# How do y'all stand this stuff?!!



## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

I'm sitting in a motel room.... my trip got delayed due to weather. Apparently there is a sporting event on TV and the folks in the next room are quite enthusiastic about it. So I turned on the TV to help drown out the drunken hooting. 

There is NOTHING on!! As I was flipping through it showed an ER room with 2 people impaled on something OMG!!! Finally found an episode of Family Feud. It was on about 30 seconds before going to commercials. I literally read a chapter of my current book before the show came back on. 

People sit and watch hours of this stuff?!! Dang!


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

No TV here since 2004, and I DO NOT miss it!!!


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## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

I don't do TV either, so don't think I will ever understand the attraction. Maybe it's the anesthetic value? A way to not think about anything that matters? A mindless escape route? 

Some people escape with drugs and alcohol. Other folks escape through TV, books, hobbies, internet, meditation, prayer, etc...which sure beats escaping with habitual drugs and alcohol!


Edited to add: I saw the word "meditation" got highlighted/monetized/linked in my browser...I didn't do it, and I ain't clicking on it, lol. 


.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

lol 
I remember years ago when the new thing was satilite dishes I got a motel room with something like 500 channels, thats when I discovered If you are not interested in whats on one cooking channel the other 75 aren't likely to excite ya either.
500 channels and I spent the evenig building snowmen in the parking lot!


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## WhyNot (Jun 21, 2011)

There really hasn't been anything on television to watch since 1989 as far as I can tell.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Does that have something to say about the mentality of those who watch that junk . .??


just sayin


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

Like maybe more than a few? I've got one that was used to watch movies when the boys were here. Never subscribed to anything, but considered it. Since I've got more computer fluent in the last decade, it's my go-to for news and entertainment. Opening page is fox news, and it stirs me up enough! Bro subscribes to dishnet (I think?) Fox news isn't on there at the moment due to squabbles. News is good, but I tend to get really wrapped up in the reporting. I'm just not a big supporter of our present administration!

Otherwise, I grew up without TV, since we lived in a canyon with no reception. The folks never listened to radio, unless Mom wanted to listen to weather, if there was a bad storm on the horizon.

When I'm in the wagon working, radio might be on? It's just background noise to me. Couldn't tell you whats been said or songs played?

Even if I had TV with a subscription, watching it by myself just wouldn't seem right?


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

nehimama said:


> No TV here since 2014, and I DO NOT miss it!!!


Okayyyyy....you do realize, this is the 3rd day of Jan 2015, right?



Mon


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

TV is a brain sucker. You can feel it sucking. Suck Suck Suck


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

If I want to watch something on TV I have to go to a friends house, ours doesn't have outside programming. Our friends are a lot like us so they don't watch all that much TV either. DD says everyone imitates what they see on TV, that's the driving force of idiocy, assholiness and greed, we have better things to do.

For Big Screen visuals, sunsets at the beach have been [deleted] awesome! Yellow, orange, gold, pinks, purples, and with whales! Comic relief are the photographers with their tripods set along the surf line, knowing they will be swamped at the critical peak of sunset perfection. We are not disappointed!

And we have books. I took a break from nonfiction, I'm enjoying the depths of 19th century classic literature.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I survive by not having cable , satellite or live video streaming PC based services so I can watch TV while claiming I have no TV exposure as all are simply slightly different flavors of pay TV.

The only TV I receive is about 30 different OTA broadcasts from three different media markets 30 to 75 miles from my home depending on which way I aim my antenna and atmospheric conditions.

Although I have access to around 10 free reception primary digital stations and their related sub channels, which is more than we had with standard cable in the 1970s, I maintain my enjoyment of my TV viewing by primarily selecting most of my TV on and go to the restroom during commercial breaks viewing by selecting the retro programming offered by the sub channels offering vintage era programming from the 1950s to 1980s/early 1990s when program and movie writers were not penalized for being older than their late 20s and wrote for entertainment and humor, sometimes not politically correct on sub channel networks METV, AntennaTV, RTN, COZI , Heartland TV , music video channels and my video library.

