Trial by Television

OUR TV STORY - A DEMON IN THE BOX?

One might wonder whether someone or something is trying to communicate with us about our television ownership and/or viewing habits. Let me explain.

 Historically, there have been a few times in my life when something we own or something we have purchased that is really nice has become a bit of a nightmare. For instance, our first expensive car was a big (used) well-endowed 1986 Chevy conversion van. It was a beauty. Within months of acquiring the vehicle it was stolen from a mall parking lot and stripped bare. It was devastating. I had been told to never go to that mall. What?? I went for a half-hour, enjoying ice cream with a friend. The husband was out of town with the other car. The van was stolen. We had to drive it back to its birthplace in Indiana to be refurbished, the husband sitting on a lawn chair instead of a plush captain's chair, in the empty shell of the van. Although it  came within dollars of being totaled, we had it re-customized to our liking (listening jacks for the kids, etc.) with a brand spanking new interior and a new tennis racket and car seat included in the insurance deal. But it was not an experience I would wish on anyone. It changed us forever.

A few years later, soon after moving to Michigan, I left my diamond ring at home on the dresser one night when we were going to the beach (Lake Michigan) for the evening with the family. We had an unsecured air-conditioner in a first floor window. The policewoman who responded to our report of a robbery said that a window like ours was an open invitation to come in. Our house was stripped that night of any good gold and jewelry, all drawers dumped out for easy scavenging. Again, devastating. Not much was taken really--my ring, my mother's ring (cut from her finger just before her casket was closed), my class rings (which I never wore), a (gift) Swiss watch, a (gift) gold necklace, and some silver dollars, as I recall. We received $1000 (maximum of our insurance policy) and nothing was replaced. We needed the money more than jewelry at the time.

I had questions. Were we not allowed to enjoy good things? Part of me said that I never wanted to own anything valuable again. I didn't want to go through that kind of loss and that terrible sense of violation ever again. Let them just come in and take our stuff if they need it so badly.

A few years ago my husband made an on-line purchase of a refurbished (but still expensive) 52-inch Samsung rear projection television that fit perfectly into a new teak entertainment unit. No, it was not stolen.

However, soon after its acquisition, the tv started getting dark along the sides, the hellish shadows gradually creeping farther and farther into the center of the screen. Getting no satisfaction from the seller, eventually, when enough of the screen had turned black, the husband hauled it in to a local repair shop and for a few hundred dollars the screen was 98% fixed. Later a recall notice allowed us a full repair of the black shadows and the set mostly worked fine. Once in awhile it would shut itself off and we would turn it right back on. On DVR'd  programs, we would not miss a thing.

Lately, it has been getting worse and worse. We thought it was the lamp, which tends to need replacement after a few years, so we recently called a local repair guy who came out and changed the bulb for a few hundred dollars more. It seemed to work better for a while and the picture was brighter. For the last few months, especially since the furnace has been on more, it has been turning off with any electrical change (surge) in the house. (We think.) We have tried plugging it in to different circuits, with extension cords strung through the house. Lately we have been turning off the furnace and the refrigerators while we watch tv at night! One night I forgot to turn the main fridge back on. The situation has become completely ridiculous, but having just spent a couple of hundred more dollars, and because it has such a great picture WHEN IT WORKS we have stuck by it, for better or for worse, like a bad marriage to a beautiful woman.

Tonight it was getting so cold (I start getting cold when it drops below 70 degrees) in the house that I donned a winter hat. I was reminded of our Burmese refugee family at church. The diminutive father always wears a knit hat in church. When the air-conditioning was out for about 6 weeks this summer, I finally saw his hair! It was near 90 degrees a few Sunday mornings and way too hot for a hat.

Anyway, this whole tv thing is getting totally crazy!! Are we not meant to have good things...like a nice tv?? We have our old tv in place yet, on the other wall, so sometimes we watch that one or have it on in case the program switches off!--like right in the middle of a touchdown (it is 3 seconds behind the big tv!) But the other tv doesn't have the full HD cable package and it's hard going back to the old technology. But two tvs in the living room--is that not the craziest thing you have ever heard??

Marissa, and especially her husband, just laugh and laugh at us when they come over. Sometimes we laugh, too.

The husband has started talking at the tv. Sometimes giving it a few good wacks on the backside seems to help. He threatens to hit it more if doesn't cooperate. Not only does it have issues with electrical surges, it seems to have other issues which we cannot diagnose. A tv with issues. Great.

Just tonight we were speculating (since it is a refurbished tv) that it had problems with its first owners. Perhaps it was mistreated and is still suffering, or rebelling.

Lately, on afternoons that I am home, I jack up the thermostat, so that when we start watching the news or an evening drama, the house will stay warm for awhile with the furnace off!

Three repairmen have been called into service so far, and no one has told us about this issue, or how to solve the problem.

Once again, I have questions. So what would you do? We could redo our whole electric system and it might help. Or we could get another tv, even though we have spent a small fortune on this one. Or we could say we were not meant to watch so much tv.

Or, do we just need an exorcism here??

Update 12/1/2012: SAVED BY A TWISTY TIE

A Christmas miracle has happened!

Duh. The husband went on the internet--to the Samsung website--searched for our model number and found a solution to the problem, which, who woulda thunk--others have experienced as well! There is a latch that can loosen behind the little black door in the back--the one he had been slapping around. It needed to be secured. Guess how he fixed the tv, after all these months of suffering?? A twisty tie now secures the latch!!

At least it works today--I'm sure it is fixed!

Now I still have questions. What lesson is to be learned here, if any? Did we finally do something right? Did we have a perfect day, our own Groundhog Day? Did we finally suffer enough in our slog through the slough of tv darkness and despair?

 Or do we just say "sometimes stuff happens." Sometimes good stuff. Sometimes bad.