Never Say Never

You may remember how excited I was to get FOX, an additional PBS station, and all the new digital channels when we bought our digital converter box last September. I was still happy with it after the storms last fall knocked out CBS for good. I was happy with it when ABC's signal would get delayed, and we'd have to endure multiple breaks in the action when we watched the evening news. The little black box on our entertainment center allowed me to watch (most of) my shows with a crystal-clear picture, something I certainly didn't have with the good ol' antenna. I didn't need the fancy channels like MTV, HGTV, or TLC. After all, I could watch most shows online (like The Hills) if I was desperate for the cable TV.

You see, I was fully embracing the simple-life approach to TV. Why pay a small fortune for a bunch of reruns or old movies on cable when you can enjoy plenty of good TV for free? And, really, why would I want to spend a lot of time in front of the tube when I could spend it hanging out with Dave or reading a good book?

Then there was the DVR. I heard about plenty of people who loaded up their DVRs with more shows than they could ever watch. I determined I never wanted to become a slave to a DVR. My avoidance of the electronic device was my personal anti-extravagant-technology statement.

But then I was invited to a friend's house to watch a DVR-recorded episode of 24 that we had missed due to a dinner out. It was nice to watch it 2 hours after it had aired and to fast-forward through the commercials. During the latest American Idol season, I had to wait until the next morning to find out who had gotten kicked off because I was at church when the elimination episode aired.

I became proud of the "old-fashioned" TV life I was leading, telling myself that the "sacrifices" I was making made me a better person. I would never get cable or DVR.

What's the saying? Never say never? I'm now laughing at the irony of my situation as Dave and I enjoy the benefits of cable and DVR. You see, when we were reviewing our budget and looking around for better options for the Internet, we heard many good things about the pricing and quality of AT&T U-verse. For only a bit more than what we were paying for just the Internet, we could get Internet and TV. How could we say no?

The first night we had it (Thursday), we stayed up until midnight watching TV. Last night, I was up until 1 a.m. exploring the different channels we now have. We've already recorded Man vs. Wild, The Soup, and Don't Tell the Bride, and we've set the DVR to record the weekly program from North Point Church in Atlanta so we can watch it on Sunday afternoon. I'd say we've already put our new TV options to good use.

Of course, all this TV fun will only be around until we have children. You see, I have always told myself that I will never allow my children to watch TV, and why would I pay for so many channels when we'll never watch it? ;-)