Damn We Want a New HDTV

Almost Pulled the Trigger on a 67-incher. Again.
About two weeks ago we were in the mood for a new TV. We sort of started joking about it, then next thing I know we’re in Sears looking around at TV’s, and shopping via amazon for good deals on things. Well on Amazon, we found this new 67” LED-powered DLP Projection TV from Samsung that got really good reviews. So off we trekked back to Sears today to take a look-see (we had seen before that our local Sears happened to have the 61” version on the show floor).

We just sort of wanted to make sure that it still looked good. It’s definitely the biggest set that Sears has on their floor, and we just wanted to make absolutely sure before we spent that kind of dime, you know?

And it’s a terribly good thing we went back. We got there and looked, and looked, and accidentally saw…. The Samsung LN-52A650 about two TV’s down. This TV is a bit smaller than we want – it’s actually the same 52” that we currently have – but… I almost can’t describe it. I did say almost, so hey, here’s the thing(s):

This TV had a depth to it that I have not seen anywhere else. The blacks… One of the sorer spots of LCDs has always been that they have typically poor black reproduction; it’s more like “dark grey.” but this set was not like that. Blacks were black, and the screen was so ‘deep’ that thus, all the colors seemed so much punchier than any other set (even after I fiddled with the settings), and made the Rear-Projection model look like complete ass. Seriously, ass. Hairy ass.

Anyway, it was so good that we just ended up looking at it the whole time. It seemed 3-dimensional, it looked like you could reach inside the screen and pick things up. I did not try this, but yes, I was tempted.

And now, we can’t pull the trigger on the RPTV. We just can’t. We want a Large Samsung LCD. We want that Series 6 set we saw (but in a larger size), or maybe a Series 7, 58” set (though we’d still like bigger, and cheaper). So we’ll just have to wait, I guess. Wait until the Samsung LCDs get to 60+ inches, and within an affordable range.

And wait we shall.



The Things you Learn about HD when you go to buy a TV
There’s three basic competing technologies right now: Plasma, LCD, and Rear-Projection. RP is what we have now, Plasma’s the Old Dog, and LCD’s the never-quitter. Each has strengths and weaknesses, so it’s not as simple as “This is better than That” and to get the best you just pay more, it’s just not that simple (apparently).

For instance: Plasmas I guess generally have deeper, more detailed blacks, and not suffer from motion blur as older LCDs were prone to. However, their whites are not as bright as LCD sets (though better than RPTVs).

LCDs tend to have washed-out blacks as compared to Plasmas, but their whites are second-to-none. However, they also tend to suffer from motion blur. All this, however, was before the recent Samsung Series 6, 7, and above panels with their “Ultra Clear Panel” that brings out the vivid blacks about on par w/ the top-of-the-line Plasmas, and their skimpy 4ms response times & 120hz refresh rates which all but obliterate motion blur, as well. To me, this makes them “The Buy,” as their typical weaknesses have almost been erased, and yet they retain their typical strengths.

Where do the RPTVs fit into this? Well, they’re the “bang for the buck” sets. You can’t get a bigger picture for anywhere as low a price as the RPTVs offer. I mean, the 67” set we looked at, the current top of the line, is still 3x cheaper than the 58” Samsung LCD. Yikes. But there’s just no real strengths other than price. The picture’s not as bright, the colors aren’t as good, and the viewing angles tend to suck, as well.

So yeah, we’re going to wait. We figure (mostly me, I guess) that in another year, Samsung will have these series sets in the sizes we want (65”+), and hopefully the prices will come down. All this, and while we the let the techs sort themselves out, it should only get better. What am I looking forward to, then? Well, another year & a half with our current set, and then hopefully a Series 6 or Series 7 65” LCD.

Peace.

Truck Woes Over, by the way

The Truck’s on the Road
OK so we got the truck back up and working. Didn’t cost nearly as much as I had feared it might, which was good, just mostly the lost time.

