Sunday, November 06, 2016

Our TV Experiment Continues

You'll recall a while back I wrote of wanting to dump cable TV and trying that external antenna I bought, the idea being we could probably get enough TV broadcast signals to keep us entertained at night. As I wrote earlier, that didn't work. My guess is that we just didn't have the TV set right to receive broadcast signals. I gave up on that.

Some time ago the wife was surprised to find we were paying $74.00 and change per month for cable TV. She felt we couldn't afford that. I agreed but, when she suggested taking our cable box back even before we'd come up with an alternative, I objected...strongly. That seemed an assinine suggestion to me. I had to ask her: What are we gonna do at night with no TV...tallk? I don't think so.

As a compromise, I called Suddenlink and tried to switch to a lower cost plan, assuming they had one. I know I signed up for one years ago where you got something like 12 channels for $16.00 or some such, but the cost of that one increased quickly enough that it wasn't even a year before it was over $20.00, if memory serves me. The twelve channels seemed ok for me, though, and I thought maybe I'd get used to it again.

I first tried the Suddenlink web site which doesn't seem set up to change plans. I finally had to call one of their reps and she didn't seem all that adept at switching me to a lower priced plan, either. She finally seemed to get the gist of what I wanted and suggested a plan that would cost $75.00 a month, except I couldn't hear her well. She did say we wouldn't get BBC or MeTV anymore and those are my favorites. I went ahead and told her to switch us...hey, there but for the grace of God go I.

The next day the wife spotted some Suddenlink worker in our yard. I didn't bother going to talk to him but was surprised as it seemed to me they could switch plans at their office and nothing need be done at our house.

Then the bewitching hour came and we had to see what channels we'd be able to see. The first "problem", if you want to call it that was Suddenelink's"Guide"- the television schedule you see on the TV- didn't seem any different. It still doesn't, but maybe that doesn't change or, maybe they leave it up so you see what channels you're missing- a little sales pitch, so to speak.

That drives me nuts because you see a show you might want to watch and click on it only to get a black screen. But, we do get MeTV, although no BBC so no Star Trek, at least for now. it wold be nice if they marked the channels on the Guide so you could see which channels you actually get, but that might be the idea of doing it they way they do it. It's working with me.

Not much has changed as far as TV goes, at least earlier in the evening. I'm still able to watch the channel 3 news when I flop down on the couch around 5:30ish in the afternoon. And we still stay with channel 3 until after the Who wants To Be A Millionaire game show. After that it's MeTV and it does kinda bug me we're stuck with MeTV- hey, I like Andy of Mayberry but how many of those reruns do I want to watch? Despite it being one of my favorites, it bugs me knowing I can't go elsewhere, such as the History Channel or what not.

After I post this I'm gonna go to the Suddenlink web site and see if I can find out how much we're paying for this new TV plan. Wouldn't it be something if it does cost more than we were already paying? I won't be surprised, but then what do I do?

8 Comments:

At 11:15 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Bite the Bullet. I got rid of my TV 25 years ago and rediscovered thinking for myself. I do have Netflix which supplies more than enough viewing WITHOUT commercials. Try going without TV for 90 days and discover a new life.

 
At 11:17 AM, Blogger Henchman Of Justice said...

Change sucks too!

 
At 11:18 AM, Blogger Henchman Of Justice said...

Change sucks too!

 
At 12:28 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

"Bite the Bullet."

That's what the wife seems to want, although I suspect she'd regret that. As I wrote, what would we do at night then? Talk? I should hope not.

She pointed out I could sit here at the computer all night. Well, maybe, except I tried that last year when I our old TV went out and it gets old sitting here. I always look forward to flopping down on the couch at the end of the day and watching my TV shows.

 
At 2:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

TV is for the dumb and dumber. But that is obvious from your posts. Read a book!

 
At 5:24 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Fred, did I already tell you about my TV service? About 8 years ago I bought 19 inch TV during the black Friday sale at Wmart Instead of cable or satellite I use "rabbit ears"that cost about$9.00. The channels i receive are ABC,NBC,CBS,PBS(6 of them) MeTV,COZI TV, local FOX News, the CW,Buzzr TV, ION TV(has Star Trek) KTCB(older movies) All I pay for is the electricity. Maybe I'm just fortunate to be in the right location. 😃

 
At 10:49 PM, Blogger gabriele gray said...

I rent and get basic cable thru my landlady's cable. Good but not great. I found an online company that offers lots of English programs (films, series, etc). It's under $10 per month and some of the series are one that will never make it to PBS but wonderful.
It's called Acorn TV, I can send a link.You can get a free 30 day trial.
I have another subscription service (I won't use the sites where you can download stuff, too risky) where I can get European mysteries and such. They offer a free trial also, it's under $10 a month also. They're both streaming so you don't have to download to watch.
Sorry, no Doctor. It's called MhZ...

What about getting dvds from the library? You can check out 4 dvds for 7 days. If you and your wife both have cards you could double that...
Here's a listing of the library's Dr Who available:
http://libcat.co.humboldt.ca.us/search/Y?SEARCH=doctor+who&searchscope=13&SORT=D

I get dvds from Netflix and watch them on my computer, too.
Look for a used large monitor and as long as you have internet, you'll have entertainment.

Hope this gives you some options and saves you money...

 
At 6:17 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Those are great ideas, Gabriele! 😃

 

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