APOLOGIES TO ALL for the weirdness of internet service these past weeks. I hit my limit of patience this week and am switching to satellite. Of course to pay for it I’ll need to budget some other things. I’m thinking seriously of abandoning my smart phone for something dumber and cheaper. For one thing, being able to be reached by email when I’m away from home I find annoying rather than convenient. For another, I don’t enjoy games on a tiny screen. And all the apps are cute, but I don’t have the time or patience for any of them. So how smart is having this phone and paying extra for it, I ask you.Just took another look at my Direct TV bill and realized I need to reconsider that as well. The only channels I watch anymore are USA and MSNBC for Rachel and the crew. Of course, I have to get another 118 channels to get those two, and pay through the nose for them. I could cut the bill in half by going to the family plan, but it doesn’t include either of the channels I want to watch. So the hell with it. If anyone knows of an alternative where you only get – and only pay for – what you want to watch, let me know.
It doesn’t trouble me that I’m becoming more of an anti-establishment anarchist. It’s that I’m enjoying it so much. More to come, I dare to predict.
-m
Listen to or read the narrative of the latest installment of the classic Ozarks commentary by beloved Ozarks singer and storyteller Marideth Sisco, host of the long-running series, These Ozarks Hills.
my life and times 
Know exactly where you’re coming from. I went through the same thing a few months ago. I have to pay for extra because I like MSNBC & Hallmark (I know). I ended up with cable but have a friend who purchased a box from Sam’s that you can hook up to your computer & TV & get all kinds of channels plus movies. I went to Sam’s but it was almost overwhelming so I took the easy way out. You might ask at Sam’s or Best Buy. (I’m so tecnologically challenged.) Good luck!
Marideth, let me know if your find an alternative to so many Directv channels with the cost. I need to downsize too…..Thanks, Bebe
I’ve already been there and done that so to speak, and encourage you to de-technify yourself. It’s too easy to get enamoured of all the gadgets that we don’t really need.
I never even got a mobile phone (I think you guys call them cell phones) because I felt it was too much of an intrusion and I don’t need to be interrupted all day long by inane conversations. How often have you had the “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” call?? Well, why not just wait the couple of minutes and say “Here I am.”??? Play games on a phone? Life’s too short. An App for weather (look out the window). An App for news (buy a paper or watch in on TV). Apps??? ARRGH!
As for TV, I now only get the channels that come free over the air here, and that is still about 30 or so. We are completely digital here in London, so I had to buy a ‘digibox’ as a one-off for about £90, but that was two years ago now. We do also have an annual TV Licence fee here (bizarre) but you pay that no matter what. I don’t miss the first-run movies, sport I never watched or the gazillions of stations that now are lost to me. I have more to do that watch the gogglebox.
TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE! Stand up and say I don’t need all this crap. Sing my theme song, stolen from the 60’s hit: “Got along without ya before I bought ya, gonna get along without ya now! Goodbye my cellphone, farewell junk TV, gonna get along without ya now…”
Absolutely agree with “mommawhitecougar”.
Live as simply as possible.
Have you tried streaming your shows on your computer? I haven’t owned a TV for years. I can watch my two network shows online – Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy. I watch PBS online.
I know there are ways to get the shows from your computer to your TV, but I haven’t owned an actual TV set in over 15 years.