Kush
So I have recently started studying part time again. I have also started going to the gym again as well. I am doing a research-based masters degree and it requires a lot of my time to just read around my area of study to get as close to "knowing it all" as I possibly can before I even put pen to paper. I go to the gym at least 4 days a week after work since December last year. So since all this has been happening I find that what little time I have is spent watching TV. The wife is complaining, my son is complaining and I think I love my TV too much. I spend between 3 to 5 hours in front of the telly every week night and about twice that time during the weekend (Hey don't judge) You can probably guess that this means I find less time to play guitar as well as a consequence. So.. I have decided to lock away the TV and see how it goes. I am hoping to have more time to talk and hang out with my family, play guitar and read (which I used to love to do before the DSTV bug got me). Moderation is not enough here because my wife is not much of a TV person so this is more an issue for me and I would like to get to a place where I can go for weeks without watching anything and only watch specific programs every once in a while. I would like to quit cold turkey basically and I am excited for all the time I will be getting back in the future.
So I want to know, who on here does not own a TV at all, and has anyone else had to take similar measures and how did it go? Please share your experiences.
AlanRatcliffe
A few years ago I upgraded to a big screen, but without tuner, aerial or dish/decoder - just a DVD player attached. Did wonders for my time management. Even when we watch something, we end up doing it together.
Otherwise, set the restrictions and let your wife program the unlock code. ?
IceCreamMan
2 years ago while dealing with the diabolical DSTV call centre I kinda lost my temper and told em to shove it and disable my service immediately....which they did...then the next day I realised what I had done ? but persevered.....disabling dstv meant I had no channels at all as they all went via the sateliite............. results are
1. I now have more time for my son an wife...no more "hang on just watching the end of this program " kinda kak.
2. more time for my studies...yip I am still a student and do studies that interest me.
3. more time for guitar.
4. no tv forces me to go out more and this is excellent for my family too.
5. my lil lad is a changed human being..... this I put down to the fact that I now have more time for him.
still got a tv connected to a dvd machine and external harddrive...we watch the odd movie etc but now its on our time ....
one of the best decisions I ever made was telling dstv to bugger off...its liberating ,but it took a month or 2 for the penny to drop....
Kush
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
A few years ago I upgraded to a big screen, but without tuner, aerial or dish/decoder - just a DVD player attached. Did wonders for my time management. Even when we watch something, we end up doing it together.
Otherwise, set the restrictions and let your wife program the unlock code. ?
The "dvd player only" idea sounds great. I think we are past trying restrictions only, they will not work. Thanks Alan ?
Kush
IceCreamMan wrote
2 years ago while dealing with the diabolical DSTV call centre I kinda lost my temper and told em to shove it and disable my service immediately....which they did...then the next day I realised what I had done ? but persevered.....disabling dstv meant I had no channels at all as they all went via the sateliite............. results are
1. I now have more time for my son an wife...no more "hang on just watching the end of this program " kinda kak.
2. more time for my studies...yip I am still a student and do studies that interest me.
3. more time for guitar.
4. no tv forces me to go out more and this is excellent for my family too.
5. my lil lad is a changed human being..... this I put down to the fact that I now have more time for him.
still got a tv connected to a dvd machine and external harddrive...we watch the odd movie etc but now its on our time ....
one of the best decisions I ever made was telling dstv to bugger off...its liberating ,but it took a month or 2 for the penny to drop....
I want to be exactly where you are! Its scary though, like leaping off a cliff. But at this stage I am 100% sure that at the very least, I need to disconnect the DSTV.
[deleted]
So I want to know, who on here does not own a TV at all, and has anyone else had to take similar measures and how did it go? Please share your experiences.
When I was about 20 I gave away the TV. I had tried to ration myself, but could not do it. If I do find myself around a TV, I have to admit, I am like a duck to water, but not as bad as I was. I sometimes switch the sound off and practice while I watch, or read or exercise. Yes, apparently I have to multitask.
DaFiz
What is there to watch @ 3-5 hours every night ???
Kush
DaFiz wrote
What is there to watch @ 3-5 hours every night ???
That's the worst part. I am mostly channel surfing but I watch a lot of documentaries and reality stuff on history and discovery etc but most of the time I am watching stuff I am not really enjoying.
flatfourfan
PVR.............I don't get that much time to watch TV, so on Sunday night I run through the whole week and record everything that I want to watch during the week and then I pretty much forget about the television, the wife and kids get free reign and I get to do everything that I need to do during the week and then usually over the weekends, I chill down, pull up the footcushion with a cold one and watch the weeks stuff.
