I broke my self-imposed exile from television. I resubscribed to satellite television.

A couple of years ago, after deciding that the time I spent watching television did not justify the cost of satellite TV, I dropped it. I put up an antenna so I could at least get local channels, but mostly the television stayed off. I could, sort of, receive local channels. One day Channel 3 would come in fine, but not Channel 15. Another day I could see the Fox Channel, but not Channel 3. Some local channels rarely came in clear enough to see and most of the time, the television flickered and the screen showed snow.

I also truly missed the programming guide from the satellite provider. I read the paper in another room from the television and then it goes either to be filed or to the recycling pile. I never remembered to pull the television guide, but with two or three channels my selections were pretty limited.

As the election neared this month, I wanted to watch some of the news shows about the campaign, and I must admit, I even wanted to see what the political commercials were that everyone was complaining about. I truly missed CNN whenever a major story broke or wanted to catch up on the latest national news in the evening. On Election night I watched the returns but ended up flipping from one station to another trying for better reception.

I called the satellite provider, Directv, which I had before, and said come hook me up. The technician came on a Saturday morning and had me back wandering among the wasteland of television within 45 minutes.

After two weeks, I am already bored with television, especially commercials. No matter how many channels you have, it seems as if the ads are the same on every one. I now know that I can get a Dell laptop in different colors. I really don't care what color laptops are.

Particularly prevalent commercials these days are for the latest cell phone technology or how one telephone company has more service in more areas.

I have yet to send a single text message or receive one. At least I do not think I have received a text message. I do not know how to retrieve them, so if someone sent one, I would not know about it. I also would need a translator for the abbreviations used in text messages. The only one I am familiar with is lol, or laugh out loud, apprehended to a sentence that is supposed to be funny but usually is not.

I also do not have a phone that takes pictures or has GPS for locating restaurants and other businesses or downloading music. I can easily live without those features. My life is cluttered with too many gadgets as it is, and I am tired of trying to keep up with technology.

Also, the telephone company advertising that it has service in more areas, AT&T, is one that has no service around this area or at least at my house. The Directv technician had that company and had to borrow my phone to call in to start the service. He said he had not been able to receive a call or call anyone on his cell phone in this area.

When I had Directv before, many ads were for mortgages. These days, mortgage ads are few and far between, but I notice a few more for help with credit card debt. My immediate reaction to those is that they are probably ripping off people who already have enough financial problems. Along the same lines, a company is offering a free kit so people can sell gold items. I am a little skeptical that a firm advertising on cable channels would give me a fair price for gold. I think a person with gold to sell would be much better finding a local dealer.

Even after a near television hiatus of about two years, the shows also are the same. Law and Order and its many manifestations is on both the networks and the cable stations. I think you could watch Law and Order or one of its variants nearly every day, although some days CSI or CSI Miami might be more prevalent.

The nicest thing about satellite or cable television is the choice, and the proliferation of educational type channels. If I don't want to watch Law and Order, I can find something else to watch. I have become addicted to an Animal Planet show, "It's Me or the Dog." A British dog trainer comes to people's homes to help them train their problem dogs. Although I do not have a dog, I have been thinking of getting one, and I want to be prepared to train it if I ever get one. I do need help. Some time ago, my dog at the time and I were thrown out of obedience class so I better watch the program closely.

Kay Lapp James is editor of the Wisconsin Dells Events. Contact her at wde-editorial@capitalnewspapers.com or phone (608) 254-8327, ext. 3567.