For what seems like only a blip in time, I’ve owned my childhood TV (27″ RCA model # F27155AK) for about seven years now. I bought it from my dad in January 2001 right before I finally left for college again after two years of being home.
That trip was one of the more memorable occasions in my childhood almost twenty years ago this year. My dad made it a family trip since it was a very big occasion for us. Our very first large screen television with all the works!
We all looked around at a bunch of furniture and electronics while my dad was shopping for the best of the best, probably having already picked out the exact model he wanted from his research in Consumer Reports for the best TV of the day. Once we saw what we were getting, everyone was excited and ready to get back home and hook that TV right up. It could very well have been a scene out of the Simpsons.
This TV has travelled with me to Lubbock, Texas. I then brought it up to Denver, Colorado for my last two years of college. Once I completed college, it went right back down to Houston with me where it was mostly in a room sitting there or a garage sitting there. After a year of figuring out what to do with my life, it moved with me to Los Angeles, California. Then, since being here in LA, it moved three times in two houses and three rooms.
Now, after being in the same spot since about August of 2005, it’s finally decided to stop sending signal on the tube. After turning it on, it almost sounds like when a car that doesn’t catch the spark and keeps cycling until the spark starts it up. Except this sound is completely electronic, basically to the beat of AC current running to the sockets.
Now, I must decide what to do. I think craigslist might be a good option since people usually find value in old junk. I’ve already given away two monitors last year, one of which I had since 2000 and was such a good monitor. I bought a 24″ Dell LCD monitor to replace it and it was mostly worth it (except when I’m trying to design a website and need very accurate colors. LCDs are still not as good as CRTs). Sadly, I grow emotional attachments to my stuff. In the end after it’s gone, however, it’s just stuff and I don’t think about it.
Since I’m leaving in a week to go away for close to a month, I won’t have to even worry about it until I get back. My trip agenda includes Manhattan for a week, Austin for a week, then Houston for over a week. March is gonna be a time of renewal for me. 2008 has been a rough start for many reasons but I feel it’s mostly downhill for a while.
Goodbye blessed RCA TV. You’ve brought me many episodes of the best and worst of television and so many other shows throughout the years for the rest of the family. You’ll be missed.
