Friday, November 09, 2007

Cumbersome

So, my vintage 1994 19" TV hasn't been doing so well lately. When I was attempting a game of MLB for the old Playstation, it would get some serious wavy line action. This wasn't a huge deal as I don't watch much TV, don't have cable, and it didn't seem to be a problem when I was playing movies. But, recently a co-worker let me know he wanted to get rid of his 32" TV that is just a few years old and wanted to know if I would be interested in buying it for $75. I wasn't sure how I felt about spending the money until I did a quick price check at Best Buy and realized I would be shelling out several hundred dollars more if my TV finally did fall off its last leg. So, with the gracious help of Aaron and his dad's work van, I took possession of the giant.

But as is so often the case in the curse of materialism, the story doesn't end there. Of course, this large and heavy TV does not fit onto my old, flimsy TV stand so I had to go to Wal-Mart today and drop another $50 to purchase a suitable stand. It should work, but now my two large Van Gogh's on the wall behind it are going to look out of whack. I am going to have to move them up the wall and hope that works, and my living room as a whole just looks a lot smaller than it did before. And basic cable becomes much more tempting.

I think I may have violated my standards for simplicity with this purchase. Although the initial cash outlay seemed like a wise purchase, the total cost and hassle is kind of bothersome. It's an interesting microcosm of materialism. The more stuff you buy, the more other stuff you have to buy to accommodate it, until it generates such a mass that it creates its own gravitational pull.

2 comments:

Snoyarc said...

Try organizing 4 different gravitational pulls at once sometime... it's a challenge that I desperately want to eliminate. Not the 3 other people, just the excess. I have been trying desperately to convince my little blessings that we really don't need baby toys anymore, they just take up extra room we don't have and require more purchases to take care of them, etc... *sigh* stay simple, it's better!

Hugs & Love

David said...

Try buying an electric guitar sometime.

Epiphone Les Paul Electric Guitar:
$450 (on sale)
Fender Blues Jr. Tube Amp:$400
Digi-Tech Turbo Flange Pedal:$80 (gift)
Boss Distortion Pedal:$40
Planet Waves 10' Instrument Cable: $25
Planet Waves Male/Male jack (for connecting the effects pedals):
$15
Nice Leather Strap:
$25 (used 20% off coupon)
Cheap Guitar Peg Winder:
$2.5
Hardshell Epiphone Les Paul Guitar Case:
$48 (used 20% off coupon)
10' Chintzy Instrument Cable:
Free with Instrument

How did I afford all this? Big Tax Return (I made a lot of money for my age last year but still fell within the poverty bracket), Summer Job, and finally a little Prostitution and Crack/Cocaine dealing on the side. Will Metzger wasn't wild about me running a brothel in the unused 3rd floor of the IV house, so I had to switch to the drug dealing later.