I had figured – due largely to the timing – that it was related to the new battery install that it wasn’t running right anymore. I mean it went: fine, battery dies, install new battery, truck no longer idles. Suspicious? Me? Nah! OK, maybe a little.

Anyway, we drove it down to the local Toyo Dealer on Monday, have it looked at. About 3 hours later we get a call, and they tell me it’s ready. To which I reply, “OK how much?” After I picked my jaw up off the ground in astonishment, we went and got it. They said that the problem was a gummed-up Throttle body they imagined. Said that they took it apart to inspect, cleaned it, and that it seemed to idle fine now.

And while I don’t discount that that’s what they did and that it idled correct after that, I still wonder if it wasn’t an electronic thing. I know that it shouldn’t be linked, but I wonder if the now-higher voltages might have spiked the TPS sensor or something, maybe it was out of whack. And taking it all apart and re-setting it is really what solved the problem: they reset the sensor to within parameters. It’s a theory, anyway.



Toyo vs. Joe-Schmoe Mechanic
When The Girl had mentioned to some peeps that she was going to take it in to the Dealer for inspection and service, most everyone balked. “You’re gonna get ripped off!” was the general consensus. And yeah, look, I get what you’re saying. Yeah, the dealer typically charges more, but you know what? They know the vehicle, and if there’s problems, it’s on their dime. That’s peace of mind. Joe-Schmoe, maybe he jiggles a few cables and says that he thinks it’s this or that, and it should be ready in about an hour and cost $75. Maybe that doesn’t fix it though, and now he thinks it might be this other thing over here, but it’s going to be another hour and at least $150. Make that, $150 more.

Yeah, Joe-Schmoe may quote a lower price, but… You know, I’d rather pay someone who knows what the problems are a little more upfront, than pay “some guy” a little, now, a little later, and then some more in a few… You get me.



So how Much?
OK OK, I’ll tell you instead of just hinting. The initial quote for time & investigation was $135. When they called to say it was ready, the quote had fallen to $105. That’s right; the price dropped $30 from the quote. How often does that happen?

Yeah, We’ll stick with the Dealer, thanks.



Also looked…
At the new 4runners. When I paid, they went to bring the Tundra around to me, I walked out to see what they’re like in person. They look pretty nice on the inside, and I like the setup and everything. It’s definitely a lot more finely-appointed than my 1997 model.

They’re also much more expensive for what I’d want. MSRP of $38k. And then it makes you think: Is it ever worth it to pay that much for something that’s not going to do much more than what you currently have? I mean, that’s ⅓ the price of a home somewhere, you know? What does it have that my 4Runner doesn’t? Not much. Leather, a more powerful engine that won’t do 75mph any faster than my model drives 75mph. It does have some nice amenities, to include actual cup holders instead of flimsy foldout shits like mine.

No, in all reality, I don’t foresee myself spending anything like that figure to get better cupholders and leather. However, if someone were to give me one… I wouldn’t protest.

Peace.

The Retriever Property Laws

The Girl emailed me this picture. Oh. My. God. It is too funny. Mostly because it’s true, too. If you have Labs, or have had them in the past, you will appreciate the “Labrador Property Laws.”

The only real problem with them trying to sell this, is that it’s basically just a list I could make in Pages or even, if I absolutely had to use it, MS Word. Seriously? You really think that I want to buy them for $107.99 for a pack of 100? Yeah. Sorry. How about I make it myself and stick it to the fridge like I’m a good lil’ school boy instead. Nice try at a business model though. Srsly.

Peace.

No Blogs? Life's been Busy!

The Dogs
The new dogs have been quite good at keeping us slightly busier than usual. They’re awesome little pups, but they are indeed pups nonetheless. And while mostly potty-trained, they’ve managed an accident or two in the house. Which has kept us on edge a lil’.

