Good-Bye Wi-Fi

We no longer have internet at the house because our wi-fi-sharing neighbors moved out recently to live in Chile. I begged and begged (in my mind) for Zach to simply leave me his scooter in the interim, since he couldn't take it on the plane with him, but nothing came of it. The same can be said of most things that remain only in the mind.

Our new, cleaner, airways have left a void in our days though. Not just the lack of Facebook as a time-waster, or G-chat as a half-distracted way to keep in touch with friends. The unexpected casualty has been television. We have no cable hook-up, and no digital receiver on our ancient Craigslist-begotten set, so our entire video media life has pretty much consisted of either streaming or downloading shows and movies. All of that's gone now.

Not to make this sound like a eulogy. It's really fine that we have more time to indulge in our active hobbies, or to work toward our future goals, rather than just sitting around opportunistically plucking off 60's comedies that have been added to Netflix's Watch Instantly orchard over the previous week. I'm writing more, for instance, as evidenced by this entry's very existence.

Like anything else, television is worth more if you have to work for it. Downloading shows and getting them from Netflix is no longer so convenient it can eat up entire weekends. Regulating this vice is similar to one of the big reasons why I prefer my moca pot for coffee brewing, or rolling my own cigarettes. I indulge less, and enjoy those indulgences more.

It makes me wonder what else I could limit so as to restrict as well as heighten. No longer owning a car is one option, though not in this town, with its population density similar to that of candy bars drifting through outer space. Maybe a couch that folds up automatically when I get up, but not so in the other direction forcing me to work a little before lounging.

Suddenly I feel like the dad in Calvin and Hobbes. "It builds character!"

More realistically, this should apply to food. I could simply stop buying all this "bad for you" deliciousness, and limit myself only to enjoying such things when I make them myself. Not exactly the most strenuous of exercise, but I'm sure running around the kitchen and stirring something constantly burns a few calories. It would at least limit my candy and pizza intake due to time restrictions.

But then, for that to be an issue, I would have to believe that candy and pizza are actually bad for me. Television, smoking, excessive caffeine are all probably negatives for my fragile bod and brain, but candy and pizza are precisely what a growing boy needs.