Digressions: My Life in 500 Words or Less

Lately I've been revisiting some old friends and making some new ones.

You see, a month ago Rebecca and I switched our TV, internet and landline phone service provider. (Yeah, we still keep a landline. Call an archaeologist, we have a dinosaur!)

With one TV box for our television downstairs and Roku for our upstairs set, we have plenty of viewing options. Our new service plan provides the major networks plus several others. Previously we had been paying for a service which provided hundreds of channels of which we watched maybe 12.

Seriously. I do not have any interest in watching “Real Housewives Pop Pimples on World’s Funniest Xtreme Naked and Afraid River and Mountain Monsters.” Or said show “Revisited.”

My TV watching habits are pretty simple. Like Rebecca, much of my viewing time actually involves using the TV for background noise. We have a limited number of shows we watch, most of which are on network television (which we still get), so the change did not have a major impact.

Among the additional TV programming we now get are a host of old TV shows. Many I am familiar with but never really watched. Others I might have caught a few episodes. Still others I might have watched on a regular basis.

That’s where the revisiting old friends and making new ones comes in.

Yesterday I heard her talking. Who, you ask? That Girl.

If you picked up on the reference, go to the Head of the Class, especially if no one had to Coach you. While some kids might just now be going through their Growing Pains, I would have been Grounded For Life had I spent all my time watching TV and neglected my homework.

Still, I’ve taken in shows at The Ray Bradbury Theater every now and again. I’ve even tuned into News Radio.

Benson, Alice, Cybill and Becker have visited our home. Even Dr. Ken made a house call.

Our situation may not be right for some, but, you know: Diff’rent Strokes and all that. I mean, Gimme a Break, the concept of individuality is not rocket science.

Yeah, I’m talking about a lot of old shows. Though our programming isn’t limited to those, they are fun to revisit or even see for the first time.

In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that “Head of the Class” could be called “The Big Bang Theory: The High School Years.” Extremely bright individuals make nerd, physics, Feynman and “Star Trek” references, among other things. Sound familiar? They even flat out reference the Big Bang Theory, which, granted, is not highly unusual in and of itself, but is pretty meaningful in this context.

No doubt about it: revisiting these old friends and meeting new ones has been enjoyable. Despite a little bit of apprehension about changing our TV service plan, we agreed early on it was a good decision.

So if I ever think about overpaying for something I don’t use Just Shoot Me.