Not What I Planned

Since I moved into my house three years ago I've had Direct TV. Yes, satellite television instead of cable. My justification then (read carefully) was it was an enticement for my then 12 year old son to be comfortable to visit. He'd have something to do so he'd not get bored. At the time I only had a 13 inch TV. The other excuse was the previous owners left behind the entire set up. Dish, boxes, wiring, the whole smear, for nothing. Later found out they were running away from bills like crazy.

After a year I bought a 30 inch something flat screen (but real cathode ray tube design) 16:8 or whatever design TV, so letter box movies look great. Still kept the satellite. If I'd kept track of my viewing hours I think I know the change in trend. If I'd have logged in my TV hours versus my music listening, I'm sure I did more TV viewing then before. Bigger screens rock, lets face it.

I've kept the satellite service so that I could watch the Tour de France each year. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I really get into it. I started to think that was pretty silly, so I made the decision in March to get rid of it after the NCAA basketball championship.

I called Direct TV Tuesday since the finals were Monday night and talked to them. They offered a "vacation" for three months. They don't bill me until July, they switch the service off, and we see how it goes. Cool. In July, if I don't call them, the service is gone.

First couple of nights service continued. Then I realized I'd disconnected the satellite control boxes from the telephone jack. Last night before I went to sleep I realized this and plugged the boxes (I had two) in to the phone. This morning service was gone.

I will really miss not only tour coverage, but The Daily Show and Pardon The Interruption. Maybe I'll get more riding in and such. I hope so. Listen to my collection of music more too. Again, hope so.

It does look like I'll watch little TV. I plugged in the $30 antenna I bought from Target this morning before work. Nothing. No channels 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 17, 23, 29, or 45. Colored fuzz. I heard the word "Clifford" which I believe was the cartoon about the big red dog on Channel 2, but that was all the audio I got. I extended the antenna as far as I could, rotated the thing and anything else I could think of. It is even amplified with a cord you plug in. Supposedly 10 dB of attenuation.

This is not what I planned and I'm thinking going without The Simpsons might be a little tough. Maybe I'll trade in for an even better antenna. Stick something into my attic? I really don't want to spend the money on that either. Stay tuned for the insanity that settles in.