Feb. 17 is the next day to circle on that free calendar you picked up at the drugstore last month. That’s the day Tucson television stations stop broadcasting the analog signals we’ve been watching all these years. For at least the last four years, most TV stations have been broadcasting two signals simultaneously, one in analog and the other digital. On the historic day of Feb. 17, 2009, your old analog TV will bring you nothing. There will be no signal.

If you haven’t converted to digital, time is running out. That is if you watch television.

The federal government is pushing this changeover because it is far more efficient in its use of the spectrum. A lot more signal can be crammed into far less bandwidth on digital. Once the stations stop broadcasting in analog, their unused frequencies will go back to the government for other uses.

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Television broadcasters will have enough bandwidth to provide all sorts of new services to viewers. But if you want to be a part of it, you either have to buy a new TV or a converter box.

For some reason, the government has been offering coupons worth $40 toward a converter. But it just ran out of money and coupons. So while they are arranging a bailout, there will be no more coupons. If you had a coupon, you could get a box for just about nothing because the coupon is worth $40, about the same price as a cheapo converter. So just pay the $3.24 tax and you are out of there. You will need a converter for each TV you want to use after the cutover date.

If this puts you out, you may just have to spring for the $40. Is it worth it? Not on your life. If you are addicted to your TV, you need to get out more.

If you are one who watches certain obscure low-power stations that broadcast neighborhood or specialized programming that populate the upper end of the dial — as Don Imus would say, “Up there with the police calls” — they will remain available without a converter.

If you can’t scrape up $40 for a converter and you are going to lose all television signals, count your blessings. You just got some more hours a day of your life back. The U.S. Department of Labor says Americans spend about 2½ hours per day watching TV. That’s more than 912 hours a year. In less than a decade  you will have actually lived an additional year and saved $40 to boot. What a deal!

Try going without TV for a while. It is a mind-cleansing experience. Take the 6-month liberation treatment. After that, if you can’t stand being without local TV, there should be plenty of converters for free from people who bought them before they upgraded their sets.

If you are a person who sells TVs, you will have an opportunity to expose your customers to the wonders of digital TV when they come in for a converter. That’s going to be a difficult up-sale. But you know if they really, really need it, the money will come out from under the mattress. It is your job to explain how much they need it, all the amazements possible with digital. I would steer clear of discussing the programming. That could prove embarrassing and undermine your slick sales pitch.

Speaking of programming, I know no one in this town has much positive to say about the programming.  On the other hand, let me not turn elitist on you. Many people enjoy – how can I say this? – less sophisticated programming. There! Got over that rough spot.

Sometimes we all settle for some mindless drivel just as a diversion from our day. It’s when drivel becomes your high standard that you are in trouble. You went to a lot of trouble to get past the 6th grade. Remember, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Contact Lionel Waxman at territorial@waxmanmedia.com or visit his website: www.waxmanmedia.com. Lionel Waxman’s Flashpoint commentaries are published in The Daily Territorial.