I've always said that if you love your technology, it will love you back. So this little piece is my dedication to my technology components that, yes, I could live without, but it wouldn't be the same.

My DVR. Though I don't own you, I love you. Its a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000. If you read any reviews of the DVR and its brethren, you will come to the conclusion that it sucks. In many ways it does. Many are prone to overheating, harddrives breaking, and having a boot cycle that could give a commodore 128 a run for its money. But its mine and the only one I can choose through Time Warner Cable, Milwaukees monopoly for cable companies. (by the way, if you are reading this and you heard a distant yell from the north west of Milwaukee, that was thousands of people yelling at once, "at least its not Charter Cable")

Besides the fact that I can watch all my shows that I love at a drop of a remote, I can also fast forward through commercials. There are pros and cons to this and that is what the bulk of this article is about.

I do not miss a handful of commercials. I tend to smile when I see the mere glimpses of an Old Navy commercial fly by, or a commercial about foot fungus, or a poorly made commercial about explaining how an evil corporation missed a big loss by settling with some putz who was going to go with Hupey Hupey and Sons. These commercial don't appeal to me, get under my skin and gets me kicked out of most malls when I throw my Orange Julius at a manikin wearing fleece.

But I'm not anti commercial, they serve there purpose and I understand why they are there. I do however stop the old DVR for a couple of good ones. Mike's Hard Beverage, Nextel and Fruit of the Loom are quality commercials that make me chuckle. I've even been known to stop at the new Heiniken commercials just to jam out to the Pussy Cat Dolls (don't tell anyone, that's our little secret).

DVR technology is such a guilty pleasure that it can screw up your life. When I first got it I thought "Ha, Now I control my tv and not the other way around" Now its more like "Must.....watch......more........AHHH DVR TRIAGE. Who will live who will die, how can one decide, but I must make room for the A-team marathon."

The DVR is a wicked mistress and the power should be respected. One shouldn't have theirs full of episodes of Murphy Brown or American Chopper, but I believe that people shouldn't just flip through the channels and end up watching whatever is on.

So to sum things up, my DVR is wonderful. Sure it makes me feel a little less human, but at the same time, I feel a little more American.