Friday, February 4, 2011

Watching TV is an aerobic exercise


Not this UPS




...this UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply)



The house we live in came with 3 TVs, one downstairs, two upstairs. We get our satellite out of South Africa, so the programs are pretty good. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the quality of television viewing until I actually started watching it. Quality programs or not, you need electricity to run a TV.


We alternate between Nigerian Power and Light and 2 generators with blackouts and power surges in between. Each of our electronic devices is attached to a UPS. No not the guy in brown, this UPS means Uninterrupted Power Supply. It protects your electronics from power surges and black outs.






You also need the satellite link to work, so between the 3 TVs, we can usually get one of the decoders to pick up the signal. So you may start the TV program downstairs, then lose your signal. You quickly run upstairs and check to see if that tv is working, so you won't miss a minute of Strictly Come Dancing (the BBC version of Dancing with the Stars). Watching TV in Nigeria is not for couch potatoes...it burns calories and lung capacity while keeping you entertained. What could be better!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Watching TV - Super Sunday in Nigeria


I love to watch the news on the BBC and every now and then they even report on US sports. Today after the cricket, rubgy and soccer news, they had a short blurb on the Super Bowl which they said would be held in "Houston Texas" (oops sorry about that Jerry). It is very rare for US football to make the BBC news. That usually only happens once a year when there is a Super Bowl or whenever Jerry Jones fires a coach.

There will be a Lagos Super Bowl party at the US Embassy Rec Center piped in courtesy of the Armed Forced Network. Some die hard fans will stay up until 4:00 am to watch the whole thing and last year when the Saints were winning, there was quite a crowd (I'm told). I think it surprises many people about how normal our lives are over here. I always say being an expat means doing normal things in an not-so-normal environment. Next I will explain how watching television works over here.