Most of the time that you want to watch something, there's nothing on anyway.
warrenpridgeon
I haven't really had "tv" for around 2 years now. Bought a house when I got married that had no tv antenna... just watch the odd series or movies on the tv from external drive or DVD...
peterleroux
When we got married, the Mrs and I decided against getting a TV... and then we received one as a wedding gift. We've never plugged it in to an aerial or dish, we have a media streamer and Bluray player plugged in and that suits us fine. We probably watch 4 or 5 hours a week, tops.
The only thing we miss is not being able to watch live sport, but given that we're cricket fans, missing out on the Protea's recent performances is probably OK
Codex7
All I basically still watch on TV is the rugby. At night I play PS3 and guitar. Actually works great, my wife loves watching her cooking and home renovation shows at night while I get some practice.
Nothing on TV that really interests me anymore. We do family nights watching movies now and again which is fun. The kids watch cartoons now and again, but they are not glued to the TV. We encourage them to do other things than watching TV.
TV is a worthless time sink most of the time.
Lethe
I usually practice guitar while watching TV. I end up not really watching the TV and focusing on the guitar, but every now and then while I repeat a section or technique I gaze at the TV to make it less boring. Watching shows like Myth Busters or something are cool because you don't really need to keep track of what's happening.
refuogee
Switch to DMX, put it on the blues channel and BOOM backing tracks ?
I love waking up on Saturday mornings, heading over to the couch, usually for rugby with guitar in hand and jamming. I think you can practice with TV although I am sure focused sessions would be needed as well..
ActionArnie
Been without DSTV for about 2 months (trying to save a bit of $$$), not been too bad but I'm missing the sport. Going straight back on as soon as the premier league starts again.
GuitarGeek
Sounds like a wise move, Kush. Push through the cold turkey if it starts to bite.
I haven't had a TV in years, which people at work find hard to believe. Hardly even know how to turn the damn things on, and couldn't be happier for it.
Ray
I really want to do this thing. I've told about 4 different debt collecting law firms that I dont have a TV and so I wont pay the license. And they threaten and carry on and send letters of demand. I dont feel bad about that because I watch nothing of theirs. But they say if I got a screen then I must pay for a license and I say I havent got one. So, you guys who have the TV but no dish and not watching anything, do you need to pay the license?
One thing I will miss is a bit of sport. But I tell you not so much anymore. I never sit down and watch matches or anything. And there are a few other things that catch my eye. The occasional movie but those are really available elsewhere.
AlanRatcliffe
Ray wrote
So, you guys who have the TV but no dish and not watching anything, do you need to pay the license?
If it's a TV (i.e. it has a tuner in it), you have to pay. Antenna or dish doesn't count, it's the capability of the set to receive signals. If it is a screen, with no tuner, then it is not a TV and no fees are payable.
As far as the license ghouls go (SABC hands over to some debt collector) - simply go to the police station and swear a statement that you threw out your TV a year or two ago after it broke and never replaced it (or replaced it with a DVD and screen). Send that to them and invite them to come round and check if they want.
One thing I will miss is a bit of sport.
Thankfully I've never had an interest. One of the reasons I've never bothered with DSTV is they seem to have an absurd number of sports and other "filler" channels whether you want them or not. The smaller packages rarely have more than one or two channels I'd ever want to watch.
Mixerboy
TV itself was the cause of me not watching tv................nothing but endless retarded B.S. I might watch a bit on the weekends but even then the best part is the usb input where I'll put whatever is actually worth watching on a flash and relax on the couch for an hour or so, so it's technically just a change to a bigger computer screen with a couch.
Kush
GuitarGeek wrote
Sounds like a wise move, Kush. Push through the cold turkey if it starts to bite.
I haven't had a TV in years, which people at work find hard to believe. Hardly even know how to turn the damn things on, and couldn't be happier for it.
Thanks a lot for the encouragement. Day one of my new liberated life is over and it went pretty well, The wife and I are excited about all the time we will have for other things. Only problem is our live-in helper. We had no idea she took so much interest all those times as we surfed through the channels, we thought she was just happy to be in our company ?. Needless to say she was devastated. We plan to disconnect the DSTV and hook up the old antenna so she can still catch her local soapies during the day, she has agreed to switch off shortly after as she doesn't care for much else apart from the morning soapie omnibuses. Looks like we are going through with it!
