I got them old TV blues...
2006-12-18

Well the presents are bought and the cards mailed, so I did what any other good Christams elf would do and painted the bottom of the boat. Huh? Well, I already had the paint and the temps have been in the 50s here, the boatyard was empty, it just seemed like a good thing to do so I did. One more thing I won't have to worry about in the spring.
Saturday was the day from hell. I got down to the boat at 9:00, ripped out all the floorboards, 28 in all and carried them down the ladder without killing myself. Yea me... Then I took off the old teak grab rails, sanded the bottom, moved the stands and painted all the bare spots and the spots were the stands would be moved to. I drove home, unloaded the car and because I'm a masochist, I did 4 miles on the tredmill. Phew...
I took a long hot shower and was contimplating where to go for dinner and a good glass O grapes when the phone rang. It was mom. It seems her TV died and she wanted to buy a big screen one and I was to drop everything I was doing pick her up and drive to Sams Club for this purpose.
Well all I'd had to eat all day was half a sanddwich, but I didn't have much choice... When my head cleared I realized that 4 people and a 50" TV were not going to fit in the Tuscon so she had to nag my sister to drive her there. Of course they were late.
We finally picked out the TV we waanted and then we waited because of course the only one available was on the top shelf and fork lift drivers on a Saturday night at Sams must be flown in from Paraguay or some such place. They finally got it down and we wheeled it out to the car to discover problem #2 the damn box wouldn't fit in the car. We tried a few different waysm but surgery was the only option. We removed all the packing and things then fit nicely...
I knew, just knew I was going to have to assemble the damn stand and so I did. I asked mom to read the manual in how to program the tv while I put things together so fo course she didn't. She couldn't even remember if she turned on her VCR (which the cable went through) to get things to work. I finally got it all figured out. By then it was 9:00 and I was so hungry my hands were shaking an I wasn't in the most pleasent of moods. We were tasked with disposing of the old TV at the "main building" of the complex. Where at the main building I asked three times. The answer three times back at the main building. God, shoot me when I get that old...
We drove around and around and around until I finally stopped and asked somebody. Thru a side door, around a corner and into a bck room was the biggest dumpster I've ever seen. We didn't use it and left this damn 80 pound tv sitting on the floor.
I was really starting to feel the effects of no food. The only decent place near by had closed a month or so before and I had no clue where we were going to eat. We exited the complex and low and behold, the closed place was back open again so I pulled a Uey and zipped in. It was blues night with a band set up in the bar. They were loud, very LOUD!!!
We took a table as far away as we could get. I explained the situation to the waiter and he got me a glass of grapes as fast as his legs would let him. By the second one I had finally calmed down. We had an excellent dinner and the music wasn't even half bad. I went home full, fell fast asleep and didn't wake up until 8:30. Then yesterday I painted all day. I wonder why my arms are sore?
Happy Monday,
Ron

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