As far as primary network viewing , I confine that to currently to 5 hours per week of DVR recorded crime drama and comedy programming that I DVR to watch on days when the broadcasters often pre-empt their retro broadcasting to air some of their primary network sports surplus aimed at the OTA sports audiences they apparently think they have even though most of the armchair athletes I know buy pay TV sports packages.

Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, Hogans Heroes, Sanford and Son, Dragnet, TAGS, Star Trek, The Nanny, Mash, Rifleman and assorted old movies more than satisfy my TV viewing desires and watching my local news for the nightly weather segment and the early morning national news two maybe 3 days a week between 2 and 4 am satisfies my television viewing and televised news addition to my daily newspapers.

I don't even waste my time with a computer homepage with news content because it is nothing but low grade media reruns as most current network programming.

If I want to be entertained with telivision reruns I prefer those from the eras when writers actually offered enjoyable content and to only pay the price of using the commercials to go to the privy.


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

Tex; one of the things I learned about travel is that motel and hotel TV is aimed at the dimwit. Sports, pornography and the four major TV broadcasters are all that you can find---unless of course you want to shop, learn to cook, or watch one of the idiot "judge shows" or Maury. 

Here at the house I've learned that there is no reception without cable--we signed up for dish and Netflix. There is nothing worth watching on dish so we took the minimum possible. Netflix is another matter. We laughed our way thru every episode of Frasier, we like the English sitcoms, currently watching Grand Hotel, a series set in Spain with subtitles. I don't have to wear my ears to enjoy it--good show, evil woman, beautiful girls, dashing, handsome hero.

Here in the hills I cannot find much radio, so I do watch the news on TV and read what I can on the net. 

Our local newspaper (five days per week) has two sections, one section to cover world news, the police report and all the stringers from towns nearby who report on Aunt Minnie's trip to Branson. The second section, sports, section is about as large as the news.

We take the Little Rock paper to stay somewhat informed as to world events.


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

You can always stream on your computer with either Netflix or Hulu. Lots of good BBC stuff out there, and some from Australia too.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

After posting this I decided to keep watching for a bit....again, mostly to drown out the neighbors. Something I noticed was I started feeling anxious. I also noticed that the quick changes of camera angles and some other camera work bothered me...almost a bit like motion sickness, which I don't normally have a problem with. It seems like the way they film TV and commercials has changed quite a bit since when I used to watch TV regularly about 15 years ago. I also quickly noticed that the boundaries of what is acceptable has been pushed by quite a bit.

Now don't get me wrong. If you are snowed in or it's a rainy day, there's nothing wrong with watching TV if you can find something of interest. I love nature documentaries. I get to go places and see things that I'd not get to see otherwise. However, it would be interesting to do a survey with the average habitual TV watcher. It would be interesting to know what their IQ is and their moral tendencies.


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## puddlejumper007 (Jan 12, 2008)

well, dish took fox news off, so i am quitting tv, has not been anything good since I love lucy and Happy days..shhh i must be telling my age....


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2015)

I watch tv.......football....and then, 
Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Outlander, and a ton of old movies..pass the popcorn


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

frogmammy said:


> Okayyyyy....you do realize, this is the 3rd day of Jan 2015, right?
> 
> 
> 
> Mon


It was a TYPO! It should've read 2004! I went back & fixed it.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

We watch very little TV. News, weather once a day and that's it! Mostly we tape what we enjoy and watch it at night. By then, we're into anything mindless. Abvout an hour or two of that is about all we can handle.


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## summerdaze (Jun 11, 2009)

I had free cable for a few years, and I do miss my cooking, gardening, house fixer uppers, and Ghost Adventure shows that I watched occasionally. These days, I watch Net Flicks a lot, which is relatively new to me. My grandkids and I watch a lot of family type movies together, and I enjoy a good thriller after the kids go down.

Regular TV? The shows have just gotten SO stupid, and the endless barrage of commercials is frustrating. Why bother?


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Recently I saw in the puter tv guide that the Sound of Music was on.---Over the air cbs or nbc--- 
It was in a three hour time slot . . . .Assuming it was/is a two hour movie . . .that makes a whole hour of commercials ...
I watched for awhile . . . . Then I gave up because that classic movie was so chopped up due to commercials every 12 minutes.................NASTY....


