The Telly Broke

[poliphilo]

The telly broke yesterday. Well, not the telly itself, but the set-top box that serves it. The men from Virgin are coming to fix it Sunday morning. In the meantime if I want to watch moving images I'll have to stick a disc in the DVD player.

It was pleasantly quiet last night. I sat in my comfy armchair and read David Copperfield. If the telly had been working I'd have watched the second episode of Michael Wood's Story of India, but I can't say I missed it. 

There have been periods of my life when I haven't owned a telly. The longest was between 1998-91 (approx) when money was tight.  How did I pass the time?  I'm not entirely sure but I've got a mental picture of myself sitting at the kitchen table, messing about with water colours like a Victorian lady.  And if there was something I really wanted to see- like the first run of the Sherlock Holmes stories with Jeremy Brett- I went to my friend's house and we had dinner and made an event of it.

I watch TV most evenings. I flip through the channels or leaf through the Radio Times and usually I'll find something  to hold my attention for an hour or two. But there's very little I feel I have to watch. The last show I got wrapped up in was Rome. I like my ghostie programmes on Living and the Sci-fi channel but I'm not going to feel greatly deprived if I don't get to see them. Not being able to access the dim-witted news bulletins is a relief.

Would I want to live without the telly?  No, not really; I enjoy it too much.  Could I live without the telly? Oh, easily.

Comments

[momof2girls.livejournal.com]

For financial reasons, I had to give up my cable box several months ago. We hardly ever watch television, and the girls watch videos and DVDs, so it wasn't a big deal. Now we get two channels in the midst of a blizzard. When I get more money, I may get DirectTV just to have it in case there's something on I actually want to watch. I'm more of a reader than a TV watcher anyway.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The great thing about TV is that it's there on tap. You don't have to think about it. You just switch it on and there it is.

[momof2girls.livejournal.com]

That's part of the reason I'm thinking about getting Direct TV - so I'll have it when I want it!