The End of an Era

Our 1 ½ years of being a Neilsen TV ratings home abruptly came to an end, sadly, about two weeks ago, after getting this email from the local rep: "Good Evening Miss Ringsmuth,
I wanted to let you know that your household is now out of our sample which means we’re no longer getting any information on what your household watches anymore. However, there is a new study that your household is eligible for. If you decided to participate you all would still press buttons with the TV like you have been doing but we would also monitor your internet usage."

If you’ve always wondered if those Neilsen ratings are true, let me be the first to tell you, they absolutely are. I actually was sworn to secrecy doing it so most people don't know about it unless they've watched TV at my house. The homes are picked by random sample depending on your neighborhood and demographic. We were selected during the summer of 2007. I tried to avoid doing it at first because when the representative came by I thought she was selling me something, but then she complimented me on my bumper stickers and said she was a member of Georgia Right to Life, I welcomed her in with open arms.

Mainly being a Neilsen ratings home requires pressing a button when you start watching TV and then pressing a button ever 42 minutes afterwards that the TV is on. It’s not a big deal, unless you fall asleep while watching TV or leave the room for a while and come back and the 42 minute window has passed. Then the “people meter” as it’s called starts blinking like crazy. A computer stores all the information and then confidentially downloads all of it to Neilsen. When we have guests over we have to log them in as visitors. Both me and my roommate are the main people that log in. However, if the equipment suddenly stops working (like ours has several times) or you get new equipment (when Amy moved in she came with a new TV and TiVO, for example), a rep has to come out and fix it, which means you have to be home for that, etc. Luckily our Neilsen reps have been pretty awesome and flexible with our time. They also tell some crazy stories about like having to go in home with dolls like from “Children of the Corn” and stuff. And you get paid a minimal check every few months. Needless to say though, we were fine with letting it go (you can only do it for two years maximum anyway), and did not sign up for the internet sample.

In case you wanted to know what ratings we have mainly contributed to, I’ll give you some of what we have watched and you can tell me if we made a difference:
NCIS
Dancing with the Stars
Any Vikings or Nebraska game I could find
LOST
90210 (new version)
Seinfeld
Law & Order
Stormchasers
The Office
Sportscenter
Private Practice
Whatever else Jamie watched
Whatever else Amy watches
Simpsons

We are fairly active TV watchers, so I'd like to think at least most of the cool shows got some props from us over time.

Sudoku and White Windmill

One of my newly discovered work assignments as an assessment counselor has afforded me several new, unexpected opportunities. Because of the nature of the job being that I am needed at my desk throughout most of the day to answer the phone, having time off for lunch and other breaks are always much appreciated. Most of the time I bring my lunch, but the other day one of my coworkers was ranting about a place called White Windmill as an awesome lunch spot that it’s our area. Last week I had the privilege to check it out and it is sooo tasty.

Basically, White Windmill has a Panera essence to it, but with it’s own special twists. The whole place is owned by Koreans, for one, so all of the menu items are written in Korean and English. The menu fare is mostly sandwiches, soups, chips, etc but I find them to be higher quality then Panera. For example, their chicken salad sandwich is out of control good. Also, as you are waiting for your sandwich to be made, they have free samples of their breads and pastries just waiting for you to try out and I have. The atmosphere inside is soo super cute as well. I haven’t really been able to enjoy it that much because I always have to get lunch to go, but it has really neat décor and nice music.

Anyway, check it out if you’re ever near Buford Hwy and Oakliff Rd. It’s about 3 miles east of my house.

The other thing that I have learned while I have been here is Sudoku, which I play occasionally if the phones are really slow. It’s basically the only type of mind-teaser game that I can play without quitting after like the first 30 seconds (crosswords do not do it for me). A couple of weeks ago I taught my coworker, Al, and now he is totally into it. It’s sort of fun seeing an ex-biker dude like totally hunched over, crunching out the numbers. Yesterday he brought me a “surprise” which was my choice of two new Sudoku books. The one I picked ended up being considerably easier then the original book I was using, which makes me feel really awesome and smart. I can complete a puzzle on that one in only 15 minutes with no mistakes. The other one took me about 5 tries before I did a whole puzzle with no mistakes and no cheating by looking at the answers. And it took me 45 minutes. Oh yeah, I keep track. Sudoku also wards off Alzheimer’s, so double score on finding a fun game and also a brain exerciser.