Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I have TV again!

In case anyone is wondering if it is possible to live without TV, the answer is yes indeed, but you will need to substitute with other addictions, like the internet, or reading, or knitting.  In my case, I gave up TV out of necessity when I started going through my very expensive second university degree.  I had no money left for anything after paying for the beans and dry bread for dinner.  (Partially kidding about the bread, it was not dry, in fact I used to make it myself from scratch because it was cheaper than buying it.  That's the stage in my life in which I learned how to make most things from scratch, in order to save money.  Some habits die hard, and I still make my own bread and yogourt).  Six years later I graduated from the program, and started making money.  I decided that TV is a normal part of every household, hence I subscribed to Shaw cable and was paying 120 dollars a month for TV plus high speed internet.

I still didn't turn on the TV, despite the fact that eventually (after I paid my educational debt) I bought a flat screen TV on which I watched DVD movies on Saturday nights with MrH.  At one point, I remember having decided that I must make myself turn the damn thing on, just to get my money's worth out of the cable price.  After trying hard to have patience for TV but not succeeding (in addition, my couches in the living room are leather, hard and cold, not comfy for TV watching I'm afraid), I called Shaw and asked them to please remove the TV portion of the package and just leave the internet.  I was paying 60 dollars a month for that, and had freed up sixty bucks to spend on skin care and make up.

This week however, I got a call from Shaw that offered a special promotion:  39 $ a month for both internet and TV for one year.  So, they would give me a higher speed internet at a lower price if I agreed to have TV installed.  I told them that I don't watch TV and that at the end of the year I would ask them to remove it again.  I told them that I am fairly certain that the TV part is not necessary, but they insisted that the package is, um, a package, and therefore I am getting the TV like it or not if I want the faster, cheaper internet.

So I have TV!  In a surge of excitement, I turned it on and watched a show called What not to wear while exercising on the elliptical trainer.  Then I remembered why I never watched TV when I did have it:  every 5 minutes you have to suffer through interminable commercials.  I will try to record some shows so that I can fast forward through the commercial breaks, but I have no idea what is good, if you guys like something on TV, make some suggestions!

3 comments:

  1. I admire you for doing without TV... I end up with it on but not really watching. Love home renovation/decorating shows... Grand Designs, Sarah's House, location Location Location etc. but if you can keep doing without it, all the better. I feel like it rots my brain sometimes ! xoxo

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  2. Parenthood, Glee! And congrats on getting TV back. We haven't had it for awhile, but we stream some on the internet! And yes, commercials are brutal!

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  3. Hey to be honest I never have been a huge tv watcher but I do like a few shows... Rick Mercer Report on tuesdays http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/ , Harry's Law on Wednesdayshttp://www.nbc.com/harrys-law/ , and Once Upon a Time on Sundays http://shows.ctv.ca/OnceUponATime.aspx

    Have FUN ~ Julie

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