Tuesday, 17 March 2009

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  My Plan to Get Rid of Cable (My Cable . . . Not Yours)

  I have decided that in the near future (5 years - hopefully maybe sooner) I will no longer have cable.
  
  I think cable is a negative influence on MY life (to each his own) because of three main reasons:
  

  1. It takes up way too much time: If you watch a particular show, generally I will be watching it until it gets canceled or concludes which generally is between 7-10 seasons if it has a successful run.  Each show on network television (NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC, WB) generally runs for 20 or so episodes and I generally watch those shows during the weeknights even though I save some time and give myself some freedom by using the DVR to pre-record them.
     
     
  2. It creates unrealistic expectations: We watch television shows because it creates a fantasy world that we are captivated with.  We admire characters, wish we can have exciting lives like many of them or have the successes portrayed on the shows, which are all very much unrealistic to begin with.  I find that I live a very interesting and exciting life, but put up against many of the scenarios portrayed on television shows, my exciting life looks bland.  It is time to move on and focus on me and not the fictional portrayals of unrealistic characters.
     
     
  3. It is a waste of money: Cable costs a lot.  I hardly watch anything on cable but the shows I watch, so I’m paying for a few hundred channels I don’t even look at.  Over the course of several years, the money saved from paying for cable can be used to pay for a vacation or even towards any other financial obligations I have.

  Why the 5 year time line?
  
  I still do watch several shows and my plan, which has so far been successful, is not to add any NEW television shows to become hooked on.
  
  Some of you may be curious to know what I watch, most won’t be, but basically, at the end of this Spring Season, the remaining shows I will be watching are 5 shows: 24, Heroes, House, 90210 (I don’t even know why I watch this one), and The Ultimate Fighter.
  
  There were several other shows I’ve been watching, but they are all either concluding this season or have concluded, or have not been renewed for a new season.
  
  In fact, looking at it written out like that above, I may just drop cable sooner and pick up 24, Heroes, and House on DVD when their seasons are released and just drop 90210 and the Ultimate Fighter completely.  I have already dropped American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance which was a very good decision.  American Idol is a tremendous time waster.  Thank god I’ve moved on.
  
  Anyhow, there is my plan.  I’ll give updates down the road when appropriate.
  

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