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## glazed (Aug 19, 2006)

:donut:

I haven't had "tv" in years ... like probably eight years ... I don't miss it.

:donut:


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

I watched The Ohio State Buckeyes stomp those teams from Michigan!, and Alabama? and I do believe I'll be watching them beat The Duck's next Monday! Other than that, I may watch a nascar race, 60 minutes, or some PBS occasionally. The computer has taken over TV entertainment-I predict in another 5 years cable and antenna, will be obsolete.


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## unregistered358895 (Jul 15, 2013)

We haven't had standard tv/cable in probably 8 years. We do have Netflix (we had Hulu for a while but dropped them because of their increase in ads), and will rent the occasional Redbox DVD. Toddler watches railfanning videos on YouTube, and that's about it. We get by without tv by using our computers more than we should - but it is mostly educational, historical or has to do with our current list of hobbies.

The only time we watch "real tv" is when we are at my in-laws house. They have a deluxe cable package. The ads drive DH insane, which leads to mad channel surfing, which drives me insane. I think if we had kept TV, we'd probably be divorced by now.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

nehimama said:


> It was a TYPO! It should've read 2004! I went back & fixed it.


LOL! Figured it was a typo...at 11:30 at night though, it was *REALLY* funny! 

Mon


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

glazed said:


> :donut:
> 
> I haven't had "tv" in years ... like probably eight years ... I don't miss it.
> 
> :donut:


 If you have access to a computer or smartphone that connects faster than 56K you still have access to most all of the boob tube programming and actually a more intense exposure potential than just having a television.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I usta watch ONLY Downton Abby. But this year, the wire to my antennia finally rotted off at the antinna. Im too old to climb up there to reinstall it if I can. ALSO Although I cant get the channel with DT on, I watch it a bit evenings when certain shows are own so as to lengthen the time that I use my u Tube. On Sunday I watch In the heat of the night, for at least 3 shows one after the other, so far this Sunday.
Then Big Bang Theory. for 4 or so shows.

Monday, BBT, Cops, and SVU, and 2 broke girls.
Tuesday, BBT
Wed. BBT
Thursday, Bluebloods, several episodes of BBs.and NEW BBT
Friday, Cops, SVU, Bluebloods, Mom

Saturday, nothing


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Jay, what do you mean by your last statement. I watch some puter shows, but the screens 3 times bigger on my TV, making it more intense for me.


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

We have Netflix and use various websites to watch the shows we want without all the commercials. We hook the laptop up to the tv via an hdmi cable. I will never subscribe to cable again.


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2015)

rkintn said:


> We have Netflix and use various websites to watch the shows we want without all the commercials. We hook the laptop up to the tv via an hdmi cable. I will never subscribe to cable again.


How do you get internet?


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

bostonlesley said:


> How do you get internet?



Through the phone company


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

FarmboyBill said:


> Jay, what do you mean by your last statement. I watch some puter shows, but the screens 3 times bigger on my TV, making it more intense for me.


 With all this computer/streaming video addiction many have , wherever they have a handheld device they have boob tube programming.

A few months ago I rode with a friend to a two day conference. While there he got in a wreck and his wife and daughter came to be with him.

His wife knowing I needed to come home offered to let her daughter bring me home as she had classes the next day.

I white knuckled the 3 hour drive home as the 20 something daughter drove and read twits and watched Netflix on her phone while driving.

That is too intense of a boob tube exposure level.


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## RedEarth (Sep 21, 2005)

Most tv does seem to be crap, but when stuck in a hotel room when it's not safe to go out or something, I love some cooking shows and House Hunters International (fun to see what houses are like around the world).

I have one TV show I adore, love, can't say enough good about....True Detective (HBO). It's not for everyone, it's dark, it's not always fast moving, but the writing is good, the casting is good, the acting is excellent, the directing and cinematography is unbelievably good! The choice of music is good. Even the opening credits get me excited


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

Well, I'm the odd one out. My tv is generally on all of the time. It keeps the noises from tinnitus at bay, most of the time. I also have the radio on all the time I'm driving too. 

There are a few shows that I like to watch, NCIS, Doc Martin, Bones, the forensic and dateline shows, otherwise it's just background noise.


