Now that you mention it, maybe should look for something better, cheaper...
No, it’s not that. It’s that after a while, you stop noticing how much better it is than what we had.
It’s true. It suddenly looks very normal.Exactly. It's no longer astonishing. Not after the first hour.
It sort of blends into the background.I hardly see the picture as large anymore.
Football – if we watched football, we’d notice the difference....But since we don’t watch football, we'll never fully appreciate its size.
The movie ends. The credits roll down the screen.
On the other hand, it sure is nice to be able to read these... (this from Ed.)
After Rosie, the TV (or my share of it) is by far the biggest purchase I am likely to indulge this year. But Rosie has proven herself. Rosie is dangerous, Rosie is fun. Rosie is useful. A larger TV is not dangerous and not useful. On the fun issue – initially, yes. But for how long?
Sunday. A drizzly day, a quiet day. Ed gets his beard trimmed, I tag along. For the promised cup of coffee at the café...
...and out of habit.
I should worry about my future, I say to Ed on the drive home. I should not spend money on a larger TV (or half of it; we split the $300 cost).
After, I finish cleaning the farmhouse. I hear Ed bringing in the cardboard box and disentangling the chords. Fitting the new TV into its original container. To be returned to Walmart’s later in the day.
I suppose the larger screen has come to stand for much more than what the TV really is. Ed, in his playfulness teases me about my wanting a bigger set when we are in the store. I walk away from these irrelevant displays depleted. I don't think it’s entirely an exchange about the set.
Sunday evening. The house is golden!
A warm home.
A couple of days ago, Ed and I filled out applications for credit cards. They're discontinuing our favorite 2% card, the one with no foreign transaction fees. On the address portion of the application I am asked: "Own? Rent? Other?"
I checked off “other.”
Hands down the best part of the day is when my older daughter comes home (whose home?) for dinner tonight with her boyfriend.
In my mind, my daughters are (blissfully) what we are not: unencumbered by past mistakes, free to buy (or not buy) a TV at Walmarts or elsewhere without giving it weighty emotional consideration.
I would have agreed with you two weeks ago on the tv, but not today. My best friend (and former wife) switched to a new digital last week, and by doing that was able to cancel all cable, keep the usual channels and with a simple hookup to her mac, watch a day later most of the progams she would have watched on cable. End result: money saved, exit odious cable company, and better quality tv. (And I got the clunky old one!)
ReplyDeleteGeorge h: But we've already done when I moved to the farmhouse. We watch TV through the PC a day later, we don't have cable. And we don't need a digital TV. We have conversion boxes that allow us to view the handful of channels available for free (14 of them).
ReplyDeleteIt's all about size and improved picture quality. And, well, about decisions on farmhouse matters.
As a lover of all things beautiful, with particular appreciation of crisp, colorful, detail-oriented pictures, I am actually quite shocked that you did not find value in the digital, flatscreen, HD television. I personally think the picture quality is markedly better, and at $150 you got an unbelievable steal!
ReplyDelete- Paul G
Also, as a former property student of yours I wonder what type of property right you have with your farmhouse. Have you been squatting for years and adversely possessed it?
ReplyDeletePaul G: I should clarify that my portion of the tab was $150. Ed, too, had to pay that amount.
ReplyDeleteAs for a love for all things beautiful -- I admit to being awfully tempted by style. I have a mac, for example. But the relative gain in crisp photo may be, arguably, offset by the ugliness of a set dominating the landscape in a living room. I think even flat screen TVs are ugly. The little one I have is flat and silver and it's unobtrusive. Besides, my (newer) goal is to pursue style with minimum outlay. I would like to spend money on acquiring experiences (I spend far far more than the average person of my means on travel), not things.
Finally, on the subject of "whose is this?" -- that's easy. The farmhouse belongs to Ed. Unless you can claim ownership based on improvements. That would not be an easy argument to make. If you improve the apartment you live in, at the end of the day, it still belongs to the landlord.
Yes, but the landlord belongs to you.
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George H: You made me laugh so hard! Thanks.
ReplyDelete