They are also – and I may have mentioned this – Labradors. Which of course means that things simply must be chewed. And of course, where there’s food, there’s paws in close tow. For instance, yesterday I made 3 – count them, 3! – bags of trail mix to take with me to work as a snack. I wasn’t that into the stuff, but the first two managed to be found and subsequently devoured. How the hell they smelled trail mix through a sealed baggie & inside a laptop bag is something only The Creator can know. It’s definitely a Lab Talent. They seem to have a sense for where food is, even when technically it’s supposed to be safe.



The Truck
On Thursday night the Tundra’s battery died. It was the original one, so I guess 6 years is pretty damn good. Anyway, she needed a jump which was handled by AAA after they tested the battery. No problems, right? Wrong.

On Friday morning we called to have AAA come out to replace the battery. The wrong one was attempted, then they couldn’t get the “right” one in I guess (I was at work), so they said “here, this one will work.” And it did! For the first attempt.

Now however, as soon as it turns over and starts, it just dies. Idles down to nothing and dies. So we’re a one-car family now, but with two working adults. Fantastic.



Speaking of Work
So yeah, come Saturday, I started with a different store after being transferred. Cool, huh? Well, it does have its ups to go with its downs. The store is new and clean, and it’s organized very well. I also think I’ll get along nicely with the store manager – I like his outlook on things, it seems to tend to gravitate towards how I would look at a given situation.

But things are new & different all over again. Learning new systems, you know? And if you know me – which I think you do – then you know that I simply hate not knowing any particular thing.

And did I mention the drive? Sweet. Er, uh, not sweet.



But mostly the New Dogs
We’ve both (The Girl & me) have been quite tired this last week. Today marks only our first whole week with the laddies! And again, while they’re sweet and cute & very smart already, they’re also going to need some time. And this has meant sleeping with one eye open.

Actually they’re pretty good come sleepy time. It’s really about stressing “what’s going to be munched up when I get home?” But still, also some of the “sleeping with one eye open” thing too. Plus I’m on a 9-day workweek stretch, going from open-to-close-to-open and whatnot, which makes random bob a very tired guy.

I need to get some time alone with them, but I haven’t quite figured out how. I need to get some commands ingrained in them and be absolutely sure they understand. And I also need to manage to be around when they try to do bad things. They need correction. Maybe not much, but they need it. They need to know only a handful of things, really, but they need to know them well. They need to know: (a) you don’t jump up onto things. The couch, the counter, things that are above the floor are above it for a reason, that reason being that it’s not for you; (b) you do not chew things up that are not specifically given to you. Yeah, it may very well be edible, it may even not be edible but feel oh-so-good in your mouth. However, unless it’s given to you to chew on, it’s not meant to be in your mouth. Period. This includes but is not limited to furniture, laptops, remotes, wires, trash, fences, trash cans, footwear, other dogs, Blu-Ray Discs (you can chew DVD’s they suck anyway :-D ), Television sets, radios, iPods, pillow cases, grocery bags, food, coal (think outdoor barbeque), carpet, rugs, or containers of any nature. And also (d), I expect there to be no question as to where the poop & pee goes. It goes in that spot outside by the tree or whatever on the grass. That’s it. Nowhere else. Not in the house, not in the garage, not on the sidewalk. It goes outside on the grass.

It’s all about being able to trust that they’re not busy destroying the place while we’re away. Because really, that stuff takes time away. Time away from taking them out fun places, time away from feeding them nice treats, and the rest. If I have to come home and clean the something-or-other for 30 minutes, well then, that’s 30 minutes less of playtime. And it might mean even less than that. Because if I was going to go out for 45 minutes, but now I’ve spent 30 cleaning… well maybe 15 minutes ain’t worth the effort, you know?

But they’re good thus far, a week in. They don’t need leashes already. They know their names and they come when called which is good. And they don’t run, despite the fact that I found them roaming the streets.

We’re going to have fun. I just need them to get The Rules down, is all. And they’ve got some time. They’re doing alright.

Peace.

OK, NEW Name for the Dogs

Did I say Kilo & Chase? Yeah, sorry. Make that Hunter & Chase.

