SoapZone Community Message Board

to go an entire day without turning on the TV.

One of the downsides to not working is having all those extra hours in your day to fill. I don't care for housework and can only do so much before getting both annoyed and a little tired. I like to read, I have a couple crafts I like to do (though I usually reserve those for the weekend as both require hauling out crafting supplies and pour painting is really messy). I play on the phone or the computer. If it's nice out, I try to go outside. But what I tend to default to the most is watching TV. It's...not good how much TV I watch in a day. I usually start by turning on the local morning news about an hour after I get up. I'll usually watch for an hour, then turn off the TV for a few hours before turning it on again so I have something to watch while eating my lunch. The TV's usually off from around 2:00-7:00, but then I turn it on and find things to watch from 7:00-midnight or so, often dozing off for anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours towards the end of the evening.

All that TV watching is...not good. So yesterday, realizing that I didn't turn on the TV in the morning to watch the news (Dad was in the middle of telling me a long, involved story), I decided to go TV-free for 24 hours. And I did; I actually went 33 hours (though there were two sleeps in that time period, so that isn't that impressive). But then I had to fill all those hours. So I cooked. I did a VERY little bit of cleaning. I went with my aunt to the local park to shoot our bows and arrows and I hit a store on the way home for something I needed (and was proud I only bought the thing I needed). I also got smoothies over at Pulp. When I came home, I talked a bit more with Dad, then I made supper.

And then came my usual TV-watching time...

I spent a LOT of those five hours yesterday playing on the computer. Soap Zone, You Tube, Pogo (gaming site). I did a little reading but for some reason, I don't care to read by lamp light. I was on my phone for a bit...I still don't like long conversations via text but apparently my bff has changed her mind on the subject (she and I both used to be all "if it's going to take more than three exchanges via text, just CALL), and my aunt frequently relieves her boredom with text chats. Not having the TV on definitely made me a bit twitchy.

This morning, I turned on the news long enough to catch the weather (ridiculously warm today with rain later, warm tomorrow, a 30 degree drop in temperature on Thursday...). I will turn the TV on again tonight to watch both the Cavs' game and the new episode of Night Court (if there IS a new episode). And I will probably doze off later tonight watching a rerun of Big Bang Theory or maybe House Hunters (which I mostly hate-watch). But hey, at least I proved to myself I can go without TV for 24 hours even when it's not vacation (I almost never watch TV when on vacation except maybe at the very end of the day back in the hotel room).