Inappropriate Snail Mail

Dish TV says I'm spending too much on TV.  They can save me $942 if  I remember the innards of the letter correctly.  If they're serious about it, they can send me a check for $942 and then not charge me for service at all, because that's the only way I know that they can save me $942 compared to the $0 I now pay for an antenna.  I believe we told them we were ditching them in favor of an antenna because they weren't willing to negotiate.   Good job with your data system and targeted marketing there chuckleheads. 

Maybe they're worried I'm culturally suffering from not having cable.  Or that the $40 or so I pay for a show or two on iTunes to keep Eryn happy is too much for getting exactly what I want instead of everything but what I want (no Doctor Who on Dish).  Still not sure how that translates into possibly saving me $942 unless they think I'm buying dozens of shows.

T.V. - Unhooked

Not completely unhooked.  Just unhooked from cable and $75+ a month.  From what I've been told, that's a reasonable DISH rate, but I wasn't having it.  I've wanted to disconnect for years, and just haven't been motivated.  I pulled out some rabbit ears from storage from back when the switch over happened, but didn't like the spotty reception and lack of channels I was getting. So I did some research, thought about a Leaf flat indoor antenna, and then just followed Kyle's and Alex's advice and bought a Direct Clearstream 2 outdoor antenna.

When I first plugged it in, nothing changed.  And I stared at the half dozen splitters from where the DISH antenna had been and thought, "fuck it."  I took down the stand I'd just spent an hour putting up and hauled the whole thing over to the other side of the house and set it on the ground in a corner against the house near the cable I knew went to the large screen (and presumably the bedroom) and plugged the cable into the closest splitter.  Came inside.  46 channels, all of them crystal clear.

Of course the antenna is still on the ground.  I considered gluing/screwing together two of the 2x4's from the ramp that I have to take apart, but after popping two boards loose only to notice they're different lengths (I know, that's what saws are for), I walked back to the antenna and realized I have a very nice semi-oval green treated piece of lumber for a planter that I haven't used in over nine years.  Days are shorter now, and I don't want to work in the dark, but I have all the pieces I need to mount it in a nice location.

Supplement it with Netflix Streaming, which we already were paying for, and direct purchase of a few of Eryn's favorite Disney shows off iTunes, and Hulu (regular, not plus) and I'm saving about $750 a year, less the used antenna and stand price (and the stand wasn't exactly necessary as it came with one, I just didn't notice it when reading the description), which was about $40 total, including two HDMI cables for the computer to tv hook up.

About the best thing I could do to save a bit of money that could be better spent on vacations.