Comcast, Back In My Life?

Today's Status Updates
I think Comcast and I have reached an amicable agreement, thanks to good folks like Frank Eliason. About an hour ago I got off the phone with Mary, a regional rep from San Mateo, and we arranged for a very inexpensive HD package consisting of:

Basic Limited Cable, $12.35
Two CableCards, $1.79
Monthly total: $14.14 plus taxes and fees (approx. $19 total).

That's good news, and cheaper than I expected! This package will give me the local broadcast stations, public access channels, and QVC and/or HSN.

However, I also just got a return call from Herman James who expressed doubt that the package would actually work in Sacramento, citing some possible "technical issues." We'll see how this pans out.

In the meantime, UPS delivered my antenna today. Out of curiosity, I'm going to hook it up and see how well it performs.

Finally, I inquired with Discovery Channel about the availability of MythBusters on legal download sites, such as discovery.com and iTunes. They wrote back:

Dear Viewer:

Thank you for taking the time to contact Discovery Networks. We appreciate
your interest in our programming and are delighted to hear from our
viewers. Unfortunately, Mythbusters is currently not available for
download.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Boo. Will I need to wait until after the season is over to rent it? Or will I resort to BitTorrent?

A bigger question is: would I rather pay $19 for basic cable, or get the same service from an antenna for free? I think so. Setting up the antenna will cost about $200. That will pay for about a year of cable service. Over the long run, cable will cost more, for sure. But it might be worth not having to hassle with the antenna.

Still, I'm going to hook it up and see for myself. :)