Happy Friday! Oh man, this week could not be over soon enough!
Having to be at work by 6:30am everday + evening sinus headaches + benedryl = URRRGH.
I'm doing it all for next week though! My DEB is coming on Tuesday and will be here for a week. I'm SUPER excited!!!! We've got a concert on Thursday and many plans for the DC area! I've got next Friday, the following Monday and Tuesday off, so that's ample time for some fun. (Plus I've sadly lived here for 3 years and haven't really done much of anything........)
On the agenda for this weekend: Summer cleaning. Floors need mopping desperately, windows need cleaning and furniture needs dusting. I'm hoping to do it all tomorrow and be able to rest on Sunday.
Also, MUST FINISH WATCHING LAST FOUR EPISODES OF TRUE BLOOD SEASON ONE! Funny story about when I still had cable (AND HBO), I was too lazy to watch True Blood when it actually came on, so I was catching it on the OnDemand feature. I got up to episode 8, took a week off and then came back to finish and they took them off! Just my luck. So naturally, I was psyched when the dvd came out a few weeks ago. We snatched it up on the first day it came out.....and it's been sitting on the bookshelf ever since.
I am blaming the Tudors on that one, I guess. I bought season one awhile ago, became hooked on it. Ran out and bought season two and ravaged that. LOVED IT! It's horribly historically inaccurate, but it's a fun show and Jonathan Rhys Meyer's is a wonderfully, passionate Henry VIII character. I cannot wait for Season 3 to come out on dvd!!
Showing posts with label life without tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life without tv. Show all posts
July 10, 2009
January 30, 2009
My Courageous Act (Seriously)
After much back and forth in my brain and a slight depression, I decided to just do it: I got rid of cable.
I’m not talking about a simple elimination of extra channels—I mean actually getting rid of EVERYTHING. No local channels, no basic lineup…nothing. I did this mainly to reduce some of my unnecessary expenses (going in line with my financial goals for this year), and also because Comcast royally pissed me off.
When we moved, our original bundle promotional price was over so the lady suggested I upgrade to a super bundle which would be cheaper for a year than the regular bundle. So I said sure. Heck, having HBO, Showtime and Starz PLUS many extra channels like Discovery Health and BBC America was like my dream cable lineup.
Unfortunately, the lady failed to mention that I would be charged twice in December. I paid what I thought was my bill on December 15th and went on my merry little way. THEN, I checked the online bill pay service to see what I would owe in January and saw that it was $149. Okay. Then right before what I thought was my due date (the 15th) I checked again to see that the total had shot up to $305. After I had a heart attack, I called Comcast and got some lady who told me something about charging this and that for this and that and this was why that was like that blah blah blah. She said the bill would be due on January 30th. Okay.
THEN I get an automated call on my cell phone the next day telling me that it is urgent I call Comcast. So I did. And the lady that day gave me a totally different story about why I owed $305. Apparently, the $149 was due on December 31st and the extra amount was my next bill amount. She told me my account was past due and my service might be cut off.
After another heart attack at the fact that I’ve never had anything in my life past due, I got angry and reamed that lady out. I can’t believe that Comcast did not inform me of this additional charge and my new due date. I never received a bill or a notification. Nothing. Not to mention the fact that before this second call, I had talked to Comcast the day before and that lady did not mention anything about my account being past due.
I’ve cancelled my cable and phone service through them but did keep the internet. It’s actually okay. Heck, I even upgraded to the higher speed, which is nice. The problem is that I MISS TELEVISION. IT ASKS FOR SO LITTLE FROM ME. JUST TO TURN MY HEAD IN ITS GENERAL DIRECTION AND LET ME BASK IN ITS WARM GLOW.
