Workin' For a Livin'

I enjoyed my weekend...albeit it sure seemed short! Lots of personal snow removal as Mother Nature did her best to remind us just exactly who's the Boss!

In keeping with the tenor of the week, I slept right through my first night off Sunday...Monday was spent digging out around the DaveCave, and waiting for the UPS Guy...my new HDTV was supposed to be delivered Monday afternoon...that is until Mother Nature had other plans! Plenty of digging and snow blowing kept my mind busy enough to not stress over the scheduled delivery!

When I finally retired to the warm comfort of the DaveCave, the UPS website said: Emergency conditions beyond UPS' control postponed delivery until Tuesday.

Up early Tuesday, I heard the plow go by and suited up to blow the berm before it set up. (My 'Evil Plan' was to blow the berm for Mrs Landlord, and get to and from the grocery store before the UPS Guy came knocking...it was his second try for my TV, and fourth try for Mrs Landlord's new spring ski gloves!)

All in all, I shoveled the front deck six times this weekend! All that time out front gave me a bird's-eye view of Mrs Landlord's Suet Bird Feeder. There have been a passel of woodpeckers around lately...they think the DaveCave is a tree full of yummy insects, because they are hammering on my abode almost non-stop!

Anyway, the suet feeder has been a very busy place because the weather has been so fierce. An Acorn Woodpecker, a White Headed Woodpecker, and a big Flicker as well as smaller fellows like Red Breasted Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees  have been swarming Mrs Landlord's feeder. I tried to get some photographs, but even though these birds are super hungry, they still are very wary!

Tuesday before noon, I heard some noise on the front stairs. I threw open the front door and called: "UPS Man?" "Yes" came the muted reply. "I'll throw on some pants and be right up"

I hit the front deck as the UPS Guy was headed back up the stairs to fetch the box of gloves. My new TV was in front of the Landlord's front door. "Do you need a signature?" I shouted..."Nope, you're all good" came the reply.

I hooked up the new set and watched the second half hour of the noon news on it. I held out for two years before a new set fit my criteria...I've never in thirty years paid more than $500 for a TV...call it my $500 Rule. Starting in the early 80's, I bought a succession of SONY Trinitron TVs...17 inch, 20 inch, 23 inch and 27 inch...all were $499 at the time.

I've been holding out for an LCD/LED HDTV for two years now. Unfortunately, the industry is enamored with 3D TV now, so top shelf full LED array backlighting technology isn't trickling down to the 32 inch "bedroom TV" market, still VIZIO offers a set that's close enough...Internet Connected, LED Edge Lit...EnergyStar Rated...I've been following the price fluctuations for a few months, and last week Dell Small Business had the deal I couldn't refuse. $497.93 delivered.

Once I set it up and watched the News and Weather, it was time for a real test. I watched the Saphhire Edition Blu-ray of 2000's "Gladiator". This was an empirical test...honest! Now, I've watched this movie more than 200 times...it speaks to me, plus I've owned several DVD Players over the years, so I know there's some variations in playback quality.

The VIZIO passed with flying colors! This set is a step up from the 24 inch 1080p LED Monitor I have been watching...bigger is better!