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I have three children and fortunately the only way to receive television where I live is by cable. For the last nine years we have not subscribed and we have not had ANY "TV" for that period of time. Haven't missed it a bit. We have a very nice flat panel by which we view DVDs, but that's it. We do have a
good broadband connection.

You CAN live very nicely without TV. Why let yourself be corroded by all of that ****. I encourage you to give it a try.

My ex-wife and I had TVs in virtually every room in the house. When we broke up, I simply ceded her all the TVs with the attitude that, "I can always get another one next payday." That was almost four years ago. I haven't paid a cable bill, stressed over missing a cable payment, or wasted a single second of time surfing for something to watch, looking for the remote control, or looking for batteries for the remote control.

I've read volumes of books I'd have never touched otherwise, rediscovered some old hobbies, found a few new ones, listen to a lot more music and my dogs and I get enough exercise to ensure we all sleep soundly virtually every night. These days, I often wonder how I ever had time to watch TV.

All of my news comes via internet or radio. I'll buy the rare DVD to watch on my laptop, and even more infrequently, I'll actually pay admission at a theater for a movie, but I'm willing to bet that on any given day I feel far more on top of current events, and more satisfactorily entertained than most people who rely on their TVs. I remember dad always calling the TV, 'the idiot box,' and now, years later, I fully understand why.

I do have to admit that maybe once every two months or so, I'll hear a radio ad for a History Channel special and wish that I had a TV, but investing in a TV and contracting with a satellite or cable service for one hour of quality entertainment every 60 days passes no cost-benefit analysis criteria of which I'm aware. When I first set out on my TV-free lifestyle, there were moments of self-doubt when I feared becoming 'out of touch' with contemporary culture. Now, when I look at contemporary culture, I miss it in the same way I would miss being out of touch with a bucket of arsenic or an aquarium full of rattlesnakes.