Free TV

For obvious reasons I'm trying to keep my expenses down so I decided that I wasn't going to pay for cable TV here, or as most everyone has, Direct TV. So I was discussing this with my Dad and he came up with a brilliant solution. Rabbit ears!


I had no idea you could still use rabbit ears but he had these old ones and they worked fine for the last week. I got two stations. More than enough if I wanted some mindless entertainment. Of course with the digital switch yesterday, they stopped working but fortunately, I already had a digital converter box for antenna use that was gifted to me. The old ears pictured here still didn't work, but I bought a new one for ten bucks at Odd Lots and I now have free digital teevee. I hated to give up the old ears because they were just so cool looking but the new one is about the same. More plastic and you have to plug it in but it still has the round face and looks like a crazy teletubby landed in my living room.

I seem to get between one and five different stations, depending on the weather I guess. Unfortunately, three of them are Fox stations of some sort. And one of those is a static map of the area that drones on about the current weather conditions. And another of the stations is just a weather report but with a better map. Still, I get some NBC network reliably and possibly the Fox entertainment channel sometimes when the signal isn't breaking up. So maybe I'll still be able to see House once in a while. And gratefully, none of the stations are Fox News which surely would have drove me to suicide. Cheap and low tech. My kind of progress.

In other news, I'm learning my way around town and discovering the secrets of my little hood. I figured out that I have a Walgreens and a funny little local convenience store run by the sterotypical Indian guy within reasonably easy walking distance through the nice part of the neighborhood. And I'm learning which stores are good for which purchases. There aren't really any little local garden centers around so you have to rely on the big box places for plants. I discovered yesterday that Home Depot is the best place for that.

Also, one of the best features of this place is there are hot air balloons. They have an annual rally in the fall and at least one local commercial balloonist in residence. I was reminded of this yesterday when I saw a hot air balloon just hanging on the horizon in the late afternoon haze. There's a lot about this town that reminds me very much of lovely downtown Northampton. Life is beginning to feel good again.