Pretty fitting, too! We went out to the river today to hang out and play a little. Chase, the black Lab, is very into chasing something that’s thrown, up-to-and-including-and-especially in the water, much like my dear Miles. The brown Lab, Hunter, isn’t as keen on jumping into the water and fetching things. He’s more land-based, and likes to hunt things down. Flies, moths, birds as we experienced yesterday (he was the mastermind behind that plot). Not that he fears water or avoids it, he’s just not as gung-ho into it like Chase & Miles. See the pic for the Proof!

So yeah, Hunter is what we decided to go with. Their names seem to suit them well thus far, too. We’ll have to see how it develops.



Search for the Owners
We did make some more phone calls today. We also took them into the Vet clinic, have them scanned for a microchip, too. They came up empty though(yay us!).

There. Now no one can accuse us of not having done the responsible thing. Now please leave us alone as we acclimate our new puppies :-)



All you Nay-sayers
About 90% of the people I’ve told about our new dogs have replied with ‘are you insane’ or something of that nature.

No, we’re not insane. We like animals. And it’s not as though we have 4 dogs like your neighbors had 4 dogs, in that there’s 4 large, pooping, crazy, uncontrollable beasts running around digging up holes and doing the aforementioned pooping on everything in the house.

Even the new guys, they got it down. We’ve got 4 under-control, potty-trained, well-behaved family members who happen to be furry. It’s fun! We take the dogs out and hang out at the river, they play. We throw sticks, they fetch. We swim, they swim with us. When we’re at home, they hang out, sometimes ask to be petted, but mostly just relax with us and wait to go out again.

It’s not as crazy as it seems. Really. We’ve got the situation in-hand. Srsly. Don’t compare our 4-dog-situation to your “Crazy Aunt B’s” 4-dog-situation. Totally different, really. We got our dogs under control. In our house, the poeple are the masters, not the dogs. We’re good. Thanks for the concern, but hey, we’ve got it handled. Beatings at 11.

Peace.

We have names for them

Alright, we have names, methinks. The brown Lab shall henceforth be referred to as Kilo. And the Black one, the more svelte one, shall be known as Chase.

I’ve not been fond of the name Chase before. Mostly because I am not fond of Chevy Chase. But, I do think that I might grow to to appreciate it.

We took them out to the Elk River Delta today. Originally – before we found 2 dogs in the street this morning – were going to go inland and hang out at Mad River like we did before. We didn’t want to leave our dogs home, but we didn’t want to leave two new dogs unattended at home, either. Nor did we want to take two new dogs to Mad River. It’s big & expansive, and there’s lots of room to run. As in, run away. So we decided to take them all to a place that we could be more assured that they wouldn’t get into any trouble. The Delta fits that bill, because you have to cross a bridge to get there, and then you’ve got the bay to one side and a river to the other, so it’s not as though the dogs could get too far too fast.

They’ve got their own personalities already, too. Kilo seems to be a more independent-minded dog, a-la Miles. And Chase seems to be more in need of approval. Neither of them are quite fit to fill Miles’ shoes, though. Kilo – while more independent-minded like Miles – seems to be less willing to go out gung-ho to get something. And Chase – while seemingly more timid & thus quite the opposite of Miles – actually had the gusto to just jump out into the water and chase after Miles & the ball.

But both are typical Lab puppies, in that they are tunnel-vision once something catches their fancy. Today, it was birds. They heard & then saw birds darting back & forth, and off they went to chase the birds down, and actually managed to catch one. We won’t talk about what happened next other than to say I had to bury a birdie to keep it from being digested.

Damn, did I just pretty much tell all of it? Guess so. Oh well.

Anyway, I’ll try to get some pages up for them, once I know more about them to begin with. In the meantime, you can click the picture at the top of this blog to see a bigger version of the two new family members!

Peace.

Lost Dogs!

Yeah, we’ve done this before. But this time it’s different. They’re plural. And they’re Labs. A brown & a black one. And so damn cute!

