I love it when I have surreal conversations with technical support people. My Cox Cable DVR box has reset itself three times in the past 1 1/2 hours. When it does this, I'm without the boob tube for anywhere from 5-10 minutes. So, out of 90 minutes, the box is rebooting from anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.

The third time it happened, I called Cox's techinical support. I must admit that in the past, whenever I've had to call and talk with them, they've always been helpful.

And, the astute among you will determine that this time, that wasn't the case -- otherwise I wouldn't be writing about it.

After explaining what was happening, the tech support guy told me that what was happening was considered "normal." He suggested that as long as the box wasn't continually rebooting, it was "normal." Sometimes it needs to reboot to correct a problem.

But three times in 90 minutes? To him, that was still "normal." I asked him at what point the continuous re-booting would no longer be considered "normal." Once more in the next 30 minutes? Nope, still "normal." How about twice? Nope, still "normal." Not being able to get through an hourlong program without a reset is "normal."

Well, of course this isn't normal. If it was normal, Cox wouldn't have any customers for its cable business. It's working now, but if it starts doing this as I'm trying to watch Monday Night Football in HD, heads are gonna roll.

*UPDATE* Just went out again for the 4th time in 2 hours. This is officially not normal -- a technician will be visiting me -- Wednesday. I can't believe I've got to put up with this for another day and a half.

*UPDATE II* It's gone out about a dozen times now -- a conservative estimate -- I'll have to revert to the good ol' days of only 70 or so channels.