I am moving back to my country of birth New Zealand after living here in Oz after 25yrs away.Having being carfree for 43 of my 45 yrs.I embraced the pedalling life for the last 2yrs due to health reasons and a crap public transport system.
As my parents have never driven or owned a car its something i never thought was unusual and growing up we used all the methods used by carfree members.I never felt deprived, it was something we did till a family member learned and they became the courier(unlucky) of the family.I only got my licence in my late 30s for a job in a car hire place and learned to drive on the job.Plenty of burned out clutches there hehe.
Now that i am returning home i have found accomodation close to a major shopping complex with a public transport interchange attached to it if needed.
I still plan on using the bike as my major transporter to work and everything else.I am now going to be television free to get me out of the house as i loved to watch sports and sit there zombied out.My thinking was i spent enough time biking around i deserved that tv time. Using my laptop to connect to the world to catchup with news etc will be my only zombied out time from now on.I dont know if spending so much time on the forums counts toward to my zombie time count but when i discovered it after being buzzed and harrassed on my commutes.It helped me to understand alot and calm down.Unlimited work internet access also helped haha.
Okay thats enough of a novel for now and you all stay safe and i'll catchya around,i loved reading Koffee,Roody,Illihault,Oboeguy,Bigmark and stoked to see a post from Sheldon Brown in the mechanical forum once,
Cheers.
scroz
08-29-05, 12:01 PM
Crap public transport, I bet you were in Brisbane weren't you....
I have been TV free for nearly 9 months now and I reckon you won't even miss it. You can watch films on your laptop, you can watch news streaming on the internet and you dont have to put up with commercials or bloody reality TV. Wicked.
ctyler
08-29-05, 12:15 PM
I've been TV free for over a year and a half. It's a complete waste of time. I get news from the web and radio, weather from the web, and read, read,read after cycling and walking the dog.
KristenGilbert
08-29-05, 12:21 PM
I've been TV free since February and it's amazing how much more time I have to do things, how many more books I've read, and how much more time I spend enjoying outside. Because I don't watch the TV news, I actually feel tons safer. All they show is news that freaks your out and makes it feel like everyone wants to break into your house, rape you, kill you or steal from you. I like humanity a lot more because I don't watch TV.
lala
08-29-05, 12:24 PM
TV is a true time-sucker. I waste so much time watching it. I used to be tv free, but I moved into a house with satellite tv and tivo. Ack. I'm about ready to do an intervention on myself. Except for Deadwood. Of course. :)
Dont't dump your frustrations of life onto the tube. I find that computer ownership or access can get out of control just like overwatching television. Moderation and balance is the key.
richardmasoner
08-29-05, 01:52 PM
I've been TV-free since 1984. I agree with folder that computer use can get just as (or even more) addictive, though for me Internet use is a two-way communication tool. If you're TV-free, consider joining the (very low traffic) notv YahooGroups.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/notv/
RFM
gwd
08-29-05, 03:29 PM
TV free for much longer than car free here. When I see it in someones home I'm completely captivated. Do any of you who have been TV free for more than 10 years have that experience? Maybe I just read too many books and try to understand everything on the screen. When a person reads he or she can re-read, or get a dictionary or compare one text with another but with the TV the assertions about the world come pouring in as both sound and images (which on news and "educational" programs don't correlate) so quickly that the viewer can't make any discrimination. People who watch TV regualarly sometimes complain that it is "mediated" reality, it is more accurate to describe it as falsehood unmediated by any thinking. When I got on this forum I was surprised to find people talking TV free and Thoreau. To connect it back to the subject of car free living, there are people who, no matter how many times you say "I like it." think you are suffering without a car. A few weeks ago it rained and a coworker who has been saying to me all summer, "I bet you're hating life in this heat." said to me "OOO, you're going to be miserable riding your bike in this rain.". No, I was looking forward to the refreshing ride. My twenty something niece once told me in complete seriousness that I am ignorent of reality because I don't watch TV.
Do you guys think that part of the communications gap between bike people and car people is that our fun experience can't be represented on TV so isn't knowable to the TV people? The TV says "Make sure you bring your umbrella folks its going to rain." therefore anyone who gets rained on is miserable? The TV can't really represent that little jolt you get when the rain first hits you and the tingly feeling later as the cool raindrops contrast with your body heat.
