I got my channels back and figured out a few things

I thought there was a problem with my local affiliate. I was not receiving their broadcast from the digital television tower (so I thought).

One thing I forgot was that sometimes, when things go wrong, it is like a personal computer. You have to reboot it.

On a high definition TV, the way to do that is to turn it off (and actually unplug it), then plug it back in and go through the process of letting the TV find all of the available channels.

It worked. Channel 8.1 and 8.2 (my ABC affiliate in Portland, ME, WMTW) came back to life and was again available for my viewing pleasure.

Now this process is not one that most are used to when dealing with televisions. Computers, yes, but televisions, not so much.

So don't forget. When you run into trouble, sometimes you just have to start from the beginning and take a fresh approach.

I believe this same idea applies to life in general.