Is anyone else telly-free?

irishwexford

I have radio norfolk on during the day and in the car as well. We do not watch much tv but I do like 'desperate housewives' every week. (Sad I know). I also like the nature programmes and at the present time am following ;How the earth made us'. I could never sit down and watch tv during the day even if there was anything worth watching on.

jexygirl

Beeee beeeeee ceeeeeeeee raaaaaaaaaaaadioooo twooooooooooooo
(that was the jingle for the uninitiated!! - see my sig tbh...)

We have been forced to go TV free, the thought of which for me was a nightmare at the time! We live on the side of a loch totally surrounded by mountains, and simply cannot get TV reception, or mobile reception - the 2 things I used to use most (tho with the wind in the right direction I can get texts if I stand at the front of the building with one leg in the air whistling a happy tune!. We cannot even get sky - the man who came said that IF he could get a ladder up one of the spruce trees high enough, and IF he could fix a dish, we MIGHT get a signal for SOME channels... This was 2.5 years ago and at the time was the end of my world! Whatever would I do!
What I did was discover my love of reading again,playing solitaire / games / walking / talking / radio / internet (and I watch catch up to - if we ever got TV again I would be so annoyed at having to watch things at certain times!)
We recently stayed in a cottage on a break from here, it had TV! We didn't put it on for the first few hours, then it was remarkable how easily we slipped back into "just having it on for the sake of it all the time - during meals, cooking, showering whatever - for no good reason.
My friends think its crazy that I cant get TV or mobile reception, and wonder how I live, but I can honestly say, within a month, I didn't miss it AT ALL! And I am not paying for a licence and my mobile bill is simply line rental these days as by the time I get texts, I have probably chatted on msn or email with the person!
As a last note, I used to be "addcited" to all the soaps, evenings were planned around them and these days maybe once every few months if i ran out of come dine with me, grand designs etc!, I watch an episode of a soap on catchup, and I can pretty much work out whats happened since I last watched and get the gist, within an episode!
Just shows you dont miss much!
Jex

ljonski

if Karl marx was around now , i am sure he would write "Television is the Opium of the people " I often wonder why people instead of putting a cross on their gravestones ,put a little cosy armchair on top instead!- to show the rest of us , how they wasted their time while alive.....

mardatha

Oh shhh. In that case I will have a wee laptop etched on mine !

niksyg

Hello!

I haven't had a TV for over a year now! My colleagues think OH and I are mad and often ask "but what do you dowith your time?"!!!!

To be honest, I don't have time to watch telly. I get home around 5:30pm and go running or swimming most evenings. If not, I read, listen to the radio, come on the internet, see friends, go for a walk etc etc.

If someone tells me about a brilliant programme I tend to try and track it down on iplayer or something but that is very rare.
The other thing OH and I do is....talk!!
My friend was telling me about celebrity big broither the other day and I asked why on earth she watched it...her answer was, there is nothing else on! I couldn't believe it - proof to me that TVs are just awful and stop our ability to communicate

mardatha

I don't want to go OT here, but I have just posted in the Techie forum, a question on how to watch tv via the computer.

debbym

mardatha wrote: »

I don't want to go OT here, but I have just posted in the Techie forum, a question on how to watch tv via the computer.

Not that it will help Downsizer and co as this def needs broadband but I use this site to watch TV via the internet http://www.tvguide.co.uk/ on the channel listing if you see the word watch click on the link to activate a live stream of that channel.:D Beware though as it can eat up your bandwidth so if you have a limit use sparingly.

Reverbe

You lot have given me an idea. I have never listened to the radio for many many years now not since I think 1989 when I gave up listening to the charts (had friends in bands but the main band I was into broke up) I don't even own a radio. Is it possible to listen to the radio online? I think BBC do it on iplayer.. If so anything worth listening to?I don't really think the radio plays any kind of music I like much anymore even tho my taste is eclectic and runs from Sex Pistols to Sinatra...I think I would find a whole music programme hard to come by. Not really into politics or current affairs and certainly not sport..

I will pass on those suggestions to my friend who doesnt have the option of online at home as he doesnt have a web connection there.Thanks to anyone who commented on my post. I do try to help him all I can including when he was in a shelter for a few weeks. We dont have much ourselves and are quite poor - all on benefits and fmate in serious debt but feel responsible to do all I can to help those worse off.I tried to do some volunteering with a local Foodbank - as they were really local I offered to cook, pack, distribute, do admin etc but all they seem to offer is once every 3 or 4 months to stand in a supermarket and promote their charity...?????

v8monkeyboy

Downshifter,

I too live in the Peak District, and although I know it's not a small place, I have broadband, and I thought most areas in the PD were able to get this. I can only think of one or two places that can't have it.

We can't get DAB though, so I listen through the TV. Never really watch telly that much, so wouldn't miss it apart from the access it give me to different radio stations.

T x

mardatha

We have no tv/radio reception, we used to have a booster on the aerial but it was rubbish. So since we got rid of Sky we use Freesat. I got a DAB internet radio for my birthday, that's magic.
I think the Scottish govt made a pledge that 98%+ of Scotland would have broadband and thats why we got it here. Otherwise we would never have got it for years.