone and everything was hunky dorie again.

he begins playing with it. pausing, picture in picture. we discover that not only can we pause live tv, but we can rewind it also. so even if we don't record a show, but we miss something, all we have to do is rewind it to catch what we missed. great for instant replays without having to wait on the announcers to do it for us.

pausing and rewinding live tv...ok, i'll admit it, that's pretty COOL.

still, i'll leave the details up to mark and z. all i want to know is off, on, guide, info and last channel. the guys can have the rest.