Greetings from West Covina, California, USA!
Palm Trees directly above on Thursday, July 30, 2009
Palm Trees directly above on Thursday, July 30, 2009
I have now spent two months without cable television and wi-fi internet access at home. The experience has been interesting. I do have web access but it is severely limited. My brother connects via a gadget that works through our cel phone service. If absolutely necessary, I borrow the gadget, typically late at night, since my always-on-the-go brother takes it with him and normally gets home later in the evening.
Otherwise I use the free wi-fi access at either the city library or the local Panera Bread Café. For the first month I frequented the former. But as a government-funded entity, the library does not have a fast connection, made even slower by many, many users. Instead of five minutes to skim through new email, I spend over an hour – very, very frustrating.
In mid-July I switched to Panera. Its wi-fi is faster and has fewer users. But the trade-off is that I should be buying food or a drink when there. Fortunately the Panera staff does not enforce this. Nonetheless I do buy an inexpensive soda or cookie about 50% of the time so I am still spending less than the monthly cost of a cheap (and slow) home internet phone connection. Plus I get something sweet to eat.
Since the library and Panera are open during the day, I leave the house and interact with the world at-large (and take weird pictures like the weekly photo). I avoid going stir-crazy as a pseudo-recluse. Also confined to public channels, my choices of television programs are extremely limited – more reason to go out. I do confess to watching a soap opera (I will not say which one) but it is recorded, freeing up my afternoons. Also when watching later, I fast-forward through boring scenes.
During the day the only scripted shows on public television besides serials are half-hour comedy reruns. The rest is “reality” stuff: court shows – Judge Judy and People’s Court, game shows – The Price Is Right and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, talk shows – Oprah (Winfrey) and Ellen (Degeneres) and local news shows – Eyewitness News at 11 and… Oh, you get the idea. Except for the news, I avoid it all.
I will survive and have wi-fi and cable again eventually. A recent saving grace was the analog-to-digital transition last June. Previously my parents had lousy antenna reception. Now all the channels are clear, at least on my TV. My soap The Young & The Restless Days of All My Children’s Lives is on. Amnesiac Erica is about to seduce, accidentally of course, her doctor Troy, twin brother of Colin, her 8th & 10th husband. Gotta go.
Angelo
