Complicated cord-cutting

When did watching television become so expensive? And when did efforts to curb that cost become so complicated? Shouldn't cord-cutting be simple? Isn't that the whole idea?

I remember paying a little more than $30 per month to CableVision for 50+ channels in the late 90's and thinking that was a pricey luxury.

And don't even get me started on my efforts to be wireless and how that seems to backfire every time some new gadget comes into my house. It's absurd.

 

So I'm sitting up in the wee hours of the morning, researching everything from Apple TV to Roku to Fire Stick.

And like a good nerd with insomnia, I'm making a list of all the things I actually watch on cable and what I would be giving up by ditching it. Turns out, not much. I regularly watch exactly five channels. Now that's eye-opening.

I'm also adding up the costs of things like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, and trying to decide if I would need or want any of those offerings in the absence of real cable.

I'll lay it out there:  I pay $160 every month for decent internet speed (whatever that means) and a laundry list of channels I don't watch. But if I want to get rid of the ones I don't watch, I lose the ones I do. There is no in-between, and the idea of "a la carte" gives AT&T Uverse the twitches.

And they do this super nice thing for you: they drill a special little box into your wall so your house is forever branded "AT&T-ready."

This must not continue. My wallet is no longer interested and I'm tired of being a sucker. So what if I miss a few old episodes of SVU? I mean, haven't we all seen them dozens of times, easily?

So far, I'm leaning towards Apple TV. It seems to offer the most options, and I'm an Apple girl.

Thankfully, I know an Apple guy who will graciously come to my house and set up all the little gizmos, gadgets and wireless things that just make me confused (another reason I'm thinking Apple).

I'll get started on this cord-cutting business first thing in the morning... Stay tuned!

Two kinds of women

I heard some pretty solid truth on an old Law & Order episode the other day: "There are two kinds of women in this world: those with breast cancer, and those who are scared to death of getting it."

Right on, Lt. Van Buren. I hear that.

In just a few hours, hundreds of women, their families, friends, coworkers and even some pets will wake up to "race for the cure."

This annual ritual is a milestone in the battle against breast cancer for many, a blessing and celebration of survival, and a rite of passage for others.

Here in Cleveland, for the past three years, those who take part in the Susan G. Komen event have had to be pretty resolute for the cure, myself included.

As I type, rain is coming down in buckets, and as she has for the past few years, Mother Nature will continue to dump on the shores of Lake Erie for another 5k.

The pink will be covered with plastic bags, raincoats and umbrellas, but the army will assemble! It's  just a little water!

I'm always moved by the faces I see at the Race for the Cure: strong women who would probably say their lives weren't extraordinary before their diagnosis, but ordinary, typical, filled with husbands, kids, work, meetings, groceries and Browns games on Sundays.

Then, those words. All the air leaves the room. I can't imagine. I'm in "group two" of Lt. Van Buren's reference.

So this morning at 9 a.m., they will lace up their shoes, put on as much pink as they can find, and celebrate their forever-changed lives.

And the hope is that I and anyone else in "group two" will never have to know what it feels like to be in group one.

I won't be at the race this year, but my heart will, along with people I love and admire.

I will be thinking of them, each doing their part to help find a cure for cancer, so maybe someday there will still be two kinds of women in this world: those who fought breast cancer and won, and those who will never have to go to war.

Pic from the 2014 Race for the Cure, where my coworkers and I broadcast live in the rain!

Now, because you can't hear it enough, EARLY DETECTION IS CRITICAL!!!

If you've been putting off your breast healthcare because of financial concerns, MetroHealth Medical Center, University Hospitals, and Cleveland Clinic all offer free mammograms to uninsured and under-insured women.