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## EvoQ (Dec 23, 2012)

I got rid of cable tv about 5 years ago and a year ago I had my internet turned off. I chose to live without the need for any external entertainment. Being very active everyday doesn't leave much time for tv. There are some wonderfully educational documentaries but they are from overseas mostly BBC and other foreign sources. American tv is simply garbage imho. Tv and Internet should only be mainly used as tools for learning it in case of the www a form or means of communicating with others. Occasionally I will watch one of these off beat social animated shows such as .....Robot Chicken or Chozen .....they are 2 of my favs but that is only once ona blue moon when I download them from free wifi.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

is it okay to say I watch tv. especially on long snowy, blowy winter nights? I don't go to bed until 3am or so. I like criminal minds,csi stuff like that. I also watch a lot of movies on TCM if there's something I like and there usually is. I'm also reading a book and knitting socks at the same time. when I'm ready for bed I've read the book and know exactly what I've read. also what I've watched on tv and there are no mistakes in my knitting. so really I'm not just mindlessly watching tv. I must say though there's lots of crap on there. ~Georgia.


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## BlueJeans (Jan 17, 2009)

Color me a happy TV watcher whenever I want to. I like to think I'm discriminating, but I enjoy having the options of TV...internet...books. The world is far larger than my physical property-boundaries.


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

newfieannie said:


> is it okay to say I watch tv. especially on long snowy, blowy winter nights? I don't go to bed until 3am or so. I like criminal minds,csi stuff like that. I also watch a lot of movies on TCM if there's something I like and there usually is. I'm also reading a book and knitting socks at the same time. when I'm ready for bed I've read the book and know exactly what I've read. also what I've watched on tv and there are no mistakes in my knitting. so really I'm not just mindlessly watching tv. I must say though there's lots of crap on there. ~Georgia.



If I could afford cable/satellite we would for sure have it. I just can't spend 100+/mo on tv.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I love TV. It lets my brain go in neutral. Great recreation.

I'm big on oldies though. McCloud, McMillan & Wife, Columbo, The Bold Ones, Emergency, Rockford Files, Murder She Wrote, and CHIPs are some of my favorites. Lots of oldies to watch here.

I like a few new ones. Big Bang Theory is a great way to kill 1/2 hour.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Have a tv and an antenna but rarely turn it on. No cable or pay satellite. (I have a dish to get some free stuff but still rarely turn that on.) 

Really, there just isn't that much on that interests me. 

When I do happen to have it on, I have found that I can occasionally find something interesting on Kentucky PBS. They seem to have some good programing from time to time, especially nature and history kinds of stuff. I used to like to watch Jeopardy, and still do get to see it on occasion. (I like to see if I can answer the questions before the contestants and once in a great while, I used to even find that I knew a right answer that none of them came up with!) I sometimes would like watching cooking or home repair/remodeling kinds of shows but would get kinda bored with them after a while. Often way too much "drama".

All that said, the last few times I've tried to watch tv, I ended up shutting it off primarily because of having to endure the assault of commercial after commercial, some of which I found offensive. And rather than subject myself to that, I hit the "off" button and went about my day in other ways far removed from the television. 

I think the tv actually gets used way more often for things like YouTube videos but even that is pretty benign stuff... how to fix something on the car, seeing what someone's garden looks like, how to build a greenhouse, how to give yourself a haircut with a Flowbee (hey, I've been thinking about getting one...) that kind of thing. Not much of the cat videos or the Darwin award kind of stuff that can go on forever. Quick stuff just gets watched on the computer. Longer stuff, on the tv.

As far as the news, I don't generally watch any at all on tv except maybe the local news to see what's happening right in the area I'm in, which will likely include a bit of a local weather forecast. National or international news, I'll get from the internet. I've found that trying to watch the news on tv gets very tiring. News stories that can be told in their entirety in 45 seconds can get played out for hours and hours, even days, as "experts" get dragged in front of the camera to tell you pretty much nothing that adds to the actual news at all. It's all sensationalized to the point where it's more like entertainment based loosely on a bit of reality drawn from here or there in the real world. Thanks, but no thanks. Just don't want the mental and emotional drain. The news is bad enough some days and I don't need it sensationalized for me.


