After wrestling for several years with the less-than-ideal delivery of TV services by one of the two main providers in Israel, we decided to take the fateful step (once again) of changing over to their orincipal rival.

This was not a simple procedure, as the delivery of TV services is now intricately bound up with the provision of internet via WiFi as well as telephone services. I was a passive observer, or rather listener, to long, convoluted and technical telephone discussions between my OH and the various companies that provide such services, first to receive services from one, and then to detach from the other.

Not as easily done as said. First, we had to be disconnected from Company A. This meant that for a couple of days we were deprived of both TV and internet. Being deprived of one of these is bad enough, but living without both is well-nigh unbearable. On the first evening on which we found ourselves completely cut off from the outside world I insisted that we go out to see a movie, any movie, anywhere. It’s true that the radio was still working, and we have a large library of physical books to read, but our routine most evenings consists of sitting down together to watch and hear the day’s news in Israel and the wider world. And these days there’s plenty of both, if not too much. But that’s another matter entirely. What’s worse, I find it impossible to contemplate embarking on my morning exercise routine without being able to watch the news from England and the USA on Sky and CNN.

Then came the procession of technicians – each one an expert in his field, whether it be internet, telephone, television or electricity. Day after day we were stuck in our home, waiting for the arrival of one or another of those precious souls whose expertise would eventually reconnect us to the world of visual images, endless programmes of entertainment, information, movies, fun and challenging facts and figures to which we seem to have become addicted. In our defence, I can only say that we are both well over retirement age, and do sometimes go out to concerts and lectures when the occasion arises (and to bridge tournaments in the OH’s case).

Eventually the last technician left the house, abandoning us to our newly-installed TV services and our struggle to loccate the programmes we used to enjoy as we learned the secrets of navigation. And so, these two old dogs have had to learn new tricks, and so far are enjoying the experience.