Aborted Social Experiment

On occasion over the past year I have told people that Glenn and I would not be updating our television/television services to accommodate the February 2009 digital transition. After gazing at me with a puzzled look most people would tell me all the things we could do to continue receiving the new digital television signal.

Yes, cable/satellite is offered in our area. Yes, we know about the government rebate coupon for digital converter boxes.

No, this was not about money or technology. This was going to be our (I mainly mean my)GREAT SOCIAL EXPERIMENT OF 2009. I kept on thinking how great it would be to not be lured into watching something that probably numbed, or maybe even destroyed some of my brain cells. It would be like old times - we would spend our evenings being productive or finding a more "noble" form of entertainment (enter a lot of NPR listening and the viewing of documentaries on DVD). I was so excited to try this out. I even felt a bit proud of my determination.

Oh, we had our critics: "How long do you think it will last?" "How long will your marriage last without TV?"

Like I said, I was bound and determined. My resolve started failing the slightest bit when the "number of days until the digital transition" icon was on the bottom of my TV screen. However, I started to go into panic mode when one of our PBS stations made the transition early. Well, the black hole that appeared where channel 28 used to be really made it hit home. They were not joking or exaggerating - they really took away my signal. O.K., I told myself, be strong, you have a strong enough character to go with out TV. Then, my second PBS station suffered a similar fate. And, for the record, the majority of our TV viewing would be on PBS. The time for strength, determination and principle was over. Getting the new digital signal was my new priority.

In my state of distress I remembered that my parents had an extra (a whole different story) flat screen TV that would probably be able to receive the new digital signal. So, it was, in the end, Mom and Dad who saved the day. Yes, I am happy to report that the new TV, does, indeed, receive the digital signal.

But, it is even better than that. There is a whole world of digital only stations that I can now view. It's kinda a hybrid of old school TV and cable/satellite. Depending on the time of day and the weather, I have been able to get a station called RT (Russia Today, just in case you want/need to know the weather forecast for any major Russian city), a similar station devoted to India and my current favorite a PBS special station called Create (a bunch of how-to shows).


Man I am in H-E-A-V-E-N - so much for my great social experiment!