Small Things, and Why We Don't Have Cable TV

Another week …. And we’re still working on where we are heading. We have been busy trying to get all the boring, got to be done projects out the way by the end of the year so we can start some serious work in January on some big, long term projects. This has been a bit frustrating at times, as we are used to moving on to the exciting stuff, not raking leaves and fixing leaks… However, clearing our plates of some of these projects will be very helpful.

Personal development continues – we are both working in different books by Caroline Myss, and Andy has been studying more ideas on simplifying our lives. Less spending = need less money = work less (or save more). His current books du jour are “Radical Simplicity” by Jim Merkel and “Getting A Grip” by Frances Moore Lappe. People often ask how we can afford all these round the world trips that we take, and seem skeptical when we tell them how, and also how they could just as easily be doing it. We don’t spend much money the rest of the time! For example, we don’t have TV. (Well, in truth there is an old Walmart TV from the mid 90’s unplugged in a cupboard ….) – so what we should say is we don’t have cable TV and we don’t watch TV (except for the occasional Project Runway at a friend’s house). Not only is that a huge savings, but more importantly we are not exposed to all the advertisements that convince us to shop and buy more stuff. The average American watches 5 hours of TV a day and is exposed to around 40,000 commercials a year (Merkel). We don’t watch TV – that’s 40,000 things we have not been persuaded to think about buying …. The cost of basic cable for a year is a return ticket to Europe. It’s an easy choice for us.

A chunk of time this week has also been devoted to the presentation on Thursday, so that we can do a good job to let others know about the good work Seeing Hands Nepal is doing, and also our work with the orphanages, especially Rainbow Children’s Home.

Andy has committed to return to running races again … but no more marathons as the knees may not take it! So a ½ marathon instead … in Florida in February. He’s started training this week. Wish him luck!!
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“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. Life is too short to be small.” (Benjamin Disrali)