Cutting the (TV) Cord.

About 6 weeks ago we decided to finally stare down Ma Bell and “cut the cord”.  I know we are not the first to go down this road and I’m grateful for some friends that have shared their experience.  From them we learned there was life after cable, though we were a little sceptical.  We didn’t come to the decision lightly, while we don’t watch a lot of TV in the summer, the winter evenings can be long, and the thought of not having a 100+ channels to surf was a little daunting.   

Suddenly,  I was having flashbacks to my childhood, growing up in Haliburton.  In those days cable was not available and satellite TV was not yet invented.  We had a black and white TV, and on the side of the house a 25 foot pipe held a massive antenna on top.  On a good day we got CBC, CTV and years  later Global.  Channel reception was contingent on weather and whether somebody could be coerced to go outside and turn the antenna while somebody else hollered out the window when the TV static and snow stopped and some semblance of a picture came through.   The programming fair of the time included The Beachcombers, The Tommy Hunter Show,  Hockey Night in Canada, Mr. Dress-up, The Friendly giant, and of course the Wayne and Shuster specials. Maybe that's why I was so thin in those days, with nothing to watch on TV, entertainment was found elsewhere.

Major milestones in my youth were the arrival of our first colour TV, a 20 inch “Zenith”, and the motorised rotor that turned the antenna with the turn of knob on a box beside the tv and an electric motor turning the aerial. This was high tech, circa 1975!

 My 6 year old was not interested in my nostalgia and was clearly horrified by the prospect of his TV “changing”. It was high drama when he thought he may not be able to watch Garfield and Scooby Doo before bed, and what about Wild Kratts after school? 

Needless to say Bell was not amused, and the "Loyalty department" worked very hard to change our minds. Never the less on Saturday morning a few weeks ago we awoke to a new era….no more cable TV and no more calls from the Duct cleaner Telemarketers on the land line, the cord was severed! 

Now 3 weeks into this new era we are doing okay.  During the weeks leading up to the end of our Bell services I did some research and chose an HD Antenna from a local computer shop.  This was not the monster antenna of my youth with the long aluminum arms, but instead it’s a plastic rectangular box with two plastic arms sticking straight out of each side.

When I arrived home with my $40 purchase my son and wife looked more than a little sceptical about my choice of satellite replacement.  I too was curious if this contraption would do anything or if I had just flushed $40 down the toilet.  But surely everything you read on the Internet is true…right?   I pulled it out of the box, attached a few feet of cable to it, set it on the living room window sill, attached it to the TV….and prayed that a picture would present itself.   And voila, after a channel scan, about 20 channels came through.  The biggest surprise is that we never knew how poor the satellite picture quality had been until we saw the High Definition that came from the free "over the air" signals.  Suddenly Peter Mansbridge looks much older, and the NFL games are spectacular. Now with this modest success I was emboldened to physically remove the dish off the roof and replaced it with our new best friend, the TV antenna.  Now with better aiming and 15 feet elevation,  the reception is even better and we now consistently get all the major US network channels from Buffalo and Rochester and the Canadian Networks, plus a few bonus channels I’ve never heard of before. Combine this with our $8 dollar a month Netflix service and I can honestly say my only regret is waiting so long to make this change.   I realize we are fortunate to live close to Lake Ontario with no high rise buildings near us to block signals, but I remain amazed how well this has worked out.  Now we just need to funnel all those $ savings into a vacation fund…Cuba here we come?

It's Closing Time.

Another Thanksgiving weekend is now behind us. A 5 hour drive back into the city complete, the dog is snoring loudly and the boy is showered and having sweet dreams of another day at school tomorrow.  Nothing has really changed from Friday, but it feels different…like an ending.  Perhaps this is still in me from the way I grew up.

Living in “cottage country” as a kid, and having parents in the tourist business, meant that this last long weekend of the season was always a busy time.  It was the one last chance to rake in some more business before the long wait until Boxing day, when the winter season officially started. I remember riding around “the Lake” (usually Kennisis)  in my dad’s pickup truck.

 It was time to collect from cottagers for jobs done after Labour day, and to make arrangements for winter work, like shovelling roofs in the winter. It was a mixture of social and business, as we were welcomed into the cottages. Many of those clients saw me grow up, many became friends of my parents. Some are still in touch to this day.

Meanwhile at the Base Camp, my mother would be multi-tasking, keeping the store open and the campers supplied while basting a Turkey or two for the Thanksgiving feast.  My mother’s boundless energy in those days meant that dinner could be for 6 or 26… it depended on who happened to be up that weekend, and who she could reach. Remarkably we always had more food than we could eat. Inevitably there would be some minor calamity. The weather could be cruel, snow and sleet were not unusual.  Power failures or brown outs were common back in the day. The electricity grid was fragile at the best of times, with every other cottage running an oven at 230 volts to cook a turkey and some  electric heaters to stay warm, the grid would become overloaded. The lights would dim or fail.  Being resourceful was the norm, and soon generators, propane lights, ovens and Coleman stoves were pressed into service.

Once I entered the working world the weekends were also intense.  Being the jack of all trades at the Backwoods Marina meant anything was possible.  It could start with a morning pulling docks out of frigid waters, followed by an afternoon of winterizing and washing algae stain boats that were going into storage.  Selling a few snowmobiles for the upcoming season was always in the mix.  And yet, somehow we always managed to gather for some turkey and share some gratitude for how fortunate we were.  I don't take credit for that, but am grateful the people that were around me at the time said, let's stop and give thanks.

Today my life is quite different.  Living in the city we take many things forgranted.  The power is reliable, the weather is warmer…longer.  Business is Monday to Friday, 9-5.  The urgency around this weekend is gone.  When we head to the country now to visit family at the cottage I have a different perspective.

Now, when I’m in the north, I’m the tourist, so the urgency and rush is not present.  Shutting down the water and winterizing the pump is perhaps nostalgic, and doesn’t feel like work.  Today there was time to walk in the woods, marvel at the show of colour Mother Nature has provided, admire the work of the beavers at the pond in the back forty, and take the time to answer the 1000 questions from my 6 year old boy.  There is something to be said for slowing down and taking the time to appreciate what's directly in front of us.

Thanksgiving is still a time to gather with friends and family, eat too much incredible food, and be thankful for the bounty that surrounds us.  But somehow it still feels like closing time, summer is over. Now where did I put my snow shovel?