as we watch the economy tank and prepare for the impending christmas season, hubs and i spend our weekend like every other family in america: comparison shopping for a big-screen tv. (?!?!?!)following is the transcript of our actual conversation:
me: tell me again about option 1?
hubs: what you'll see is deeper blacks and a brighter contrast in color.
me: so if we're going to watch a lot of movies about rainbows and coal miners and malcolm x, that's really the clear way to go. by the way, i was just in Little's room, and i think she told me to "shake it downtown."
hubs: soooo, i take it you're not interested in the upgrade.
me: whadoyoumean. what's the price difference again?
hubs: 300 dollars.
me: (pause for reflection. picture the weight of $300 in fabric.)
hubs: have you ever seen high definition tv?
me: (dismissive laughter. pause to recall the last time i ran the tv gauntlet at an electronics store. decide it must have been at least three states ago.) maybe not.
hubs: okay. it's the difference between, oh, wow!, and WHOA!!! whereas that (points to our current humming, smudge-bespattered relic) is like, hmm? so, to recap, 300 dollars is the difference between oh, wow! and WHOA!!!
me: (pause for reflection. meanwhile, Little enters the room dancing.)
Little: shake-a-downtown-shake-a-downtown-shake-a-downtown-shake-a-downtown. mommy shake-a-downtown?
hubs: so, i take it from your reflection that you'd rather get the wow option and save 300 dollars.
me: (ever the killjoy, or, voice of reason) look at it not as saving 300, but as not spending 300 we don't have.
hubs: true. (retreats to his laptop for 10 minutes. then returns.)
hubs: just when i thought i had explored all the options...(truly, he had spent all of saturday absorbed in said activity)...i find a possibly fatal flaw.
me: the 42-inch is actually a cardboard box and a rabbit?
hubs: AND samsung has a comparable model that consumes half as much energy. for a couple hundred more.
me: well, that's important to me.
and so, to celebrate the birth of our savior, we contemplate spending ourselves speedily down to hell. but feel slightly justified because we're going green all the way.
9 comments:
This gives new meaning to the words, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The path, then, is most certainly green.
P.S. Loved the actual conversation that took place. Witty. Now, we need video of Little shake-a-downtown-ing! Or audio. Or both. :>)
Spencer and I have variations on this conversation. But he has never played the green card. Thus far it's been about The Jones's next door. And the coming conversion to digital signal.
Just by way of comparison. Our 20+ year old tv just turned pink. The picture is tinted pink. I think that means the picture tub is going. What do you think? So if you don't mind watching movies (it's analog and we won't pay to watch mindless tv) with rose colored glasses on it's works great! If you are like me, however, it means it's done. Now to my point, we are not replacing the the tv. We owe too much money and finances are really tight with fuel oil price doubling this year. We just can't afford to replace it. My dad offered to give us $200 to buy a new one, I don't even know if you can buy one for that, but I declined, for now. It's an interesting experiment to do without. Go without a car for a year or two and see how it changes you. That's what I've been doing and, mostly, it's not that bad. Sometimes simplifying our lives is hard and our choice and sometimes it is forced upon us and we works it out. I think I write a blog post about it.
my 42" JVC 1080p LCD HDTV is by far the best object I have ever purchased in my life.
Oh, and $300 divided by 8 years (the estimated life of a lcd tv) = $37.50 per year for platinum membership to the WHOA! club. That's a bargain.
shakeadowntown, shakeadowntown, ericshakesadowntown. word.
Sherry, don't be a thief of joy.:)
Sounds like a Derek and Ceri conversation! How are things in CA?
And so continues the Campaign to Christmas in California 2008!
:-)
What's next? Suggesting that the Diazes hang out with former radicals.=?
That B&M will raise your taxes?
That you don't even know J&K?!?
Enough with the electioneering. We'll come. We'll come.
(Just kidding. We won't come. But we would if we could.)
rd, if you don't come, i will definitely NOT name my baby girl after you. think about it.
Post a Comment