I'm Free!!


When I moved into my apartment back in 1999 (whoa, still can't believe it's been that long ago!), I signed up with the local cable company for tv service. There really wasn't many other options at that time. Years later, I decided to try one of the satellite dish companies. I know some people think satellite is not as reliable, and you lose the signal with a drop of rain. But honestly, in all the time I had it, I think I lost the signal a handful of times. So I thought it was fine for me!

Last month, I decided to join this century and upgrade my big old hunk of tv to a flat screen. I really like it, but I wasn't getting the full effect since I wasn't paying for HD programming. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to. But I was also thinking long and hard about ditching satellite altogether and using an antenna to get the local stations, which is what I watch the most anyway!

That is precisely what I did today. I bought an antenna at Target, paying a little more than I wanted to, but oh well! I set it up after dinner, and scanned for channels. I got 8 at first, but when I saw that it hadn't picked up NBC, I tried again. I can't live without NBC! The 2nd time I got 10 channels, including 2 NBCs. Ok, better than none!!! So the next step? Cancelling my satellite service!

I admit to being nervous about this step. Why? It wasn't about the argument I was expecting from the representative on the other end. It was more of letting go of paid programming that I've been used to all my life!! lol But really, why keep paying for channels I watch all the time that I can get for free by antenna?? Makes no sense to me, or my wallet!

So I made the call, and got all ready to defend my choice. But I didn't have to really. The lady I spoke with was almost like fine, whatever! Within 10 minutes, I was satellite free! One bill down the drain! And within the next couple months or so, I hope to be able to save enough for an internet streaming box for another way to watch tv and movies. All I have to do is pay for the box and I'm good to go! And if I can figure out how to hook my laptop to the tv, maybe I can watch things that way, too!

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