The Day I Thought Would Never Happen... The Day We Gave Up Cable TV

Today we did it. We gave up something I never thought I would go without as an adult. Something that will (for me) make giving up wheat and sugar seem like an easy task. We gave up cable.

Until I was about thirteen my family’s TV experience was locked down to three channels, four on a good night. You best believe that includes Radio-Canada… so three English channels. Atlantic Canadian children all know the pain of picking between the five o’clock magazine news programs like Live At 5 or doing literally anything else.

AsI have detailed in previous blogs, I used to stay overnight at my Grandparent’shouse whenever my Grandfather was away to watch TGIF Friday’s on ABC and theamazing eras of Fox Sunday night animation. I was a huge TV nerd then and I still am now. But, with Kevin escaping to Basic Military Training this summer having cable is just going to be wasted at my apartment. It is way too expensive for one person, cutting it out of my services with Shaw saves me half of my monthly bill!

I am starting to feel like quite the little hipster. I haven’t had a cell phonefor over a month and now I have cut my cable… I also have become obsessed with houseplants. Yes, things are getting weird for Kate in the Kootenays.

To be honest with you there is not much I am going to miss on TV. There are few things I can’t watch now on my iPad or stream. We have fournd ourselves watching more Netflix than ever via the Xbox and there never seems to be anything truly worth watching on basic cable.

I am so over reality show competitions. I listen to the best music ever made all day at work, nothing really compares to the legends. People here in the Koots are less interested in television programming than anyone else in the country, rarely is any of it worth mentioning in my show.

I guess it all comes down to a lull in good programming on basic cable. Apart from the News there is nothing on cable that I can’t get on another device. I quite like listening to the News on the radio while I do yoga too… so I guess I am not really missing anything!

I’m not sure how long this will last. As much as I say there is a ton of crap on TV not worth paying for, I totally still allow it to clutter up the quiet in my apartment. Yes, I watch a lot of crappy TV; I hope this will end my horrible habit of watching anything and everything.

Do you still have cable? Do you think you will ever get rid of it? Or, are you finding anything different without cable? 

I sure will miss Fallon though…

A Month Away From My Cell Phone

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go without your cell phone? 

I totally had until I let my boyfriend perform a little at-home high-risk surgery on my iPhone. It needed a new WiFi antenna and a new screen and he is the most tech savvy person I know so the service was gifted to me for Valentine's Day. We both totally underestimated the skills of iPhone surgeons, so after a painful two hours of attempted reconstruction and a tear Kevin decided to leave it for the experts.

So, there is the story about why I have been mobile-less for over a month.

Time has flown by and I am pretty surprised by my realizations about being disconnected... I don't feel like I am missing much, but I would really like to have my cell phone back.  

The biggest annoyance I have from the entire ordeal is that I have to carry around multiple devices rather than my one-stop shop iPhone. Everywhere I go I carry an iPod, iPad, camera and sometimes a video camera (just in case) like I am back in high school. You are right, I did not have an iPad in high school but I did have a phone (eventually) so it balances out. 

I have more Twitter and Instagram followers than I did before my iPhone took a nap and my blogs have received more traffic. That surprised me because I tweet and take way more pictures with my iPhone than I do with my iPad etc.

I haven't wasted my time on long drawn out phone calls and I haven't had to worry about silencing my phone whenever I get to work. 

I do miss the safety blanket feeling of my car's Bluetooth system that connects with the phone during emergencies and for phone calls. I hate driving at night and this is one feature of my Focus that makes me feel so much safer. 

I have contemplated buying a legit alarm clock, I like having two alarms set just in case. I triple check my iPad's alarms before I go to bed each night rather than having the safety of a second alarm. 

I really do not miss Kevin rolling his eyes whenever I checked my phone in public or took a silly picture. 

And you know what, I do not miss texting. Seriously. Not a bit. I wasn't a huge fan to begin with and switching to an iPhone made me even more of a hater. I am the worst at it, I take forever and for good reason. If you need to talk to me, call me. 