What I'm getting at is that maybe for a TV person, riding in a climate controlled car isn't different from sitting in front of a TV. I'm looking for some snappy sound byte that I can tell people since "I'm looking forward to my ride home." isn't getting through. Maybe a shortened paraphrase of Herodotus' "Neither rain, nor snow, nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." like "Neither rain, nor snow, nor heat nor gloom of night can make me want a car."? No, the neither-nor construction causes thinking and the sound byte has to combat thoughtlessness doesn't it? Any ideas?
Simplebiker
08-29-05, 03:59 PM
I was TV free for a year 5 years ago. I grew up without cable. I never would have thought that I would be paying for digital cable as I am now. I did enjoy seeing the Tour de France on OLN, but mostly it is a waste of time. I probably stay up later than I would otherwise. When I didn't have TV, I didn't miss it. I am probably somewhat hooked now. I'm even a little apprehensive about killing the cable.
Erick L
08-29-05, 05:01 PM
I've owned a TV for 3 days of my entire life, though never been really TV-free since we have a TV at work. Every 6 months, I think about getting a TV and DVD player to rent movies. Then it passes and I forget about it. I'll probably buy a DVD player and bring it at work.
I'm a bit web-addict and I listen to radio a lot.
TV keeps you captive. So many shows could be better done on radio. I mean... some shows are only some people talking. Why do we need to see them? Then there are the ads...
I still have a car. :(
worker4youth
08-29-05, 05:20 PM
Don't fall into the temptation...www.craftytv.com....yikes!
rs_woods
08-29-05, 05:39 PM
I haven't watch TV since the 90s, but my mom has kept the big TV around anyway since it costed so much money.
Well, we're truly TV-free now, since the house is probably underwater now.
Travelinguyrt
08-29-05, 06:09 PM
Gosh, I thought I was one of the few TV-less folk. Glad to see that the movement is more wide spread than I had thought. I haven't watched in over 5 years; don't miss it.
Cable where I live is pushing 65$ per month and so I pulled the plug, when I called to cancel the service I was asked, WHY? I said cable is dull, boring and repeative, plus not worth the expense of paying for channels I would never watch.
More time to do the things I like.
I listen to people gripe and moan about how bad TV is , and I ask, "Why watch it then?. and the faces go blank..DUHHHHHHH 'what would we do without it?.
No hope for the hopeless
kevink159
08-29-05, 07:01 PM
TV free for about 3 months. I decided I had to get rid of the damn thing after I actually sat through the ENTIRE NFL Draft this spring. I think it is what alcoholics call rock bottom. No TV has been great, I have always read somewhat, but now I am reading tons of great books. I do still go to the pub and watch a baseball game every now and then, but I don't think 3 hours of TV a month is that bad.
doglhunt
08-29-05, 07:21 PM
I haven't watch TV since the 90s, but my mom has kept the big TV around anyway since it costed so much money.
Well, we're truly TV-free now, since the house is probably underwater now.
hope not
cosmo starr
08-29-05, 07:46 PM
i gave my tv away
Anthony87
08-29-05, 11:15 PM
i only watch the occasional film festival movie and pornography. i don't have service just a tv. i do agree with the internet being addictive. as a student i check out maybe a dvd about the psychological effects of gambling, or lectures. the tv can be used as a tool for education. networks and all the mind numbing commericals that tell us to consume. the only tool that i see in it though is the use of recordings(DVD VHS)The tv just like the internet can numb the mind it's just about how you use these tools.It's about using common sense, logic, and knowledge. but i believe that the people that say kill your tv. are meaning the networks which i totaly agree with. but as far as dvds or vhs. the tv is a worthless piece of plastic which is soon to be replaced by the computer and when that happens i will kill my tv and be tv free. car free is in the process.:)
Anthony87
08-29-05, 11:17 PM
oh yeah pick up a book:)
Urban Terrorist
08-30-05, 03:36 AM
Wow,thanks for the replies which i agree with and happy to see what a varied bunch we are.I am looking forward to reading more and attending sport events live to get my fix and just ride.Hope to kick off a touring bug in NZ,cheers.
Urban Terrorist
08-30-05, 03:44 AM
Sorry nothing beats Sydney transport system.
