Monday, August 6, 2018

Something You Don't Know About Me

Something you don't know about me -- what could that be? I have been writing this blog for ten years now, and I have written about a lot of different aspects of my life. But not everything. For example, I have hardly written anything at all about the kind of work I did before I retired, even though it consumed 40-60 hours a week of my life for 35 years.

But that is not what I am writing about today.

A thing that not many people know about me is that I do not watch TV. At all. Ever. With a couple of small exceptions.

I watch elections, including Canadian provincial and federal elections, and American presidential elections. I watch the Winter Olympics (but not the Summer Olympics). And I watch FIFA World Cup soccer, both the men's and the women's competitions. Other than that, nada.


We do actually have a television. It lives in the basement, where we mostly use it to watch movies. These are not movies on TV, but selections from Rob's huge collection of DVDs. Recently we began to subscribe to Netflix, and sometimes watch Netflix movies on the television. I occasionally watch an episode from a Netflix series on my iPad, but not very often.

Cycling the Local Trails
Rob watches lots of movies every week, usually on his computer. He is a bit of a movie buff. But he doesn't watch much TV either. We do have a digital cable package, and when my son lived with us, he used to watch hockey.

My experience with the TV is so limited that, until the recent World Cup competition this summer, I didn't even know how to use the remotes to turn ours on, or how to find channels. I do not have any interest in TV. I am so unused to being around a television that when I am in a place where there is one blaring, such in a bar where several are playing, I find it hard to mentally tune them out.

A Visit From Our Good Friends Blanca and Vaughan
I grew up in a house where the TV was turned on all day long, and as a child, I did watch TV. However, on the northern frontier where I grew up, TV did not come to our community until I was in primary school. When it did finally broadcast to the north, we only received one channel and there was no cable. It was CBC, our Canadian national television station mixed with some local programming. Eventually we got two channels, CBC and CTV.

Yoga on a Log
When I left home at 18, I stopped watching TV, and never felt the lack of it. When I got my own apartment, I did not get a television. My life was so busy that I did not want to "waste" time watching TV programs. I read a lot instead.

My first husband brought a TV back into my life, but I still rarely watched it. I did have a brief interest in LA Law and Star Trek, Next Generation in the late '80s. My preschool-aged children watched children's programs like Friendly Giant, Fred Penner, and Sesame Street. When I became single again, the TV went down to the basement and we no longer subscribed to cable, until the kids became teenagers and begged me to get cable once again. Occasionally I would watch something with them -- Friends, That Seventies Show, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, or Family Guy.

Rob's High School Buddy Comes to Visit
Because of my lack of immersion in TV programming, sometimes I feel like a bit of a cultural idiot. Back in the days when everyone was breathlessly following a series such as Dallas, or Survivor, I was unable to contribute to conversations at coffee break or at a social gathering. I don't know the names of television actors or the characters they played. Similarly, I can't say who won the Stanley Cup this year, nor do I know which player was traded to which team for what outrageous sum of money.

A Trip Up North to Visit My Mom
But, strangely, for the three things that I do like to watch -- elections, Olympics, and World Cup -- I become totally obsessed. This year was a year in which both the Winter Olympics and the men's World Cup took place, as both of them are on the same four-year cycle. So I had a period of excessive TV watching in February for the Olympics, and another period in July, watching World Cup.

One of Several Yummy Dinners on the Deck
I think the reason that I like the Winter Olympics so much is that I do (or used to do) several winter sports -- alpine skiing, nordic skiing, and figure skating, and my daughter used to be a freestyle skier, and my son snowboards. Similarly, World Cup interests me because I played soccer on and off from childhood through until I was 55. I also coached soccer for a couple of years.

Helping my Son With a Move to a New Apartment
I was so motivated to watch World Cup this summer that I learned to use the TV remotes! Rob subscribed to on-demand programming for the sports channel so I could follow the World Cup matches. (Have I mentioned that he is a sweetie?) I even downloaded an app onto my iPad so that I could watch matches if I had to be away from the TV, which I was frequently as we travelled a lot last month.

A Visit to Victoria to See a Dear Friend
 One thing that I know for sure is that retirement hasn't turned me into a television aficionado. The photos throughout this post show some of the fun things that we did last month. We did lots of travelling and had some visitors. I think that not watching much TV has made my life more rich and interesting.

16 comments:

  1. I enjoy tv. I remember the day that we got a tv in our home when I was a child. One of my fondest memories is watching The Bugs Bunny Show with dad before Hockey Night in Canada. As an adult, I enjoy lifestyle shows; I enjoy the cooking, decorating, current events, entertainment. It helps to keep me current. I find that CBC & CTV meets most of my interests - Rick Mercer (which sadly, is no more), Still Standing, Hello/Goodbye, Amazing Race Canada. Then there's the Knowledge network - Waterfront Cities of the World, Island Diaries - that allow me to travel vicariously. One thing I refuse to do is choose to stay home to watch a tv program when there's a conflicting (?) engagement. I will choose face-to-face experiences over a tv program every time.

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    1. Mona, as a child, I was thrilled to have TV. We watched the Bugs Bunny show too, and Saturday Morning cartoons. Some neighbourhood friends who did not have a TV loved Batman and always came over to our place to watch it. I was terrified beyond belief by Outer Limits, and felt sorry for myself that I was not allowed to watch Bonanza because it aired after my bedtime. MASH, Get Smart, Bewitched, and Mary Tyler Moore were all part of my formative years.

      But, as an adult, my life has been so full that I just didn’t seem to have much time for TV. I agree that there are some programs that are worth watching, but if I am going to watch, I prefer watching them on my own time frame without ads (e.g., Netflix series).

