Cable TV: A Love Story

So Richard and I moved into our new apartment a few weeks ago and had been going without TV until we brought one back from DC last weekend. We hadn't yet signed up for cable so imagine our surprise when, just for fun, we connected the cable in the living room to the TV and found that we did indeed have cable - all glorious close-to-100 channels - coming out of our TV.

It sorta felt like Christmas. I think I actually did the happy dance. It also sorta felt naughty, because we were getting cable service without actually paying for it (just like the wireless internet service, which we seem to be freeloading off of somebody in our building, but that's another topic). We quickly surmised that we were just getting the last remaining days of service from the person who lived in the apartment before us, who we figure is probably paid through the end of February.

I have lived - successfully I might add - without cable TV since December of 2005. That's about 14 months of cable-free living. I was OK with this; I felt I was living a relatively normal, well-adjusted life. Sure, occasionally I would hear something about some cable reality TV show everyone else was watching/talking about (exactly who is this "New York" chick who has her own VH-1 show??) but overall I didn't feel I was missing out.

But now that we have it - and, for the moment, free - I'm pretty frickin' excited. Last night I stayed up to watch I rerun of "Top Design" not because I needed to see the ending (I already saw it at Dop's the week before), but more because it was a cable TV program that was coming out of my television set in my living room. It's been a long time since that happened. Very surreal, y'all.

Anyway, as it is the beginning of a new month (and billing cycle), I'm a bit afraid of what will happen when we come home from work tonight and turn on the TV. Will we be greeted with static, or by the "The Daily Show"? The black screen of death or "House Hunters"? Will the lucky streak continue, or will the new-found pleasure that is cable TV be ripped from our bosoms?

Cross your fingers with ours, folks, because otherwise its going to be sometime in April before we scrounge together the cash to actually pay for cable service.