After months of talking about it, Shelbi and I finally broke down and got a DVR for our TV the other day. We figured we could more than make up the small additional cost to our bill by getting rid of our Blockbuster on-line account. And to me, this was a perfect trade because nothing showcased my sloth and need for instant gratification than Blockbuster on-line. A few years ago Shelbi and I, in one of our more pretentious moments, thought it would be fun to systematically watch all of the AFI top-100 movies of the 20th Century, culminating triumphantly with a viewing of Citizen Kane. That idea promptly ended with the film Yankee Doodle Dandy sitting next to our TV for a year and a half. Yankee Doodle Dandy is No. 100 on the list.

So, getting back to the DVR, the reactions we received when we first mentioned purchasing it were odd. When Shelbi first called Comcast the guy on the other line said: "Now are you sure you want a DVR?" This seemed like a strange question to me given that when I have called Comcast in the past with a simply maintenance question, the representative has always come exceptionally close to convincing me that I need Cinemax, the NFL Network and Telemundo Dos (I'm not sure if that last one exists). But with Shelbi on the line, the represenative follows with "Once you get a DVR you'll never go back."

And that has pretty much been the reaction we have receieved across the board. Everything from "It will completely change the way you watch TV" to "It will completely change your entire life." Really? I just had a baby and that is also supposed to change my entire life so by having Elliott and getting a DVR in quick succession am I going to be right back where I started? After a while it felt like Shelbi and I had decided to start doing heroin or something. "You're sure you're ready for DVR? I mean, HBO is one thing, it's a gateway channel. DVR is pretty hardcore."

So far we seem to be handling the change fairly well. The first night we had it I was at a late wrestling meet. So I got home and Shelbi and I plowed through LOST in about 40 minutes and then I cranked through the Blazer game in just over an hour which was glorious. Although, on my back home from the meet Shelbi came dangerously close to telling me who won and I was on the verge of either shrieking girlishly "Ahhh! Don't tell me! Don't tell me!" or simply hurling my phone into the car door so that it wouldn't be ruined before she caught herself.

Today Shelbi DVRed an episode of Law and Order because "it looked interesting." Really? THIS Law and Order looks decidedly more interesting than the other 7,300 episodes that are also on today? "Oh, I"ve already seen this one," I said. "Someone is dead at the beginning and there's a person they think did it but it turns out it was someone else and then, an hour later, they catch the real person." And I was right. All I can say is thank God we don't have a Tivo because the sheer number of cop and detective shows that thing would be recording because of Shelbi's viewing habits would probably be enough to get us placed on the government's No Fly List.

I am intrigued by DVR's potential though. Tonight I was scrolling through channels and found myself thinking "I have just a fractional amount of interest in the women's final of the Australian Open tonight. Maybe I'll want to watch that tomorrow." I think that's the beginning of the end. In a couple of months I'll be up at 3 a.m. speeding through the first two rounds of Dubai Desert Classic with a Spring Training game between the Braves and Royals lined up in the queue to follow.