KrisPistofferson
08-30-05, 03:45 AM
Screw TeeVee. Usually, if there's a show I'm interested in, like "Six Feet Under" or "Lost," I'll wait 'til it comes out on DVD and rent it. Some of these reality and makeover shows really freak me out, because they alarm me as to where our culture is headed. It's hard to feel patriotic when you suspect all your country-men and -women of being melodramatic, wannabe rockstars , plastic surgery sideshow-freaks and vapid drama-queens.Also, that old chestnut about "it's what's on the inside that counts" is still true, in my humble opinion, but advertising and Oprah oil the wheels of commerce by making us all feel ugly and inadequate. It's no big secret.
SandySwimmer
08-30-05, 07:58 AM
I have been tv-free for years. It started when I was hosteling in Europe for six months. I got out of the habit. And, when I returned to the states, I just forgot to watch it. I get my news on NPR and BBC by way of the radio. I don't miss it.
Every once in a while, when I am visiting people, I will watch it and find myself bored. I've missed most (American) cultural references to shows though. I missed survivor, seinfeld, friends. Recently, while visiting, I watched an episode of Frasier in syndication and I found myself saying how funny this 'new' show was. She told me, 'yeah, that was on for about 9 years, it's been off the air now for at least a year.'
Very nice being tv-free. So funny though. I have had more people offer me their extra televisions because I no longer own one. Also, whenever I'm at a party or a social gathering someone always remarks, "oh, you're the one who doesn't own a tv (so and so) told me about you." And then there is an awkward moment of a group saying, 'ooooh' and looking me over to see if I look different from other people because they find it to be soooo unusual.
I think the brain works differently without television. TV trains it to be more passive, to be a spectator, to watch things happen without trying to be involved. Interesting.
Sandy
FXjohn
08-30-05, 08:10 AM
Screw TeeVee. Usually, if there's a show I'm interested in, like "Six Feet Under" or "Lost," I'll wait 'til it comes out on DVD and rent it. Some of these reality and makeover shows really freak me out, because they alarm me as to where our culture is headed. It's hard to feel patriotic when you suspect all your country-men and -women of being melodramatic, wannabe rockstars , plastic surgery sideshow-freaks and vapid drama-queens.Also, that old chestnut about "it's what's on the inside that counts" is still true, in my humble opinion, but advertising and Oprah oil the wheels of commerce by making us all feel ugly and inadequate. It's no big secret.
I can't stand just about any popular show out there.
The last thing I could handle was Seinfeld.
I'm a dork who pays a cable bill and pretty much has History Channel playing in the background all the time. I'm considering replacing my TV with Satellite radio.
Dahon.Steve
08-30-05, 08:14 PM
I've been TV free since February and it's amazing how much more time I have to do things, how many more books I've read, and how much more time I spend enjoying outside. Because I don't watch the TV news, I actually feel tons safer. All they show is news that freaks your out and makes it feel like everyone wants to break into your house, rape you, kill you or steal from you. I like humanity a lot more because I don't watch TV.
Agreed.
I've been reading more books and getting better information on the web than ever before. It sickens me to see commercial after commercial of motor cars and now I wonder why society spends so much money on this luxury. People are brainwashed into buying this lifestyle. If you watch enough TV, even a Hummer starts to become attractive.
I spend much more time outside and no longer spend my afternoons watching sports. The past three years of being TV free have been a revelation in my life. It just amazes me how much of my life I wasted sitting watching other people live their lives.
I laugh when I hear cable rates going up and now they have satalite radio that requires a subscription. I used to pay for cable TV and was AMAZED at what folks are shelling out each month when I visited the payment center! People were paying $250.00 - $300.00 dollars a month for hundreds of channels with extentions in different rooms. I could not believe it and realized then there was something wrong with this picture because these same folks were still saying there is nothing on TV! SAD.
I even gave up Cable Internet and log on using my Verizon cell phone at 14.4K!!! It's free access after 9:00 which is why I like it so much. HA. I'm so cheap now but it keeps me from wasting my life in front of the computer.
Several years ago, I learned the hard way after a long period of unemployment that it's just no good to live on the edge. I've become a minimalist and find much more enjoyment in security than trying to live a television lifestyle.
531phile
08-30-05, 09:38 PM
I'm with you all. I don't have a car and I don't have a TV. I got a playstation though which doesn't make any sense and I got like four computers. and something like 16 bikes. No...I don't have a bike problem.
