Will I Be Forced to Surrender My Geek Card?

Official Geek Card
I am taking this week off from my normal day job, and in my mind, I had imagined that I would spend the week writing, and emerge with many pages of finished work, and feel like I’d accomplished something with that time. I’m even house sitting, and I imagined that getting myself away from my house would actually force myself to work.

That was before I learned that my hosts had Netflix.

I am doomed.

You might recall I am quite fond of television, and I have not seen a single one of the shows produced exclusively for the streaming content provider. Sure, I’m connected to their DVD service, but, they don’t put their exclusive content onto DVDs. That means I’ve had to live without seeing the Gilmore Girls’ revival, and all that Marvel content that those in geekly circles have been raving about. I’ve been hearing talk that I might be required to return my geek card to whatever authority issues these things. I don’t acknowledge anyone as the Arbiter of All Things Geek, so, mostly it’s a way to disguise my own insecurities. Who am I kidding? I’m not anxious about my geek cred. I’m just jealous.

And here I am, presented with free time and access.

If I were disciplined enough to get things done *WITHOUT* the distraction of Netflix, I don’t really have much of a chance against this temptation.

And yet, as I type that out, I cringe at surrendering.

I can fight against my weakness. I can make it a story about how, against all temptations, I succeeded in conquering the insidious power of Netflix and their sneaky play the next episode in 5…4…3…2…1. Dangit.

It’s not easy. And they know that. It’s so easy to just let the episodes roll on and on in a continuous river of plots and characters and shiny things. Maybe I can use it as a carrot, to reward success and encourage me to turn it off after a single episode.

Anything is possible.

In my youth, I was much better at impulse control, and certainly, those that know me will say that I’m still pretty good about it in many respects. At least, I think they will. So long as my checks clear. But, they also know my Kryptonite, and might not be willing to take a bet on this either way, no matter how many zeros I add to the checks. Which is probably for the best, as it will only take one more zero before they all bounce.

I guess the one bright spot is that I’m more addicted to sleep than I am to binge watching, so, I know I will turn it off so I can get a good night’s rest, maybe, I can just tell myself that I really need a nap, and then trick myself into staying awake. I’ll let you know if it works, but, in the meantime, I need a nap.