Hey Economy…Feeling Stimulated?
Posted on May 28th, 2008 by GrandmasterB under Rambling On
When I received my “economic stimulus” check last week, I had every intention of paying bills with it and not stimulating the economy as was suggested by the government (and Dub-Yuh). Well, as fate would have it my wonderful vision came crashing down on me and I was torn…torn like an old sweater. You see something happened last week that no man likes to think about. Hell…many men have been drawn and quartered for thinking such nonsense. Ladies and gentlemen, GrandmasterB’s beautiful 50″ HDTV stopped working. The real kicker is that two days prior to the devastation I had just replaced the bulb in the TV (it’s a DLP, so these things happen). Yet two days later in the middle of watching a movie with the family I heard a strange noise and the color went out. NOOOO!
I had a feeling that I knew what it was right away, and my instincts were correct. Being either brave or completely insane I decided to take the TV apart and do some investigating. I had seen the Samsung repair man do this type of work before, so I wasn’t too worried about it. I took the entire back end of the TV off, removed the inner workings and found the problem…the Color Wheel. This wonderful little piece of engineering magic spins at 9,000 RPMs and gives the viewer all of that wonderful high-definition color, but if it breaks (as mine did) you get garbage…or no picture at all. I immediately jumped online to find the replacement part and low and behold it’s on back order…FOR FOUR TO SIX WEEKS!
After going three days with no TV, kids going insane and my wife out of town I had to take matters into my own hands. Well, that’s a big fat lie…I called Mrs. GMB and got permission, what married man wouldn’t get permission. I stopped by BestBuy on Monday (Memorial Day) and dropped down the cash on a new Samsung 40″ 1080p LCD HDTV (the one pictured above)! I had to do it folks…men, you know what I’m talking about. Lucky for me I got permission this time from Mrs. GMB though. Last time she didn’t talk to me for two days when I bought my other TV. Now that almost all of my “economic stimulus” funds are gone, I started thinking…am I the only one that spent my cash on a big ticket item like an HDTV? If you’ve received your check, and don’t mind sharing what did you do with your money?
~ GrandmasterB
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May 28th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
green with envy……..nice looking box
cuzzys last blog post..The seven: TV shows you should not miss
May 28th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Oh damn, I thought you bought it because you were sick of waiting for the new bulb to arrive. I didn’t know it died. Wow, I don’t know what I’ll do if my 56″ Samsung 1080p DLP dies. It would produce suicidal thoughts for sure.
Mr Pappagiorgios last blog post..The Power of StumbleUpon
May 28th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
It’s not 100% dead yet…I should be able to get it working again with a new color wheel. I just have to wait until it comes in, and don’t want to wait for it.
May 28th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
How much is a color wheel? And how hard is that gonna be to swap out?
Mr Pappagiorgios last blog post..Zeitgeist: The Movie. Its Definitely Thought Provoking/Eye Opening, if Nothing Else.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
My $600 turned itself, with the help of Fry’s, into a Canon Powershot G9 and a couple accessories.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:26 am
@ Mr. P - The color wheel runs about $100 and isn’t too difficult to get to. I had the entire light engine out the other night and took it all apart on my dining room table. It’s nothing more than a few screws and some basic electronic know-how.
@ Bignut_Squirrel - That’s a great camera…I got the new Nikon Coolpix S550 from Mrs. GMB for my birthday. It takes fantastic pictures.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:42 am
all these wonderful toys, I need to go shopping. A TV is coming next but we are being grown ups and waiting til it is right. boooooooo
cuzzys last blog post..10 reasons why I hope the Spurs are done