Well fancy meeting you here; how have you been keeping? Life treating you well? How are the wife and kids?.......husband and kids??..........partner who is far too young for you as you are clearly going through a mid life crisis?? Isn't this whole economy thing a real drag? Where will you be taking your holidays this year? Oh really?? I went there last year and sadly will never be allowed back.....
......okay, that's the pleasantries over.
Now, in my humble opinion; all the best stories/movies start with some excitement. James Bond always blew something up, Harry Potter managed to.....blow someone up, and Jack Bauer usually ble.......shot someone. And whilst we will have plenty of time to get to know each other - again - and just as much time to delve deeper into the new mission, this blog also starts with something interesting; although to be honest I wish I hadn't mentioned Bond, Potter and Bauer as it's not THAT interesting!
Some call it 'the box', but to most it is simply the telly. With very few exceptions, this machine is the focal point of the living room, and of the average family evening. All manner of entertainment is beamed straight into our homes, giving us a wealth of choice to while away the hours before bedtime. Between you, me and the laptop, I watch a horrendous amount of it. I come in from work and before I know it, it is switched on in the living room, while I wind down, then the second tv is switched on in the bedroom while I get changed into my scruffs ('sweats to you American folk). Then follows an evening of dovetailing live tv with the programmes clogging my skyplus box, squeezing in something to eat; finishing off back in bed and usually falling asleep with the tv on (that mysteriously switches off sometime in the night.........tv elves?). Weekends are worse; when I am in the flat, the television on all day, every day!
Shocked? Well; I did say it would be an honest blog.
The real frustration is that there are so many things I want to or could do with my evenings and weekends; I have a stack of books I enjoy reading (but just never have the time to), I want to go out and explore this new county I am now living in (but just never have the time to), I want to learn to play guitar (had one for decades and it has always moved with me, but never 'got round to it' and now I just never.....you get the idea), oh and did I mention I am in training for a triathlon and writing a blog all about it? It is just so much easier NOT to do all these things, and just turn on the telly.
I strongly suspect that if I can manage it, I will the better for breaking the hold tv has on me; the hold I have allowed it to have on me. So, although I could not really be called a religious person, it is I'm sure you are aware the beginning of Lent; traditionally a time where one gives something up for a period of forty days. I wish I could say that I could go completely cold turkey, but I know something so ambitious will be a spectacular and instant failure. Instead I am giving up TV with the following exceptions.....
Match Of The Day on a Saturday night
One film on each of Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights
The weekends I go and see my Mum
Other than that, nothing. This represents a HUGE reduction in my television viewing, and with no watching from Monday to Thursday it is going to be a very interesting experience. One thing is for sure is that for as long as I manage to stick to it, I'm going to miraculously find a huge amount of that time on my hands that I never have.
Updates to follow!!!
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