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Satellite or cable?

OldSaw

The wife's investment
I get these calls from time to time asking me whether I have cable or satellite? I often have a hard time understanding some of these people and can't resist having a little fun. I usually simply repeat back exactly what I thought I heard them say and it really stumps them.

Tonight I told her I didn't have a satellite and then she started asking me about my cable. I asked her what cable had to do with my satellite and she started to explain about how they hook up to the TV. When I told her I don't have a TV she hung up.

Another guy thought I was pulling his leg the other day when he mentioned how I may have seen his company on the TV and I told him I didn't have a TV. Then as he went on he started telling my about a web site and paused and asked me if I had a computer, I said, "Of course! Everyone has a computer." He paused again and said, "You really don't have a TV, but you have a computer?"

Anyway, that was just a little fun I had. I know they have a job to do, but I hope I give them a little chuckle every time they call.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Anyway, that was just a little fun I had. I know they have a job to do, but I hope I give them a little chuckle every time they call.

Yeah, their job is to annoy you at dinnertime. Have fun!
 
I get that, too. When you say "I don't have a TV" they never seem to believe. Now I do have on and all it plays is DVDs and CDs. No programming of any kind.

Them: Do you have cable?
Me: No
They say: "Oh so you have satellite"
Me: Nope
Them: Oh, I thought you said no to cable.
Me: I did.
Them: So you have satellite
Me: Nope. Neither.
Them: Which one is it?
Me: Neither
Them: You have a TV, right?
Me: Yup
Them: So which?
Me: NEITHER
Them: No. bye.
 

ouch

Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
I tell them, "Of course I have a satellite. How do you think I got here?"
 
I tried that line on some Jehovah's witnesses when they offered me pamphlets; worked like a charm.

Not meaning to be offending...but I had fun with Jehovah's witnesses who came once near Christmas time, and I put on The Messiah loudly, with "For Unto Us A Child is Born"..."And his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." It was a fun moment of asking questions.

I have the same fun with Satellite/Cable people-- I honestly thought WE were the only other people on earth who just got our 5-6 stations through the old Aerial on the roof!

I've also had good luck with the Tom Mabe routine of explaining to the person that I'm a little upset-- that I just got news that my son has Attention Deficit Disorder- that the School Nurse said it was sometimes hereditary, but that it probably wasn't but what was their name again? Oh...well I'm still upset, see...we just found out my son has attention deficit distorder. They said it was heredi--I'm sorry, what were you calling for? Oh yeah, well, see, my son, they just told me he has...honey what was that thing called the school nurse said my son had? Oh yeah...attention deficit disor--who is this, anyway?

Try it...it works.
 
I live in an apartment building, and there is an old ariel hookup on the wall, but the ariel is gone. If it was still there I think I would use it instead of the cable. I would only really miss a handful of channels. History, Discovery, SciFi, Cartoon network; the rest can go without a second thought.

The next building over from me still has the ariel. I've considered asking my super if I can run some twin lead to it.

I've often thought about living without the TV. It would be a drastic change, but I think I could get used to it. My kids would sure miss the Disney channel though.
 
I've often thought about living without the TV. It would be a drastic change, but I think I could get used to it. My kids would sure miss the Disney channel though.

Actually, living without TV isn't that bad. The first two months I was in my house it was impossible to get anyone out for a hookup. The first two weeks were pretty rough, but it got easier. Of course then I still got sucked in at some point....

Nowadays what my wife and I do is just rent movies/shows from Cinemail, a Canadian competitor to Netflix, and don't really bother with much else beyond a basic satellite package (can't get anything else where we are). You have to wait a bit for your show to get released on DVD but it's really worth it to watch without constant commercials.
 
Actually, living without TV isn't that bad. The first two months I was in my house it was impossible to get anyone out for a hookup. The first two weeks were pretty rough, but it got easier. Of course then I still got sucked in at some point....

Nowadays what my wife and I do is just rent movies/shows ....

My wife and I don't have television programming at all. You're right that the first couple weeks takes some adjustment but after that it's wonderful. We don't miss it at all. We save $100 a month, have more time to read (we still rent the occasional DVD) and our three year old has developed remarkably advanced reading skills and a long attention span. Boy, whoever created that 'Kill your TV' bumpersticker was spot on.

We still get weird responses from people (and Comcast) whenever we tell them we don't watch television. We just laugh.
 
My wife and I don't have television programming at all. You're right that the first couple weeks takes some adjustment but after that it's wonderful. We don't miss it at all. We save $100 a month, have more time to read (we still rent the occasional DVD) and our three year old has developed remarkably advanced reading skills and a long attention span. Boy, whoever created that 'Kill your TV' bumpersticker was spot on.

We still get weird responses from people (and Comcast) whenever we tell them we don't watch television. We just laugh.

Nor do we.

That means we read, play music, listen to music, play cards, invite over the neighbors, and just generally got out to enjoy things like concerts, museums, parks, etc.

So much better.
 
We had cable for a year or so. Just more channels to flip through. I swear there was still never anything good on. we'd end up just watching the weather channel. Once I realized this, we got rid of it. We get weird looks when we tell people we do not have cable or a dish.

all we watch now is the news and my daughters dvd's (she's 4, so it's all kid shows.)
 
We had cable for a year or so. Just more channels to flip through. I swear there was still never anything good on. we'd end up just watching the weather channel. Once I realized this, we got rid of it. We get weird looks when we tell people we do not have cable or a dish.

all we watch now is the news and my daughters dvd's (she's 4, so it's all kid shows.)

Similar experience-- took the Comcast offer for Free HBO, the High Speed, all of it. I found that it took about 22 minutes to cruise through all of the channels...we'd start at the beginning, "Light" on something for a couple of minutes, and cruise on. By this time we'd say "Oh, we'll see what's on at the 1/2 hour, and do the next spin through the channels.

I miss the History Channel, Food Network and Discovery, but can at least watch a few Seinfeld reruns, Frasier, some local news and a few network things, when they're worth watching. I can't IMAGINE paying nearly $1000.00 a year for the privilege of watching TV!
 
I have the same fun with Satellite/Cable people-- I honestly thought WE were the only other people on earth who just got our 5-6 stations through the old Aerial on the roof!

You have an antenna on the roof? All I have is rabbit ears. No kidding, either.

Tim
 

OldSaw

The wife's investment
You have an antenna on the roof? All I have is rabbit ears. No kidding, either.

Tim

I'm using a Hoola Hoop on the TV my wife brought home from the office for a little while. The portable DVD player is kind of small, so she figured it would be nice just for watching movies. BUT then I wanted to watch the Packers and remembered this old Hoola Hoop that I tried building a shortwave antenna with. I ran several windings of wire through it and had it hanging in the basement. I just shoved one end of the wire in the RF jack and voila.

So now, technically, I do have a TV in the house. However, it doesn't belong to me or my wife, we are just borrowing it and we only turn it on for DVD movies or "the game". I think she has to have it back at the office by January.
 
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