cut the cord

CUT THE CORD

as we sat down to visit with a friend recently
i saw on her coffee table
the august 2017 consumer report
i opened it up
there was this article in there on
cutting the cord

whats cutting the cord
its cutting yourself away from the holds of the cable folks
or the direct tv or dish tv folks

now we had lived way out in the country for several years
we didnt have cable
we relied on satellites to provide our tv connections
so we basically had two choices
direct tv or dish tv

for our internet we had two choices
a cell phone card
or
satellite internet
both are slower and more expensive to use than
cable connected internet

so each month as we got our bills
two of them
i would seethe
having to write that check for over $200+ a month
just to stay connected to the outside world
and
that includes no access to hula live tv or netflix or amazon etc

so when we moved i wanted to do something different
now when i write i i mean we

so as i opened the magazine
i read the several page article on how to
cut the cord

i wrote down what tv stuff we watched
like all the local stations pbs sports stuff news stations comedy central
rfdtv hbo etc
then i looked at what or which services we could use
to watch our tv stuff and still cut the cord

so
here is what we came up with

i bought a tv antenna
mohr 50
its is flat and lays down behind our tv
we get all the local channels minus nbc
and three pbs stations
and several spanish speaking channels

i like to watch the local news so we now have access to the station
that we like to watch here
all for free minus the cost of the antenna

i bit my tongue held my nose and held my breath
and
opened a cox account
for the internet only
looking at what all we planned to do
which was just watch tv
no gaming etc

so now we have a fast enough for us speed to hook up
to this new world

first
we chose of course
netflix
no more dvds to pull out and watch house of cards
we are in tv heaven now
cost around $10+- a month

next
we chose hula with live tv
we get now all the channels we regularly watch except for
comedy central and rfdtv
we can add hbo if we want
we want
hbo may get attached to hulu or amazon prime for free
maybe
it also has dvr
cost around $40 a month

next
we added amazon prime
cost around $10+-

then we used
apple tv as our streaming service in order to get the
hula live tv
we already had roku as a streaming device which allows
us to get amazon prime

now we are all set up
initial costs
antenna around $40
apple tv around $200
roku around ?$40 my wife she lost the records on the cost
modem/router around $180
note the cable company charges over $10 a month to use theirs
cable hookup $20

so for the initial cost of around $480
we have now cut the cord
we should break even in 6 months

we have a monthly cable bill of $40
netflix $10+-
hula live tv $40
Amazon prime $10+-
for a monthly cost of $112+-

if we were full cable we would have a bill in a year of close to
$200+ a month

so thats how we cut the cord
i know i know
we still have to be hooked up to the internet
but that cable cord i cut
is all way through

it feels good
the selection of what to watch is much better
and
we dont feel screwed by the cable company

the organicgreen doctor

anniversary

ANNIVERSARY
today is two anniversary days
one is the anniversary of my parents
now deceased
we miss them

the other
is the anniversary of this blog

it was originally started
when my wife she suggested i watch this pbs show
on a lady that started blogging
and
now makes her living doing it

i said
i can do that
so
i did
and
i havent looked back

i started blogging on our living at the country n
on things like rainwater harvesting organic garden larry the rooster
chickenering etc
also
i hoped to write some on what it was like to be working
as a family doctor

then that fall late winter
it started as an ocular migraine
i had wavy lines like i was looking at a messed up tv
it lasted 30 minutes
was this the start of it all
i dont know

then 3 months later while volunteering to be in the normal
control group of a large national research study
at ut southwestern in dallas
it was noted that i had short term memory problems
i was not aware of

from there i went to having a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment
and
getting placed on the alzheimers medicine aricept (donepezil)
to now being in a large new experimental treatment trial for
alzheimers disease called the aducanumab study

so
i refocused the blog to include my journey with my diagnosis
luckily for me it hasnt progressed in 7 years
maybe my memory has slightly improved
its definitely stable

so now 7 years later
i have written over 1719 blogs
had my blog reviewed as many as 700,00+ times
from folks around the country
around the world

i communicate with them frequently over this blog facebook and twitter
answering questions about gardening rainwater collection etc and
of course
alzheimers disease

so
this summer as we enter another phase of our life
here in socal
we hope to continue our journey with the same focus as before
gardening organically of course
healthy living
alzheimers disease and our quest for a treatment and cure
ms b
anything else i can find interesting thats happening in the world
yep
theres plenty of material to write about

i hope to write until it doesnt make sense
the words i put down on this computer

thanks to my readers

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-kids and the alzheimers lady

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-KIDS AND THE ALZHEIMERS LADY

one thing i have noticed over the last few years
is that the kids
the grandkids
the kids
the nephews
the nieces
they sometimes get all lost in the alzheimers story

recently
i sat by a young relative at a restaurant
i asked him did he remember his grandpa who
died from alzheimers disease
yes he said
not as well as i use to though
he seemed to sadden up and not want to talk about it

i thought of him
thought of my brothers grandkids as i watched the video below
wondering how his alzheimers disease
and
his downward course
what effect it had on them

what effect does it have on those kids that are sort of
well
ignored it seems

as i watched this video of these kids talking to the lady
with alzheimers
i thought about all this

ive watched this video several times and get teary eyed
as i think about
it being me sitting in that chair
answering questions from miss b
i hope she understands it all one day

i hope that if you have a child exposed to this disease
that
you try to explain it all to them

remember
we need financial support to fight this disease
and
emotional support to deal with it

join us as we walk this year

we will be doing the
alzheimers texas walk in georgetown texas
on saturday september 23rd
team name is organicgreendoctor

yes we will be in georgetown for the above walk
as we walk with our austin friends and family
do join us
come say goodbye to us

i also will have a team in the
santa barbara walk to end alzheimers 
on saturday october 28th
team name is organicgreendoctor.com

join us

the organicgreen doctor