The New TV: Strike 3

Tonight Circuit City helpfully replaced malfunctioning TV 2 with TV 3.

Guess what? TV 3 is also broken.

While this TV does turn on (unlike TV 1) and stays on (unlike TV 2), the "normal" screen setting annoyingly flares at the top. It's very minor, only affecting the top inch or so, but it is enough to be obnoxiously noticeable. Intense perusal of the manual (which has mysterious detritus on it) did not provide me a way to fix this. In addition, the remote rattles and has a giant chip in the side of it. To add insult to injury, they brought me the floor TV. While I officially have nothing against floor TVs, replacing my brand new non-working TV with a display model and not offering me at least a perfuctory discount is not exactly pristine business practice.

I have never had such a terrible customer experience in my life. I love this TV, and I don't want a different model. However, I feel that this line must be fundamentally flawed. What does that mean? It means I'm going to get bullied into a more expensive TV (and this one ain't exactly cheap...), make unfortunate delivery people walk up and down the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment with a 122 lb. TV again, and generally be despondent that I couldn't get a single unit of the perfect TV (for me) to work.

Moral of the Story: Don't buy the 30" Widescreen Philips Flat Tube HDTV.

The New TV: Strike 2

I got the replacement TV. It turns on, but it also shuts itself off within 45-90 minutes after it's turned on. (No, sleep isn't on. I am at least that tech savvy.)

It was only dragged up 5 stairs on a dolly. I suppose that's why it only slightly malfunctions. How many TVs need to be delivered to get one that works? Seriously, nothing should be this hard. Sigh.

(It's lovely though. I just wish it worked properly.)

Mythbusters

I love the Discovery Channel (except for those "true crime" shows). Yay for something good being on at 11 on a Saturday night even if it's on my tiny television. Any show that shows people trying to start a fire with ice is more than fine by me.

I needed something to replace the brain cells lost while watching "Cheaters." What else is one to do when you get released from family stuff at 9ish on a Saturday, get home from Grand Prairie at 9:45 even with a stop at the trusty B&N, and don't feel like harrassing your friends who are doubtless in the middle of their fab Saturday night plans?

Speaking of B&N, Company by Max Barry wasn't in stock. I read a review and was intrigued. (Yes, I read book reviews. I have to read something when I'm not plowing through the Salman Rushdie tome currently on my nightstand, keeping up with msnbc.com, or perusing the dictionary. Plus, you can only find so many good books by picking ones semi-blindly off shelves at Half-Price Books.) Seriously though...a book about a corporation with a riddle for a mission statement? Vendettas over stolen pastries? Written by an ex-HP marketer? I think it's a must read.

The New TV: Strike 1

I decided to be a grown-up and upgrade my current TV (Brand: Sansui, Screen: 13") for a reasonably sized TV (Brand: Philips HD, Screen: 30" widescreen) primarily because I was tired of not being able to read the scrolling news updates on CNN or see the hockey puck during Stars games from my desk chair. Today it was to be delivered by Best Buy. The delivery truck arrives early. I am cheered by the apparent efficiency.

I sit in my apartment as they bring the TV up the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment and hear a slightly concerning noise. THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP. They have put my precious new TV on a dolly and are yanking it up the stairs one jarring step at at time. 30 thumps later they arrive at my door and carry the TV into my living room. They remove it from the box, plug it into the wall, attach the cable, press power....and nothing happens. One of the delivery men presses power on the remote. It beeps for a few seconds, but the screen remains blank. After using various outlets, pressing all buttons, and reading through the manual, the TV continues in its infuriating blankness.

