Justification

So the broken TV in the living room as a constant reminder finally got to me. I started doing research into LCD HDTVs in the $1000-$1500 range (not ever spending $4000 on a TV again) and wrote down prices that I could find online for the various recommended models, which were almost all Samsungs.

I planned on going by Fry’s on the way home from work to get a visual sense of the televisions, because no amount of “off-axis vertical luminosity percentage” and “optimal viewing distance” and “black color” numbers on a webpage is every going to make up for actually seeing the televisions next to each other. I told myself though, if I saw a model there that was significantly less than what I saw online, I would get it.

After getting there and finding that most of the models were indeed on sale, and looking at the LN4XA650 model (both the 40″ and 46″ version) and finding that I could hardly see the picture getting dimmer even when looking at the oddest of angles when a salesman walked up. (Technically he’d walked up the second I set foot in the department, as they are oft to do, but I shooed him away the first time.) The price on the LN40A650 was $50 cheaper than I’d found online, which was not enough to get me to jump in, when he said “you know, that’s on sale for $1199?” Evidently it was a leftover Black Friday special, and even though he didn’t mention it, the special ended today.

So in one of the quickest decisions that probably made that guy’s day, I said I’d take it. It even fit nicely in my car. Sadly, it doesn’t quite fit in the room on the stand that matches the old TV, it’s a bit low and now the couch is a bit too far away, but the picture is amazing. I didn’t have 1080p before, and the difference from 1080i with a signal that uses it (and DirectTV does) is scary. I watched the DVRed episode of Heroes and the image looked too real. It was creeping me out.

So now I need to get a stand that’s a foot higher or so. And then get rid of the old TV, probably via a Craigslist post saying “free TV, if you can get it working, all you have to bother with is getting it out of my house.”

So, the real justification in my head for getting a TV? I need to DDR more. Changing my diet wasn’t enough, I’m still not losing any weight.

Tweets for Today

Thoughts in 140 characters

  • 13:27 Woken up by rain, saw blue skies out my window by the time I got out of bed. Weather is weird. #
  • 19:45 It is friggin’ cold out there! #

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Tweets for Today

Thoughts in 140 characters

  • 15:06 I appear to have survived the culling. Sadly, there were more casualties close to home that I would have liked. #
  • 16:53 No wonder I’ve been getting so many recruiters calling and emailing — my LinkedIn was still set to "looking for a job". #

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Another Email Post

Checking to see if post by email still works. For some reason loudtwitter isn’t collecting my tweets, or it is and the email isn’t making it through. (Yes, I set up LJ to accept emails from them.)

Twitters

I tried setting up my twitter -> LJ connection yesterday, but it didn’t seem to take. I tried again today, we’ll see what happens at midnight.

And I used to like this month…

December is my favorite month. Not just because of the holidays (sanctioned days off of work are always a plus in my book), but just because of the end of the year, the start of winter, my favorite season, and other things that are hard to put into words.

This December isn’t shaping up so well so far. Starting the month with a broken TV, an “oh yeah, property tax is due”, the looming shadow of a pending 10% layoff and a long time friend going into major surgery can’t be good.

But hey, I signed up for Twitter (hamusutaa of course), it’s Friday, and I have central heating waiting for me at home. Things could be worse.