January 30, 2018
5:50 p.m.

A few months ago I made a break from regular television service and opted instead to keep the Internet and subscribe to a couple of streaming services, like Netfix and Hulu.

I worried that I might miss having a live version of television. Network shows wouldn't be immediately available. I wouldn't be able to watch local news live. Other nagging thoughts that kept me from cutting the service years ago.

I'm here to tell you now--I am missing nothing.

If I want to watch the news, I can do that.

I'm in no particular rush to watch network shows. Turns out I was recording them and watching later anyway, and all I have to do is avoid online articles with spoilers to enjoy them. I don't watch very many current shows anyway.

I find that in spite of my cost-cutting efforts, I still end up paying a pretty penny for Internet alone vs Internet with digital cable and phone. The Internet providers, Comcast, AT&T, Dish, etc. have us all by the short hairs if we want any communications services. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime--none are going to do me a bit of good without working Internet.

Yeah, there are advantages. I'm not getting charged $2.70 a minute for long distance calls. One call to my sister could potentially wipe me out. No one in my family lives in my phone service area, so...whew! And now that a decade or so has passed, no one is charging me by the letter for text messages--remember those days? I wanted to kill people when I got phone bills back in the day. "Free texting, Mom!" Yeah, right.

Now a lot of the regulations that were put in place to ensure that the Internet would remain a friendly place are out the window, and if things aren't put right, those provider companies may go right back to charging exorbitant fees for things we've become increasingly reliant on. Net Neutrality needs to be a thing.

But guess what? Election year. Whee. Issues are going to be so crazy this year. Everyone wants to "win". In the meantime, "We the People" are losing. Ugh.
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Oh, crap, how did I steer myself into a political moment. Yuck! Phooey!

All I wanted to say was, I don't miss regular televisions as much as I had feared. I am a big fan of streaming  shows on Netflix of Hulu, because I can watch one episode after another and not have to wait a week--or a summer--to see the outcome of the big cliffhanger.

In other words--I'm spoiled.
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I am thinking about offering autographed copies of my book for sale. Would anyone be interested in that, I wonder? There's no way to do it from my Amazon page, so I would pre-order books and take personal orders.
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Ah, those random thoughts.
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I was talking t.v.

Really, I was!

What's fun about how we are viewing these days is that we have found so many old favorites to binge on. I found all the episodes of "Lost in Space" on Hulu. How fun is that? I am still a big fan of Bill Mumy, although it is mostly his musical career I follow these days. But come on! Will Robinson? Be still, my little preschool heart. You never outgrow that first t.v. star crush, even if it happened when you were five-years-old at the time.

I had a little crush on Jon Provost from "Timmy and Lassie", but when "Lost in Space" started airing, I got a big old kick in the heart when I saw Billy Mumy. "Timmy" was like big brother material; I wanted to marry Will Robinson. He never needed saving by a collie--he saved his whole family on a regular basis. He was so smart and brave! (And cute!)

It's so funny looking back on those days. Apparently my little girl heart beats on, because I still admire Will Robinson all these years later and totally understand the attraction I felt in those days. I should have held all boys to those standards later. I was smarter at five than at seventeen!
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10:13 p.m.

Wow, I have been having Internet and other tech issues all afternoon and evening. Am I trying to do too many things at once? Me?

While things seem to be going okay, I'm going to tell you all good-night and sign off!

Good Night!!!