Netflix Made Me Dirty

My house is a filth pit and I blame Netflix.

For years we have had a Netflix subscription. Long before streaming was available I paid $14.99 per month to have unlimited DVDs sent to my home. The only real reason I maintained my cable subscription was for my son who was a youngster. He needed entertainment between school, homework and video games. Anyway, it was all about the movies. If there were television series available I did not bother because it seemed such a, well, a bother.

Flash forward to the age of streaming video! It took me quite awhile to catch on. We accessed it through my son's Wii gaming system in the earlier days. If there wasn't a great movie available, I did not partake in what my $7.99 per month afforded. There was no original programming that I know of back then. When the makers of Arrested Development announced they would be creating a new season exclusively for Netflix I about doo-dooed my pants. It was then that I discovered a lot more was available on Netflix than my son's favorite anime and or the occasional movie.

Arrested Development seemed to be the beginning of amazing things. Orange is the New Black may have been my first official binge series. In two days I watched it and learned what it was like to suffer from withdrawals. I needed something else. Search after search ... Click the +MyList icon until my thumb was exhausted and the remote button was nearly worn off.

Last year I had a lumpectomy. With a month off from work what was I to do? Norco was managing my pain. Napping helped pass some boredom. The in-between periods when I was awake or sleepless at night from napping much of the day meant Netflix and I would be good buddies. Friends had loaned me series DVDs but what about all the seasons that followed those loaners? Binge-a-palooza, baby! It was crazy. Sam and Dean Winchester (Supernatural) became my best guy friends; I lived vicariously through Sydney Bristow on Alias. Zachary Levi brought me swooning and levity with his portrayal of Chuck. Oh, that was really a hard one to complete because it was such a great show and ended too soon even for someone who missed it on TV.

After returning to work for three weeks, my chemotherapy began. Once again, four and a half months off work had to be filled. Well, when I wasn't getting treatments or fighting nausea, that is. It was then that housework was sent to the back burner. My son was going to college full-time and did his best to keep the house tidy. The kitchen sink rarely had dishes sitting for long. Periodically, I'd get a burst of energy without nausea or intense heartburn. In that time, I would try to be social, do laundry or shop for groceries. Scrubbing the bathroom and kitchen didn't make the to-do list. Those times were rare. Binging was not. I couldn't help myself with House of Cards, Desperate Housewives (I didn't say all my choices were cerebral), Arrow, Twin Peaks, Broadchurch and a handful of films.

What Netflix has done is created a monster. I am in good company, though. You're probably insatiable, too. In fact, you're probably reading this while your next episode cues up.

Sigh. I guess I better get off this computer and light some fresh linen scented candles and spray the curtains with Febreze. Another season of Dexter is just beginning.