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## BlueJeans (Jan 17, 2009)

I get National and International news from the internet...and most of our local news. I find TV news-persons highly irritating.

But I very much enjoy the history/travel/Nat'l Geo channels...where I get to lie on my couch and go along on adventures, treasure-hunts, diving at shipwrecks, ....get to 'survive' winter in Alaska. Very often, I will then go on-line and learn more. I never get enough archaeology, anthropology, history...from the safety of my warm jammies. :buds:


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

I don't have regular TV, but do enjoy watching shows through the computer. Either older shows on Amazon Prime or the new shows through HULU and X-Finity. That way I can still get some of the drama shows I enjoy without all the lengthy commercials. Although HULU's commercials are getting longer -- used to be 30 sec. spots and are now a minute or more.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

We watch online, but not the average stuff. When we were sick over Christmas, we indulged in marathon watching All Creatures Great and Small. Nick had never seen the series, and it's been years for me, so we enjoyed that.

BBC has a lot of good stuff. Their documentaries rock! 

On a side note: Brain studies demonstrate that the brain goes into "neutral" when we watch t.v. Brain waves are nearly flat. Your brain is more active when you sleep than when you watch t.v.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Which probably explains why so many people fall asleep ALL the way while watching TV!

Mon


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

Belfrybat said:


> Although HULU's commercials are getting longer -- used to be 30 sec. spots and are now a minute or more.


 Yeah, they seem not only to be increasing in length but frequency too, sometimes disrupting the flow of a program. The silliest thing is that many, if not most, of the commercials are for their own programming. Once I get through my backlog of shows on Hulu, I think I may drop their service.


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## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

I don't watch tv much, when I do it is Big Bang Theory or a BBC show. Everything else is just not that entertaining to me. I watch tv on my computer when it had sound  now shopping for a new computer as the sound went out on mine and no room to put a new sound card.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

sidepasser said:


> I don't watch tv much, when I do it is Big Bang Theory or a BBC show. Everything else is just not that entertaining to me. I watch tv on my computer when it had sound  now shopping for a new computer as the sound went out on mine and no room to put a new sound card.


Sometime back I saw a USB sound card on ebay. Was curious so bought it, was only like $2 shipped on slow boat from China. Surprisingly worked well. Puppy Linux saw it and asked me whether I wanted to use it or the built in sound chip. Now it was real cheapie so no idea how long it would last, the little usb pigtail cable looked pretty anemic. Probably heavier duty longer lasting versions out there.


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

I'm glad to see you posting HJ! How have you been doing?


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

We don't watch television and there was a time when I kinda missed the background noise but I find now that if I go somewhere and someone has a television turned on, I feel agitated by the noise.


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

It was a dark and stormy night. I was reading this thread with fascination, like looking at bugs under a magnifying glass when the Kid popped a disk into the player of a 20 year old TV show. It's a show full of dark, twisted cerebral humor. The opening scene showed the TV on in the break room and one of the guys going on a rant about the crap on TV. They had a lively thought provoking discussion about TV. The punchline closing the scene was,

"It's TV, it's not supposed to real."

Hahahahaha!!!! Pause: Let's discuss our totally fictitious "Reality Shows." People no longer know what's real and not real anymore. When I was a kid, we knew Gilligan's Island wasn't Real. And guess what, Mythbusters, I know you can't climb aluminum duct with magnets unless you keep them on the steel framework. Where'd you find the steel ducts?

Back to the show. Black kid gets shot in the back in an alley "by a cop." Hilarity ensues. Brass wants it put away without a riot and without upsetting rank and file Boys in Blue, who of course are all lying and hiding behind their union lawyers. The interesting puzzle was solved in under 2 hours. 

Total fiction but at least 20 years ago racism and religion and political corruption were openly discussed in thought provoking ways.

Today, your satellite and cable, news outlets, magazines, newspapers, pre-fab foods and products you buy, franchise chains are owned by only 6 corporations.

45 years ago one of the unit studies in Psychology was the Ad and the Id. It detailed how watching TV lowers the brainwaves putting the viewers in a state susceptible to brainwashing using subliminal messages. We got to see exactly how it was done, how it works. I lost my taste for TV and unplugged. Good entertainment on this topic is the movie, Josie and the *****cats.

