Three Days Down

A brief report on our first three cable-less nights, but first some dollars and cents: I called Time Warner Cable (hereinafter “TWC” – oops, sorry…wrote this part at work) on Monday to inform them I wanted to drop my cable. The kind TWC lady said no problem, that’ll be 75 bucks. Of course. But I'm fortunate, she explained, that’s a reduced cancellation rate – down from $250!!! – because I’m keeping my cable internet. Uh, but I never agreed to a contract with TWC? Oh, think again – turns out I am on a five year contract, with a 30-day only opt-out at the end of November. (A five year contrct? Don't I have to sign something for that? Or get in writing at least? Any lawyer readers?) Can I get a copy of that contract I supposedly entered? Sure, she said, that’ll be three to four weeks. When I get charged I will, of course, dispute the fee. But for now, I guess this $75 goes into the “expenses incurred” column (versus the “expenses saved” column) in the Cable Cancellation Monetary Ramifications ledger.

But…good news the next day! When I canceled the cable tv, the cost of cable internet was supposed to go up to $53/month. On Tuesday when I returned the cable box to TWC, the clerk – a mid-20s surfer type, and apparently unaware that he was not supposed to be offering me money-saving incentives when I was already reducing my pecuniary contribution to TWC – informed me that he was able to reduce my monthly internet bill to $35/month by doubling my bandwidth. Umm…deal. So, instead of roughly $135/month, we will be dishing over about $35/month to TWC.

Early blog feedback tells me there are three types of reactions to our little experiment: Group 1 - What's the big deal, it's only cable; Group 2 - Tempting idea, but I couldn't live without [fill in show]; and Group 3 - You're f-ing crazy. I was probably somewhere between Groups 2 and 3, say 2.5, Amber was probably between Groups 1 and 2, right about 1.75. And after three nights, I can safely say that we have yet to miss much about cable.

One of the ways that we are filling in for cable is Netflix. For $8.99 a month (starting next month - the first month is a free "trial" month), we get one disc by mail and streaming movies and tv shows to any of our two computers, PS3, Wii, or iPad. Now, the $8.99 a month is an added cost, so that brings us to about $44/month, still a far cry from $135. On Tuesday we received season 1, disc 1 of Breaking Bad in the mail and watched two episodes that night, one tonight. Heard only good things about the show, and I can see that I will like it, but it is disturbing. In a good way. (Huh?)

Another way we can fill in for cable is watching network shows live -- we bought a modernized rabbit ears antenna (added one time cost - $28) and receive all of the network stations in crystal clear HD, plus some random bonus stations (hello, Telemundo, KC public access, and "Ion," whatever the hell that is) that will never be flipped to again. Or, we could simply wait a day and watch any network shows that we like streaming through our computers or iPad. So last night we caught up on Lost lying in bed on the iPad.

I can say the only thing I do miss is the NBA playoffs on TNT and ESPN. No way to make up for those live sporting events. Although...I am able to catch every Cubs game through MLB TV, and I can stream them through any computer, my PS3, my iPhone (perfect for day games at work), or my iPad. And not an added expense since I bought MLB TV before canceling cable and would have gotten it anyway. Interestingly enough, TWC charges $200 for the same thing (MLB Extra Innings) vs. $100 through MLB.

For anyone thinking of trying this, I would advise you not to do it if you hate talking to your husband/wife. Luckily for me, I am in the opposite camp, and Amber and I have had three enjoyable evenings. We have eaten dinner outside each of the last three nights, instead of in front of the TV with the least worst show on, and we have been out walking around with our dogs and enjoying the nice weather we've had. Well, it helps that the Cubs were down 11-0 by the time I checked the score tonight, so I didn't even want to turn it on. In any event...I can already see that we spend more time actively enjoying evenings after work rather than parking it on the couch for a few hours before bed. I think I can get used to this.

And since Amber says that every blog post is better with a picture, here is one she took tonight on our walk, of a duck-ride thingy at a neighborhood park.