no wonder i'm out of touch with media culture

[lobelia321]

These days, I like to get in 8 hours sleep. As fretting about my horrible job tends to take up some of my nights, I need to get started on the sleeping early. Also, since last Thursday I've been training myself for when teaching starts again by getting up at 6.30 am so that I can get in half an hour's work on my book before my day starts.

This means, basically, that I need to go to bed at 9.30 pm. Which is now. As t'son gets picked up at 6 and then I cook and then hang out and put them to bed and then SHINE MY SINK, clean the cat loo, feed the guinea pig, stack the dishwasher, keep the laundry ticking over, read to t'son, clean up the cats' piss in the t'sons' bedroom, debate cleaning up the cats' piss, google 'cat odour urine how to remove', help t'son do homework, help t'other son do homework, hunt down t'son's P.E. shorts, get the frozen sandwich (made with amazing foresight on the weekend) and slip it into t'son's lunch bag, set the table for breakfast, rinse the thermos, update LJ, this leaves no time for TV-watching, DVD-watching, downloaded vid-watching or any type of interaction with popular media at all.

I do get to read in bed, though. Am starting Adam Thorpe's Still. I did try watching SGA eps in bed but this caused me to stay awake at night even more so I ain't tryin' that no more.

How do other people fit in hours of telly viewage? It baffles me.

Also, P.S. Why does LJ these days ask me to 'update captain's log'? And then says 'aye, aye' when I've posted?

Comments

[yellow-oranges.livejournal.com]

Because it's "Talk Like a Pirate Day" matey!!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Aha!!

I can go with that.

*landlubbers off*

[helenish.livejournal.com]

hey - people (like me, for instance) have time to laze about because they don't have babies or cats or self-discipline! It's fantastic! Today, my day went/will go like this:

7-7:25 hitting of snooze
7:30-8:20 - running
8:20-8:39 - showering, dressing
8:40-9:00 - fantastically short commute!
9-6:30 - work, work, work.
6:30 - 7:00 - commute home
7:00-7:20 - grocery
7:20 - 7:50 - dinner prep
7:50 - 8:30 - eaaating
8:30 - 12 - mooching about, snacking, telling Bandit he's wonderful, tidying, putting clothes away [our apartment is VERY WEE, so unless it gets really messy, 20-30 minutes of cleaning does it.] screwing around on internet, staring at unfinished story, watching of television, etc. etc.
12-1ish - bedtime.

huh! not such a bad life. I admire your early-rising book working on A LOT.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

What do you mean, no self-discipline and lazing about? *notes the 9-6:30 work work work' slot* 9-6:30! I find that an incredibly long working day! It must be true what they say, that you Americans work even harder than the English do, and the English already work harder than anybody else in Europe. I used to stay up till 12 but it made me tired and now I've decided just to give in and accept middle-age and go to bed early. Also, I get bored in the evenings. Now that I don't watch TV anymore, there's simply nothing to do! Except mooch about on LJ. But staring at the computer screen just before I go to bed makes me wake up in the night. God, I'm turning into an old biddy, is what I am. Where's my hot drink of ovaltine before bedtime, and where's the glass for me dentures?

*zimmers off to beddie-byes*

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

No kids.
No pets.
Nothing else done during evening.
Not enough sleep.

That's how I do it.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

It's the not enough sleep that I've recently realised I can't do anymore. I slept for 9 to 9 1/2 hours each night in France and I felt fantastic! I realise this is my normal sleeping requirement! Also, I went off TV in January 2002: once I'd discovered the online life, I just couldn't see the point of it anymore. Also, our TV sofa is really, really uncomfortable; it was that that was the final straw in giving me my back pain in April. Also, after football everything else on TV seems pale. And the crappy sci-fi shows come down the computer tube, anyway.

I have rambled incoherently in response to your haiku-like comment.

[junalele.livejournal.com]

I can only repeat what everybody else said - no kids, no pets. Also at the moment no work.

Also just a tiny question which you totally can ignore and tell me to keep my nose out of your life and what not - but what is t'h doing while you clean up after the kids and the cats and stuff?

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

is t'h doing while you clean up after the kids and the cats and stuff?
There is a short answer and a long answer. I will give you the short answer as it is 21.10 and I am preparing to repair to bed!!!

T'h obsessively works. At the moment, he is collating the German originals of his quotations for the German translation of his book that has just come out.

[junalele.livejournal.com]

Oh well, that's a really good reason for not really having time to do any homework. And I was really not trying to butt into your personal life or to critizise; I was just wondering because all I knew was that you worked your ass off and - well, going to shut up now. Sorry.

What kind of book is it?

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

German history.

[junalele.livejournal.com]

Really? What period? Sadly, I'm afraid I have to confess that I know more about Mongolian history (had to learn the last 800 years for my Zwischenpruefung) than about German history. I always wanted to get myself some book which would give me a nice overview about it but never got around to it... :(

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Modern.