Last time we quickly looked for a home. But last time it was a Pit Bull of unknown origin. This time, they’re two cute, young Labrador pups, maybe 6 months old thereabouts, and we’re quickly looking for a way to keep them. We can’t, of course, we’re renting a small place with a small yard. But we will. I am pretty sure about it, that unless someone calls to get them, we’re not going to go too far out of our way this time to find a place for them.

I mean don’t get me wrong, we made a call or two already. Called the animal shelter to report them found. Funny thing, they said they could send someone by to pick them up, to which I replied “no.” And there was silence, because they weren’t sure what the hell was going on.

“Just calling to report it, so if anyone calls in, they can be reunited.”

Still though, I’m thinkin’ that if someone really cared, we’d have gotten a call already.


So then? What shall we name these two new little guys? We already have Miles & Zoey. I had been teasing that when we got a replacement for Miles, we’d have to name him Kilo (for Kilometer), in keeping with the unit of measurement theme. So since the brown one reminds me more of Miles’ temperament, I’m thinking he gets to be Kilo. The black one? I dunno. Inch, maybe. Yard? That doesn’t really work.

Eh. Maybe I’ll have to drop the whole unit-of-measurement theme. I’ll let you know when I decide what’s up.

Peace. (click the pic for a large version)

Black Labrador: Changing Colors

For the last few years, Miles – my Black Lab – has been changing colors. He’s gone from jet black to auburn. No, I am not kidding. No, there’s no jokey punchline. I had noticed it before we moved up north, and just sort of figured it was dirt.

Because down south it would get terribly hot, and since he didn’t have access to cool indoor shade like he does here – even though now it’s not necessary – he would be forced to find sanctuary outside, which for him usually meant digging to the cooler layers of dirt and laying down. So I figured the auburn-ness he was developing on his hips & tail were related to dirt seeping into his coat/hair.

But we’ve been up here for a year now. He lays in grass. He swims frequently. There’s simply no way anymore that dirt would be congregating on his hips and changing the color of his coat like that. It’s got to be his hair, plain & simple. Which means that with his age, he’s not really turning gray so much as he’s turning red.

I figure in a handful of years he’ll be my redheaded dog-child.

OK OK, there: a corny jokey punchline. I lied.

Peace.

4th of July, & what it means to be "Patriotic"

Hope you had a wonderful 4th (you Americans, you)
I lounged, slept, and then…. Got up and went to work. Yeah, I had to work on the evening of the 4th. Yeah, it sorta sucked, since it was such a beautiful day outside. Perfect day for barbecuing, wouldn’t you know.

Work makes me question being American
The soundtrack for today could easily have been “songs that sell out America for monetary gain.” I know that it’s supposed to be patriotic, but really? It’s just annoying as hell. One thing I loved about it was the way that these high-priced, hoity-toity Country singers sing about being on the “front lines,” “fighting for America’s Freedom” and stuff. You know, as if; “as if” they were actually anywhere near the front lines. “As if” they were anywhere close to fighting anything except the alarm clock at noon in a soft cozy bed.

Motherf*cker, don’t try to sell me a song about how much a hero you are and how much fighting for America you’ve done; all you’ve picked up is a guitar and a paycheck. F*ck off.

Another thing I loved: A song about how New York is stronger than the terror around us. Oh. My. God. Did you -- did you just try to make a buck off the dead & wounded in the 9/11 attacks? Oh my god, you did. Oh my god. I feel like I may throw up a little bit.

WOW. So let me get this straight: We’re all very American, so long as we buy your guys’ CDs, right? Yeah I think that’s about the message: USBC. United states of Blind Consumers, that’s us now I guess.

I’m sorry, but wake me up when being patriotic doesn’t require buying a whole bunch of sh!t that’s made in China every year.

Peace.

Lord of War, Undertow Currents, Wall•E Hype, & Hi-Def Decisions

Lord Of War
So first things first: I’m a liar. Not purposeful, mind you, but a liar nonetheless. A few days ago I mentioned that we would be unable to actually watch our Netflix queue for at least a little over a week. Well, as it turned out, not so. The same Saturday I write that, we managed to fit it into the schedule for the night. Then, The Girl got her shift on Tuesday covered so we had the evening to watch Lord Of War, starring Nicolas Cage.

