The Experiment is Over

As many of you know, I gave up my TV last January…eight long months ago. Well the grand experiment is over and hallelujah! So what did I learn? That I really enjoyed watching TV and I missed it; it’s not all that evil if viewed in moderation; reading puts me to sleep; and, it creates quality time.

I will admit that I was watching way too much junk before I pulled the plug. I was slowly creeping into the dirge of modern TV—reality shows. It started with The Great Race, which isn’t that bad of a show, but then I caught myself watching Dancing with the Stars, and horrors-of-all-horrors I was getting drawn into Keeping up with the Kardashians. Who are those people, and why are they famous?? And how can you become famous because you have a big butt? I must admit that I still have a warm spot in my heart for the original TV reality subject, Ozzie Osborn but that’s only because you just don’t expect to see the Prince of Darkness picking up dog poop. But they should have stopped after that show was over so we wouldn’t be subjected to Billy the Exterminator. I think people watch that show to see if he's going to make it to the next one since he's a really bad exterminator. I also became terribly attached to the Deepest Catch people, and mourned with the rest of the viewers when Captain Phil passed away. Shows like that are interesting, but so much of it is just junk TV.

I thought that when I pulled the plug that I would read more. I do read a lot but I missed those days back east when a good book and roaring fire were the best ways to spend a cold rainy day. Only, I discovered, in Southern California when you curl up on the couch on a nice sunny day you fall asleep. I have yet to sit and read a book cover-to-cover since I’ve moved here. I also thought that I would be more productive, that TV viewing was cutting into more important things, like finishing my wedding photo album. Nope, didn't happen...I just cruised the internet more and my wedding album is still not done. (I think after 14 years I should just give it up.) I did notice that my knitting time went down which I didn't like. I like to knit and I usually knitted when I watch TV. 

I wasn’t completely without TV, I had Netflix on my computer but I would watch it only when I was doing something else like beading, or folding clothes. It was nice to watch a lot of British and other shows that I didn’t get with my cable. But, it wasn’t a comfortable way to watch TV, and I was watching it alone, Bruce was usually out in the garage on his computer. If there was a movie that we wanted to watch together it was awkward for him to perch on the edge of the bed, much more comfortable on the couch in the living room. Bottom line, we weren’t spending a lot of quality time together in the house. There were certain shows that we always watch together, like NCIS, and we had a Sunday morning routine of eating our breakfast while watching Paul James' gardening show. Who knew that the TV created quality time? Figures though, now that we have the TV back he’s going to start on the 3 a.m. shift at work.

So, we have a TV again. Not just a TV, a 42” HD flat screen. Another reason that we got rid of the TV was the cost. Our cable bill had gotten out of control and we were going on a frugal streak. (It all started when I read that Mother Earth article about saving money on grocery bills by canning.) Between the digital DVR cable box, so we could watch hockey (games on the east coast were over by the time we got home from work), and the money we had to fork out for the hockey games, our monthly bill was way over $100 and I thought that was just ridiculous. Since we’re still on a frugal kick, I bought the TV used with my $500 10-year bonus from work. It’s 3 years old and originally at $1700 TV that I basically got for free. We also upgraded our DVD to blu ray, again another free item because we used the money from a garage sale to pay for it and we got satellite TV which is way cheaper than cable and the hockey package was only $45 (compared to over $200/yr with cable). Now that’s a deal!

I can’t wait to see Lawrence of Arabia on the wide-screen in blu ray. Now if I could only figure out how to use the remote.