We got our PVR about a year and a half ago and honestly, I wonder what the heck we did without it. I mean I know WHAT we did – we recorded shows on our VCR – but I don’t remember recording very many shows. Because these days, it seems that our PVR is perpetually 90 per cent full.
You’d think maybe we’d learn that we watch more shows than we’re able to regularly follow, but no, because at least once a week, we’re scrolling through the list of recorded shows, hoping to find something to erase so that we can squeeze in just ‘one more show.’
A lot of it has to do with the fact that, because of Austin, we don’t have as much time to watch TV as we used to – before he was born, and when he was newborn, we used to flip on a previously-recorded show at 7 p.m. while we ate our dinner, just because we could. These days, there’s no time for that. Instead, we’re rushing around to get his dinner on the table, and then our dinner on the table and then maybe give him a bath and actually spend a little time playing with him before bed. So it’s usually 8 or 8:30 before we sit down and relax in front of the TV.
So there goes the 7 p.m. timeslot to catch up on shows. But at least, thanks to the PVR, we can watch a show that began at 8 p.m. by starting it at 8:30.
Then there’s bedtime. Shows that started at 10 p.m. never used to be a problem, but now, it’s practically unheard of for either of us to stay up that late on a weeknight (or Friday night for that matter – but that’s usually a result of falling asleep on the couch and then stumbling down the hall to bed.)
So anything that’s on at 10 p.m. just goes straight to the recorded list of the PVR. And it sits there for weeks and weeks and weeks. Along with anything else we hadn’t gotten around to watching.
Throw in the fact that the Raptors were in the playoffs so we were watching the games instead of our regularly scheduled programming, and you have one full PVR right now.
The advantage to having all these shows sit on there is come June, when every show has gone into reruns, we’ll still have episodes of CSI: Miami, among others, from March, April and May to watch. Much to Ryan’s dismay I’m sure, this means a few extra weeks of not having to watch the Blue Jays every night. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m a baseball fan – but six nights at week?!)
I think next TV season, I’m going to cut down on the number of shows I religiously follow. I mean do I really need to watch three incarnations of CSI? And as much as I love 24, this season is not sitting well with me – so if it doesn’t show signs of improvement next season, it may be time to consider moving on.
And when it comes to moving on, for every new show I want to take on, I should be willing to give up something else. Right?
This sounds good now, but for some reason, I think that come October, my PVR will be 90 per cent full again.
2 comments:
You're still doing OK. I just downloaded Season 7 of Friends for the w. She's way behind.
Your story makes me worry about our future. I'm not sure how big the average DVR is these days, but since the biggest TiVo only holds 32 hrs. of HDTV, and I currently have 79 on my hard drive, I have a feeling we'll be giving up on TV all together when we have kids.
I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad to hear we're NOT the only ones with this problem/addiction! I think what I love best about the PVR is recording all the new shows, not starting them all, but rather waiting to see what makes it before latching on to a new one. It's great hearing that after 3 episodes something's been cancelled and then all I have to do is delete, delete, delete. Freeing up more space, plus avoiding falling for some show only to have it ripped away!
Look at it this way, you would be wasting an incredibly precious resource to NOT have your machine working at full copacity! PVR's should always be within 10% of full!
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