Doing the Tape Shuffle

We have a real struggle going on in the Bogie household. We are mightily trying not to get too far behind, but the struggle is almost overwhelming.

We go to bed early enough that everything we watch on TV is taped for later viewing. There are 3 shows that we watch; 24, CSI (the original) and Battlestar Galactica. Our struggle is trying to keep the amount of tapes used to a minimum (thus our confusion as to which tape has the next episode of what we want to watch be kept to a minimum also).

See, we really only watch TV at dinner. Dinner is usually served somewhere between 7 and 8. I go to bed somewhere between 8 and 8:30. If we eat closer to 7, we have time to watch a taped show. If we eat closer to 8, we don't so we either turn to the Man channel and "watch" re-runs of CSI or go to the History channel and watch whatever is on.

Wednesday night we finally watched the Battlestar Galactica from 2 weeks ago, last week's is still on tape. Monday, we watched 24 from 2 weeks ago - another episode was taped that same night. Last night we got thru CSI from last week (only because I failed to turn off the VCR a couple of Thursdays ago, so the CSI from 2 weeks ago did not get taped), but last night it taped another episode.

We have 3 tapes going to date and the only reason that they are segregated by show is that we are only one week behind on everything. one tape held Battlestar Galactica, wth CSI next, then Battlestar Galactica again We got the first 2 shows watched, and that tape now resides above the machine for future watching.

Every new season is like this - our watching season doesn't end for at least a month after the shows have gone to reruns.

Movies haven't fared any better - I don't believe we have watched a movie since Thanksgiving when we watched Ice Age 2 over at Jimmy's. We have movies on DVD (we only watch 3-5 movies a year, so I am really picky about what I pick up), we have the Earth 2 DVD's (we loved that when it was on), we have 2 more seasons of 24 to catch up on (season's 3 and 4). At the rate we watch stuff, we will be retired before we actually see some of the stuff on that list.

We can't imagine how others manage to spend as much time in front of the tube as statistics say they do (and apparently, someone is making up for the time we don't spend watching).

Comments

[buffy]

Dear Husband goes to bed at 9:00 during the week, and rises at 4:30. He really should go to bed 30 minutes earlier, but we occasionally get wrapped up in a show or movie at 8, and it's hard to walk away in the middle.

I need to be keeping the same hours he is, because getting up at 5 or 5:15 is killing me, when I don't get to bed until 10, or 11, or 12, or even 1:00. I USED to be able to do that, but I need to face the fact that I can't any longer.

I commend you on having the sense to get the sleep you need, and for doing the sensible thing and taping the shows you want to see. I've heard good things about "24" and have considered getting the first season DVD. I am also thinking about getting the first season DVD for "West Wing." Somehow, I missed out on that entire show. We watch Sci-fi, too, but this version of "Battlestar Galactica" just doesn't do anything for me.

There are times I just sit with the cat and veg out while the TV is on. Other times I work on quilting. It's very difficult to quilt and not have something to keep your mind busy. And, there are times when a show is on, that I'm working at the computer. So, it's possible that many of the people who talk about HOURS of TV watching are actually multitasking. And if they aren't, their minds are now warped!

[TJ]

You need to get DVR. DVR rocks! I never watch anything live now. In fact, I have no idea when my favorite shows are even on. I just set the DVR up to record the series' that I like, and then I get surprised when I'm reviewing the recorded shows ("Hey, a Battlestar Galactica recorded! Sweet, I wonder when that was on?")

[bogie]

I have enough trouble keeping track of 2 VCRs (when we replaced our DVD player because it couldn't read current formats we got a dual vcr/dvd). On VCR takes care of 2 shows, the other 1 show.

I won't get tivo because last I knew we would have to upgrade our cable, and basic cable is all we need.