Sunday, January 26, 2014

Cut The Cord, Larry!



How much television do you watch?  Do you think you watch too much?  Too little?  Just the right amount?  Do you think your cable or satellite subscription costs too much?  (I’m not even going to ask if you think it costs too little because if you think that you have way too much money and I would like to be added to your Last Will and Testament please). If you didn’t watch television what would you do with that time instead?  Would you miss it?   
 
That’s the dilemma Dean and I are wrestling with now.  Or more specifically, I am wrestling with it because I am the household banker and I am tired of spending $92.00/month on 120 channels just to get the five or six (okay, maybe eight or nine) we like to watch. So we’ve been considering dropping our cable subscription and buying an internal or possibly external antenna so we can still get some live television for those times when I’m too tired after my 10-hour workday to load up Netflix and try and decide what mindless drivel will complement my vegetative state.  

The concern is, what stations will we get with an antenna.  Will they be the stations we want to watch?  We must have PBS of course.  If Dean had to live without Brooks and Shields on Friday night he would probably be almost as traumatized as he was the time I threw away the huge bag of our sheepdog's fur.....................................which he'd been saving for me to spin and knit into a sweater because of course I would magically know how to do that by the time he'd collected enough fur.  Too bad we'll never know how that would have worked out.  Oh, wait.  We might.  Since now he has started saving Angus fur.  Gosh, I just hope I live long enough to see that magical transformation of my abilities take place.
 
In Sheridan we’ve been doing just fine without a TV but we're only there for long weekends and in the summer there’s so much to do outside that we don’t have time for TV.  This winter I’ve been reading more, or watching the birds land on a branch without having to calculate the speed and direction of the wind first.  We did finally bring up a small television in December and installed the internet, but we still find it easy to limit ourselves to infrequent Netflix selections.  In Casper, though, after a ten hour day at work, finding the energy or brain power to do more than stare at a TV screen might be tricky. 

I’m fine on the weekends without (much) television … when the weather is good anyway.  Today we took the boy on a nice long walk along the river.   


We weren't the only ones enjoying the bright blue skies and barely noticeable wind.  Look how relaxed the squirrel is.  He doesn't even have to grip the branch to prevent himself from being blown off.


And this guy looks sleek and trim without wind-blown feathers.



 I don't speak geese but I think I heard them honking to each other how great it was that the lack of a tailwind made it easier not to over-shoot the water when they landed.


This guy.  He doesn't care how windy or cold or snowy or rainy or hot it is.  He's just glad to be outside.


After about an hour we turned around to head back and discovered our gentle breezes had been blowing in this.   


Within minutes after we'd gotten home it was beginning to spit snow.


Which quickly increased.  And now, two hours later, looks like this.   


Maybe I don't need cable or satellite.  I have the Animal Planet and the weather station any time I want them.

What do you all have?  Do you have cable?  Satellite?  Roku?  Chromecast?  A library filled with books?  Convince me to cut the cable.  Or tell me why I will regret it. 

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

roku with netflix streaming, pbs and amazon prime. Opps and have direct tv.

Abby said...

It's easier than you would think to find something else to do when you don't have television at the tips of your fingers. And you feel better for not watching so much too. We have Netflix and Chromecast, which we use to watch Netflix and sometimes youtube videos. Cut the cord! You won't regret it!