Also know much of the pre-fab food pitched by the corporations on your TV contain FDA approved neurotoxins which target specific brain receptors which cause you to crave their other fine products. Or cause you to feel fearful, or experience some other invalid emotions.

Without diligence, we're all Manchurian Candidates.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

I had forgotten how much better the cable TV is down here in Mexico! Pretty good programming most of the time. Most of the channels are in English. With tourist season in full swing here most of everything is in English. Most of the Spanish programs have English subtitles. Sometimes pretty danged funny at how it gets translated.

Sitting here digesting a most excellent dinner of marlin tacos while watching a nature documentary. May have to see if I can figure out how to turn on the A/C.


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## RedEarth (Sep 21, 2005)

Lucky you, in the warmth!

I like watching Mexican news. Little glimpses into another world. Enjoy the food.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Proclamations of aversion or independence from most all with online access is a moot point as access to steaming videos , you tubes , hulu etc are simply a different delivery of "free" although often non regulated content OTA delivery style programming. 

As with OTA you still pay with being required to endure commercial advertisement.

Sadly now that OTA has gone digital from analog , OTA has as much digital packet stutter as computer connection stream. Of course when OTA was analog broadcast signal snow was an issue but less irritating than digital freeze up.

At least commercial advertisement supported OTA is still free except for having to watch the commercials instead of doing the so called free TV watching online where your still at the mercy of watching commercials and have to pay for the internet connection and data overage penalty depending on your ISP as you would have to pay for cable or satellite
services. 

I remember when cable pay TV first came out around here and for the $12 a month most of the basic package stations were commercial free and only had scheduled potty break intermissions with future program trailers or tutorials of the pay TV offerings.

Now regardless if OTA, Pay TV or internet feed they all bonk you with commercials at about the same frequency.

I laughed at how dumbed down the current generation of pay TV and online jacked in folks are when I first saw the Clear TV OTA digital version of rabbit ears offered for $20 a couple years back.

The commercial was aimed at a sector of society that apparently was oblivious to anything except pay TV services.

A few weeks after I first saw that commercial , the son of my mechanic who lost his cable, dish whichever pay service he used to budget tightening was telling me how surprised he was that for just the cost of a $30 antenna, he had 11 free channels and one was almost like ESPN and he "didn't have to pay over $100 a month to watch TV anymore".


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Terri in WV said:


> I'm glad to see you posting HJ! How have you been doing?



Not good, there are long lasting effects of my undiagnosed RMSF. 15% of us that get RMSF dont get the serious fever or spots two weeks from being bitten that most get and which puts them in hospital for a month. And makes it pretty obvious they have RMSF. So it never gets diagnosed FOR YEARS until it finally is winning the war and one is going down for the count. But the little bacteria still are working away at destroying infected person's circulatory system. 

Confused the docs cause they were looking for life style cause, symptoms are those of somebody with clogged arteries and heart problems, but I have good blood pressure and low cholesterol and normal blood sugar. And xray of my heart looked normal as did the ekg. I had to absolutely INSIST a tick panel be done. I thought from looking on web it was probably Lyme. Well I was close.

Wont even get into the nightmare of modern medicine where the doctor office was still doing scattershot billing six months after the diagnostic visit, just for THAT visit. They cant give just ONE bill when doc visit over plus they have all labs bill separately. Blue Cross rejected EVERY bill, said they dont cover disease screening.... or treatment. Wouldnt pay for anything, nor count it against my deductible. So after I got a clue, both were history and I never looked back. I hate this game playing for dollars that medical industry has adopted. When one is sick with fuzzy brain,. and barely make it from house to car, trying to act like a lawyer at doc office is last thing one wants to do. And you really do need tag team lawyers going to any doc appt with you! They have all sorts of games to get around any insurance limits on what they do. Like using labs that the insurance company doesnt accept but which the doc has financial interest in.

