Good morning! Are you up yet? What's your plans for today?

[avator]

Cutting the cord....
Betty Lou and I have decided to cut the cord.... well, some of it anyways.
We currently pay $245 per month for cable TV, phone and high speed wireless internet and $21.99 a month for Netflix. We also have a streaming service through ROKU for Paramount Plus at $10 a month.
We've done extensive research into our options and spoke to our cable subscribers (Troy Cablevision).
We have cable boxes in 3 rooms of the house... all TVs are SMART TVs including a 4th in the bar/mancave that we only stream to.
We have decided to shut off the cable TV service and only keep the internet and phone. This will reduce the bill by $139 per month including the box fees and other hidden fees. Our current bill has already been paid until mid December.
I canceled the Netflix this morning and it will end Dec 6th.
To replace it all I signed up for Sling TV. We opted for the Blue package. You can look it up for all the features but, in a nutshell, it gives us virtually everything we watched on cable plus more such as sports and on demand. It also gives us 50 hours of cloud DVR space. (150 hours more can be added for $5 a month but 50 is plenty)
The Sling TV service will cost us $40 per month all inclusive. I set up the account this morning and got $20 off the first month.
We are avid NASCAR fans and it was a huge deciding factor to have access to ALL NASCAR races throughout the season. And it's confirmed... we will have it all... including the bar/mancave where we only had access to part of them due to not being streamed and no cable box. Other sports, such as NFL is also included if desired.
We can also stream Sling on 3 devices at the same time... not that we ever do. The most would be 2.
So bottom line is.. we'll save about $120 per month and be able to virtually what we enjoy watching now.. and some.

[Jshooter71]

Good morning GTA! Happy Friday, we made it! Up about 0415 CST. It’s cold outside and snowing a little. I don’t have a job scheduled for today yet. I’ll visit my chiropractor around 0715 hrs and call the office at 0800. If I don’t work today, I’m fine with that- I already got 40 hours this week. 

[avator]

Morning...
Dang right it's cold. Rambo got me up at 5am. He and Boss ate and went out but didn't stay out long. They came back in and Boss is hanging out in front of the heat.
Gotta make another trip to Troy today because the doctor forgot to call in a prescription for Betty Lou.
We'll wait and see what the rest of the day holds after that.

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

I was up at 43°F this morning, that temp is on my back deck up against the house so it is a little colder away from the house.

Yesterday I finished the Pine tree trimming and clean up. Much better view and light on the back of the house now. I did have to put my 28' extension ladder up into the tree to cut a branch that was growing down from 18' off the ground, at least the tree trunk was still wider than the ladder at the top so it had a solid place to lean. I ratchet strapped the ladder to the tree too so it couldn't slip.

We have been cat sitting for one of my grandsons and are going to take his cats back to him today. We were asked to watch one cat, a few weeks later it had three kittens.    I partitioned my Great Danes kennel and put a roof panel and mesh on the chain-link so they couldn't get out. It's time for those extra 4 cats to go, too much cat litter and care and now they have a place for them anyway. I guess my wife's cat will get to come back into the house as it wants to. 

I'm just not a cat person.

Temps vary a lot near us this morning. The Highs are suppose to be in the 70's for the next 9 days. 

[buellm2]

I have to deal with the extreme unpleasantness of a probate that should have been settled 20 years ago.   I'd rather be snacking, tinkering or shooting or just about anything else.

[Madd Hatter]

It was 23 at 6am today but has creeped up to 33 and is quite comfortable in the sun. Probably going to go back to weed whacking around the outside of the fence line. Still have maybe a 100' of the north fence line left then I'll work on the east line which is the shortest. Then all I have to do is finish the west fence line and all done until it starts growing again in the late spring.

[Madd Hatter]

I have to deal with the extreme unpleasantness of a probate that should have been settled 20 years ago.   I'd rather be snacking, tinkering or shooting or just about anything else.

Wife and I need to get ours setup so our kids don't have to go through that.

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

I have to deal with the extreme unpleasantness of a probate that should have been settled 20 years ago.   I'd rather be snacking, tinkering or shooting or just about anything else.

Wife and I need to get ours setup so our kids don't have to go through that.

Being a Trustee twice and also an heir where none existed three times in the last five years makes us want to get rid of everything before we pass on so our kids don't have to deal with our stuff. We have already started telling those that visit if you see anything you want just ask, you might be able to take it home right now! 

[buellm2]

I have to deal with the extreme unpleasantness of a probate that should have been settled 20 years ago.   I'd rather be snacking, tinkering or shooting or just about anything else.

Wife and I need to get ours setup so our kids don't have to go through that.

Being a Trustee twice and also an heir where none existed three times in the last five years makes us want to get rid of everything before we pass on so our kids don't have to deal with our stuff. We have already started telling those that visit if you see anything you want just ask, you might be able to take it home right now!

I totally get it.   It took my sister and I a couple years to clean out our fathers house after he died.   My brother had zero interest.  But kids these days just don't value the same stuff I do, no matter how cool, collectable or valuable it is.   Example, they have minimal interest in their grandfathers 1911 he carried in WW2.   I would have thought they would fight to the death over it.   I've also tried giving away random stuff to visitors and sometimes that works.   Whats really irritating is when people try to give me random stuff.

[anti-squirrel]

Plans involved working and a delivery.  I'm 70 to 75% done with a big project for work.  My eyes are -from staring at spreadsheets non-stop for hours...  I hope to wrap it up today.

