still going

Misc rants & rambles
I am very open about my life to people, whether it be about my kink side or my wanna-be homesteader side. I get lots of comments on both; some good, some not, and some just totally confused. For the most part I get criticized on the lack of television, people just can't seem to understand how we can live without this little box, and it amazes me. Now maybe I have over-exadurated things about not having a television, because we do, but its rarely turned on. There are a certain few shows that we enjoy watching, and it is turned on then and on saturday nights when my friend is here. (he understands nothing we are doing, but we have been friends for roughly 40 years so I let it slide)
Since we decided to seriously regulate our tv time, things here have gotten even better. We spend more quality time together. We read, (sometimes to each other), we talk, we plan things out such as the garden or weekend trips, we play scrabble...... so basically, we LIVE. The last 2 or 3 nights have been spent going through the Lehman's catalog, circling what we want like kids with a toys r us book at christmas. We talk about what we want, and discuss its use if/when we purchase it. We're happier now than we were say a year ago. Even though we are a wonderful couple, there were the typical times that talks were during commercial breaks, going back on hold as soon as a certain show came back on. Now all of our time at home together is actually spent together. My online time is before and after work, before she gets up and before she gets home. There was a time when I could come home from work, and stay online until I went to bed, but now, same as the tv, I have put my online time on a schedule, and more gets accomplished. And now that the warm spring weather is just around the corner, that time online will be cut probably 75% or more.
I just wish everyone could see what television has done to our lives. What was started as a simple form of entertainment and news platform, has turned into an outright addiction. Countless hours are spent watching shows with no meaning or purpose, or playing some fantasy game for days at a time. People lack the slightest social skills, and the true sense of community is totally lost. Watching to see who won on American Idol or winning another level of the latest video game has become more important than spending time with family or visiting a neighbor. Our neighborhoods are nothing more than homes next to each other, no longer being a friendly community of people who talk and help each other. Our kids are obese, have every attention/learning disorder that we can make up, lack people skills, and we blame society and the government. Maybe, just maybe, we can look at that not-so-little-anymore black box that they sit in front of day after day and realize what it's done.