There's 'no such thing' as a 'Free Lunch;'

Ursula's Uncle George had prevailed upon her for her presence, and she begged Sam to wait for her as she helped him organize his lunar calendar again. He handed her the keys to the pickup and pledged his undying love. 20 minutes later, he was popping open a lukewarm lemon-lime-green Fosters, and sitting down to watch the Book Review Channel. He liked the Book reviews, and occasionally bought the original for documentation purposes; libraries were better than you might think at figuring out which books were going to be reviewed.

The drawbacks to the Book Review Channel were different than the drawbacks of the other channels. The Commercials on the Book Review Channel (one of three identical channels on cable, all carefully numbered C-SPAN,) were loooong, FACTUALLY _CORRECT_, but _very_,_Very_ boring.

He liked Fertilizer advertisements, being something of an aficionado, like Ursula. Nevertheless, the commercial aspect of the programming was probably more appropriate to Aggies than to Ranchers.

On Balance, the drawbacks to the other channels were commercial as well. The selection was broad, interrupted by brief segments of situational comedy to break the tedium, but the articles on specific items tended to be repetitive.

By following instructions, he had never been able to make one work. True, the product usually came in the mail (often within four to six weeks,) but the bank balance never reflected the promised credits. Rebates were FAR more _reliable_!

His Father's sage advice always stuck in his head: "If you're going to save more than 8 1/2 percent of total anticipated expenditure in a year (than the membership is going to cost,) you might as well join the club."

He hoped his competition went bankrupt from Corporate cost overruns; they subsidized gasoline prices from membership sales.

Of the low-commercial channels, The Weather Channel stood out for relevance. The timetable might be off, but the content was almost always reflected in the local environment, leading to a general atmosphere of trust.

The News Channels were interesting for their politics. Sam knew that "All politics is local," and he enjoyed watching the proceedings of the global village.

Nevertheless, the Book Review Channel was his favorite. He particularly enjoyed the syndicated series on SCOTUS... even the re-runs. But this was the weekend, and new titles invited him toward a sinking sun of ignorance on his western horizon.