thank God for DVR

Between my short attention span, the constant interruptions from my pets, and my beloved's tendency to speak often and (usually) at great length, it usually takes at least two hours to watch a one-hour show. They are certainly not entirely at fault, either, since I also tend to interrupt our TV watching with comments of my own - thus needing to pause and rewind even more often. And I cannot neglect to mention bathroom breaks.

Therefore we rarely watch shows live; we record them for later viewing. This also enables me to watch the various Stargate variations, Battlestar Galactica, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Doctor Who and The Simpsons when I please, while she can do the same with Gossip Girl. Most of the other shows we save to watch together when we get a chance: House, NCIS, The Naked Archaeologist, Bones, Cold Case, Without A Trace, Criminal Minds, Sanctuary, Numb3rs, Naked Science and Boston Legal. We record so many different series that we need to be sure to avoid getting the HDTV versions so that we don't fill the DVR before we can watch the shows.

The Simpsons is a classic example of a show designed for the watch/pause/rewind/watch again cycle; it is chock-full of sight gags (such as the sign outside the church) and the behavior of background characters. One needs no outside interruptions to engage in that habit.

To be fair, though, when my beloved lady speaks, the topics are not only interesting but she is highly intelligent and possesses both a respectably large vocabulary and extensive knowledge in a wide variety of fields. Either of us can make an obscure reference and the other not only understands but appreciates it. We are so good together.

And here I sit, writing in my blog while watching a one-hour show that I recorded several days ago. So far I have been attempting to get through it for well over two hours, yet 15 minutes still remain. Needless to say, I fast-forward through the commercials as often as possible to speed up the process.