Sorry I wasn't clear on this one. It's what happens when you rush to respond. I should have said that I didn't buy the Lifetime subscription because of the large up-front cost and I believe I could only get it with the TiVo Series 3 (I may be wrong on this) which wouldn't work with satellite.

I should have said, I don't mind paying $100/year for someone to maintain my DVR, vice me having to maintain my MythTV server, which I spent many hours doing with much frustration.

I have a Tivo series 2 working fine with my DirectTV provider. While it's not as good as cable (can only record one show at a time), it's good enough for my needs.

DirectTV is supposed to be working on something with Tivo to provide a DVR service. See this link for more info:

http://www.tivo.com/dvr-products/tivo-partners/tivo-directv/index.html

I'm in the Tivo boat on this one. It's just easier. I spent so much time setting up MythTv (I've done it on PCs, laptops, and even an xbox) and maintaining it was always a pain. I finally got fed up enough and bought a Tivo. Since then, I haven't had any complaints, except as he said, resetting listings when you switch providers. I've really enjoyed the Tivo suggestions feature as well. I was tempted to get the lifetime contract, but instead I'm willing to pay ~$100/year for someone to maintain my DVR for me.

Electric companies shouldn't be directly linked to Gulf politics. Most of the electricity in the U.S. is produced by coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric energy sources according to the Department of Energy. Petroleum makes up only 1.3% of U.S. electricity production. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html

Your point is a good one though, that energy prices will most likely go up per kWh.

Apparently you didn't see the movie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_directive

I meant more for the "cash back" fee from the supermarket. Not all banks have given up on all ATM fees, but there are ways around it or I can usually find a bank that is in my bank's network.

According to Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATM_usage_fees#United_States)

"While many consumers are faced with multiple fees as described above, a number of standalone and internet banks, such as USAA and E-Trade Bank, and Ebank among others, not only do not charge their customers for using another ATM but they also provide reimbursement, worldwide, of another ATM's fee. Thus, customers at some banks in the US can avoid ATM fees altogether. Another popular way to avoid paying ATM fees is to make a "cash back" purchase at a retail store: many retailers will allow a customer who is paying with a debit card to withdraw more than the total due the retailer and get back the difference in cash."