Television, RFF and working for a living

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Roger Hicks

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Have you a television? Do you watch it? On another thread, Pablito asked whether anyone had any work to do, rather than going on RFF. This led me to thinking: what are the greatest thieves of time? Rather than watch many hours of TV a week (I don't even have one), I prefer RFF for relaxation/recreation. I'm not sure I could fit both in, and earn a living. How about you?

Earning a living is another great thief of time. I recently read a wonderful observation by John Simpson, the BBC journalist, to this effect (paraphrased, from memory): "I had a plan. I usually do. It didn't work. Three-quarters of my plans don't. I survive professionally on the other 25%." This sounds about right to me, though it might be nearer 10% in my case. Again, how about you?

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger,
I've never been a big TV fan but I find the internet and in particular this RFF site to be a 'big thief of my time'.
As a father of two very young children my chances of getting out to meet like minded people for my RF interests are incredibly limited to non-existent.
These forums are a superb way of 'connecting' with like minded people in a way that we never used to be able to. It's not a waste of time as some people would say as we have all used them to further our knowledge of the equipment we use and share our interests with others.

Steve.
 
Roger, Good question. Yes, we have a TV but I never watch it. I simply don't have time. Or, to put it another way, I am not prepared to have my time stolen by idiot TV programmes. However, I do have a new large screen iMac and already find the temptations of BBC's iPlayer to be quite difficult to resist.

Work is the biggest thief of time. More or less all of the left-over time I have is spent reading. I will sacrifice more or less anything in favour of reading. I always feel nourished and comforted by reading; everything else is a way of simply passing time...

And while RFF and other forums are, as you say, a form of relaxation -- and for me they are minutes or half hours snatched here and there as a break from work -- I also try to limit my time on these activities too because the internet in all its forms has become the biggest, the most crafty and the most sly thief of time.
 
I don`t earn a living now (whether I ever did is for others to judge) but it is without doubt the biggest thief of time.
What constantly amazes me ,since taking up photography again a few years ago,is the time that I spend and the enjoyment I get logging on here and other places.
I too have largely stopped watching the TV.
If I want to catch up I use BBC I Player.
Time spent here just ...

Michael
 
There's rarely anything worth watching so I gave my TV away years ago, have not missed it one bit. Taking care of my daughter and cleaning the house seems to steal all my time!
 
I watch TV when F1 or MotoGP is on. RFF for 5-10 minutes in the morning on weekdays. Both TV and most internet stuff is a waste of time, so now my evenings after dark are spent reading, and before dark either bicycling, motorcycling, etc or working on projects.

Photos when I have something worth making.
 
Work and the commute is the biggest theif of my time. My work is 9 1/2 hours per day. The combined morning and evening commute is about 2 1/2 hours. That's a 12 hour day before I even consider anything else. Not my real definition of fun, but family must be supported and bills must be paid.

I snatch what time I can here at RFF for the knowledge I can gain or share, and the cameraderie. I sometimes get to take photos. I like that too.
 
If you're talking about things that take away time from photography, well work is #1. Of course, I try to spend as much time at work on RFF, but that's more of an issue for my manager to deal with... 😉

I do watch TV, but it's always the content of my choosing, rather than just watching "what's on". I go through Netflix Instant, Hulu, and torrents to find decent content worth watching. Good TV has often inspired me in my photography, so I don't think that it's entirely worthless. For instance, I'm watching an anime series called "Death Note" right now that deals with Shinigamis (gods of death in Japan). The way that they are illustrated really makes me want to go out and try to turn a model into a shinigami. Seems like it would interesting, to say the least...

Anyway, owning a house and all of the accompanying chores also steals a lot of my time. I hate that. I am not the "handyman" type and home ownership disagrees with me in a big way.

Hanging out with my friends "steals" my time, but I don't regret that. I never thought that being a photographer meant I had to become a hermit. 😀
 
Working for a living has got to be the biggest time thief of all. Rise, eat, transport, work, lunch,work, transport home and by then the day is 80% gone, but the kicker is so is your energy.

People who do manual labor get tired, office people are under stress which is just as wearing on you at the end of the day.

I strongly recommend being born rich, winning the lottery, marrying super wealthy, or whatever you can do to avoid avoid working for a living. Absent all the above, live like a cheapskate, don`t try to impress the neighbors, infact don`t give a whit what they think, and retire as early as possible. After that, your only worry will be trying to hang on to the money you did save and its purchasing power, no mean feat.

The television can be an easy choice I have made often when out of energy.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Have you a television? Do you watch it? On another thread, Pablito asked whether anyone had any work to do, rather than going on RFF. This led me to thinking: what are the greatest thieves of time? Rather than watch many hours of TV a week (I don't even have one), I prefer RFF for relaxation/recreation. I'm not sure I could fit both in, and earn a living. How about you?

Earning a living is another great thief of time. I recently read a wonderful observation by John Simpson, the BBC journalist, to this effect (paraphrased, from memory): "I had a plan. I usually do. It didn't work. Three-quarters of my plans don't. I survive professionally on the other 25%." This sounds about right to me, though it might be nearer 10% in my case. Again, how about you?

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

Most of my time I consider wasted is wasted on the internet. I should be writing a paper right now but the damn web browser keeps distracting me.
 
LOVE watching the TV on the occasions i get.

i like watching how different folks use different formats. studying the composition and styles in movies and documentaries.

there was an interview with Christopher Anderson where he mentioned he was busy, as of late, trying to capture the style and aesthetics of 50-60's hollywood. iconic images. that kept me and the TV busy for a while.
 
Yes; not much; and never went in for firm distinctions between work and recreation, sometimes the work is more fun and sometimes the recreation harder work, scanning is mostly that

Interaction aids creativity, not the banal "wot lense" stuff proper interaction, as does Radio 4

The interweb eats up my reading time I find, which is a shame
 
After being jobless for over five month and with a family to support I am more than happy that I could find a new job .... Being without work I had a lot of spare time to take photos, surf the internet or watch TV but honestly, now again having hardly any time for anything else except work AND a monthly pay-check is a much better situation. 🙂 So ... rarely TV and occasionally RFF for me recently ....
 
My work is a joy to me so I don't consider that "time theft".
I like TV in theory but the reality is so awful that I don't watch much anymore. Movies, however, I will spend the time to watch--Netflix has been a good thing for me. I also try to actually go to the movie theater as often as I find something worth while to watch.
Although, with all the movie remakes of terrible '80s TV shows lately, I haven't had to go very often.
I read a lot (and constantly)--I've generally got two or three books to read at a time--and consider that time well spent also.
I used to read a book or watch a movie to the end no matter how bad it turned out to be but any more, I will happily abandon it if it's crap and move on to the next one. My attention span is fine, I just have less time to waste as I get older. Or, I'm now realizing that I need to spend my time better.
I have been spending less time here but that is not because I like it less but that I am more conscious of how I'm spending my time.
The time I'm spending as I post this is time at work while I'm waiting for my delivery truck to show up. I'm not actually on the clock but I can't physically leave camp either.
Rob
 
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