Why I can't be arsed to watch television

 There are a number of reasons I can't be bothered. Don't worry, none of them are high minded ethical reasons or other such nonsense; they're all quite practical.  

It mostly boils down to what I get for the money. For starters, just to have a TV in my home, I'd have to fork out £135 a year for a TV license. Yes, in the UK, you have to have a license to watch TV.  

Granted, once I've then forked out further money for a TV and crammed it somewhere in my small flat, I would then have free access to all the BBC chanels (which, in theory, the license pays for). Yes, £135 a year to be bombarded by the likes of Eastenders and Coronation Street. What a deal! 

Okay, granted, there's also Dr. Who, but I'd then have go through the hassle of being in front of my TV on specific days at specific times. Either that, or then purchase a VHS machine to record the episodes. And I haven't seen the whole series from the beginning, so I'd be lost anyway. 

Speaking of Lost, you can't get that on BBC, so now I'm looking at paying even more for a subscription service like SKY TV. 

To avoid all that hassle, I simply rent my favourite series on DVD. For £15 a month, and just a bit of patience to wait for their releases, I get to see all my favourites, from the beginning to the end, plus plenty o' films, whenever it suits me and delivered, by post, right to my door. Blockbuster DVD keeps me well entertained. 

Oh, and no adverts! 

And there ya have it. 

('Course, the current postal strike has me rethinking things a bit...)

Caught that holiday just in time!

Thanks to a posting by another person, I am actually now aware of the Canadian Thanksgiving Day occurring tomorrow. Yay!  

'Course, that still means I have to find a way to score a turkey dinner for tomorrow evening, but I'm sure I'll manage. Might have to check out one of the local pubs to see what's on the menu... 

Being on my own in the UK, I don't quite get to celebrate in the grand style that I'm used to when I'm with friends and family. The first year here, Thanksgiving came up on me completely by surprise and I wound up trying to find any place in the town I was living in that served a turkey dinner. The end result? A turkey sub from Subway. Sad, no? 

'Course, that wasn't the first time I ate Subway for Thanksgiving. When I first moved to Victoria, BC, Canada, with a bunch of my friends, we were all quite skint. A really good friend of mine had a huge collection of paperback novels. He sold off a huge lot of them to help keep us fed during those few months before we got on our feet. That included buying he and I turkey subs for Thanksgiving. I'll never forget that - we were down and out, but still made the best of it. Damn good friend! I miss him and many others I left back home. Still, thanks to the internet, we keep in touch. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I can swing through BC again. 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I express my gratitude for all the true friends I have had, both home and here, for sticking with me through it all, both good and bad. Thanks guys! 

To all my fellow Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving Day! May you never have to resort to turkey subs from Subway to celebrate!