Anyway right now its winter and I do better in cold weather. Friend from TX that has helped me with wood last few winters when his family is up to their vacation place during Xmas, died of heart attack (he did have clogged arteries) in November. So ever so slowly cutting and processing my own wood. On good day I can work maybe half hour at a time. Have enough to get through winter but need to start working on next years wood before ticks and hotter weather, but yet have summer for it to all season. I live up steep hill and nobody delivers anything, so wood is my only option. Electric can be off anywhere from hours to whole month one year due to weather.

There, more info than anybody wanted.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

not at all too much info for me HJ. I always like to get caught up on how you're doing. good to have you back posting again. ~Georgia


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I didnt even mention that doxycycline used to treat RMSF used to be on Walmart $4 list, now costs $150 a bottle the legit way. Its an old generic but seems one company in usa now has a monopoly. Bought out the others or something and decided to make quick buck on it. Capitalism at its finest. Create a monopoly and get rich on backs of the sick and desperate without actually coming up with anything new.

So I bought doxy off ebay that is sold for treating fish. Comes from Thailand. In tropics they use it as a malaria preventative and sold over the counter. Still cheap there. Though of course you have no idea if what you get is real deal or filler. I assume its so cheap there that counterfitting it would be pointless. Sort of like counterfitting generic asprin would be here. Anyway took it six month on my own. Survivors of RMSF group on internet said that was sort of minimum. The 14 day amount docs tend to give just gets the RMSF bacteria angry. Assume that put the RMSF in remission, at least the doxy stopped having any further effect by that time, but of course doesnt undo the damage to circulatory system. That takes lot time if it ever recovers. Most of the other RMSF survivors said dont count on ever getting seriously better. Best one can do is eat healthy and exercise if possible.... most of us dont have energy to do much. If you got money (and energy to travel) then go find some doc that specializes in treating Lyme. RMSF, Lyme, and several other less known tick diseases are related and you can have more than one at a time. But all pretty much respond to same treatment. Some of these Lyme literate docs seem to have success, but dont expect insurance to pay since insurance companies all buy into the 14 days of doxy solves it all forever. And Obamacare limits docs, you dont get to go searching all over the country for one that is true expert.

I am taking a supplement called rutin that is supposed to help circulatory system. I felt better after eating buckwheat and wondered why. Well on web found its high in rutin which is supposed to help circulatory system.... So bought some in pill form. Does seem to help some. 

Funny, one guy posted that he got his doc to give him cialis (sp?) and it helped him function much better with more energy. Said for use to treat effects of RMSF, he cut the dosage to one sixth the amount used for ED as its fairly expensive and mostly sold to rich fat guys wanting to have sex (not necessarily with one another...). It was interesting idea since both are circulatory blood flow problems, but he never posted again with updates and nobody else seemed much interested. Too bad, like to have heard if it helped him long term. Or short term fix only.


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## Terri in WV (May 10, 2002)

Hj, I was really hoping that your health was getting better, I'm sorry to hear that it hasn't. You really had me worried though when your forum didn't show up any more.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Terri in WV said:


> Hj, I was really hoping that your health was getting better, I'm sorry to hear that it hasn't. You really had me worried though when your forum didn't show up any more.


It is better after the 6 month of doxy year ago (I have lost track of time anymore, so whenever it was), no problem making it across the room or out to the car, but not a full cure back to where I was by any means. I am able to limp along like some old geezer thirty years older than me. Just with no family and two friends living far away with their own serious health problems. So no help. I am seriously going to miss my old Texas friend though he usually only got up this way once a year. Still I wouldnt have made it dealing with firewood last few years without his Xmas time help. He and his immediate family liked Xmas in Ozarks.

Hey I am now able to get my own firewood, just at a very slow pace. And I dont have to grab onto the grocery cart as firmly when doing my monthly shopping at town. Not quite as wobbly. I managed to change oil/filter in car this fall by myself, was exhausted afterwards but did it. My days of doing big projects over. Though I am either going to have to move or build a new cabin. This one is deteriorating fast, when I built it over 25 years ago, never intended it to be more than temporary. But if I can get firewood slowly, ought to be able to slowly build something, just take forever. Nothing else to do anyway.... LOL

As to my website, yep data gone and since it was a freebie, not coming back and cant reuse same name. But did start new one, havent kept it up as well, and google hasnt found it so nobody else has either. Here is link: http://homesteadtinkerer.betaboard.net/


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

that's the one I usually check to see if you're still in the land of the living. too bad some of us aren't close by to give you a hand. ~Georgia.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

newfieannie said:


> that's the one I usually check to see if you're still in the land of the living. too bad some of us aren't close by to give you a hand. ~Georgia.



