Dear Answer Man, was Paul Revere ever treated at Mayo Clinic in Rochester?
Of course not. Mayo Clinic would claim to be 300 years old if it could get away with it, but the famous Boston coppersmithlived long before Doc Mayohung out his shingle in Rochester.
Oh, wait -- you mean THAT Paul Revere, the one with the rock band called the Raiders. He died at age 76 this week, as you may have read, and according to his manager , he was treated at Mayo Clinic. Whether that was in Rochester, Scottsdale, Jacksonville or elsewhere, I can't say. Paul's home was in Garden Valley, Idaho.
And did you know the rocker's real name was Paul Revere Dick ?
Charter question of the day
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After a one-day hiatus, it's time to resume my relentless work on Charter cable questions. As you know, I've been an indispensable source of information for local and area Charter customers who are trying to figure out this digital conversion process -- or figure out an alternative to Charter.
Again, the deadline is Tuesday for some Charter customers in Rochester and a week from Tuesday for the rest. Some Charter customers elsewhere in the area have another week beyond that.
(FYI, Charter spokeswoman Kimberly Noetzeltells me it's pretty close to a 50-50 split for the two dates in Rochester.)
Today's lucky reader, Mary Jane,called the newsroom and asked, and I'll paraphrase, "How much energy do the new digital boxes use? I've heard that they're energy hogs and use as much power as a refrigerator."
They're energy hogs, but not as hoggish as that. Digital boxes typically use about 35-40 watts of power, which I believe would translate to about $2 to $2.50 a month in juice from Rochester Public Utilities .
So, add that to your monthly budget. It's not a $6.99 box per month (after you're done with the free period), it's an $8.99 box, conservatively.
TVs and TV service are energy hogs generally. A story in Popular Science magazine , which I'll link to online, compares the set-top boxes for various cable and satellite TV companies. According to the story, DirecTV's HD/DVR box uses about 30 watts, while Dish Network's DVR sucks up about 55 watts.
Newspapers are so much more energy efficient.
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And here's a comment from a Charter customer: "Watch your Charter bill carefully (as you add the new box or boxes). Charter charged me $6.99 plus a partial month charge of $2.09 for the 'Free for 24 Months Digital Receiver box.' It was easy to spot, since I only have basic service, and no other options. A 15-minute phone call fixed it for '24 months.'
"Thanks for a great column."
This is obviously a very insightful reader.
