At last, TV! Dish Network came out Monday morning to put the dish up (the installer attached it to the rear corner of the house), hooked up both TVs, and voila! we have programming!

We changed from DirecTV to Dish Network...had been Dish Network customers in years past, and decided to make a change. We may rue the decision when it's time to move one of the receivers into the camper, since I think that our Motosat controller will have to be reprogrammed for Dish Network. I'm not sure if that's something we can do, or if we'll have to take it to a Motosat dealer to get it done...haven't gotten that far down the road yet.

Then there's our dome on the fifth wheel. Changing it over to Dish Network is an easy matter of going up on the roof, taking the cover off, and changing the position of a few switches. And I know the dome can toggle between 119 and 110, but what I don't know is if it can toggle to the third satellite that's now required for HD programming (oh, did I mention that we now have HD programming after years of just watching programming in SD?). It may require some type of reprogramming or an added "doohickey" to make it find the third satellite. We'll find out from Satellite Advantage in Quartzsite when we get back down there. If all else fails, we can always get a Dish Network multiple-LNB dish and put it on a tripod.

We are now half way to becoming Washington State citizens...we got our (temporary) driver's licenses today. Now all that is left to do is get the truck registered...and, of course, an emissions test.

Getting our driver's licenses was something of an ordeal. Thanks to the Real ID Act, you now have to jump through a lot of hoops in order to get driver's licenses. I'd gone to the Washington State Driver's Licensing website and gathered together all the documents for both Earl and myself that the website said we'd need. Among others, one of the items was something to prove Washington State residency, like a utility bill. Well, since we've been in the house for only a week, we do not yet have a utility bill; however, there were other items on the list that we could take, like a title for the house or a homeowners insurance policy...I took both.

At first, the woman who was waiting on me said I HAD to have a utility bill. I explained that 1) we do not yet have a utility bill because we haven't been in the house long enough and 2) according to their own website, I could use other documentation, which I presented to her. I'm not sure why the title didn't satisfy her, but she was going to refuse the insurance policy because, although it listed the address of the house that was being insured, it was addressed to us at our Sioux Falls address. Well, yes, it was BECAUSE when I set up the insurance we weren't yet in our house. Where else were they going to send the policy? She finally had to take the paperwork to her boss who said it was OK. Finally, someone with some sense! Of course, after I paved the way, Earl's licensing went smoothly...except for the fact that the lady (the same person who'd waited on me) didn't handle the "Jr." in his name correctly...it appeared as his middle name! I suspect that this person was new on the job.

After we both got our licenses, we stopped by Home Depot and bought a new refrigerator. We're getting all kinds of rebates and discounts...a 10% discount at the register; an Avista rebate (our electric company) for having the old refrigerator hauled away; and a state rebate for buying a qualifying energy star appliance. Our next kitchen appliance purchase will probably be a stove...Home Depot is having a sale on their stoves starting at the end of the month.