I have really surprised myself this time....

[Polliwog]

For a week now I have not had T.V. due to a function problem. At first I was told that I just needed a new access card (I have DirecTV - satellite). In a couple of days I received a new card via Fedex and that was not the whole problem. After inserting the new access card my receiver would not come on. My son came over and we checked all plugs, etc and could not find anything amiss. So I received a new receiver today via Fedex. But I did not hook it up. Long story short, this week has been amazing for me without T.V. I am bird watching, cooking, reading and knitting and all the while enjoying the silence. I have been addicted to t.v. watching and it's on all the time when I'm home. I live alone and television is company. I know I watch too much t.v. and have often thought of canceling my service. Today was the day! I called customer service and told them I wanted to close my account. I did cave a little, when in their attempt to keep my as a customer, I agreed to suspend service for 6 months. I actually started getting palpitations when I was on the phone with customer service. I feel like I've said goodbye to a dear friend. I cannot say this is a success story because I honestly don't know the outcome. I hope I have the strength to carry through with my plan to live my life without television. Is there a support group I should be attending?:help:

[Tussiemussies]

Hi polliwog, sounds like being without your tv has been a great experience for you! I have also given it up and spend time doing other things. Isn't the peace and quiet just wonderful!

Hope you do get to stick with your plan of living your life differently! Good luck! :)

[Polliwog]

Thank you, Tussiemussies. These boards (and the old ones) are my inspiration. Have learned so much in the last 10+ years.

[Tussiemussies]

Totally agree with you -- have learned so much from these boards. They are inspiring!!!;)

[Rosemary]

That's a big step! Congratulations! I love having a quiet house - just listening to nature, or sometimes music.

[razz]

What about a favourite radio station to keep you company when the silence seems too much?

[sweetana3]

Or get audio books from the library. We did not have TV while hubby was in college and found that the radio or books was what we wanted sometimes in the background.

I was amazed at the number and variety of DVDs at our library. I am really against commercials on TV and try to time shift or watch DVDs to get away from them.

We are going to ditch Direct TV when our subscription is up. Too many channels and not enough quality to watch. There are just more and more new shows that I refuse to watch.

[bunnys]

You will be surprised at the end of the 6 months how easy it is to kill it entirely.

Just make sure it doesn't automatically revert back to an active account if you don't call them back...

[artist]

We've been Tv free for years and can't imaging going back. I think that after a substantial amount of time without tv, where you are enjoying those other activities, you will find that you don't want it back in your life.

[AmeliaJane]

My TV habits are a little different, in that I don't like background noise so I only turn it on when I have something I specifically want to watch. But about six weeks ago, I got thoroughly frustrated at the cable company and dropped cable TV (I only had basic cable at that point anyhow). I get what I want to watch through a couple of different streaming sources with a really different interface. Using Hulu and Amazon, where I only get specific shows I want, means that I am watching a lot less, and yes, I definitely have a lot more free time!

[Polliwog]

Thank you all for your support and suggestions. Razz, I have been thinking about satellite radio. I don't get good reception otherwise. This morning I had my coffee outside and listened to all the birds and their birding activity. It was lovely. I am so glad that I finally bit the bullet and suspended my satellite television service.

[Gregg]

I'm convinced that its often not so much a case of having too much or not enough of something, but more a case of just needing to shake things up a little bit from time to time. By doing that we usually discover some meaningful things right under our noses (like a back yard full of birds). Maybe you will decide to stay TV free, maybe you won't. Either is perfectly fine. You can absolutely have your coffee with the birds and your evening tea with a show you like. We tend to watch a little more in the winter and shut the tube down in the summer. Anyway, like everything else in life, its about finding the right balance for you. Congratulations Polliwog on taking a big step in that direction.

[puglogic]

Hi polliwog, congratulations!

We still have a TV and cable, but it gets watched about three hours a week (mostly PBS and European soccer :) ) My life is too good to pollute it with television too much. (It started to remind me of mindlessly getting thrills from "watching the wall" in Fahrenheit 451) The way I look at it, if I have time for television, then I forfeit my right to complain that I don't have time to exercise, start a small business, learn new things, etc. Most of the people I know who are unhappy and claim they don't have time/energy to turn their lives around are spending a ton of time drooling in front of the box, which makes advertisers very happy I'm sure.

Congratulations on your new-found freedom to say Yes, No, or Just a Little.