What Would You Do For a New TV?

Ever since we had to hit our old TV to maintain a picture, we've been discussing getting a brand new TV. Dad's found one that he likes, be he doesn't want to buy a new one without going at least a month without any television. When my stepbrother moved out, I replaced our television with the smaller (13", I think) one he had in his room. My half-sister has moved back in, and she complained that it wasn't any good for video games. Being the clever sort, she set up a timeline with my dad. Specifically, the month without television is July 1 to August 1.

I was fine with that, but then I noticed July 1 was a Saturday. Not a good day for me to start on. Frankly, I can handle no television on the other six days, but I watch Saturday cartoons almost religiously. I don't mean just the mornings, either. Cartoon Network unloads a boatload of anime that I watch from 7 pm to 11. Then I tape some other anime on that channel while watching Saturday Night Live.

Talk about widthdrawl, huh? If it started on Sunday, I might be able to build up an expectation of no television, but this is Saturday we're talking about!

Okay, okay. I know it's not going to kill me or anything to miss Pokemon or Bobo-bo Bo-bobobo, but generating a bit of cognitive dissonance. I don't like missing episodes. I want to see them all in order so I'm not wondering what the Hell is going on.

There's still a VCR in my half-sister's room, but there's no cable in there. I figure I can move the little TV back in there, tape my shows from the cable in the living room, then watch it in her room. Not the most comfortable option, but if you're not supposed to be watching TV anyway I figure discomfort is a good thing.

My only concern is that it's cheating on the deal. I'm still watching television. The only difference is the location, perhaps the level of video quality, and the fact that I can fast-forward through the commercials. Not exactly practicing restraint here. The idea, I think, is to break the habit, and this action is like sneaking smokes into a public restroom. I haven't quit anything, I'm still a slave to the programming schedule.

Conversely, it's not like I just turn on the TV and just watch whatever crap is on at the time. There's just a handful of specific shows I want to watch, usually on at a regular time. In that sense, I'm not "Just watching TV." I'm "watching my shows."

How is that different? Think of it like this: Instead of eating everything in the fridge just because it's there, I'm eating the foods I like because I'm hungry and I like them. I'm not gorging between meals, I'm practicing a particular diet. Granted, it's not necessarily the healthiest of diets (probably the equivelent to eating all candy), I'm only eating three times a day in what I at least percieve to be moderation. And by taping the shows and watching them in another room, it's like I'm preparing the meals before I eat them.

To me, that sounds completely delusional, but it's the best "for" argument I could think of. I think I'll prep for that, then argue with the folks later.

Also, I recently moved my Pokemon: Special Operations RP to a new board. I'm still looking for new players, so click the link below and join in! What's the plot? You're a Pokemon trainer, there's the Pokemon League, there's the Grand Festival, there's Team Rocket/Magma/Cipher/whatever. The rest is up to you. Have fun!