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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Life Without TV

Maybe not entirely without TV. We've been without cable or any other service with hundreds of channels for several months now.

It all started with a rude customer service agent. Long story short: hubby canceled our cable and remains firm on the Time-Warner-Doesn't-Get-A-Cent stance.

At first, I thought it would all blow over, so rather than get FiOS or Direct TV, I just waited. But the weeks went by, and he was still sharing his unhappy experience with the Time Warner woman with everyone we know. And we still had no cable.

After about two months, I sat down to show him the prices and plans for the other possible services, and that lead to a great conversation. We realized how much not having those channels enhanced our day to day lives.

  • Productivity was up for both our businesses, as well as our personal projects.
  • Sleep came more easily--though admittedly, not really earlier. We're night owls.
  • Time to hang out together and with others doubled... maybe even tripled.
So we've made an executive decision to stick to our local channels and movies. No more getting sucked into the TV until some embarrassingly late hour. It makes for a nice news diet, too. Honestly, if it's dire, we'll hear about it or run into it online. Who needs CNN 24/7?

Pic by Chealion


8 comments:

  1. yeah I just got too busy for TV one day and then now I'm so used to it so mine isn't even tuned...I must switch it on maybe only once every 1.5 weeks! But I couldn't live without the net...

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  2. We don't have cable/satellite and we get along just fine. I spend much more time on the PC now than watching TV especially as hubby is in charge of the remote control and there's only so many police documentaries a woman can watch before going bonkers!

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  3. Come to think of it, I spend more time on the computer as well. I still like TV, but a lot of what I watch, read, and listen to is online now.

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  4. Haven't watched television for years and never miss it. Much more creative and productive without it. My kids don't watch T.V. either, although they do play videos and watch DVD's; still they are much productive and happy without the "boob tube".

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  5. I wouldn't mind giving up the TV, i only watch jeopardy, reruns of house when i can catch it and suze orman. oh and ellen. i do need the internet. oh wait, i watch desperate housewives too. most everything i watch is on your basic channels, but now you need cable for that, right? as long as i have the internet, i'm fine.

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  6. We don't need cable to see regular channels, just our old antenna... bunny ears! I know, they're relics, but they work.

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  7. I cut cable off too, a couple of months ago. I looked at what I was paying and what I actually watched (what I didn't want to miss versus what I watched just because it was on). There really were only a few things I cared to see. One of them is available online each week. I was getting local channels in clearly but Rogers, the cable company, must have done something cause now I get all fuzz. I really only miss watching during the day while I'm working. The radio covers having some noise in the background.

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  8. @Laura - You know, our regular channels are a bit grainy, but the digital channels are perfectly clear.

    Well, I say that, but digital TV technology still has some kinks to work out. Sometimes the screen freezes for a second or there's a patch that looks like geometric abstract art.

    Anyway, with the HDTV, we have two of every channel: a gritty version and a crisp version.

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