Tag Archive for netflix

What’s your latest TV series obsession?

Travel Man is on an extended assignment right now and will be away from home for a total of 22 days. Ugh!  I’m fairly used to his travel schedule now, and simply focus on our together time.  This undoubtedly leaves me a lot of time to find things to do on my own.  Another thing I’ve been getting used to.

So, with the house mostly to myself for a few weeks, I spend my evening time watching more chick flicks than usual, channel surfing, and finding things that I like to watch that Travel Man and I may or may not watch together.   Recently,  I had read a few reviews of The Good Wife, with Julianna Margulies, and Christine Baranski.  It had been on my back burner of shows to check out on our Roku, via Amazon Prime viewing.  When I checked on this series a few weeks ago the seasons were not yet being offered for free, and I wasn’t going to pay to watch the episodes.

This past weekend, with Travel Man gone, I decided to check out the Good Wife again, and lo and behold Season 1 is now free if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber.  Yay!  So I settled in to watch the first episode of Season 1, and I’m hooked.  Three nights later I have watch 14 episodes, not all in one sitting people!  My son tells me I’m obsessed, or is it an addiction?

It’s been awhile since I got totally hooked on a TV series that I really enjoyed.  This series is about the workings of a law firm and each episode revolves around one or two specific cases.  There is also a great mini story in the background. I’m not going to be  story spoiler here, but if you like a good lawyer series, this is a good one to settle in for.

TV viewing has become so different over the past few years.  I would much prefer to find a series to watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime over any of the regular network shows.  It’s definitely much more enjoyable to have the choices to be selective in your viewing, and not  be limited to only two or three local network stations.  Does anyone remember those days?

The guys in the house are hooked on The Walking Dead right now.  Those zombies are just a little too gory for me.  My Travel Man is watching the 3rd season on his Nexus tablet while he is on the road right now. He downloads the episodes before he travels, and then watches them while he flying or after work.  He would rather have the control over what he’s watching too.  It’s a whole new TV viewing world.

What’s your latest TV viewing obsession/addiction?  I’d love to hear any recommendations too!

Have you heard of this new fangled thing called a Roku?

Since we turned the page to the new year my house has been battling colds collectively, and while resting and staying hydrated Travel Man and I have gotten totally hooked on our new Roku device.   This is a video streaming device that allows you to stream tv shows and movies through services such as Netflix, Hulu plus, Amazon Prime, and a host of other “channels”.

This is beginning to change our tv viewing lifestyle immensely.  Of course this has been an ongoing process for the last few years.  What with the advent of being able to record tv shows, and then watch them without having to stop for the commercials.  We do our very best to avoid the commercials, but it’s funny because then when you’re watching a show with the commercials you get soooo impatient.

It’s been very eye-opening to come to the realization that we can be so very selective in our tv viewing, and movie watching.  Travel Man has said for a few years now that the cable companies need to sit up and pay attention.  It’s his opinion that the cable companies should allow their customers to pick the only the channels they want to pay for, and be billed accordingly.  Maybe he’s on to something.

Plus we keep getting hooked on certain tv series, of older show that we had never seen before.   We’re presently in the middle of watching Doc Martin.  A series on PBS for 5 seasons from 2004 to 2011.  Apparently there will be a sixth season in the near future.  Of course while Travel Man’s on the road I won’t watch anymore of this series, I will wait until he’s back home for a few days.  Since we have our Roku, and our streaming sources we can watch this whenever we want to, and commercial free I might add.

As far as I can see the  only drawback to the Roku is  I can’t watch my favorite baseball team on it.  Hmmm…. Give up my baseball games.  I cannot bring myself to do that.  Baseball games are part of my summer life.  So that means we will be keeping our cable service for a while longer.  I can see a point down the road where we could completely get rid of the cable though.

Travel Man’s a total gadget guy so he’s always reading up on the latest and greatest electronics.  I just follow his lead and learn about all the new fangled goodies from him and ask lots of questions.

What’s the newest electronics gadget in your household?

10 Reasons why I couldn’t sell my iPad…

There are not many times in my parenting/adult life where I have treated myself to a gift.  However, in December 2010 I did.  There was this new-fangled gadget on the market called an iPad, and I just wanted one.  So, with my Christmas bonus from work I cautiously spent the money on my own iPad.  This purchase took quite a bit of convincing from Travel Man to complete. “You deserve it honey” and “You never do anything for yourself”, are the words from my husband that ring in my head.

When the iPad was new, I used it a lot at work and not so much at home. When I walked away from my job last year, and my status changed to Domestic Goddess I thought I would have used it more than I was.  So, the iPad was sitting on my desk collecting some dust, and I had this fleeting thought that maybe I should just sell it.  And then logic and reason set it in, along with some teasing from my family.

After spending a few months debating with myself and really paying attention to the use on my iPad I came up with this list:

10. Evan, my grandson, and I like to play checkers and tic-tac-toe on the iPad.  Where would we play our games on the go?

9.  When someone in the house says, “Google it”, where would we go to become informed?  The iPad is usually sitting right on the coffee table or kitchen counter for anyone to grab and look something up on the web.

8.   The DJ capabilities with iTunes, the iPad and the Remote app are amazing.  How would we play all that fine music at the Party House during family parties?   How would the assigned DJ skip to a new song right in the middle of one that’s already playing?

7. I love to play word games on the iPad.  How could I possibly keep up on all my games of Words with Friends, and Scrabble in a timely manner?

6. Amazon shopping is my favorite form of shopping, along with a Prime membership of course.  How could I check on my Gift Lists?  How would I get my Christmas shopping done?

5.  There is always some movie that I want to watch on Netflix, and I find using the iPad is the best way to dump movies into the  Netflix Instant Que.  How would I search for movies on Netflix, or reserve a movie on Redbox?

4.  The iPad has become a phenomenal tool for cooking.   The ability to view the recipes on-screen while preparing a meal, etc. is awesome.  How would I view all of the Pioneer Woman recipes that my family has grown to love?  Check out this cool iPad holder I got for Christmas from my hubby for using it while I cook.

3. I have learned to use WordPress to write posts to my blog in the last few months.  How would my blog posts get shared with the world at a moment’s notice? I can take it with me wherever I go.

2. I can essentially have a mini computer with me wherever I go.  When I am with Travel man on a mini-vacation I don’t have to wait to use his laptop.  I have my iPad.

1. The number one reason I couldn’t sell my iPad is that it is  the first time in my working career that I used a bonus to buy something just for me.

Thanks to my family members, particularly Travel Man, who have encouraged and teased me through this decision.  I will forever love my iPad.

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