This is really one of those weekends where I wonder where the heck it went. Then I kinda think of all I did yesterday and I realize well maybe it did not go that fast after all. Yesterday was moving my 6-7 year old plasma from the living room to the bedroom and putting in a main new television. Sadly, the hardest part of the journey had absolutely nothing to do with my new acquisition. It had to do with ole betsy as readers would expect. The good news is that everything worked, even if it had many unexpected surprises along the way.
Television (Philips – 42 inch Plasma)
First we had the old television:
There we go, except it was on a mounting stand. So that piece underneath, not there. But thanks to being something of a ratpacker, it was up in the attic. Anyway, I wanted to move this sucker to the bedroom because most couples at some point want a television or a mirror in there. And I’m not getting up on the ceiling. Plasmas have to be kept upright at all times when moving them. You can’t carry on its back and you certainly can’t lay it down like that. It has to stay straight up or else you risk screwing up the whole television.
Well that my friends is a daunting task, at least I had to sense to call in a good buddy I could rely on. My wife is very handy but as it turns out but this was actually a three person job. Two to steady the plasma exactly as it needs to be and one to screw stuff in or out depending on the situation. Let’s just say that the paid dinner beforehand was probably worth a 3rd of the effort he put in. He steadied this rather heavy plasma most of the time while I either supported it and played with the screws or my wife did the same.
First there were the mounting screws in the back of the old stand which we could not get out. Luckily we had a plethora of screw bits we had bought with a drill that also fit my screwdriver that did the job. There is no warning for when that sucker comes down after you remove those either. Okay, so we carry it to the bedroom and realize we need to assemble the stand. My wife expertly assembled the stand (from the attic) while we held it. That was fun. Now, how the heck do we get it attached to this. Ummm, perhaps if we balance it on the bed and this table. OH geezus.
Especially during this task right here I’m thinking, its not going to make it. Finally, in an attempt to make it easier (which by easier we mean not Ninja Gaiden Black and perhaps something more like Zelda II) we bring the stand to the television. After one really easy screw and one really hard screw (but the same holes and screws, figure out that one). It’s there. Then comes the fun (and quick at this point) task of moving it to the dresser. Up and shuffle and down. Okay there we go. And yes, later it did turn on and I did not see any obvious discoloration when I accessed the menu screen. More testing later once I hookup the dvd or ps2 to it.
Television (Samsung – 46 inch LED)
Alright, on to the new television. We get that sucker unwrapped and out of the box. Light as a freaking feather. We could have thrown it around like a football except we were a tad scared to do so. Anyway, we were happy as heck at this point and maybe it will be a quick screw…errrrrrr. WTF? The screws we have left do not fit the Samsung to mount it on my old stand. Okay, no problem, we will just dig in the new box and find screws. No screws, seriously? (Well there were screws to place it on the stand you see in the picture but that kinda defeats the purpose). There were no screws to use to mount it. In the manual, they suggest you buy a wall mount kit and the screws will be inside. Seriously, you could not include four screws for your own screwholes on the back of the television.
*sigh*. Mind you, its about 8, 8:30 at night by now. I’m not dragging my friend to Lowe’s or somewhere else to find appropriate screws. Everybody take a break. Have I mentioned my wife is brilliant? In the old box for the Philips tv, there are count em four screws that fit the holes. Not the SAMSUNG box. Now, once we got it up there, we realized the screws were a tad long but for as light as that tv was and the way it goes up there, it will gladly hold for a little while, no problems. Today or in a week, we will go back and get slightly shorter screws and everything will be peachy, I’m not even concerned.
First Viewing Impressions
At this point, my friend is having to leave. It’s about 9 o clock and he has to be somewhere in the morning. I thank him 100 times over (because without him, it would not have happened) and walk him to his car. Once he leaves, I go inside, re-program my Logitech remote and then start up the proceedings. I go through all the activities on the remote to make sure it works correctly and it does fine (because really all I was doing was trading out televisions). Then the first thing I decide to enjoy on the tube was a video game. I switch the Xbox to 1080p (the last one was a 720p/1080i set) and then think about the game I wanted to look at. I choose Skyrim, a game I had not played in almost a year. Let’s just say after putting it in, I wanted to play it all over again (and not just because it is an awesome game).
Winterhold is breathtaking (and the picture above while pretty just doesn’t do it justice). I play for probably twenty minutes but I could have played for hours easily. Alright, let’s do the movie test. I ask the wife, she of course responds, the Dark Knight. What did I expect? Rock of Ages? As awesome as Skyrim was, Dark Knight blew it away. The first scene in is amazing enough but throughout the movie there were so many new highlights and things I did not quite pick up before with an older set (which I still think was excellent). It was fantastic. Very happy, very happy indeed. Even though I’m not a big football watcher, I am interested to see one of the games today for at least a few minutes.
A Final Word
Obviously, I want to thank my friend for his service. I owe him a ton. However, that was the first time he had come over to our house and I feel bad in the sense that I wish he had stayed and we could have watched something on the screen. He also wanted to see my video game collection which we did not have time for. But he knows he is welcome back anytime and its not a bad drive for him either, so there’s that. Also of course, my wife because without a third person who had a lot of know how, it would not have worked. Now we can enjoy, and hopefully for a long, long time.
The three of us rocked that bitch. Woopty woop. I cant wait to watch Watchmen on that sucker.