Living without a TV

When David and I met we were both in agreement that we did not want a TV in our house. There was so much garbage on the tube and we didn't think it was an environment we would want to raise children in. Then after a year and a half when we move to St. Louis, I said to David "you moved me away from my family and friends, you are not moving me away from my TV too". So along with our other boxes we took a tv from my parents. It was so nice in the mornings to let the kids watch Barney and other cartoons while I got to rest. Also, since it was CST we were able to watch Seinfeld reruns and be asleep by 11 pm.
However after three and a half years it was time to move again. We moved to Baltimore and were now closer to friends and family. The tv got banished to the shed. Of course my mom would complain bitterly every time she would visit that there was nothing to do and she needed a tv. Finally after several visits we took the tv out of the shed for her. We plugged it in, heard a loud pop, and there went the tv. At least we tried.
When I had Leora, David bought we a treadmill as a present (I picked it out). I needed something to do while I was exercising. I had a little black and white tv that I inherited from my in-laws and that did the job. Next thing you know, the tv was coming back upstairs into my bedroom and David and I would gather around the little screen to catch glimpses of Law and Order. I was in heaven though. We then started collecting more black and white little tv's as gifts from IBM. I was able to have one by my bed, one by David's and one downstairs.
One day Avi informed us he was moving apartments and he had an extra COLORED tv. I jumped at the opportunity saying it would be perfect for my mom who complained that the little black and white tv was useless for her because of the "vakatka" reception. We inherited the tv and it took a proud place in our new guest room in the basement. The kids only used it for one hour a week to watch cartoons on Sunday morning. At this point in our lives though, I didn't get to rest, because I was constantly needed to break up the fights.
More recently, once Avi and Tikki were married, they again had an extra tv. This one with a built in VCR. David wasn't into taking it, but of course I jumped at the chance. This tv that we inherited got the proud place in our bedroom. All this time we never had cable tv. One day though shortly before me moved to Israel we got a call from Comcast informing us that we were getting free cable all along because the cable to our house for the internet was missing a filter. Oh well. I was happy that I got all of my shows without needing cable.
Now to Israel. We do not have a tv. In fact in Israel you pay a tax if you have a tv, above any service fee. So I'm kind of in withdrawal. I've tried to find shows on the internet and sometimes I'm more successful than others. For example, yesterday I watched two back to back episodes of Criminal Minds not having to worry about buffering but when I tried it again later, the show would stop every few seconds to buffer. It was very annoying. So I guess I will have to resign myself to life without TV, but at least I have Facebook :)