Thursday, September 21, 2017

Cutting the Cable



My partner is very computer tech savvy. For years we’ve been using a homemade DVR. The cooling fan is in a ‘coffin’ box to eliminate sound, the machine's hard drive filled with excellent downloads.

These days I have been lobbying to get rid of cable television. The cost keeps going up and up while my time spent watching has only decreased. At the same time I didn’t want to get rid of our huge old flat screen TV, making the process tricky.

Folks all over have expressed shock that I refuse to buy a high definition unit. The prices may have come down but we would have to pay someone to haul away our super heavy Sony. And I don’t want to fork over money to toss something in perfect working order.

My partner, an excellent researcher to boot, found a workaround using a Roku device. As I type we are airing a YouTube video. The picture is better than before, the sound through our old Bose surround sound speakers excellent as ever. I’m tickled pink and very grateful. I need to readjust to watching commercials now and again but we will save a lot of money.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll cave in to getting a new television once those savings add up. I won’t miss lame stream news, that’s for sure.

Do you like episodic TV? I still tend to gravitate toward movies, though “Under the Dome” is entertaining.

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8 comments:

  1. Your partner sounds very clever! I do like episodic TV especially when you feel compelled to binge watch because you can't wait to see what happens next. I tried a few episodes of "Under the Dome" but just couldn't get into it. Maybe I need to try it again.

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    1. I am very blessed. Don't feel you must try the series again. Time is so precious. ~grin~ Be well!

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  2. First....THE KING is doing fine. Like me he is suffering from allergies with the ragweed in full bloom. I give him a Benedryl for the them. He can have one in the morning and one in the evening. Now....to your blog. I started working when I was 12, babysitting! That is when I liked kids...haha....kidding, that is before Fibro when I could handle being around them. But I got my first real job at 16. I worked some crappy jobs during my 33 yrs with the state therefore unless things get REALLY rough....I will not give up my cable, cell phone or internet. I worked way to hard to have these things. I usually don't change the channel till evenings, I am cable all day. Yesterday though on a trip to Wally World I bought my first Blu Ray movie, Wonder Woman. I missed going to the movies to see it so I wanted a good copy, hoping to watch it today or tomorrow! Is Under the Dome, like the series that was on for about 3 yrs? Strange, but I watched! haha

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    1. So good to know Dakota is well! I bet this is the same series. I'm pretty much out of the loop on what's current. How neat that you watched.

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  3. I don't have cable and use the roof top antenna. I get most major networks, nothing extra. I do have a roku too, and can see a lot of things on free channels that way. Been watching the new Viet Nam War series on PBS but on the TV, through the Roku. I don't know who could pay for cable anymore, its so expensive and I'm not sure what's on anymore that's much good. I rarely watch the major networks, just nothing on and with four to five commercials at each break, it's very tedious.

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  4. Lots of people are cutting the cord. I will caution you, though, that many networks are moving towards individual pay services. Like CBS has launched theirs. And Disney is going to make their own (and take their movies off Netflix), so it may be that you're going to have the same issues streaming as you did with cable.

    You'll have to keep us apprised as to how it's going. I intend to go this direction eventually. (I'll have to invest in something that'll get the internet onto my TV. One of these days...)

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    1. Thanks for the wise words. I don't really watch network television, fortunately. We'll see how it goes. Be well!

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