Totoro
08-30-05, 09:41 PM
tv sucks. after a year you will look at it again. you will be bored by it. you will be annoyed by it.
Yup, that's my opinion after watching network TV about Katrina. I never watch network TV, just public TV, BBC news (occasionally), and commercial free movies (occasionally). The news coverage of the hurricane reminded me that I'm not missing anything.
Totoro
08-30-05, 09:44 PM
I don't have a TV. I got a playstation though which doesn't make any sense.
You're right. Unless it's a PSP, I think you need a TV to play it, unless is part of some kind of modern art sculpture or something.
turtlendog
08-30-05, 10:17 PM
TV free for about 10 years here. I can't tell you how many times someone has offered to give me the old one they have in the garage. Funny.
It's true that I feel a bit out-of-step with society because I don't get all their references to shows ( is that really all there is to talk about? ) That doesn't bother me much since I think a person's doing something wrong if less than 20% of his peers think he's crazy.
TV kind of freaks me out now. I'm embarrassed for my fellow man who might actually fall for some of that advertising or watches some dumb show. I also can't ignore it if I'm near one. It's just so amazing to me...
notfred
08-31-05, 09:13 AM
I don't watch TV, either.
I heard yesterday there's a giant flood along the gulf coast, due to a hurricane. I find that not watching TV means that I don't keep up with current events. Yeah, I could get a newspaper or listen to the radio, or whatever, but I don't really find it that interesting. I mean, it's not worth it to go out of my way just to check and see if anything horriffic happened in some place that I've never been to.
Some people would probably think I'm an idiot because I don't know which celebritry recently divorced which other celebrity, or because I don't know how president Bush is reacting to this hurricane/flooding thing.
But why does it matter? In all honesty - the hurricane has no bearing on my life at all. Had I not seen an article on a website yesterday that mentioned it, I would have never known it existed. Why should I go out of my way to try and keep up with tons of news that will never affect me?
JohnBrooking
08-31-05, 02:54 PM
Sandy, you sound just like me! My TV avoidance started in college, not having one in my dorm room and not bothering to spend much time in the lounge, then when I moved out on my own, my first thought was "Hey, I don't have a TV", followed closely by "Let's see how long I can hold out without one." Turns out it could have been indefinitely, had my family not given me one from my grandparents' house after it was sold, because I was the only one who didn't already have one.
But still, as you say, once you're out of the habit, it's relatively easy to stay out. I can't remember the last time I watched a show other than a special event like a political speech, or sometimes rental videos. Sitcoms all seem so stupid, and I don't even want to start on reality shows for fear that I will actually get wrapped up in them. (And hate myself for it in the morning!)
OTOH, now that we have small children, they have gotten heavy into the video habit (which we limit as much as possible), although actually network TV is still minimal, and we don't have cable. (We also still have a car, although we just cut back to one temporarily, and hopefully permanently soon.)
I think being TV-less and car-less have a lot in common, which is probably why this nexus exists on this forum. Both are looked at as being outside the mainstream, even unimaginable by some, and in both cases, well-meaning friends and relatives tend to offer to help you out to get one, as if you couldn't get one yourself if you wanted to. :)
halfbiked
08-31-05, 03:35 PM
I have gone TV-free a couple times. Somehow though, football season pulls me back in. The first time it prompted me to see if that TV left in the garage by a former tenant actually worked. The next time, it saddens me to say, I actually purchased a TV. Right now though, we're mostly going without; we just moved and haven't bothered to set up the 'main' TV yet. Though we did plug in the little one for news.
This morning, I turned it on while getting dressed - to see if there was any hurricane coverage. I saw nothing but ads. I don't miss it!
JohnBrooking
08-31-05, 06:06 PM
Coincidently, I just happened to come across a poem tonight called My Television Does Not Listen to Me. Here's the first stanza:
My television does not listen to me.
It talks on and on, like a selfish lover,
not really concerned with my needs.
It wants and wants and wants
me to buy a new car, a new phone,
beer, Pepsi and jeans. I tell it
I do not need a stronger medicine
for my headache, I need to know
why I am sick.
