Growing . . .

. . . Aggravated

Yes, I'm growing aggravated and so is Lady B. We are aggravated with television, specifically television ads.

Watching television these days has become a real chore. It seems that a one hour show these days means perhaps 30 minutes (that's a half hour) of commercials, repeated over and over every few minutes and then:

"we interrupt these commercials to bring you a little more show - if you remember where it left off.

Commercials that are aimed at selling motor vehicles, often pickups racing madly through dusty desert areas, through streams and over rocks.

Commerials touting all kinds of products guaranteed to cut your belly down by x-number of inches in seven days or cure whatever ails you practically overnight.

And more yet - boost your bosom, stuff your tummy, call now this or that lawyer, enroll in this insurance and enjoy knowing your family will be cared for at your passing, become more attractive with our colorful tattoos, enjoy these oldies on this set of CDs for only $19.95 but wait - use your credit card and get this extra bonus.

And so on and so on. Be sure to read the small print on that life insurance policy ad - if the print is big enough and it's on the screen long enough:

Not available over age seventy or if you have heart disase, diabetes, emphasema, high blood pressure or other pe-existing conditions.

And then there's the commercials for stuff to cure your headaches, colds, high blood pressure, joint pains, tiredness, back aches, leg cramps, PMS and on and on. There is perhaps ten seconds of how good the product is but be careful of these possible side effects, then listed for the next thirty or so seconds.

Lady B and I long ago found the MUTE button on the TV but now we have found that using that button takes more time than we want to spend on blocking those yelling voices selling pickups and curealls.

We've discovered that if we just put in a non-commercial movie DVD in the extra-cost gadget atop the TV, we can watch a continuous show sans commercials with the added feature that if one of us falls asleep, the other can put the movie on pause until the other wakes again.

An alternative is to sell the TVs and return to the old-fashioned enjoyment of reading good books or writing letters to old friends.

What say you, friends?

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