Streaming is about to get a lot more expensive

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Oh, yes! The very best thing about no TV is no commercials.

This is the fourth time in my semi-long life that I haven't had TV, the longest time without, and at this point I know I'll never have regular TV again. It's especially wonderful during an election year, isn't it?

When I first moved to Santa Fe some 12 years ago, I didn't get a TV for several reasons. First was that I didn't want/couldn't afford to spend the money on an actual TV. Second was that I couldn't afford the cable fee. Third, and oddly enough this was the most important, the cable hookup for a TV was under the one large window in the living room, which means a TV would be blocking the window. Really? In a place where we have such wonderful light? I'd need to have the blinds drawn all the time, and that made no sense to me.

So I didn't get a TV. I saw it as an experiment, even though three other times in my life I'd been without TV for months or even years. I assumed after a while I'd get one. But then I discovered I could watch most of what I wanted over the internet. I moved here in July, 2008, and watched both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention streaming on some network or another. Probably MSNBC.

Here's something else for those without regular TV. Any time some sort of breaking news happens: serious tornadoes, a Congressional Representative gets shot, fires encroaching on Los Angeles, perhaps a damaging earthquake somewhere in the country, local TV stations often go to live streaming. When I hear of such news I simply google TV stations in that city and check them out. What's even more interesting, is that the local stations are often far more interesting than the national version on whatever network you prefer to watch. The network will keep on cutting away from the local reporters, while the local station stays with them. Always fascinating.

In one of my earlier times without TV, a co-worker was genuinely concerned that I had no idea what was going on in the world. So he'd occasionally quiz me about current events, and was always astonished that I knew what was going on, and sometimes knew more than he did. I read the local newspaper. I read lots of books. More non-fiction than fiction, which helps.