Teresa Holland
I did it finally! I got brave enough to cut the cord… that is cable for TV. I have no doubt that many of you, especially younger people, did this a long time ago. It might be an age thing, but not going to dwell on that. Why cut it now? Well, why not a long time ago? The bill keeps creeping up until it’s taken on a life of its own. It has become a big-ticket item on the budget that doesn’t need to be.
Here’s the funny thing though, I don’t even watch that much TV, but another person in our house does. When I browse on rare occasions, it’s mystifying as to how many channels for shopping networks does a person really need? Or, how many infomercials there are for vacuum sweepers, saggy arms, firm up the glutes or any other body part you want to make better.
However, there is a certain convenience and maybe a sense of safety for some by not having to learn how to navigate the remotes to get where you want on the screen, especially if you’re not a tech-savvy person. For a long time, it just seemed better to pay for the cable service with the easier single remote. Never mind that there is also the Firestick, a DVD remote, and a remote that came with the TV. One is supposed to be the universal remote, the prime ruler of them all.
We tried to go partially unplugged once before, but there was a lot of grumbling and other expletives from a certain someone in trying to navigate the new smart tv set-up. So much that I finally relented and eliminated the add-on streaming package we were trialing before we cut the cable for real. After all, we can’t get it back once it’s really cut, at least that is what the customer service rep has repeatedly said. You can get something comparable, but no, you cannot have your actual cable back. Not now, not ever. It is a done deal.
But enough is enough. Time to tackle the learning curve and just take your chances. Cut the cable! What’s the worst that can happen? Well, maybe no TV, except that is not true as you always have the “Live” aka free TV that you can snatch out of the air. Then we would start all over, but maybe with an even smarter set-up.
We’ve been on our own, so to speak, for a couple of weeks now. This is what we have learned so far:
Our bill for internet services with add-on is almost half of what it was.
Our faster streaming speed is much closer to what it was supposed to be all along since the DVR is no longer attached.
The cable company said they recently revised their decision so that we can get cable back if we want.
Learning how to navigate the new tv set-up with streaming services and live air hasn’t been too bad, though we did have to purchase a better antenna.
The old remotes still work… at least for now.
So, we did it! We cut the cable and so far, nothing has crashed. But if it does, we can always get the cable back I’m sure for a price… didn’t discuss that.
Teresa Holland is a guest columnist, writer, and retired advanced-practice registered nurse. Send comments to [email protected].
