When the tv goes dark

It's now less than a month until February 17, when countless people will arbitrarily lose the usefulness of their televisions. There are those who react with disbelief when you mention that many Americans still do not have computers, or if they do that they don't access the Internet, or if they do that they use a dial-up connection to manage it. They are the same people who are incredulous that some households receive their television signal without use of cable or satellite services. Those viewers will be deprived of the value of their televisions entirely or, in the alternative (as law pleadings like to say), they will be forced to incur additional expense. We have been perfectly happy with our 13-inch tv set. I think it was our second color television and the third bought-new tv for this household. Even the next size up takes too much space. When the signal fails, we will borrow entertainment from the library to view using the tv screen. What will we miss? The occasional sporting event that has not gone over to non-network broadcasting, plus Spanish television (but we can catch up on the evening soaps courtesy of the library). The last English-language evening shows that we regularly watched were Roswell and Smallville. I've never been able to watch tv with undivided attention, but must read. I was too old to acclimate when regular viewing was first available and have lived too long at various times without electricity or where, although there might be audio, video was a snowstorm.