I am not a Nicolas Coppola fan by any stretch. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I will automatically rate any movie starring him lower just because he’s in it, even if I haven’t seen it. Because, I’ve seen enough of him to know that watching him is like listening to paint peel, alright? So yeah, onto this movie.

I can safely say that Nicolas Coppola has managed to further cement his stance in my eyes. He sucks. His acting is like listening to paint peel. It’s worse than that. It’s like listening to paint peel with your eyes. I could dress up my mini-me (if you’re mind’s in the gutter you’re on the right path) and do the ol’ ventriloquist thing and pull off a better performance than this prick. HOWEVER, the movie isn’t that terrible. It’s a little slow at parts, but the issues are important and worth watching. It’s not like Syriana in that it’s important enough to watch but mind-numbing enough to never enjoy; no, you can be entertained by this flick, but it’s in spurts is the thing.

Here’s a good way of putting how I feel about this movie: If they had shortened it by cutting out some of the slower portions and it starred a cardboard box instead of Nic Cage, then I’d probably see fit it grace it with an A-. But since those slow parts are there & too prevalent, & indeed Nic Cage does do a craptacular job yet again, I can’t give it above a B-. In fact I think that since he acts and narrates, I have to lean towards a C+.

Nicolas Cage/Coppola sucks that much. Really truly.



More Entertainment
Before the movie began we took the dogs out to the beach. It was slightly overcast but not cold, and I wanted to go for a nice walk and get the dogs out having some fun & exercising. Anyway. We got a lesson in currents while we were there!

I took a big ol’ buoy toy I have made for them that I toss out into the waves for Miles to fetch for me. At one point along the beach, he managed to lose sight of the buoy as it was flying out into the surf. This is a problem, because (and this is why I don’t use tennis balls anymore: hard to see) if he doesn’t see the thing he’s fetching actually go out there, he won’t follow.

I know what you’re saying, “doesn’t tide usually bring things in to shore?” Yes. But not always. This particular area apparently had a pretty strong undertow, and it was also high-tide abating – meaning low tide was taking over. Meaning the beach waters were receding.

So yeah. I got to watch the buoy float out from the shore some 400 yards. At one point I considered going out there myself to get it. Then I thought, is swimming 400 yards in cold water, then having to walk back all soaking wet worth the $12 the toy costs? And didn’t do that.

We got the ball back though. The current was pulling it out and southward, and I figured that if we walked back (southward), we’d probably meet up with it at the shore eventually. Figured it’d hit some waves and wind up close enough for Miles to retrieve. And it was true, minus about 5 minutes that we had to park ourselves and wait for it. But it happened.

Funniest thing about the whole episode was watching Miles get so anxious as to start shivering nonstop. He has to have something to do. And when water is present, that something is swimming to retrieve. And he couldn’t stand not knowing where the ball was and being able to retrieve it. Silly Boy!



Trying to ignore the Hype
I have had Wall•E on my list of movies to see since I first saw the Trailer. Now this. Apparently, it’s the hottest thing since – well, since fire.

I fear I know where this is headed: Unnaturally heightened expectations. The kind that cannot be reached.

I really want to like this movie. But I fear that all the positive reviews I keep hearing are going to really make it no more than a mediocre film by the time I get around to watching it on Blu-Ray.

Ho-hum.



Speaking of Hi-Def
Here’s another reason The Girl is awesome. We got on the subject of getting a new TV. I wasn’t serious, I just like to josh her about things like that from time-to-time. Don’t get me wrong, I want a bigger TV with full 1080p support. But it’s not like our 52” TV is falling apart, either.

Anyway, We damn-near pulled the trigger on a 67” 1080p behemoth from Samsung. That close. Seriously. And the funny thing? I had to talk her out of it. The man had to talk the woman out of spending $$$ on new tech toys. Believe that.

Peace.