I refuse delivery and the delivery people carry the TV back down the stairs after assuring me that delivery of a new TV should be able to be arranged for tomorrow. I immediately call the Customer Service line. After navigating through a veritable labyrinth of pushbutton menus, I am greeted by a semi-friendly customer service rep. After explaining 7 times that the TV doesn't work, I've already sent it back, and that I'm not merely a moron who can't press power, I am able to set up delivery of a new TV. "Okay, ma'am, the first free delivery date we have is April 20th." I ask that the order be cancelled immediately and my money be refunded. Considering that TV one could have been delivered within 4 days of ordering it, I'm not willing to wait a month for TV two when they won't bother to even treat a customer nicely when she has been delivered a faulty (or possibly broken in stair-transit) TV.

So I go to 4 stores all over North Dallas/Plano, feel very depressed upon seeing hundreds of televisions that I'm getting a 30" HD but not flat panel TV when I could be getting a 50" DLP HDTV (they were so much prettier even if they cost 5x more), and finally buy the same TV at another store. The TV actually costs slightly less at Circuit City...but once you add the $50 delivery charge and the Dallas-instead-of-Minnesota sales tax I paid due to internet ordering, I end up paying $2 more.

Supposedly the TV will be delivered tomorrow. Hopefully it will not be delivered broken.

If I see a dolly anywhere near TV two, I will turn into evil high-maintenance customer and demand it be carried up the stairs even if I have to chain myself to the dolly to prevent its use.

Apostrophes

I saw two horrific miscarriages of grammar and taste tonight. I had to share.

The first on a license plate cover:

"In case of rapture, cars yours!"

While I appreciate your attempt to imply that you are completely righteous and I am a sinner doomed to suffer during the apocalypse with the cold comfort of your awesome ride, I am offended by your total lack of understanding of the English language.

The second on an apartment complex:

"Size matter's. Big 1,2 bedroom's."

The double wrong apostrophe and general tackiness. Impressive. Except, wait, not at all.

Things like this make me sad for humanity--and its lack of humanities knowledge.

Seafood Enchiladas

Friday night I had a craving for sushi. This is somewhat unusual. People from Kansas tend to distrust all seafood in general and raw seafood in particular, yet occassionally I enjoy some salmon tempura or California rolls.

Anyway, I figure that the fancy grocery store by my apartment has sushi in the deli area. I drive there, run inside in the pouring rain, wander around, and find no sushi whatsoever. I ponder my choices as I sit in my car. I can go home and eat pasta for the 7th day in a row, or I can move forward in my quest for sushi. I decide that I will continue in my search and go to the super fancy grocery store a few miles away. I drive there, run inside in the pouring rain, wander around, and again find no sushi whatsoever. By this point I'm hungry and grouchy, so I decide to buy something else so that I can eat before I run to the airport to pick up a friend. I browse the other ready-made options (aka food for lazy single yuppies). I want to get the ah-mazing vegetarian egg rolls I'd discovered on the last trip to the mecca of fancy food, but decide that I should stick with the fish craving from earlier and branch out to something new. I see that there are "Seafood Enchiladas." I don't particularly like seafood. I really only like crab and salmon. But I figure I should try new things.

I go home and eat my enchiladas of the sea. It was less of a success than one might have hoped.

Moral of the story: Don't try new things, particularly if those things are seafood enchiladas.

Blog Two

So, blog one was buried under a landslide of personal, professional, and academic demands during my senior year of college. Now that I am out in what is called the real world, I have significantly more time on my hands. I suppose it's one of the benefits of being a soulless cog in the corporate machine: free evenings. I have been told I should take up something useful in my spare time; I should study for the GRE/LSAT (just in case), learn a foreign language (how I lament my loss of my mad Spanish skills!), or take up a hobby (decoupage, bowhunting, etc). In the 10 months since graduation, all I've done is become addicted to hockey and buy a pilates dvd. Thus, due to a lack of motivation to do anything useful and fear of feeling shamed for the stagnation of my current life, I am going to start a blog.

We'll see how the second attempt goes. I have only three goals:
1) Pretend that I am culturing the life of my mind by "writing"
2) Not get fired for being too snarky about my job
3) Entertain the very small number of people I will tell about this

Wish me luck.