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=   F.U.C.K. - Fucked Up College Kids - Born Jan. 24th, 1993 - F.U.C.K.   =
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                          The Plug in Drug
                          ----------------

I've got two phone lines in my apartment.  One line I use for voice
and the other for data.  GTE gave me the option of having my phone
numbers unpublished and since I did not care to receive incoming
calls on the data line I decided to only have that line unpublished.

Before turning the ringer off on my data phone I did get several
interesting calls.  One person, who was barely discernible over the
static, called from Saudi Arabia.  Another time, on a Sunday night
around 10pm, I got a call from Nielsen Media Research.

I still wonder how Nielsen Media Research got my phone number
considering it was unlisted--unless they dialed randomly.  The call
came around 10pm Pacific Time but 1am where I suspected Nielsen was
calling from (Dunedin, Florida).

The lady from Nielsen asked me if I would like to take part in their
rating system by filling out a viewing diary for a week.  And since I
have and watch a lot of TV I decided to become a part of their
statistics.  Not to mention the Nielsen people need regular folk like
myself who clock into their TV like some people do a part time job.

Hey, the television is a large part of my life and I can relate to
some of the characters on TV as if they were my best friends.  Sure,
there isn't any feedback but sometimes it's better that way.  Give me
images and sound and I'll be happy as a lark.  Add a little laughter
and various sundry emotions and I'm happier sitting on the couch then
out amongst the world that can't relate to people like me.  For me,
the TV is my drug of choice.  I am addicted and much like an
alcoholic, smoker or heroin addict I don't want to quit.

A couple weeks after the Nielsen Media Research called my yellow
diary arrived.  I began to record my viewing habits for one week
starting on a Thursday (back in October 1997).  When the week came to
an end my viewing habits were around the 25-hour range.  Most of
which was spent watching sports--NFL Football and the World Series
(Florida Marlins 1997 World Series Champs!).  If you subtract sports
programs I typically watch about two hours of TV a day.  Most of
which is news or news programs like Dateline, 20/20, 48 Hours, Prime
Time Live, or 60 minutes. But hey, look at the bright side, at least
I didn't contribute a higher rating to something like "Friends!"

I believe twenty-five hours is too much television but I think I'm
still under the US average.  In the quest to know more having a
visual to go with the audio really adds to the experience.  And like
most hard core TV watchers I switch the channel much too often.
Sometimes I try to watch two programs at once--like 48 hours and
20/20 or sports and some movie.  It's horrible and I hate doing it
but I can't stand sitting through commercials.  Stuff like this can't
be put in the Nielsen TV diary as there isn't enough room.

I guess there are a lot of TV viewers like myself otherwise programs
like Drew Carey, Dateline, and 20/20 could not make it into the top
ten programs of the week.

Maybe the best choice is to not have a TV; however, I couldn't
imagine having an extra 25 hours every week.  What would I do?  Hell,
what would we as a society do if we didn't have television?  Perhaps
we'd actually meet our neighbors, participate in more community
activities, and be more social, outgoing, and friendly.


Welcome to my neighborhood,
Pallbearer

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