Our First HD TV

I finally pulled the lever and bought an HDTV.  The 32″ Samsung LCD was a modest purchase, in my opinion.  It was not going to be our main living room TV but rather an office TV where we could watch DVDs and play XBOX in HD.  It was going to replace the Sony 32″ Trinitron TV we gave away.  We don’t currently have any HD programming and I didn’t immediately plan to add any to our cable service.

The biggest surprise in the whole experience is discovering that I could recieve FREE HD signals from the three major networks plus our local PBS (whose signal really rocks!) station using nothing more than a rabbit-ears antenna!  Wow. Now I’m wondering why I even need basic cable; oh yeah, the other three TV’s in the house.

Just as I expected, playing XBOX and watching DVD’s in HD in widescreen rocks.  And I’m not sure I would have sat through a Dixie Chicks Concert on PBS but it was so beautiful in HD, I had to.

Here’s the best site I found to help you determine if you’re likely to get the OTA HD signals

Update: Our 2nd HD TV is a 40″ Samsung LNT4061FX/XAA, serial # AHBA3CSPA10261F

I want a better swap site

My recent experiences with Craig’s List and Austin FreeCycle make me yearn
for an opportunity to develop a swapping service that I’ve had on the back
burner.

Online classifieds work. And people don’t necessarily need to make money off
of their possessions they are willing to part with.

I was shopping for a loft bed for Cassidy and Craig’s list delivered a
resident here in Austin that was willing to sell me her gently used one for 40%
of the cost of a new one. I loved it so much and it worked out in Cassidy’s room
so well that I bought a SECOND one, on Craig’s list for again, roughly for the
same discount. I even negotiated $50 off the price by agreeing to disassemble
the bed myself.

More recently, I used Austin FreeCycle to get rid of an old Sony 32" TV that
I no longer wanted. It worked but was falling apart and I didn’t care to take
the time to fix what was wrong with it. Austin FreeCycle delivered eight
interested parties within 12 hours.

All this took some time and travel (contacting and waiting for replies,
coordinateing schedules, borrowing pickups, driving across town). How wonderful
would it have been if I could have scheduled the same transacations in my
immediate neighborhood.

Throwback Christmas

We had a great Christmas.
We did not get an XBOX 360 or an HDTV TV, our big wish-list items.
Instead, Christmas included some gifts that were well received, inexpensive and a throwback to my childhood. First there was PaddlePool.  I remember my four sisters and I playing this all the time. We even took it with us to Evansville Indiana that year we got it. 

Next, David received an electric racecar set.  No batteries (yeah), just an AC adapter and two controllers.  It was a blast.  I remember wanting this one I was a kid.  Ours has a loop but this picture gives you an idea of the set:

Finally, David also received this wooden Tommy Gun that shot rubber bands.  The rubber bands don’t shoot very hard but go far enough to make it fun.