Life after cable TV

A few months ago we made the decision to cut the cable cord. Mike wasn't working, we had some medical bills to pay (we always have medical bills to pay), and we needed to trim the budget somewhere. What we were paying for cable TV didn't seem worth what we were getting in return --  8-10 channels we watched regularly and 192 channels that we could care less about.

ESPN and all its affiliated sports networks were really what kept us from making this decision sooner. When Charlie was 5 years old, he introduced himself to a neighbor, saying "Hi! I'm Charlie and sports are my life." Not much has changed, so we were a little worried that the withdrawal of the 24/7 sports channels might be like taking water away from a fish. But Charlie was already busy with summer conditioning for high school sports, so we reasoned that he wouldn't have much time to be watching TV anyway. 

The first day that Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network were not available, you could have told Robbie that the world was ending and he would have agreed immediately. But we were already Netflix subscribers and decided to add an $8/month subscription to Hulu Plus to our entertainment options. Hulu has eased the loss of the DVR. Most of the shows that we would have DVR'd in the past -- Parenthood, The Middle, Castle -- are available on Hulu, ready to be fired up when we are ready to watch them, as long as its at least one day since the original episode appeared. And while we don't have ESPN, Hulu has an ESPN channel that offers highlights, feature stories and classic "best of " games, so we don't feel too sports deprived. 

We get all the local television channels and their bonus companions -- Channel 6, 6.2, 6.3, etc. I was pretty surprised to see all the shows we can find on the local TV. There are even a couple of throw-back channels where you can catch classic shows like "Emergency!" and "M*A*S*H," shows of my childhood. 

I will admit, it's not all sunshine and lollipops. We are able to watch the Colts on local TV, although it does seem like the TV reception wants to act up mid-game fairly often. We can still watch the game; we just have put up with a few blips and pauses here and there. 

I miss the Food Network, although "Chopped" and "Cutthroat Kitchen" are available on Netflix. And while TLC has a channel on Hulu, they only offer short clips of episodes, not full episodes, so I'm left wondering about how the plans for Jessa Duggar's wedding are coming along and how Kody and his four wives are getting along on "Sister Wives."

When Robbie is crabby, he defaults to "And we don't even have cable TV!"

The upside of ditching the cable? Besides saving $150 a month, that is -- there are some nights that our TV doesn't get turned on at all. We read, tool around on the internet, do laundry and dishes (gasp!), and even go to bed at a reasonable time. 

Mike recently began working again and Charlie and Robbie began a campaign to bring back the cable. But we are standing firm. I'm hopeful that at some point, the cable companies will come around with an a la carte pricing structure where you can choose a dozen channels you want and will pay for. Until then, it's free channels, Netflix and Hulu for us. 

Do you know this man?

 

My kids think he is the next best thing to Santa Claus. He's the AT&T service guy who came to hook up cable to our two TVs this afternoon.

The great cable-free experiment lasted almost five months. If it were up to me, we would have continued on with only local channels, Netflix and Hulu. But I was outnumbered and after 17 years of marriage I know which battles to spend my energy on.

To be fair, it seemed that every time there was a football game on we wanted to watch, the signal would blink and freeze and blur. What's worse, the local channels we could receive did not include the one channel that shows most of the Butler Bulldog games. And not having cable made me realize just how few good shows there are for the post-PBS Kids set. Regular TV offers either shows meant for very young viewers or shows for grownups. Not a lot in between -- though I don't intend to give up our Wheel of Fortune habit.

So, we are once again a cable-watching family. We have the basic package which includes The Food Network (oh, how I've missed Chopped!), but oddly does not include TLC, so if the Duggars have any more kids I won't be able to keep up. 

Probably the best part about the return of the cable -- aside from the whining of the kids stopping -- is that I have my DVR back. I've already set it to record Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, The Middle, Modern Family, Chopped and Iron Chef America. 

We gave it the good ol' college try, but I guess it just goes to show you can take the family out of the cable habit, but you just can't take the cable out of the family.

Fragging when I should be sleeping

It's Friday. Really, even though I woke up on Thursday morning and haven't gone back to sleep yet. (Guess it was all that stockpiled sleep from when I went to bed at 7:53pm Wednesday night.) And because it's Friday, here I am, fragging with Mrs. 4444s.

Tomorrow -- I mean today -- is going to be a big day. First, I will be dropping off Annie's first high school admission application. Did I just type that? Who gave her permission to be ready to find a high school already? 

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Then, after a long-overdue breakfast with a friend, it's home to do some last minute cleaning so the IN Shape Indiana video guy won't capture some embarrassingly messy scenes when he's here to shoot my interview. 

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At the end of the afternoon, I have a counseling session. I told Annie last week that I was leaving for an appointment. "For what," she asked. "Well, it's a counseling appointment," I told her. I didn't want her to think that counseling is a bad thing. Most people would benefit from it once in a while and those who think they don't need probably need it the most. Annie didn't quite see it that way. "WHAT?! You're seeing a THER-A-PIST?" Someday she'll have kids of her own...