I’m serious. I love tv. But what I’ve learned in the few days I’ve been without it is that I never actually WATCHED anything on it. I have the internet, but I can’t think of one tv show I want to watch. I realize that I’ve mostly been watching reruns of stuff I’ve seen a billion times, real-life crime stories and mindlessly flipping. When I’m bored I’ll just got lay there and flip. When I want to take a nap, I turn the tv on for background noise. The truth is that the tv is always on around here for the comforting familiarity it provides and the noise to fill the void.
Now it’s gone and I’m at a loss of what to do with myself half the time. I know this will pass as I get used to it, and forgive my patheticness, but I did only get rid of television this past Wednesday, ok! I know that all the stuff that I’ve wanted to do has been hindered by the fact that I’m way tired and all I want to do is lay there and do nothing.
Eesh. I’ll be wandering around aimlessly for a few more days probably, and until this feeling passes, I miss you tv. I can’t wait for things to get better so we can be reunited.
Anybody have any good show suggestions for me to watch? I've checked out a few episodes of 30 Rock which I am now finding completely lovable. What other network shows are good out there?
I’m not talking about a simple elimination of extra channels—I mean actually getting rid of EVERYTHING. No local channels, no basic lineup…nothing. I did this mainly to reduce some of my unnecessary expenses (going in line with my financial goals for this year), and also because Comcast royally pissed me off.
When we moved, our original bundle promotional price was over so the lady suggested I upgrade to a super bundle which would be cheaper for a year than the regular bundle. So I said sure. Heck, having HBO, Showtime and Starz PLUS many extra channels like Discovery Health and BBC America was like my dream cable lineup.
Unfortunately, the lady failed to mention that I would be charged twice in December. I paid what I thought was my bill on December 15th and went on my merry little way. THEN, I checked the online bill pay service to see what I would owe in January and saw that it was $149. Okay. Then right before what I thought was my due date (the 15th) I checked again to see that the total had shot up to $305. After I had a heart attack, I called Comcast and got some lady who told me something about charging this and that for this and that and this was why that was like that blah blah blah. She said the bill would be due on January 30th. Okay.
THEN I get an automated call on my cell phone the next day telling me that it is urgent I call Comcast. So I did. And the lady that day gave me a totally different story about why I owed $305. Apparently, the $149 was due on December 31st and the extra amount was my next bill amount. She told me my account was past due and my service might be cut off.
After another heart attack at the fact that I’ve never had anything in my life past due, I got angry and reamed that lady out. I can’t believe that Comcast did not inform me of this additional charge and my new due date. I never received a bill or a notification. Nothing. Not to mention the fact that before this second call, I had talked to Comcast the day before and that lady did not mention anything about my account being past due.
I’ve cancelled my cable and phone service through them but did keep the internet. It’s actually okay. Heck, I even upgraded to the higher speed, which is nice. The problem is that I MISS TELEVISION. IT ASKS FOR SO LITTLE FROM ME. JUST TO TURN MY HEAD IN ITS GENERAL DIRECTION AND LET ME BASK IN ITS WARM GLOW.
I’m serious. I love tv. But what I’ve learned in the few days I’ve been without it is that I never actually WATCHED anything on it. I have the internet, but I can’t think of one tv show I want to watch. I realize that I’ve mostly been watching reruns of stuff I’ve seen a billion times, real-life crime stories and mindlessly flipping. When I’m bored I’ll just got lay there and flip. When I want to take a nap, I turn the tv on for background noise. The truth is that the tv is always on around here for the comforting familiarity it provides and the noise to fill the void.
Now it’s gone and I’m at a loss of what to do with myself half the time. I know this will pass as I get used to it, and forgive my patheticness, but I did only get rid of television this past Wednesday, ok! I know that all the stuff that I’ve wanted to do has been hindered by the fact that I’m way tired and all I want to do is lay there and do nothing.
Eesh. I’ll be wandering around aimlessly for a few more days probably, and until this feeling passes, I miss you tv. I can’t wait for things to get better so we can be reunited.
Anybody have any good show suggestions for me to watch? I've checked out a few episodes of 30 Rock which I am now finding completely lovable. What other network shows are good out there?
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