A weekend without astro

Came back from work on Thursday night only to find out my astro decoder is kaput. No power/standby lights. Need to call astro serviceman to come over and check with a minimum of RM50 service charge, exclude all the repair parts and charges. Which, rightaway I thought that I'd do it later this week. Little did I realize the weekend is coming and how would I survive without astro?

Weeknights were not so bad as I only have 4 to 5 hours awake at home. But weekends? I depend on astro for my tv and radio programs, as I don't bother to align my tv and radio antenna for those 'classic' tv channels and radio channels.

So, did I survive the weekend without astro? Yes!

But, how? Well, that's the power of internet, especially if it runs on your ThinkPad (hiks!).

I listened to my favorite songs from my iPod, which connects to my home theater system. Then, I listened to radio on DVR Player, to the hourly news on Bernama's Radio 24, I read newspapers on e-browse. I read all the blogs linked in my blog. I have 98 links, to date! and I make sure to read all of them, at least once a week. All these were done with my ThinkPad (hiks!) while sipping my favorite Aik Cheong black coffee. I could also watch TV channels from all over the world, including CBS, HBO and Star SuperSport through TVU Player, but I just don't bother.

And I have my Yahoo!, Google and work emails came in to my BlackBerry (hiks!), I have my Gmail and YM accessible, I have my LimeWire running to do my pirating work - which I managed to download few songs, movies - Juno, Charlie Wilson's War, P.S. I Love You and Shrek The Third. Can you believe even without Astro, I'm still looking for an appropriate time to watch all or any of these movies?! :-p

Lagi? Hmm.. *mode lelaki rajin dan potential husband* kemas-kemas rumah, berus-berus dinding/lantai bathroom, lipat kain baju, dusting, vacuuming.. tak percaya? Except for cooking. I was just too lazy to cook (tunggu bila Famil nak masak dan ajak makan-makan neh) as I was craving for KFC's chicken rice since last week and I had the taste of it on Saturday. The rice was nice, except that they serve it without the kicap and kuah sambal which are the essence of nasi ayam. But, it was ok as I was busy browsing the internet on my BlackBerry (hiks!) while eating.

Did you get to watch AF6 diary or concert?

I'm not a big fan of AF6 (AF5 was worst than the 6th edition, though). But I still catch the concert on Era Radio via DVR Player. It's a singing/vocal contest, in the first place, right? So, why bother watching aksi kangkang dan lembek dan gedik and the ugly wardrobe and the stupid MayFirst commercial on tv?

And trust me, if you listen the students singing on radio, you'd swear it's shame on yourself to discuss about AF6 with your colleagues/bosses in office. And you should consider quitting your current job if you know your bosses are following and discussing AF6 in office. Seriously, I think AF is becoming an entertainment program for the half-deaf or probably half-dead people! And to spend on sms voting for your favorite students, oh c'mon... how many times you turn your back to those begging (or shall I say, selling pocket tissues) while you're having lunch/dinner outside?

What about sports, Asian Badminton Championship (ABC) and Barclays Premier League?

None of Malaysian players make it to the final of the ABC. And I went to Brutal Cafe, Tmn Alam Megah watching Man United versus Blackburn Rovers with Des and Kem. We were not really watching the match, though, except for Des, a die-hard MU fan. I was busy eating my char-kuay teow and looking at the girls from the nearby factories who're on their dinner (or midnight) break while Kem was busy romancing with my BlackBerry (hiks!).

Anyway, it was so much of fun than watching at home. Especially when the place was flocked by MU fans and best of all when MU was a goal down with 2 minutes left. They were really anxious with the ooohhhsss and ahhhhsss for the near missed chances. Luckily MU managed to score the equalizing goal in the dying minutes. Otherwise I'd boo them and curse one of them who was wearing Juventus shorts (or maybe it's ok to wear La Liga or Serie A attire?!).

So, would you go through another weekend without astro?

Hell no! Even when everyone knows how sucks astro is and has been!