It is from a book called A Moxie and a Moon Pie: the Best of Moon Pie Press, Volume I, available here (http://www.moonpiepress.com/).
cruentus
08-31-05, 07:34 PM
I own a TV, but it's hooked to an aerial, I dumped the cable over 15 years ago. I may watch 1 or 2 hours of TV a week. I got out of the TV watching habit way back when MTV still played only music videos.
Gurgus
09-01-05, 06:07 AM
Try hating TV and not wanting to watch it, but your job requires it. That's right! My job is watching tv. I hate hate hate it. You folks are on the right track. It sucks. 12 hours a day. So, in order to stay somewhat sane, I'm on the internet most of the day. I go home after work to my wife and kid(soon to be kids) and the tv is on. My boy is almost two years old and I'm sad to say he's been sucked in already. He gets mad when I turn it off in order to get him to play with me. I hate the damn chattering cyclops. Here's hoping more people stop watching tv and put me out of a job so that I'll get the kick in the pants that I apparently need to make something decent of myself instead of just going on and on as a wage slave.
Sorry about the rant,but, these are things that I've though about for a looooong time and the bikeforums folks seem to share my ideals.
Oh yeah, I hate my cars, too.
Dahon.Steve
09-01-05, 07:49 AM
I own a TV, but it's hooked to an aerial, I dumped the cable over 15 years ago. I may watch 1 or 2 hours of TV a week. I got out of the TV watching habit way back when MTV still played only music videos.
Around my way, it's impossible to watch regular programming without a cable box. There's waaaay too much interference so you'r stuck giving the cable company 25 bucks a month just to watch regular programming. I remember years ago how all you needed was rabbit ears to watch tv. Not anymore.
same time
09-01-05, 08:53 AM
Hey, just wanted to thank everyone here for this thread.
You got me thinking about how much tv I watch. I usually consider myself a light tv watcher, because I don't watch all the popular shows and can't stand "reality television" or home decorating shows. But, lately, I've been suckered into watching the news, and then reruns of Seinfeld, and for some reason, Aussie Rules Football, which comes on a UHF channel late at night here.
So last night I decided to watch no tv, and I had a wonderful night. I got a haircut, washed the car, got some work done on the house, etc. Nothing too exciting, but it was good to be back in control of a weeknight again.
Thanks again.
JohnBrooking
09-01-05, 08:15 PM
Try hating TV and not wanting to watch it, but your job requires it. That's right! My job is watching tv.
I've never heard of such a job. What is it?
same time
09-02-05, 07:57 AM
Ha, ha - I work in TV, too. Let me guess, you're a Master Control Operator?
Satyr
09-05-05, 12:18 PM
Modern pop media is probably one of the most insiduous things around. Few of us realize how potent advertising is. Truth of the matter is that each and every one of us is affected, perhaps some more than others. Everything from body image problems to discontentment can be linked to popular media forms.
Consider advertisements for cleaning products. Do you ever notice how the person promoting the product does so with near orgiastic joy? We are told from birth that every moment of our lives should be some hyper-joyous occasion, filled with excitement.
America has also has, for instance, an abundance of car advertisements. I have never seen so many. Cars, we are told, bring freedom. Half the places those SUVS drive are only accessible by foot or mountain bike. Odd, that.
So yes. Don't just kill your TV. Obliterate it.
Wuneyeddog
09-05-05, 12:55 PM
I just recently turned off the cable in response to a small personal financial crisis. I would have done it a long itme ago, except for my stay-at-home wife. I was afraid to do it to her, but with the money gone, she was more than happy to. And she loves it!!
The funniest part is my brother-in-law who just recently moved in with us. I don't think he knows what to do with himself. I definitely don't think this is what he had in mind when he came to stay down here. Ah well, maybe it'll help him get over his obsessive consumerism. He is the perfect example of want, want, want. The guy hasn't owned a car in almost 10 years (not by chlice), and whenever he talks about getting one it's a Navigator or Caddy or something. Re-damn-diculous.
desmobob
09-05-05, 03:09 PM
I am now going to be television free to get me out of the house as i loved to watch sports and sit there zombied out.
Sometime in the fall of 1995, I got so pi**ed off at the TV news, I called the cable company and cancelled my account. I've been TV-free for ten years now and don't miss it a bit! When I am at friend's houses and see what people are watching for entertainment, I am sometimes ebarrassed for them.
Shoot your television!