Important stuff gets done S.....L.....O.....W......L......Y When I move so slow, pretty hard for anybody to actually help. They would tend to move at normal speed where I am slow motion. Thus lot frustration on everybody's part. Now with my Texas friend, he and some of his family basically did all loading and stacking and good bit of splitting, I sawed, drove truck, and helped a little with everything and in turn they got to use my truck and splitter and saw for their needs. Win-win. They had this huge old open fireplace and burned as much wood in two weeks as I do all winter.

With firewood, I can cut and split ok with splitter (no hand splitting with maul anymore), half hour at time. Loading and physically moving the wood around is hard really exhausting part. Why going and buying a pickup load of firewood is hard. Most want their money and point at a pile. I have to load it. Well at home I can take forever with lot long breaks and dont have to stack it high on truck to make it cost/time efficient for travel. At some seller's place neither I nor they want me taking half a day with lot breaks. Nobody delivers anything up my steep driveway.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I used to watch All CG&S. loved it. Havnt seen it in over 30yrs. One episode I remember was where there was an old scrooge of a farmer who did all his own vet work. One day they got a call to come out to his place. Upon arriving, the older vet asked him what he had been doing before calling them. He said something like, (Just the same remedy me daddy and grandsire always used. The vet asked what was that. He said, an apple a day up the bum for a week. The older vet said, well no wonder the horse wont get up. I wouldn't either with a peck of apples up my grits.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

Hmmm, I really enjoy TV ! I don't watch a bunch of it though it is on all day for mom to watch as she has absolutely no interest in anything other than watching TV and the US flag blowing outside! I really enjoy watching some of the medical/mental health shows having to do with addiction. Also the things on nat geo and nat geo wild like Dr Pol, Sharks, Ancient places. Though I must admit that there have been a few days lately where there did not seem to be anything of interest on . Mom likes it if I relax on the sofa with my dog by my side, knitting while we watch some show or another and talk about what it is about.


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## qtkitty (Apr 17, 2005)

In the evenings here the TV'S on. My daughter watches electric company on pbs. Then my mom watches local news, national news, jeopardy, and wheel of fortune. Worse are weekends it's some kiddy show, hsn, or a gushy love struck movie on hallmark channel.(If only I could some how delete the hallmark channel lol) I was sitting in front of the darn thing and totally missed Christmas commercials my mom raved about for over a month.

I usually watch online. I find myself watching apocalypse, prepper, or reality tv set in the wild(I am picky about them, because some get really stupid really quick). If I actually have the remote the tv is on Discovery , food network, or amc. That rarely happens and when it does usually I get booed about my selection and the remote is confiscated lol. The only show I have kept up with in years is the walking dead. I also love dramas. I watch quite a bit of youtube. I really like Praxxus and growyourowngreens, both have longer videos but I don't mind I always learn something and their passion is sincere. I also watch vegan, beauty, comedy and what not channels. More often than not I find a topic am interested in and go digging around to find out more information. Might be why I am so full of useless information. Comes in handy every once and awhile though.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

One reason the TV isn't on here a lot is because of commercials that insult my intelligence. I have yet to understand why a product would use asinine themes to sell their stuff!

There is a car dealership here in WI that uses down-home folksie themes with the owners acting non professional--like wearing what looks like a floor mop for a wig. They would be the last place I'd go to buy a big ticket item!


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

I keep my television on while I work, which is a lot at some times of the year. News, mostly. But I also enjoy a few cooking shows, topical films, documentaries, and (naturally) Downton Abbey, among others.

No doubt my IQ and morality are highly suspect.


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

To me, watching TV is really no different than spending oodles of time on the internet. It's all in how you use it.


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

Tommyice said:


> To me, watching TV is really no different than spending oodles of time on the internet. It's all in how you use it.


There's a big difference. The internet is an interactive device I use for social intercourse with my friends. My RL friends think this is weird when I do this with the people on their TVs. :thumb:


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