Life Without Cable

Hi, my name is Sara and it has been approximately one month since I have given up cable. I am struggling. Sometimes, I sit and fantasize about what I would be watching if I still had cable. 

Every summer my husband, Kevbo*, and I discuss canceling cable on a trial basis.  Every summer my addiction wins out and we keep it. This summer we actually followed through. Handing over the DVR box was painful, but I'm doing my best to cope with our new cable free reality.

When I say I am addicted to TV, I am not exaggerating. Until Kevbo and I moved in together I fell asleep every night with the TV on. In high school my TV was my alarm clock. I read books with the TV on, even though I obviously have no idea what is playing. I get easily distracted by small noises; the house settling, car doors closing outside or my cat walking up the stairs are all likely to grab my attention. But, when I have the TV playing in the background I am able to ignore all the small noises and I can concentrate on my task. 

When we canceled cable we figured we would be able to subsidize our viewing with Hulu Plus and Netflix streaming. So far we are doing fine with these options during "active" TV viewing time; with the exception of no longer watching The Daily Show before bed we hardly miss cable. Unfortunately, it's the "inactive" cable watching that I am fiending for. For some reason we still get Bravo and the Disney Channel so I have been inactively viewing plenty of Flipping Out, Real Housewives of Wherever, Wizards of Waverly Place and Shake It Up. But, it's just not cutting it. My inactive viewing choices need a certain something that I haven't been able to replicate to my satisfaction without cable.

Seriously, this is what my life has become.

I am going to continue to work on this addiction, but I don't think I will ever be able to actually give cable up permanently. The siren song of the fall season is too strong and I predict that we will be reupping come September.

Am I alone in my constant need for background noise, or are there other addicts like me out there?

In other news we have free passes to see Friends with Benefits tomorrow night, I hope to have a review up by Friday so check back!

*No, his name isn't really Kevbo, that's obviously a nickname.