Air travel hasn’t been a fun experience for a long time now. Since 9/11 it has, in fact, become the opposite. But the airlines are trying to make it better. Delta recently unveiled plans to help keep its customers entertained. With the installation of this seatback system, passengers on U.S. flights of four hours or more will be able to choose from 20 movies, 24 channels of live TV, 1,600 songs and 10 video games.

(Robert Caplin -The New York Times)

Now that’s a pretty cool gadget. So when I had to travel for work Sunday night to Ft. Lauderdale, I was hopeful of getting on a plane with one of those things installed. Not because I’m a big fan of any of the current network offerings. I was just thinking maybe I would still be able to catch the Jazz-Laker game while trapped in my seat for 5 hours.

No such luck. Though, when I later learned that the Jazz trailed the Lakers in rebounds, fast breaks, AND points in the paint (not to mention Kobe going off for 33 points), I wasn’t too sorry to have missed the game. I was still feeling down about the Houston loss, and I really don’t need any more pain in my life.

On the other hand, I did take great pleasure this week knowing I wasn’t a Miami fan. I did try to be appropriately sympathetic to my Floridian colleagues, helpfully pointing out that at least they had great weather and an ocean nearby. I even promised to try to get them some Jazz tickets next time they were in Salt Lake, just so they could actually watch some good basketball. LOL.

Of course, my trip back to Salt Lake was scheduled for Wednesday night. Another Jazz game I would miss. But imagine my delight when my thoughtful husband picked me up from the airport (at 11:30 pm) and casually mentioned he had recorded the game for me. I was pretty sure that we must have won, or he wouldn’t have brought it up. So while he went off to dreamland, I snuggled up with the remote and happily zapped through the game, still a bit wired from the flight.

Admittedly I fast-forwarded through a bit more than the commercials, but that is the joy of a DVR, and it WAS late. The fouls and turnovers were killing me, but watching Brewer and Millsap play was a blast. Up comes the fourth quarter and granted the Cavs are short handed, but they got Lebron, so I am nervous.

You can not imagine the cussing that went on in my living room, when all of a sudden the game stops (with about a minute and a half to go) and up comes the screen to delete the recording. What the !!@#!! Turns out that exactly two and a half hours of the game was saved. While my husband is somewhat technologically challenged, it had to be the Comcast software that decided the program was over.

Fortunately, the Internet is available 24/7, so I quickly turned to my computer for answers. Reading about the finish online resolved the outcome of the game, so even though I missed the exciting finish, I could crawl off to sleep happy with a win. But thank goodness I will be able to just watch the game at home tonight on regular TV. No need to worry about any new-fangled technology. Hmmm…unless cable goes out.