[junalele.livejournal.com]

Okay. Got it. :)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Also, heh, if t'h wants to whine about all the work he's doing, he'd better get his own LJ. In my LJ, I'm only going to whine about all the work I am doing. *gg*

[junalele.livejournal.com]

LOL. That's the spirit. If you have to suffer, at least whine about it. Yep! :) But I still hope that things will slow down again for you. I mean, no tv? That's harsh. I don't know how that is handled in the UK but in Germany a tv is by now considered so basic that if you're getting social welfare they will pay for one. :)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hate having so much work (and this will last until 14 December which is the end of the semester) but I don't hate not watching TV. I was just wondering how people get the *time* to watch it. I have watched very, very little TV since Jan. 2002 which is when I discovered the online life and the interactive screen as opposed to the blathering, noisy passive one. I could easily give our TV back to the rental place; I only watch football and other shows to be polite or communal to the family. It doesn't help that our TV sofa is very, very uncomfortable but basically TV bores me. I'd rather read or write or do the online life, *g*.

[junalele.livejournal.com]

Hmm, yes, I watch much less tv since I've discovered the internet in...erh...*goes to look when X-Men 1 was first released* in 2000. But completly without tv would for me mean no football and most of all no tv shows. But if you want to write, please do! ;)

[laduchesse.livejournal.com]

wow! i have the moments of "motherhood" when i take care of my goddaughter and that puts me all out of whack.

even though i have no children or pets to care for on a daily basis, i have to schedule in media time. figuring what shows to watch, what footy games to tune into, when to check my email, etc. is REALLY annoying but if it's not on a timetable, i won't get anything i need to get done accomplished and i won't have any fun time which is a very grumpy me.

i've watched approx. 3 complete hours of tv since sunday, which is a lot since i saw it all uninterrupted (well, more or less...)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I went off TV in January 2002 which is when I discovered the online life and then I just couldn't see the point of the non-interactive screen any longer. So now, when I get tired in the evening and it's only 9 o'clock, there is nothing to stay up for so why not go to bed?! I love my bed, actually. We have a fantastic Dunlopillo latex mattress.

[laduchesse.livejournal.com]

i should go off tv. but it's a way of life here. even though the tv is on just about 24/7 (i got so use to noise, i can't sleep without it, but i put on a music channel so does it count as tv?), i watch about 5-10 hours a week. depends on how accessible a computer is...

omg, that bed looks so good! if i had one of those instead of this worn out serta, i'd be in bed all the time. i'm trying to get someone to get a tempur-pedic. i nearly died when i laid on one in the store. i have curves in my spine (major back aches) so it was heaven. for five minutes at least.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

TV is a way of l ife here, too (where are you?), *g* but just not for me. Pff. Once I moved the TV into a room that is not our daily congregation room, and once I did my back in and now can't sit on the TV sofa for very long (unless it's the World Cup and I am glued to that screen...!), and once I discovered the internet (!!!)... um, I just lost interest. ;-p

[laduchesse.livejournal.com]

one day i might switch completely over to internet...

i'm not sure if you were rhetorical asking but i'm in florida, haha.

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

I know! I'm amazed at the hours of telly and movie-watching that so many people fit in. And then fic-writing on top of it. I can barely keep my sink shiny and get 6 to 7 hours of sleep. And I don't even have children! Five pets do keep a girl busy, but still, I theoretically should have more time for fun things. I have decided that everything will change after I move. I will revert to the Born Organized person I used to be. And maybe even attend church!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed at the hours of telly and movie-watching that so many people fit in. And then fic-writing on top of it.
It mystifies me. Especially the fic-writing! I used to write fic until 3 in the morning but that was the bad old pre-depression days, and I just can't do that anymore. By the time, it's nine in the evening, I'm zonked, and there's nothing interesting to stay up for. Also, I love my bed! We have a queen-size Dunlopillo latex mattress, and I love it! In France, I slept 9 to 9 1/2 hours every night and I felt great. Telly, shmelly. Bad sci-fi episodes come on the internet anyway... *g* I hate the tyranny of live TV programming!

[birdgerhl.livejournal.com]

i don't watch tv. problem solved!

mind you, i don't shine the freakin' sink either, hahahaha.

b.x :)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I haven't really watched TV since January 2006. Which is when I discovered the online life and the interactive screen as opposed to the passive one, and then I just couldn't see the point of television any more. Also, after football, everything else that is on pales. It really is just pure crap. And my crappy sci-fi shows appears onstream, anyway, in downloadable format.

But I do shine the sink! Hoho.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Did I just type 2006? I meant 2002. Obviously!

[digdigil.livejournal.com]

Yikes! I am just about to go back to work after being off for two years! I am going back to my old job at least, so I won't have the pressure of a new one, but still. I remember the old days when, like you, I had to go to bed early in order to get up early, although for the past two years I've been able to go to bed at midnight and still get up at 5 or 6.

Do you use bleach to shine your sink?

I'm going to cry if I can't watch GolTV anymore except for weekends. I've pared my favourite TV shows down to 'LOST' and 'House' only. I'm already crying because I won't be able to see Arsenal TV or Liverpool TV anymore, since they are on in the daytime.

LJ is on some stupid pirate mission these days. I refuse to buy into it. I have nothing against pirates but they don't particularly turn me on.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Two years! What trauma for you! This is my sekrit plot: to get a 3-year sabbatical, funded by a body outside my university. And to piss off for 1,095 days. (I just worked that out on a bit of paper.)

When I first shined (shone?) the sink, I filled it with bleachy water. But now I just wipe it with a damp cloth, and then dry it with a little towel. Sometimes I spray it with windolene, for fun. I have been doing this since January 2005 which is when brightest_blue alerted me to Flylady which has changed my life. I immediately became the Stepford Babe and haven't looked back since. That's where I got the SHINY SINK from. *g* (I don't think I knew you then so you won't remember this, *g*).