Anyway, just helped Dude from FedEx unload a range we bought on a monster discount (75% off) from The RangeHood Store.  And Sonja shared the news we have a neighbor selling his older (square body) Dakota around the corner.  I need another vehicle like I need another airgun.  Wait, what?

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

I have to deal with the extreme unpleasantness of a probate that should have been settled 20 years ago.   I'd rather be snacking, tinkering or shooting or just about anything else.

Wife and I need to get ours setup so our kids don't have to go through that.

Being a Trustee twice and also an heir where none existed three times in the last five years makes us want to get rid of everything before we pass on so our kids don't have to deal with our stuff. We have already started telling those that visit if you see anything you want just ask, you might be able to take it home right now!

I totally get it.   It took my sister and I a couple years to clean out our fathers house after he died.   My brother had zero interest.  But kids these days just don't value the same stuff I do, no matter how cool, collectable or valuable it is.   Example, they have minimal interest in their grandfathers 1911 he carried in WW2.   I would have thought they would fight to the death over it.   I've also tried giving away random stuff to visitors and sometimes that works.   Whats really irritating is when people try to give me random stuff.

I agree, I don't need any random gifts either.

It seems like young people don't value much at all these days. Quality is rare now, so I can see where their "replace/dispose of attitude" comes from. They just always think that having new is better than having an old thing that lasts. I don't agree. I also take care to keep my things nice, like washing my cement mixer as clean as I can get it after each use, for example.

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

My grandson ask that I wait until 3:00 this afternoon to bring his cats over to them. SO I think I need to shoot some airguns a bit first. 

It's 65°F out right now, the yard is cleaned up and I need to relax a bit.

[avator]

I mentioned 'cutting the cord' a few posts back. It's official.. we cut the cord today.
While we were in Troy this morning I stopped at the Troy Cable office just to get the bottom line on the options.
Bottom line is that we will save $120 a month on the cable and keep the phone and internet. She saif they also have upgraded from 100/50 to 300/300 and that will add $.05 per month to my internet bill. I did a speed test when I got home and it has in fact runs faster.
I did pay the cable bill through December this week and, once I go to the drop off here in town and turn in the 3 boxes and remotes, our account will be credited for the over payment. Those are bagged and I'm on my way to drop them off.
It feels like we've been weened... 

[Robert 5mm]

I mentioned 'cutting the cord' a few posts back. It's official.. we cut the cord today.

Another thing to consider is also adding a outdoor antenna - we get 7 channels with each having 3 to 7 subchannels


All digital channels - so either excellent or no picture

Also have a TIVO OTA DVR ( with lifetime sub ) to record Over-The-Air so we can record and watch later.

[Jshooter71]

I really, really want to get rid of our satellite TV service. I’ve almost got my wife convinced. Our internet is through the phone service also. We don’t use the house phone, ever. But it is what it is, for now. Soon, though, we’ll get it figured out to cut the cord.

[Madd Hatter]

I mentioned 'cutting the cord' a few posts back. It's official.. we cut the cord today.
While we were in Troy this morning I stopped at the Troy Cable office just to get the bottom line on the options.
Bottom line is that we will save $120 a month on the cable and keep the phone and internet. She saif they also have upgraded from 100/50 to 300/300 and that will add $.05 per month to my internet bill. I did a speed test when I got home and it has in fact runs faster.
I did pay the cable bill through December this week and, once I go to the drop off here in town and turn in the 3 boxes and remotes, our account will be credited for the over payment. Those are bagged and I'm on my way to drop them off.
It feels like we've been weened... 

Biggest thing holding my wife back is she loves college football. Our Internet is thru our phone. There's no way no how possible to ever get a home phone as we are 5 miles from the closest phone or power lines. My phone internet works pretty good now after the last phone update. My wife's not so much but what can she expect, it's a giggle 2 phone which from what I've read is the Absolute worst of the giggle phones.

[avator]

Between Sling, Roku, Tubi and all the other free streaming offerings we get everything we watch, including football. As for local channels... each TV has one of those window mounted digital antenna things that you can buy at Walmart and we get 6 or 7 local channels up to 70 miles away with those. We first tried them in the RV because the antenna on it was gone.
We also have Blu Ray dvd players on all TVs so that's another option, although rarely used other than watching old dvd movies we have.

[anti-squirrel]

No cords to cut here.  Been that way for me for 2 decades, but I doubt I've spent 200 hours watching TV since I got out of the Navy in '96.

You folks that can, do so.  A lot of cellular services provide freebie channels.  I'm stuck with Verijunk, I mean Verizon, for now, and we get all kinds of free Disney stuff.  Hooray?  We may watch a YouTube video now and again, but that's about it.

[Madd Hatter]

No cords to cut here.  Been that way for me for 2 decades, but I doubt I've spent 200 hours watching TV since I got out of the Navy in '96.

You folks that can, do so.  A lot of cellular services provide freebie channels.  I'm stuck with Verijunk, I mean Verizon, for now, and we get all kinds of free Disney stuff.  Hooray?  We may watch a YouTube video now and again, but that's about it.

We do???

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

My internet is through Spectrum fiber-optic Cable but we don't have cable tv, we stream TV. I also have Verizon Unlimited so I have high speed internet and can stream to my computer while away from home. It is a bit pricey though.