      Jude

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  2. Hi Jude,
    Interesting different use of terms here. I watch movies on television which I see as the same thing as you watching movies on Netflix. I usually record them so that I can fast forward through commercials. I absolutely do not watch any sporting events ever nor any election coverage which irritates me beyond belief because it assumes that I'm too stupid to figure things out for myself, that I need the commentary. So if I'm only watching movies on my television, even if I do that three or four times a week, would you say that I also "don't watch tv?"
    By the way, the activities you did instead of tv look great!

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    1. During most of my adult life, I had little leisure time, especially during my single parent years and during my second career as an academic. So I made a conscious choice to eliminate or not reintroduce television watching into my life. I wanted to use my limited free time to do other things, such as creative pursuits, gardening, being outdoors, and being involved in sports. I rarely watched movies or documentaries (although I do enjoy them). I found it hard to dedicate two hours to sit through a movie.

      Now that I have retired, I have the gift of time. A latecomer to Netflix, I have discovered that I enjoy occasionally relaxing while watching an episode in a series. I am a fan of TED talks and author podcasts. But I still don’t often put aside 1 1/2 to 2 hours to watch a movie. I guess I am still too much of a busy bee.

      Jude

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  3. Hi Jude. Good for your for limiting your tv time.....but I'm like Karen! I don't watch ANY live tv so if we aren't watching shows on Netflix we record them on our DVR so we NEVER watch commercials. We don't watch ANY tv news and like Karen, no sports (although I did watch a tiny bit of the winter olympics one day just because?) I agree that it is so much better to get out and about rather than sit in front of a screen all day (I do that enough with my computer). And both of us love to be outdoors...I can't imagine living in a cold climate where I couldn't get out and be in nature every day. Thanks for sharing some of your summer photos with us. It looks like you are having a wonderful season....oh, and when ARE YOU going to post something about your previous work??? I for one would love to read about it. ~Kathy

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    1. Kathy, I have to confess that I spend a lot of time in front of a screen everyday, either my on computer or my iPad. So my limiting of TV watching does not mean no screen time.

      I love the outdoors too. I have spent about two thirds of my life in cold northern climates, and it did not prevent me from getting outdoors, except on the most bitterly cold days. But there are only a handful of really cold days each winter. When I lived in north-central and then northwestern BC, I would celebrate each big snowfall by putting on my cross-country skis and skiing directly from my house onto a nearby trail network. (Meanwhile, my neighbours would be shovelling their driveways.) The main thing that limited my outdoor time is that in the North in the winter, the number of daylight hours are short, and I was at work all day except on weekends. I did a lot of my walking at night in the snow in the dark! I think I would actually find it much harder to live in a climate like yours where the summers are so hot.

      Jude

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  4. Hi, Jude - You can add this to another thing that we have in common. I don't watch television either. The main difference is that my husband is a HUGE television watcher -- news, documentaries, movies, sports. You name it, Richard is watching it on TV. Our current home has an open concept kitchen-family room .... which basically puts the TV right into our kitchen. If I plan to be in the kitchen for an extended period of time, and Richard is watching television, I kick him out to use the tv upstairs. BTW - I have no idea how to use the remote controls either...except for the red button that turns the tv off! :)

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    1. Donna, yes, we do have lots in common. I used to feel like a bit of an oddball for not watching TV because almost everyone I know does watch it, or did in the past until other Internet-based options replaced it. So it is interesting to me that many of my blogging buddies don’t watch TV either, or watch it very selectively.

      I know what you mean about knowing where to find the off button! Another good one is the mute button (if I can claw the remote away from whoever is clutching it). But then, what can I say, having just admitted that I spent July glued to the TV watching World Cup!

      Jude

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  5. Hi Jude - Thanks for sharing this bit about you. Your non-tv activities look terrific! I haven't watched TV for many years and I'm clueless about TV shows. I watch movies, either on DVD about once a week currently, or in the theatre which I rarely go these days.

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    1. Hi Natalie. That’s the thing about TV watching (or Internet surfing). It can insidiously suck up a person’s time that could have been spent doing other things. There are a lot of things that I want to do in my life, and even now that I am retired, I can’t seem to find time to do them all.

      I used to enjoy going to the movie theatre from time to time, but now we rarely go. They seem to have turned up the sound so loud that it is no longer enjoyable to watch a movie. The last couple of times we went, we wore earplugs!

      Jude

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  6. We will often watch TV in the evening... usually something on Public Broadcasting. You haven't missed a thing not watching regular TV. It's usually pretty bad. Much better to get out and about or to read a book.

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    1. Janis, I am glad to hear that I haven’t missed much. As I mentioned, sometimes I feel culturally out of touch because I lack that bit of shared experience with people. Fortunately, Rob, who is a bit of a polymath, can always hold up that end of the conversation enough for both of us.

      Jude

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  7. I have less and less interest in TV. We pay a cable subscription but it’s a waste of money most of the time, I really should sort it out. Most of the commenters seem to be the same - is there a correlation between blogging and limited TV watching??

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    1. Interesting question. One thing we bloggers have in common is a love of the written word. Watching little television has made more time in my life for reading and writing; perhaps many other bloggers are the same?

      Jude

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  8. We rarely watch TV - we download a movie occasionally or go to the movies as a treat (we're not the most sociable of souls these days). Mostly I read, puddle on my laptop, do a jigsaw every now and then and just generally chill. There is absolutely nothing on the idiot box to tempt me back - reality TV killed it for my I'm afraid.

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    1. Leanne, you are another example of a blogger who rarely watches TV. Yes, I know what you mean about reality TV. It holds no interest for me, either. However, reality TV is cheap to produce, and as the real purpose of TV is to get you to stare at the box long enough to watch the ads, they do what works to maximize viewers while providing the biggest profit margin. Hmm, I sound a bit cynical, don’t I?

      Jude

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