Now, having an iPad has meant that I have a little connectivity. I can Skype important phone calls etc. and I still regularly update my social media on a less annoying basis (I am guessing).

I thought about giving up my cell phone when I moved to the Kootenays. I have met a few people here who just do not bother with them and I thought it would a super easy way to save money and be a little more mysterious. But, I'm not sure I am ready for that yet. 

I wouldn't say I am a slave to my cell phone, but I do miss it. A lot.

In fact, I cannot wait for it to return from its adventure to Vancouver.

Wake Up and Smell the Bacon with Oscar Mayer!

From:
 http://mashable.com/2014/03/05/oscar-mayer-bacon-app/

Waking to the smell of bacon is one of the small joys in life. To me it is right up there with coffee. I’d say it passes coffee as the greatest smell of the morning, why? Well because it is much more dangerous to try to set a timer to cook bacon.

Now that I’ve got you all hot and bothered for morning bacon and swiftly taken away hope with the realization that it is probably not the smartest idea let me lure you back in.  

The geniuses at Oscar Mayer have your back. Yes, the meat innovators have come up with a new app that replaces the your phones beeping with the sound of bacon sizzling and (get this even more amazing part) the smell of bacon!

Unfortunately you have to win the luxury of waking up and smelling the bacon everyday and you must be an American citizen to even have a chance at winning the app. You can download the app, but you will have to win the nifty aroma spritzer that plugs into a phones headphone jack.

If you’re a US citizen get over to Oscar Mayer’s website now and take the quiz, you could be waking up to the second best morning treat! Technology! 

The New iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, For a Second I Thought This Was A Game Changer

Last blog about needing a new cell phone, I promise. Next time I blog about cell phones I will have a new phone and be completely smitten with it.

For the last 24 hours (give or take a few) I have been sold on getting an iPhone 5c. I love color, I hated picking between black and white for my 4s (because they both kind of suck). I immediately tried the sexiest colorful case possible that would actually protect my phone. My sister and cousin had gone with the playful cases that look awesome but do nothing to protect glass phones and had shattered their iPhones as a result.

At first I was excited, color options! But, now after seeing the following and reading the iPhone 5c specs I am not that impressed and continuing my hunt for the perfect phone with my options open once again. I am open to the 5s; I have a strange love for the gold iPhone 5s.

I am not going to lie; I really am not impressed by the stigma that has been created by the media saying the 5c iPhones are “inexpensive” or “cheap”. They still are bloody expensive! If I am ponying up the big bucks for a phone I want to have the best and I am not sure I can justify spending so much on the 5c when I can have the 5s.

We will see… I may still end up with a Blackberry. 

Here are some great iPhone 5c photos comparing the new phone colors to random things. Clearly the Power Rangers are my favourite. 

KATE'S QUERIES: WHICH CELL PHONE IS RIGHT FOR ME?

I have heard a lot about how your cell phone says a lot about you, I am in the market for a new phone and I have no idea what to pick. No cell phone seems to be the perfect pick.

I miss my Blackberry everyday when I am reading emails and attempting to reply. I love how durable they are in comparison with glass phones; if I had a Blackberry it would have survived the car accident that did a number on my iPhone. I miss the stigma that my blackberry had too, it was pure business, I never felt like people would question what I was doing messing around on it.

On the other hand, my iPhone is incredibly efficient with my Ford Focus's SYNC system for music. I love using it for photos for things like my blog and a quick Facebook post. But, I really hate the fact that it does not have a keyboard. It makes me lazier than I used to be replying to my emails, I never missed an email with my Blackberry. I hate using email so much on my iPhone that I wait until I am in front of a computer to reply because it is such a pain (unless it is an emergency). 

I know nothing about Androids, feel free to educate me; kate@mountainfm.net. 

If you have any suggestions or ideas for my phone problem let me know, I will be buying a phone in the next week!