A confession
I have a confession to make and it is one that I never thought I would ever say.
We don’t have TV right now.
And I’m considering keeping it that way.
**GASP**
We have TV’s, of course, one in the living room and one in my room. And DVD players and VCRs and a gamecube. But no TV channels.
I tried to sign up for the satellite TV, but then got mad when they told me that the internet was going to be a million dollars.
And I haven’t called back yet.
I did a serious inventory of what I watch on TV. I like the news and court TV, but I try to avoid them because they make me sad. And I read the news online, so I can read the headlines and then read what I feel is necessary.
I watch Grey’s Anatomy.
I watch the Cubs.
Now, the Cubs is easy because I actually prefer to listen to the games on the radio. My dialup might blowup, but I should be able to listen through the computer.
But Grey’s??
I know they have the shows online on Friday’s and I might be able to convince my dialup to not be a prick and let me watch it. But I doubt it. Geo gets ABC now (he never used to) and he could TIVO it up. But he’s never at his house. He says that my house has a big antenna (I never went and looked) and that he’s going to climb on the roof and fix it so I can get ABC.
And then I’d be happy.
What’s even more miraculous is that Bug has not complained ONCE about a lack of TV. She’s watched some DVDs, she’s played the gamecube. We’ve rented some movies. But she hasn’t complained ONCE.
There are some other shows that I enjoy, but I really enjoy the storyline more. So I guess I could do what I do with the lonelygirl videos, which no longer load on my stupid computer. I just read the Lgpedia. Then I know what is going on. I can find out what happens on Survivor and all that.
And maybe my mind wouldn’t be so mushy if I didn’t watch the Bachelor and Beauty and the Geek, and The Girls Next Door and all that.
Are any of you TV less? Care to make a bet how much I can hold out?
Also..my lungs feel better, although my leg is horribly painful. I stopped working for two hours and lounged in my bed watching my Grey’s DVD hoping that it would stop hurting, but it didn’t.
Do you think this might be why the VA said that I was 50% disabled and compensates me over $750 a month for “loss of quality of life?” I hope not. It was much more fun when my leg actually didn’t hurt.
Technorati Tags: disability, Veterans, TV, Grey’s Anatomy, dialup, Cubs
January 3rd, 2007 at 9:23 pm
I have TV now, but there have been a number of times when I went without for extended periods of time. Right now, we are rarely watching it, and I’m somewhat tempted to just call the satellite carrier and have the entire mess disconnected.
Every once in a while, we do watch something, but these days, especially with the kid in the house, we watch very little. We want her to read books, not become a couch potato in front of the TV.
I found, during the periods that I didn’t have TV, that I didn’t really miss it. The only thing I really noticed was how obsessed everyone else was with television.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:37 pm
OH MY! No TV? I am not sure I could make it- REALLY- I am an addict- it is bad- I taken a lot of shows out of my life since I started fostering and just don’t have time to keep up with everything but I don’t know if I could get rid of it all together. I hope you can make it- It is a great thing to be free of that! good luck!
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:15 pm
We are tv service less.
Except for the rare hockey game, it doesn’t go on.
Yes there is game cube (usually when I am not home as I think of it as satanspawn) and we have dvds from the library, the rental place (not so much) and we buy old tv shows from time to time (like MASH, Have Gun Will Travel).
Usually we are just too busy to notice.
If someone really wants us to see something they will give or lend us dvds of it.
We did have cable for one month last year in Sept. and that was interesting. By the third week even the kids were complaining bitterly at how many repeats there were and the GD commercials.
We didn’t spend money on rentals that month because we were paying for the tv service.
They were just as happy to see it go.
Although my older daughter and I do miss watching some of the fun home fix it shows.
Other than that we have lived w/o the box for the better part of the last 12 years.
It works for us but you know, it’s different for everyone.
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:17 pm
We are TV-free here. When we moved in, 8 years ago, we had an antenna that was pretty useless…we get the one local station in a snowy fashion. We never got cable hooked up, and are video families.
This is not to say we are pure as the driven snow; I find myself pouting sometimes that I have no idea what people are talking about with some of the show references. Also, the dotter watches far too many videos.
BUT…the dotter is nicely insulated from advertisements. I like this. She doesn’t ask for whatever is being advertised all the time–she asks (generally) for what she wants. This is good. The longer I can keep her from being sucked into the “thin-is-good, beautiful-is-good, fathers-are-numskulls, sex, sex, sex, violence, violence, violence” culture that saturates ads and TV, the happier I’ll be.
January 4th, 2007 at 12:14 am
In grad school, I didn’t have tv, because I didn’t want to pay for cable and there was no reception without it. I didn’t miss it much. TV was more social there–when I watched, it was with other people for things like a weekly ER watching party.
The only problem was that, after I moved and then somebody gave me a tv set, I did binge on tv watching a bit.
A lot of people now seem to catch up with tv shows via dvds without minding the wait.
January 4th, 2007 at 1:20 am
TV rehab may not be a bad thing, though I would miss my Amazing Race fix. Though that’s the only thing I watch.
I say Enjoy! A tv-less existence might prove a good thing–and cheaper.
January 4th, 2007 at 2:55 am
Hmmmm…wondering if I could actually pull it off. Would be nice not to have the cable bill though! Hats off to you!
