I want my television to die
Today my largest screen went strangely blank, refused to turn off, and then refused to turn on after a cold reset.
Could it be? I was almost hesitant to fully immerse myself in joy. But I could feel it overwhelming me.
A dead television could fully justify a new one. Larger. 1080p. And then.. some sort of bluray. "omg"
Most people would understand this desire. Share in it as well.
It's more than that though. A new television isn't something I need per se, and even in good economic times there's some argument to be made about waste. Or even using the money for something else entirely. But I find that things and even places tend to get stale after awhile. They become weighted with memories and periods that are not.. bad per se, but that you'd like to get past.
Take the TV for example.
The TV was once my pride and joy. It was an early-adopter HDTV set--so early that it had a non-standard resolution, no tuner, and no HDMI. It was quirky.. but using my ingenuity I got around these limitations and was able to coax a beautiful image from the thing.
My boss gave it to me in 2005. I turned around a 2 year project in just a few weeks and this was a gift from him to me for my efforts. So in addition to it's value as a gadget, it was earned through hard work.
Now?
Well now, it's technical limitations are considerable. It isn't fully compatible with such basic items as an xbox360, a PS3, or many cable boxes. Adding bluray capability involves buying a computer bluray drive and getting the signal to the TV that way using some admittedly well-established hacks.
My job at the time is something I don't think about much for a variety of reasons. Professionally alone, my challenge today isn't just to work hard, but to work smartly and efficiently. I'd like to think the project I produced back then improved upon what I inherited, but I've grown enough professionally to know that my approach was amateurish at best. I had nobody to teach me, no architecting skills (no knowledge of the term "architecting"), and no project-management skills. I did remarkably well with what I had, and one of the sites is still up and running. A fully functioning ecommerce site. Nothing 3rd party, not even the javascript animations. Nuts. Nobody would do it like that today.
So a new TV would be sooo cool on so many levels.
Alas. Leaving it unplugged for a few minutes did the trick. Came right back up.
I'm like everyone else. Maybe a member of the herd even. The news, my recent unemployment.. the drying up of jobs... there is no way I can spend money on something superfluous as a TV and feel good about it.
The more money in the bank, the longer a break I can take between jobs. That time with no job *and* no worries was the closest I've felt to stress-free in years. "Mini sebaticals" should be something I enjoy every few years.
I've either dismantled or closeted all computers I own save for my mac pro laptop. This makes watching TV a bit more of a pain since I have to hook up the laptop to the thing. I'm spending considerably less time maintaining the rest of the machines, and now, doing the things I ultimately want to do (but often have to force myself to do) is a bit easier. Things like reading, studying, spending time with friends, stopping to smell the roses, that sort of thing.
These things are good. They have tangible benefits. My life has improved considerably because I'm doing these things a little bit more.
This attitude is killing the economy.
Obama doesn't have to spend a dime on me to have a stimulus effect. Next time he's in Texas I'll give him a shotgun and ask him to shoot my television, pausing only for a facebook picture. What choice will I have then? I have to go to Fry's. Or best buy. It's closer.