(This little revelation inspired by this post: The disease called "perfection." )

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Tomorrow night, Mike and I have a FREE date night -- we got tickets from Scotty's Brewhouse to see "The Social Network." Thanks, Scotty and crew!

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What I hope tomorrow does not bring is a trip to the doctor for Charlie. He got tackled at recess today and spent much of the day complaining about his ribs and his belly hurting. The belly hurting thing alerted the "I got my medical degree from Google University" in me and I invoked the "doctor lives across the street" privilege to have my neighbor come over and check him out. She said she thought he was ok -- probably sore, but likely embellishing the pain a bit. Tonight, after he went to bed, I went in and pushed around on his stomach to see how he would respond. (Sounds familiar, huh?) He didn't flinch, so I'm thinking we're good.

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Watching TV after midnight is just not the same without cable, so I think it's finally time to sign off and go to bed.(Although I think I might sleep right here on the couch. It's my favorite place to sleep. It runs in the family.)

Severing (cable) ties

A few weeks ago, after several months of  thinking about it and threatening to do it, we canceled our cable TV service. I think the kids were shocked that we actually did it. I was shocked that Mike agreed to it.

My timing was not very good, though, because our first day without cable was the day that Camp Rock 2 was showing for the first time on The Disney Channel. Oops. No worries, however, because the two kids who really cared about it made arrangements to watch it at friends' houses.

The next several weeks went along ok. Oh, I missed "Chopped" on the Food Network and Annie lamented the loss of "Wizards of Waverly Place," but for the most part, television without cable wasn't so bad. We purchased an HDTV antennae, which gave us all the local channels, plus weather and, according to Charlie "some dumb horse and church channels."

On the downside (besides the horse and church channels) is that kids' programming is harder to come by when you only have network TV to choose from. The upside is that the kids are watching less TV in general -- not by much, but as they say, every little bit helps.

Our first real concerns about not having cable came last Sunday while we were watching the Colts game. The signal of the local channel carrying the game, kept blinking out from time to time. Not for long durations, but long enough, Mike pointed out, that we might miss an incredible play (as if they don't show numerous replays during the game, at halftime, and for the next 24 hours after the game). Fortunately, no amazing passes or unbelievable tackles went unseen and my "no cable" banner was still flying by the end of the game.

But today, I really, for the first time, grasped the magnitude of the decision to cancel the cable. Both "Glee" and "The Biggest Loser" premiered tonight. Both at 8pm...on DIFFERENT channels. And me, without a DVR to capture all the toe-tapping, scale-tipping footage. Arghhh!

Add to that the fact that we had company in from out of town and watching either show just wasn't in the cards. So, for the first time in two years, "The Biggest Loser" premiered without me standing by to blog about it. And when the office water cooler chatter turns to "Glee," I'll be without knowledge of Sue Sylvester's vengeful antics and Mr. Shue's convoluted love life.

You know what? Really, I'm ok with that. Not having access to certain shows either as they are aired or later shown online feels kind of freeing. I can't promise I'll feel like that forever. But for now, cutting the cord works for me.

Wimping out

I called our cable provider to make some changes to our plan today. I dropped a second phone line and canceled one cable box in the basement that we never use. Then I tried to cancel the cable all together because I know my kids will waste half the summer away sitting mindlessly in front of the television.

The lady on the other end of the line was appalled. "You mean you want no TV at all?"

"Yes. That's what I mean."

"Even though on June 12th, you'll need cable to get even local channels?"

Crud. I hadn't thought of that. Now, I know all about the digital cable conversion and the converter boxes that you can get to pull in the local channels. But I started getting all wishy washy. What if the stores are sold out of the boxes? What if the box doesn't work and a tornado is headed right for us and we won't know it?

"Ok, well, then I want to go down to the basic cable."

"That will be only channels 76 below, ma'am."

"Yes, I know. That's what I want."

"Well, if you do that, you'll be disrupting your phone/internet/cable bundle, so your pricing will be affected."

To make a long, wimpy story short, I ended up hanging up the phone with the same cable arrangement I had when I called in the first place.

Then later in the day, I went to pick up my prescriptions from Costco. I had intended to move the scripts to Walgreens for the next refills because I can use the pharmacy drive-through and because Walgreens pharmacy is open earlier and later than Costco's. The scripts I picked up tonight had been waiting for over a week because I never could get to Costco when the pharmacy was open.

So I went in, determined this would be my last Costco Rx pickup. But then the pharmacy tech walked up to me and said "I'll be right with you Ms. M..." Wow. She knows my name. Suddenly this big box pharmacy seemed a little smaller and more intimate.

"But the hours of the pharmacy here are not good," I told myself.

"Yes, but she knows my name. That's personal attention," I argued back, my resolve crumbling.

So I left there not letting them know we'd be changing pharmacies because of course, now I don't know. Maybe the hours aren't such a big deal?

I don't know why I have such a hard time standing my ground. I think it has to do with my role as a people-pleasing firstborn. I don't want anyone to think badly of me. I'm trying to toughen up a little bit. Someone at work recently told me "If it's not 100% yes, then it's a no."

Hmmm...that sounds 98% good.