the blog at eric moon dot net

$40 of Tax Money Goodness

A while back, I wrote a little about firing Time Warner for cable TV and using over-the-air (aka rabbit-ears) signals.

I bought the highest rated indoor antenna I could find (well, the highest rated antenna for less than 30 bucks.).  I yanked out the cable, installed it and frankly, I was less than impressed.  The picture looked great for a channel or two, but the rest required a major reposition of the antenna, not exactly conducive to channel surfing.

Discouraged, but not defeated, I requested my $40 government handout coupon or a digital TV converter.  I picked up a $52 converter (net cost after coupon: $12) online.

A week later, the box arrived and I hooked it up, not expecting much.  It was a rare experience to be pleasantly surprised.  The picture was crystal clear on all channels, the sound was perfect, there were even a couple of extra channels.  Compared to basic cable, it was a great improvement, and for a total of 0% of the cost.

TV free or free TV?

Until last night, we had watched a exactly zero television in the past month.  This wasn’t a conscious decision.  We’re busy out swimming, biking, and running, or building bicycles, or cleaning the house and cooking (Ok, I’m busy with the bicycles, Ivonne’s way ahead of me on cooking and cleaning).  We simply haven’t turned the box on.

I wouldn’t have a problem with getting rid of TV completely.   However, Ivonne likes to have options, even if they are never used.  If we can’t get rid of TV completely and go TV-Free, we’ll go the next best route and get Free-TV.

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