Fall Behind And Get Left Behind

One major failing of mine has got to be keeping up on ongoing contemporary pop culture concerns. I happen to be a big fan of old stuff and have a problem with keeping to routines, and those two things make it very hard for me to stay up to date on such things as tv shows. There was a time when this mattered very little. Nearly every tv show consisted of one stand-alone episode after another, with everything going back to normal by the start of the next one, no matter what had happened. Nothing permanent transpired unless an actor left the show or the producers got scared they might be canceled. It didn't matter if you missed episodes or watched them out of order.

With serialized tv shows becoming the rule, it matters now, and I'm constantly in a precarious position. For a time I had a dvr, and while I didn't have any of the premium channels, I was able to stay on top of what mattered. Either I was getting together with friends to watch the big premium shows or I was watching them on dvd before too much time had passed. The rest I was all over just as soon as they had recorded. I suffered some spoilers from people I didn't know, but did not have any real trouble with my friends.

Things are somewhat different now. After a stretch of not having cable of any kind, I now have it again by virtue of having multiple roommates, but none of us is now gung-ho enough to spring for that dvr. That being the case, I might as well not have cable because as I said, I have minimal capacity for sticking to any routine. Besides, I'm just not going to stay home for tv shows anymore. I've become too much of a normal, social human being at this point. I make jokes about having to get home in time for Leno or George Lopez, but I couldn't be less serious.

Friends are starting to get comically miffed by my anguished cries of 'Shut up! Shut up!' when they start talking involved plot developments of any of the numerous programs on which I am behind. My time budget is just about as tough to help as my money budget. What do I take time away from to try and deal with this tv show problem? Do I stop writing as diligently? Do I read less or sleep less? Do I stop going out? I am just at wits' end. The only painless solution would be if the device that Hermione Granger uses to attend extra classes at Hogworts was real. If anyone knows of such a thing in reality, please do write me with details and I shall respond promptly.