To Connect or Not to Connect - That Was the Question

When we first bought our little beach cottage, we were way too busy mucking out other people's used toothbrushes, soiled bedding, and stained carpet to worry about whether we had cable TV or Internet access.

And to be honest, I wanted to be idealistic and think that our getaway should mean truly getting away--from our regular life, email, TV, surfing the web etc.

After we finished the inside of the place last fall, we did buy a TV with a built-in DVD player. The theory was that we would just watch movies while we were there.  And we did watch a few around the holidays.

We didn't go down much over the winter. The place isn't well insulated, and we have a beautiful fireplace in our cute little bungalow here in Newark--it's hard to leave that when the weather is cold and nasty.  Once spring came, we began working again--first on the screened porch and then on the outside.

And we continued to debate the cable and Internet issue.

Some of my idealism about getting away from it all was fading.  I think if you have a cabin in the woods where groups of friends or extended family gather for holidays and long weekends of board games and outdoor activities, then TV and internet are just a distraction.

But our place is mostly designed just for two, and although Doug and I always enjoy each other's company, the nights can get very long in the winter when it gets dark at 5:00.  We both love to read, but if that's what you've been doing all afternoon, you kind of want something different in the evening. And I really enjoy surfing the web--looking at maps on Google when I'm reading a novel, reading other people's blogs, looking at houses on Pinterest....

So I was tempted but still feeling cheap.  Yes, my ideals had flown out the window, but my control on the purse strings hadn't.

A recent call to Verizon changed my mind.  I discovered that we had been paying $19.95 a month for a box that we weren't using and another ridiculous amount for a landline that had been made obsolete by our smart phones.  The bottom line was that for about $45 a month over and above what we've been paying, we could have cable and Internet at the beach.

Sold.

I forgot to mention that although Doug isn't a rabid football fan, he does like to watch games on Sunday afternoons.  From my point of view, it's all good if having cable at the beach encourages him to stay longer on Sunday afternoons.

Here he is today--after a weekend of installing awnings (stay tuned for my next post)--enjoying NFL opening day. He didn't even care that the Ravens weren't playing.

Now, we just have to lay in a supply of Yuenglings and pretzels.