January 4th, 2007 at 3:01 am
We haven’t had broadcast or cable TV for about four months now. We still rent movies and watch DVDs that we already own, and I occasionally download cartoons for G from iTunes. OmegaMom is right about it cutting down on requests for toys and junk — G used to watch TV in the mornings when we were getting ready for school and work, and she would run in every three minutes to tell me we had to get something she’d seen in a commercial. Now, the only time she asks for toys is when we go shopping. I probably buy her about the same amount of stuff (most of the time I just said “uh huh” when she told me about the latest My Little Pony or whatever), but the annoyance of the constant begging is gone.
The only downside to not watching TV is getting left out of conversations. People talk about TV constantly, and I never know anything about it besides what I’ve read in blog posts. But I didn’t watch that much TV even before this TV-less time in our lives, so I’m used to that.
January 4th, 2007 at 3:45 am
In order to save money for the adoption, we canceled our cable. For over a year now, we have just had broadcast stations. We read a lot more now! When we do watch tv, it’s usually PBS.
January 4th, 2007 at 4:16 am
No television? As much as I like to complain about our culture of consumerism and materialism…I want my MTV.
January 4th, 2007 at 5:00 am
I don’t have a TV, and it’s been… about a year and a half. Last year of college and into a year of grad school. I don’t mind– but I was never a big TV person. I forgot I could watch it a lot of the time because I read books instead through a lot of my childhood. Most of the time when I visit my family, the TV’s on because there’s little else to do. If I’m the only one home, I’m more likely to find a book, take a nap, or just sit with the cat being on vacation.
Then again, I am not a TV person. Most of the time, it seems like television is something people do socially, like Grey’s Anatomy parties, or when they don’t have anything else going on, which is why I Love the Eighties hit it big, I think.
January 4th, 2007 at 5:30 am
oooo, Bug not complaining is GREAT! You can watch Grey’s on dvd when the next season comes out. I moved my tv into the bedroom where I only watch dvds. Ie I cannot watch it while I work, cook, whatever in daily life. It is a good thing. I only get two channels anyways, with that antenna you sit on top of the tv. Now that I have an exercise bike, I am allowed to watch tv WHILE cycling. It’s ok. But more often I watch dvds. I am addicted to the puter now instead of tv. The screen is the same so maybe it’s not any better??
January 4th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I have 2 kids 7yr old daughter and 3yr old son. We’ve been TV free 4+ years. We watch dvd’s, both movies and TV episodes, and we also have a gamecube. It hasn’t seem to be that big of a deal at our house. They watch tv at grandma’s and at papa’s house, so its not that we are against tv. When we moved into our first house we choose not to buy cable. Baggage, Good luck with what works for your household.
January 4th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Oh and I also posted before as Chrissy, and if you have any more passwords I’d like one too.
January 4th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
That could be the most impressive thing I’ve ever heard:) I go through times when I’m so addicted to certain shows that I almost feel really lame because of it! I think that’s called an addiction…maybe I need to try the no tv thing, too. How great that Bug doesn’t mind! Are you still giving out passwords to some of the posts?
January 5th, 2007 at 1:29 am
OMG, WE DONT HAVE A TV!! And we love it! Long story short, my mother likes to phrase it as God told us to get rid of the tv and we did. Hmm, basically, although we really do like to re-package it as a little less nutty-sounding. We (dh and I) decided (with Gods help) that we had so many better things to do than watch tv. Before we were married, neither of us watched it anyway although we both had tvs. We always rented a lot of dvds and dh plays video games, so that was the hard part - selling the game systems and dvds that we loved. Now our living room has a lot more space and we actually DO stuff together instead of renting movies. We bought a lot of board games right after lol.
A great book on the subject: “The Plug-In Drug” by Marie Winn. It’s about television, computers, and family life and how children get hooked on tv. We planned on only letting our kids watch videos, but I guess now they wont be watching anything
I have done a lot of study on kids and tv and even wrote papers about it in college. It’s a bit of a passion of mine, kids not watching tv. For me, as an adult, it was interesting to take it from interest, to passion, to only watching videos, to selling the tv over the coarse of about 8 years.
GETTING RID OF THE TELEVISION IS NOT AS HARD AS YOU THINK. It is rather easy to get used to once it is gone ^_^ b
January 5th, 2007 at 2:15 am
I have one tv but I hardly ever watch it. I don’t have cable and I only get PBS and NBC I think. (?) My boys watch some but don’t complain about what is lacking. There are so many better things to do with my time! Like reading blogs!!
January 5th, 2007 at 3:56 am
I just got cable a while ago don’t watch it too much.
Oh and could I get the password?
January 5th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
hey there! i used to teach a tv & society class and ironically, i didn’t watch all that much tv. i’ve always been a ‘conscious viewer’ which means i’d select the show from the printed (or online) guide, watch the show and turn the darn thing off. see, tv is predicated on delivering, you, the viewer to the advertiser, and on flow. flow is the idea that you will sit down and just not really move again for quite a while because they string everything together in a way that keeps you watching.
(ever wonder why they have the intro to the show and *then* a commercial? because then you are hooked).
anyway–i don’t have tv at my house but my gf does. she just got it. she didn’t use to (for years) but she (we) got digital cable and tivo (not yet hooked up). it’s hella expensive, though, so hard to say if we will keep it.
the idea is to tivo the shows we like (dancing with the stars!) and watch them at our leisure.
before that it was all netflix and other dvd rentals. you can get a lot of tv shows on netflix and at the video store. that’s how i fed my csi addiction.
i’ve been tv-less much of my adult life becuase i live in the black hole of tv reception. (no clear channels without some kind of paid service) and it’s been just fine.