My eldest sister's family got a new (to them) TV. They were going to throw out their old one, but I protested, seeing as how I have no TV at all. And while I've not been pining away for lack of entertainment, it would me nice to flip it on and see the weather reports. Yes, I can check weather on the internet, but around here bad weather often causes brief power outages that knock the university's routers offline for an hour at a time.

Anyway, I got their TV, which has a giant-seeming 27" screen. It came with the warning that it was slowy dying, but what the heck, I can toss it in the electronics recycling bin when it finally gives up the ghost. It's a 1990 Zenith, CRT of course, and it weighs a ton. Well, probably only 50 or 60 pounds, but it's ackward to carry.

First issue was cleaning. I mean no insult to my sister's house, but on the drive back to Buffalo, I could not help but notice the inside of my car was beginning to smell like dog. I arrived back at Buffalo on a rainy evening, so I left the car packed, but the next day I made with the unpacking. I set the TV outside, removed the plastic frame, and cleaned it the best I could with wet rags and canned air.

While I was working away, my next-door neighbor's three-year-old daughter came outside, along with her visiting cousin, who is about seven I'd guess. The girls were very interested in what I was doing, and also curious about the inside of a TV. There was a great deal of "why" and "what's that" and so forth. Their parents were mightily amused, in that the girls had gone outside to get loaded into their car for a specific reason. A guy cleaning a TV was so interesting that it made the two little girls forget all about a trip to get ice cream– in August!

I got it as clean as I could without risking damage to the circuit boards, put it back together, and lugged it inside. Next step was a trip to Sam Walton's Olde Tyme Shoppe for a cheap TV stand, as it didn't look too good sitting on the floor. That assembled, I went online to find the manual for the universal remote, and now it's all working. Hoorah! I get the university's cable network, which has a lot more channels now than it did in the mid-'90s.

I am confident the TV will not distract me from my studies. It was too big for my room, so I set it up in our (largely-unused) great room. Now I need to buy a more comfy chair for in there, so I can sit and fold clothing while watching the Buffalo Bills lose this year. Which they will. I have faith in the Bills and their ability to choke anytime, anywhere.

Today's project: I'm building some bookshelves in the greatroom. As noted above, I've decided to improve this neglected room.

Posted by: Boviate at 02:56 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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