How we moved off Cable...

Based on the ability of the Internet to deliver essentially ALL content that I am interested in, besides sports, I have decided to turn off cable.  Turn off cable you say, that's crazy.  And I did try it a couple years ago and had to turn Directv back on after going 6 days without it.  My wife regularly reminds me of that when I attempt to change anything technical in our house. My biggest issue was sports.  So while sports is hands down the biggest drawback to cutting the cord, so-to-speak, here is what I am doing.

  

I know from another friend that has done this that I will for sure need an HD antenna to get the free HD signal that comes from Lookout Mountain.  I found Dean-the-Dishman on the internet and he did an awesome job of answering my questions so I hired him for $350 to install an antenna in our attic.  Luckily our home builder had a coax cable that ran from the attic to the basement.  Dean was very helpful in making all the connections and we now have two TV's with 37 free HD channels.  Now of those 37 I am only interested in the main network signals but none the less I now have 37 free channels.  With sports being my biggest drawback to being "uncabled", I get all the sports that come on all the networks, I am missing the games that are only broadcast on NFL and on ESPN.  I do believe that at some point in the next few years, ESPN and the NFL Network will allow me to subscribe directly to their content, either on a monthly or per game basis OR that Hulu or Netflix will allow me to subscribe to it via their platform.  So for the time being, I either need to get one of my friends to give me his username and password so I watch ESPN on Apple TV or I have to invite myself over to someones house if there is something big enough that I can't miss.  

That brings me to the other content.  When I have this conversation with friends I always get the same question, "So what are you going to do about DVR?"  That is a very valid question.  DVR's have literally changed the way we watch TV and I am guessing you to.  So the first place to go is Hulu.  For $8 a month you get every show from the first episode to the current episode for ABC, NBC, and Fox.  Current episode plus one day from airing on cable.  They have Hulu generated content as well as a few B movies.  I deliver this content to my beautiful HD TV's via Apple TV but some smart TV's already have this ability and you don't need to buy an Apple TV.  There are many other uses for Apple TV that really make it worth buying which I will get to in a second.  With Hulu, you now have essentially a built in on demand DVR that has a few commercials for almost every network, minus CBS.  CBS can be delivered via the iPhone or iPad application to your TV via Apple TV as well, so all the CBS shows are covered as well.  You can even use your Apple computer to take over you TV via Apple TV too, so essentially any show that is on the internet, and just about all of them are, can be played as well.

  

So after Hulu at $8 a month, I have added Netflix.  Netflix is $10 a month.  This is where we get many of the movies that we watch as well as a number of shows that are 1 season behind what's on cable right now.  Still I essentially watched ALL of "Breaking Bad" on Netflix along with Weeds and a few other series.  Netflix of all the pieces we have would be easiest to get rid of but none-the-less, that's what I have in place now. 

To blog or not to blog...

So in this day and age, all you read about is social media, social media.  You need to have a smokin' LinkedIn profile (mine works pretty well, I get hit by at least 3 to 4 head hunters a month).  You should build your brand on Twitter (of course I plant thoughts here and there that link to Facebook, etc.).  But at the end of the day, my general assessment of social media is essentially a set of attention starved people trying to live out some fake type lifestyle looking to whore themselves out to some type of ad model in order to pay for their narcissistic life style.  Is that too harsh?

So I have been reticent to start blogging things that I think.  I mean who really cares what I think?  So this is my first attempt at what I would term a personal blog.  I am not looking to make money.  I am not looking for you to follow me, unless I somehow am entertaining to you or you are interested in getting to know me.  But mostly I would say that this is an attempt at self expression in greater than 140 characters.

I consider myself a voracious learner.  I am forever curious about most things and hopeful that I can turn my 140 character thoughts into something of more depth.  This is the third or fourth time that I have attempted to blog and for whatever reason I have been afraid of what everyone will think.  Isn't that silly?  I realize that some of what I write may be controversial, as I am a born again Christian who actually reads and knows what the Bible has to say.  I am the parent of four kids, three boys and a girl.  I can have a pretty in your face perspective on just about any issue.  But what I am going to do is be honest and candid in my approach to blogging and if I am wrong I'll say so.  If I am offensive in some way to your set of ideals then I will apologize for hurting your feelings, but I am hopeful that this form of expression can be valuable to me as a 41 year old broken follower of Jesus who is trying to live life in the hear and now with an eye for heaven.

I am a bit of a gadget fiend.  At one point at the first of 2011 I counted up all my Apple gear and in my house, between my family and I, I counted 22 Apple devices of some sort.  I am a sideline political junkie, in that I think both sides of the isle are broken, so I have a hard time being totally committed to politics because I get furious now and again at the clear abuse of the American people that takes place.  I am always very curious about fame.  I don't know why.  I don't want to be famous, but I am curious about people who do.  One of my favorite shows of the past was "Behind the Music" on VH1 a few years back.  They would tell the stories of musicians and their rise to fame and typically fall from grace.  I did attend the University of Nebraska so I of course love Husker Football, but am a pretty tempered fan.  I used to yell and scream at the TV until my oldest came along.  At the age of one, he would get really upset and scared at my ranting.  After all it is just football.  I struggle in life, probably pretty similar to your struggle.  I come from a set of broken messed up parents and even as a 41 year old I struggle with the patterns of my youth.  I am messed up for sure.

At the end of the day, I am working at trying to love God with all my heart and love my neighbor as much as I love myself.  That is the way I am trying to live my life.  I don't know what type of frequency I am going to communicate here, but I hope to share my thoughts, feelings, and experiences and hopefully you'll find it interesting enough to review and comment on now and again.

Until next time...