Check out the new tagline at the end of this column: schmitmeyer@zoominternet.net.

For the unconnected, among whom I recently counted myself, that new e-mail address means that our family has cable!

Big deal, you might say, as you knowingly click your way through HDTV and TiVo. But in our house, cable — even basic cable — is a big deal.

A little family history might clear up the picture: When my husband and I were first married, we didn't own a TV. I spent my free time reading; he, in the garage, tinkering with any internal combustion engine he could lay his hands on.

Several people offered to give us their old TVs, but we declined, preferring instead the intrinsic quiet of a televisionless house.

Years passed, and life without a TV became the norm. Our first son was born, and several years later, another. The boys, with limited influence from other children, didn't complain when they couldn't watch "Power Rangers" or "Sesame Street."

Instead, they built forts with blankets draped over the kitchen table, rode their pedal tractors wildly on the cement pad outside our home, and read books, although, if truth be told, I was the one who did most of the reading.

Eventually, though, finding a baby sitter willing to watch two rambunctious boys without the pacifying presence of TV became a real challenge. A few agreed, and came equipped with their books and music. But after an initial visit, there often was one excuse or another as to why they couldn't come back, a fact we attributed to our lack of a TV — not our children's behavior.

Sitter trouble — combined with my older son's second grade homework assignment to watch the evening news and write about it — caused my husband and I to reconsider our decision. We purchased a small black-and-white TV set, that, when not in use, was kept in the hall closet.

But over time, watching television became a more regular part of our lives.

When the boys were in elementary school, we gave them a color TV for Christmas, and the small black-and-white one found a permanent home on the kitchen counter. In another couple of years, you could walk from one end of our house to the other and always be within earshot of a TV show.

When cable became available on our road almost a decade ago, my husband and I agreed that it was an unnecessary luxury; it would only encourage a habit that didn't need to be reinforced. But our children, now including a daughter, were accustomed to more extravagant channel choices at their friends' homes and complained about the limited ones in ours. But we held fast.

So why cable now? Ostensibly, for faster Internet service. Although, I have to admit, with the boys grown and gone from the home and our 16-year-old daughter with a busy schedule of her own, I like watching some TV, and there's more to choose from on cable.

Besides, a zoominternet.net e-mail account sounds so hip.

Linda K. Schmitmeyer is a freelance writer living in Middlesex Township. Her e-mail address is Schmitmeyer@zoominternet.net.