TV is on the blink ... Now what?

First of all, let me say a big THANK YOU to all of you for your kindness yesterday concerning the laundry room unveiling. The comments I received were so sweet and affirming I think I could live on them for a week. You make me want to re-do another room just to get that love again! But then I might lose Jorge's love because I would be spending a lot of money. Sigh. Can't win 'em all. But I just wanted you to know how good you made me feel.

Now, if you read here often, you know that I do like to watch TV. Not to the exclusion of more lofty pursuits like making S'mores, but hey, I've gotta be honest.

And I'm not snooty about having HD or big screens or dozens of channels. I just want some good ol' talent shows, dating shows, weight loss shows, people who didn't know they were pregnant but had babies shows, stranded on an island shows and how to talk to animals shows.

Occasionally I get all high-brow and watch Dateline, but you know, it's not that often. Sometimes I just pretend to watch it to impress Jorge.

And if I'm feeling real, real guilty about all the mindless drivel I've been sopping up, I take in a PBS program, and that cancels out the influence of a week's worth of junk shows.

I think you can see I'm intentional about this pastime.

Lately, our old TV has been on the blink. The 36" sleeps there in its cabinet until we nudge it awake. And then, like a 46 year-old woman, it has to warm up before video and audio are coherent.

For weeks, we have grown used to diagonal technicolor lines and the mysterious voices behind the apoplectic visuals.

Today, though, when I turned it on, this is what I saw, and I knew it was bad:



This, of course, means the same thing as the dreaded Windows "blue screen of death."

Now what?

Well, I will want to buy a new one.

Jorge will drag his feet.

Sticker shock will cause him to faint right there in HH Gregg or wherever.

This is why I always carry a bucket of water whenever I go shopping with him.

Then he will probably want to do some research, and I will get engrossed in whatever's showing on the 30 TV screens there in the store.

To be honest, I really don't like the looks of the flat big screens that just sit there looking stark, like a floating head. They remind me of aliens for some reason. But I'm pretty sure that's almost my only choice now.

And what I dread the most is learning the new system. (As if my life isn't full enough of that at work right now.) I don't want a million channels and split screens and all that jazz, as they say in the rest home.

I just want a plain old TV that I can talk back to when the need arises. That's all the interaction I want.

Nevertheless, I know what's coming. It's going to be complicated.

Do you have any advice? If you really like yours, will you tell me what it is and why? Any warnings?