Good riding,
desmobob
ViciousCycle
09-05-05, 04:41 PM
I sold my TV at a rummage sale about 8 years ago. It found it pathetic that I had stronger childhood memories of Mr. Whipple from the Charmin commercials than I had memories of my own father. And it's even more pathetic that this is not a dumb joke, but a reflection of the quirkiness of memory. My memory is imperfect to begin with, and I found myself annoyed by all of the mental space taken up by meaningless things repeated on TV over and over again.
Gurgus
09-06-05, 09:33 PM
Ha, ha - I work in TV, too. Let me guess, you're a Master Control Operator?
Heh, yup! Sound like a great job until you do it for a while. What's your's?
chocula
09-06-05, 09:52 PM
So last night I decided to watch no tv, and I had a wonderful night. I got a haircut, washed the car, got some work done on the house, etc. Nothing too exciting, but it was good to be back in control of a weeknight again.
Thanks again.
Me, too. Yesterday morning I unhooked the coax. Later in the day my wife and I went out for a ride to the local pizza joint. On the way home I was really looking forward to arriving and not automatically turning on the set when I entered the house. I wasn't disappointed. We listened to some music, talked and read. It was nice.
But the real magic didn't happen until today! This morning I got up at my normal time (6:30) and then realized that I didn't to read the paper and watch the news on TV. So, I went back to bed, slept until 7, and still had plenty of time to read the paper. I've reclaimed a half hour of my life! (Even if I did sleep through it).
Thanks "Now TV Free" thread posters!
cerewa
09-07-05, 06:24 PM
Thanks "Now TV Free" thread posters!
Yeah, I agree. I've just moved to a house with 3 other people who apparently like to watch TV. I don't really have time for the TV but sometimes I can't help it when the TV's on. I used to be pretty TV free (where I was staying before, we refused to pay for cable, got ok reception on about 3 channels, and didn't watch much TV.) but now it's harder. But it's great to see that other people like to be TV free too.
TomM
09-07-05, 08:41 PM
Like many of you, I've been TV free for a few years. The only time I regret not having TV is during the Tour de France. I really want to get rid of my car but it's just not practical where I live. Especially for a single guy trying to live a somewhat normal life. It's funny looking at the expression on the faces of people when I tell them I don't have a TV.
AverageCommuter
09-07-05, 09:20 PM
I found it pathetic that I had stronger childhood memories of Mr. Whipple from the Charmin commercials than I had memories of my own father. And it's even more pathetic that this is not a dumb joke, but a reflection of the quirkiness of memory. My memory is imperfect to begin with, and I found myself annoyed by all of the mental space taken up by meaningless things repeated on TV over and over again.
That's me. While I was wating to go in for angioplasty surgery, at 32 years of age, I began thinking back on my life, just in case that was all the life I was going to get. I realized that most of the memories I had at that point were television. Yup, most of what I remembered in my life never even happened. I've been TV free for 6 years and couldn't be happier.
It's always amusing to me when my co-workers will start out with "Hey did you see...." Then there's a second of pause while I'm smirking and it clicks with them "Oh no, you wouln't have would you?" Nope, I sure wouldn't have, and that's just how I like it.
bike756
09-08-05, 09:40 PM
I have now officially been TV free for 1 week and 11 minutes. I disconnected and moved the TV last night. I have so much more free time now! I find that I can't stand the noise of TV or even radio any more. My life is so quiet now! I've started reading a great book(David Copperfield) and I'm already 1/4 through it. It's probably a bit better for my mind than South Park reruns. :D
TrevorInSoCal
09-08-05, 10:26 PM
Dont't dump your frustrations of life onto the tube. I find that computer ownership or access can get out of control just like overwatching television. Moderation and balance is the key.
Yeah, no kidding.
I've been tv free since about 2000. Not so much 'cause I felt the need to get rid of it, as much as I've never owned my *own*, and when I got my own place instead of living with roommates I was too cheap to buy one or pay for cable. That's money better spent on cycling gear.
My life didn't take on the miraculous transformation that I hear about from some former tv-owners. I waste just as much, if not more, time surfing the web (I have cable internet, but no cable tv ;)), than I ever did watching tv.
Maybe I should dump the broadband too. Might not be much more productive, but at the very least I'd be forced to get outta the house and go somewhere with *people*, e.g., the locally-owned coffee shop w/ free WiFi, in order to get my internet fix. ;)