TV…. or no TV?

TV…. or no TV? That is the question.
Why, might you ask, is THAT the question? Well, it’s been 2 years now since Sean, Jaiden and I have had TV. Let me clarify: we HAVE TV… 3 televisions, to be precise. But we do NOT watch TV, because we do not have any channels. Nope. Not one. NO cable. No Satellite. No Direct TV. Just 3 blank boxes that seem more like a decoration or a simple afterthought than a living, “must-have” part of our lives!

Some of you may be wondering if we’re crazy. Or part of a cult. Or just cheapos who won’t pay for our talking box to have hundreds of useless channels. I assure you, it’s none of the above. Having no TV wasn’t even really our choice. IT chose US!

It all started two years ago…
Sean, Jaiden and I moved into our new (and current) house, which we absolutely adore, only to discover that -- for some weird reason or another -- good ole’ Charter cable did NOT run cable to our cul-de-sac. So, we hemmed and hawed a bit over what to do, especially since Charter runs a monopoly in our area, and there are no other cable options. We did consider satellite… and wondered about losing the stations during rainy days! ;) And we do still receive about thirteen thousand fliers a week about Direct TV. But, whether distracted from the move or just tired of spending money (or both), we just decided to put it off for later.
And later never came.

It’s been 2 blissful years with no television. And we LOVE it!

Of course, we thought it would be difficult at first to get used to living in a too-quiet house, missing our favorite shows, being “out of the loop” on all the latest news and gossip. Woo-hoo. Whatever. It hasn’t been difficult at all. We seek out news and updates on the internet and in newspapers (from sources we choose). And we DO still watch all our favorite shows… and movies. Not only do we have plenty of DVDs and Blu-rays, we have Netflix and Roku (which, together, costs about $8.00 a month).


So we can just pick out movies, documentaries, TV shows, etc. and have them mailed to our doorstep via Netflix, or – even faster – streamed live to our TV via Roku. In fact, when I want to catch up with "CSI," I get to watch the latest episode one day after it airs. We’ve also gone back and watched every episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "The A-Team." As well, we've discovered some new favs: "The Office" and "30 Rock." And as much as we love Discovery Channel, we can get just about any one of their specials and shows…. sans commercials, of course!

Oh, but we live in Alabama, so others of you may be wondering how in the world we get our college football fix. Well, we don’t. Not really…. because it’s no longer a fix. We don’t let blue and orange or crimson and white direct our lives. If we want to see the stats, the updates or the games in action, we check the internet. You won’t find us rearranging plans during the fall to accommodate football games! (I’d rather see a game in person, anyway!)

The bottom line:
• We don’t turn the TV on first thing when we get home.
• We don’t plop in front of it and veg out or keep it on as background…. for everything.
• We don’t have to deal with commercials or all the other crap out there in TV land.
• We don’t have to flip channels, frustrated that there’s “never anything on” or mad that there are more commercial interruptions than actual shows.
• We get to choose what we want to watch when we want to watch it.
• We have more time for talking, for games, for reading, for exercising and playing and for “old fashioned” family time.
• We don’t feel trapped by TV programs or times.
• We don’t get depressed and/or agitated by the morbid news, the crazy media and all the hype, the one-sidedness and the propaganda.
• We save money: no cable, satellite or Direct TV bills!

Having no TV is AWESOME!
So, believe it or not, “no TV” is our answer!