This Blentry begins with a digression Actually, almost the entirety of this essay has nothing to do with anything. That is to say that the first few (all but the last two, actually) paragraphs really have nothing to do with what I intended to talk about. In the newspaper biz, they would call it "burying the lead." I beat it with a hammer, burned it, ground it up and then buried it. But in doing so, perhaps there is some gold to mined within, so, just go with it. For those of you familiar with the T.V. program, The Simpsons, you'll note that the best episodes start with a non sequitur and roll on from there.
And so this begins with the night of Christmas when just near bed time, Emily says... "Tomorrow, we are going to have quiet time. We have spent entirely too much time in front of the TV and we need to pursue other passtimes without the TV on," or words to that effect.
I agreed. Dawn the next morning it occurs to me the Lions are playing Miami and I had a good feeling. I am not one to gloat or brag about my Lions fandom, for it is akin to being a battered spouse. It is something typically endured silently, not celebrated. But, like the city of Detroit itself, my adopted home, I cannot give up on the team. I feel it is important for Detroit to be known as something other than the murder capital of the country, or for its recent and long-standing corruption, or its blatant display of urban erosion and lack of care for its gentry. It is more important than for most cities for Detroit to have its sports and for those sports to be successful. So, Detroit teams are in my heart and they form the basis and very nearly the entirety of my love for sports.
Are we following so far because this has nothing to do with this blog post? Good.
I said, then, to my wife, "Quiet time will have to begin after the game, or at least after the point when the Lions are ahead in the third quarter and then go on some sort of holiday and break my heart in some crushing defeat of less than seven points," or words to that effect.
It was a really good game. We committed fewer penalties, executed good plays on offense, stayed composed on defense and created turnovers that lead to scores. Amazingly, the Detroit Lions played like a cohesive football team in a professional league. Sure, the 'fins were only at 500 coming in to the game, but progress is progress.
I did a little celebratory dance. I kept repeating, "The Lions won! The Lions won!" The Lions won their third game in a row! Not just their third game in a season, which would have been cause enough for excitement. And it was their second road game win in a row, too, the first I hear since 2004. This is a real streak!
Here is more information that is unimportant but necessary. I had passed my freshness date by several hours as on Christmas Eve, I re-caulked the tub. It needed 36 hours to cure, so consequently, it had been a bit since we showered. Unfortunately, the caulk didn't stick, my second issue with DAP products in 6 months in spite of following the directions to the letter. I am not amused. But you didn't need to know that, so we'll keep moving on. After my shower, I came back downstairs. Em is talking on the phone, standing near the TV which is off. She is gesturing toward the TV. I get the impression quiet time has begun. I nod in understanding, yet her gesturing continued which is when I noticed the smell.
She finally broke in on her conversation and told me there was a loud pop, some smoke, bad smells and the TV went bye-bye. I get, it, she wanted quiet time, but did she have to blow up the damn TV? Or was the TV so shocked at the winning Lions that it just gave up the ghost?
I pulled open the access panel and the bulb, which we just replaced a few months ago at considerable expense had not just failed, but failed catastrophically. Glass shards, melted casings, cracked housings... oh yeah, it was toast.
So we bought a new TV. The end.
Just kidding! That's not the end. We did buy a new TV and for once showed restraint in our purchase. We almost bought the super duper 3D smart home nexus point hoody-hoo, but since we couldn't afford even a more modest set, we decided to dial it back a little and got a good set for a good value.
I thought until this morning it was an LED. We looked at so many, I got confused. I usually walk into a store and know exactly what I want having done all the research in advance. Often, I am able to name my price, or at least be comfortable with the price I am paying because I have done my shopping in advance. Given the last minute nature of this purchase, I did not have that luxury so I had to sort of wing-it. Long story short, (too late, I know), it is another LCD, but it has a high refresh rate and great brightness that reduces some of the blurring and artificiality found in some LED TVs. And it was relatively inexpensive which is important because this purchase was deficit spending. It is rated pretty highly with words like "value" being tossed around a lot in the write-ups.
So, overall, I am happy with it. I am not happy that the last TV only lasted 6 years, cost $3,000 and ate up bulbs like a pothead at an all night buffet. Here is hoping this one lasts longer... or like my Facebook status said, until I get cataracts. Merry Christmas, Discover Card. Thanks for the new TV.
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