Friday, April 21, 2006

What would you do with a 50-incher?

Not that kind of 50-incher. Good grief, people, get your minds out of the gutter.

I'm talking about a television.

Mr. Honey and I don't have cable, and we don't use our tv (27-inch, 15-year-old console, thank you very much) for anything other than DVDs. Lately, though (lately being the last 2 or 3 years), we've had some issues with the DVD connector on the TV. So, we've been mulling over the idea of upgrading for a while.

A month ago we went into Best Buy to look for a Body Glove for my new cell phone (remember, the cell phone I got that assured that the end was near because I'd sworn to never carry a cell phone?). While we were in Best Buy, we figured we might as well look at new cameras, because the battery case on my camera is busted and a rubber band is only gonna hold it together for so long before it's totally useless and we have to buy stock in rubber band companies just to keep my camera in working order. So, after we looked at cameras, we decided that since we were already there, we might as well look at TVs, too, since we'd been dealing with this poor connection issue for a couple years on the TV, and there's only so many times I'm willing to watch Mr. Honey drink beer all evening, and then decide that it's time to try and solder the connector back in place on the TV even though he's only used solder one other time before in his life, before I give in and admit we have to be a new TV.

So, we're wandering around, looking at high-def TVs in Best Buy, and Mr. Honey leads me down the first aisle. "What do you think of these?" he asks. "How big are they?" I answer. "Thirty-seven inches," he tells me. "Huh. They're nice. Doesn't so-and-so have a 42-inch TV?"

Mr. Honey nods. "Yup. Let's go look at those." So, we go down the next aisle, and he asks again, "What do you think of these?" "They're nice," I tell him. I point to the back wall. "How big are those?"

Mr. Honey chokes on his tongue. "Fifty inches," he manages to squeak out.

"I like those."

He stares at me like aliens have invaded my body and kidnapped my brain. "Well, that's good enough for today. Let's go home and have a nap now, shall we?"

So, we leave the store. "So, you really liked the 50-incher, huh?" Mr. Honey says.

"Uh-huh," I say. "It's cool. It has a big screen."

"Did you, ah, look at the prices?"

Wide-eyed innocent look on Honey's face: "No, sweetie, you taught me quality is worth the price."

More alien-kidnapped-my-wife's-brains look. "Huh."

Fast forward one day. Mr. Honey is out shopping at our friendly local military (tax-free) Basic Exchange. He calls me at home. "They've got the 50-inch version of so-and-so's TV here. Price just dropped. Can I get it?"

The aliens then decide to return my brain. "What are we going to put it on? The old TV?"

Mr. Honey: "Well, yeah, just for now. I'll build a stand for it."

Me: "Stand first. TV later."

Mr. Honey: "But---but---"

Me: "Don't even think about it, Mister. I don't want my high-def, 50-inch TV on a redneck TV stand. The aliens have returned my brains. My decision is final."

Fast forward to last Saturday: Mr. Honey spends the day with a friend in his shop, constructing the base of the TV stand. Monday, Mr. Honey and said friend continue working on TV stand. Tuesday, Mr. Honey calls the BX and is told the TV is out of stock. Wednesday, Mr. Honey calls the BX back to ask when more will arrive, and is told there's one in stock, someone else was interested but couldn't pay for it. Mr. Honey dashes to BX, purchases TV, calls me to report in, I yell at him and he returns TV, applies for store credit card to save 10%, repurchases TV, and takes it home. Wednesday evening, Mr. Honey and said friend finish construction of TV stand, sand it, and apply stain. Thursday evening, Mr. Honey and said friend apply first coat of polyurethane. Today, Mr. Honey and said friend will finish polyurethane, tomorrow will sand it again, Mr. Honey will go buy new speakers, and Sunday, we will have a brand-new entertainment center with a 50-inch TV and surround sound speakers.

Now, I ask you, if you didn't have cable, what would you do with a high-def 50-incher?

Me? I'm gonna watch Finding Nemo.

Posted by Honey :: 4:14 PM :: 5 Comments:

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