Two years without cable, and I’m not missing it

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that by 2025, and I won’t be disappointed if it’s earlier, cable television will be officially deceased.

I did away with cable in September 2013. Initially I thought I would miss it, but each time I thought that, I remembered that the only thing I ever watched was sports and reruns of past TV shows.

It wasn’t really difficult to give up live-action sports because nothing I could do or say during the game would alter the outcome of the game, or my life.

And I actually found more time to do more things by watching the 3-minute highlight film rather than the 3-hour game….

When 2015 rolled around, I decided to watch the movies released in 2014 that interested me, starting in January 2014. They are on the Internet, and while some of the less successful ones were hard to find, they are there, just not on the first page of a Google search.

I finished watching the 2014 movies and went to 2015. The 2015 movies are not yet available, a presumption that I made based on not finding a single movie from January 2015 that was available.

So I decided to see what TV series were popular during my first decade on Earth. I came across “The Twilight Zone,” which I remember watching in reruns in the ’60s, and decided to watch it, episode by episode. Seems that everything ever televised is on the Internet, something I can’t say about cable….

All the ones I remember watching those many decades ago had unexpected endings, and many of them had moral or human lessons to be learned, or were thought-provoking concerning the future. Such was the case with Episode 1 from Season 1 which I watched earlier tonight. Its moral was that humans are social animals and enjoy being with other humans. I wouldn’t limit it to humans, though. Many of us humans also like to be with our dogs, our cats, our birds, our guinea pigs, our rabbits, our snakes, our lizards….

The social part of humanity hit home with me because when I came to San Diego on April 27, 1993, at the age of 38, I wasn’t sure who I was or what I wanted to do. I only knew that I probably wasn’t going to work anytime soon, perhaps never again in my lifetime.

Ten months later, while sitting on the sand at Blacks Beach, I realized just how much I wanted to be with other people. I was the only one on the beach that February morning, and it was lonely, even with my chess set, cards, UNO, and books to read.

Right after college I had learned the difference between being alone and being lonely, for one can have many family and friends and still be lonely. I was lonely, lonely, lonely that day on the beach.

I put myself back in the work force and have never looked back. I do need people in my life. I’d die of loneliness if I was the only survivor on a deserted island….

Here are some pictures of Blacks Beach where I spent my first ten months in San Diego, beginning with the steps (I use that word very loosely) down the 300-foot cliffs to the beach below:

Need a unique gift for a special occasion?

Use code YLNNRX for a $40 discount on
Photographic Art by Russel Ray Photos at Fine Art America