Home Improvement #2

Even though there are still some things left to do in the Steelers room my husband has moved on into the living room.  The plan there has been to replace the television and the entertainment center as well as the couches.  If he had his way he would do major construction and tear out the front of the house and push it forward toward the road, but I have convinced him we don't need all of that room let alone the hassle and upheaval of major construction.  I agreed to a new television instead.

He is the electronics man in the house.  He studies, plans for, researches, and purchases all electronic devices.  I just give some input when needed.  For example, after viewing the new television in the Steelers room I thought we needed something bigger then the one that is in that room.  Tom agreed.  He went out and purchased a 55 inch flat screen television and all the paraphernalia that must go with a purchase like that.  It sat in our garage for a week and made him crazy, worried that someone would see the box and steal it out of the open garage.  We had instructions not to open the garage unless it was absolutely necessary.  He threw a pool towel over the box that covered the edge just in case anyone driving by could see past my parked van in the driveway into the garage.

Last weekend I convinced him it was the time to replace the television so that I could use the garage without fear of being robbed.  Darcy was off to a friend's house and so Tom decided that 6:00 PM was the time to get started on electronic replacement despite no food being consumed by his helpers.  Madison and I mentioned how probably eating dinner at a lovely restaurant would be a thing to do before getting started, but he was sure we could at least "get the TV out of the box".

When we got the television for the Steelers room I wanted it hung on the wall.  Tom resisted this for some reason.  He gave me a quite a few mumblings about what to do with cords and wires and boxes and in the end I just said the hell with it and let him go off and find a TV stand.  After a week of viewing television in that room he said "we should have put the TV on the wall.  We can still do that if you want."  So starting out with the newest television he decided it should go on the wall for better viewing purposes.  I threw a wrench into the situation by wondering aloud which wall it should go on.

We spent quite some time between two walls.  We rearranged furniture and sat and pretended we were watching TV.  We weighed pros and cons.  Madison left the room.  We rearranged some more furniture and stood around wondering.  I finally went out to walk the dog, and when I returned Tom had made an executive decision.  The TV would go on the wall that the old TV had been against.  On to phase two.

Phase two involved a lot of measuring with me sitting on the couch trying to figure out how low or how high the TV should sit.  Madison came back into the room to help with the measuring and then the two got to work on the device that would hang on the wall and that the television would fit into.

Madison read the directions and Tom began putting this thing together.  He muttered about the cost of the thing and Madison told him to get over it as it was needed and he had already purchased it.  He wondered aloud if she knew how to read directions.  This went back and forth with more measuring.  I, of course, was a big help!

As was Elliot.

They eventually took the television out of the box and discussed where cables attached and technical things like that.  In the end it was decided we should go out to eat and return with full stomachs and clear heads.  This we did returning after ten o'clock at night.  The hanging of the television went on until after midnight.

Madison and I emptied the entertainment center and placed all the albums, CDs, knick knacks, VHS tapes, picture frames, and electronic components on the dining room table and chairs.  Who knew we had so much stuff.

The television was finally hung and hooked up to the cable box.  We finished the night off by watching television until two o'clock in the morning.  Next up is finding a piece of furniture to go under the television to house all the crap belongings that came out of the entertainment center.  For now we are making due with boxes.  I also want the cables hidden, but I've been told that is no big deal.  Uh huh...heard that one before...