5 reasons why I enjoyed being a "Nielsen family"

1. They sent me cash. Twice. A hard earned $2 for opening the first letter, then $30 for entering some info online and opening the second letter.
   
2. I felt empowered and hopeful that "my shows" will stay on the air.
   
3. There was a spot for me to write down my favorite shows that I didn't have time to watch this week. (Very important because we watched a lot of baseball at the expense of our regular programming.)
   
4. In the process of telling them what channels I receive, I played around with the tv (for the first time with this cable company) and realized I get a ton of channels! But most importantly...
   
5. I discovered I can listen to my local NPR station on the stereo speakers via the cable box, which is WAY better sound quality than my crappy laptop speakers I had been listening to before this afternoon. Now I can annoy my neighbors by turning the BBC reporters up to eleven.
   

Moral of the story: it pays to open your mail. (And no, my last name is not Nielsen... a shout out to the This American Life listeners out there... )