MrsBrown's philosophy of life and stuff

We need a new dishwasher.  The old one doesn't heat water anymore and, while our kitchen is currently tidy enough, it won't last without a new one.

Luckily we have a Choice subscription and have the finances to pretty quickly sort something out.  Also, in this case Choice and the energy rating website basically agree.  Of course, I'm yet to walk into a shop, which is when these plans have come unstuck in the past, as shops rearely have the Choice recommended item, but they have good reasons you should buy the thing that's there.  Most of all just because its there.

The TV sitch is not so straightforward, although reading this you will possibly think it is.

The TV we currently have is a 55cm CRT.  Rose uses it most often, to watch TV during the day and play videos.  Until the DVD player broke, she watched DVD's too.

The rest of us seem to mostly use our laptops or computers.  MsNotaGoth watches movies, either on DVD or stuff she's downloaded.  Mr-bassman and I watch youtube and iview.  Sneetch watches downloads or youtube or iview on his computer screen, 17inch, I think.

Sometimes, we watch stuff together and we all huddle on the couch, laptop on the coffee table and computer speakers plugged in.

This needs to change, but I don't like to throw out a perfectly functional piece of equipment.  Particularly when I know that thousands of similar functional pieces of equipment are being thrown out all the time and I despise the consumerist world we live in that's raping the planet, just to have something that shows bigger explosions or faster sport.

I've spent several pleasant evenings playing with S-video to RCA connectors, trying to persuade my laptop or the desktop computer we have under the TV to play nice and show me a decent image on the TV.  I've bought new connectors, installed new video cards and new pieces of software and now I've reached the end of my interest in attempting to solve my problem that way.

I started the new phase of problem solving on Boxing Day this year, when I first decided that things had to change and that I could spend up to $500 making it happen.   I boldly looked up the JB website to work out what I could afford.  And the questions started;

How big is the space I have available?
Why don't they advertise the energy rating of these tv's?
Why don't the serial no's on the advertised tv's match the serial no's on the energy rating website?
What's LED?
What connectors do I need and what can I afford?
Can I attach one of these tv's to my laptop when I don't have an HDMI connector?
What about the computer we've talked about setting up as a media server, it's pretty old, can I connect that?
Maybe we should look at other options for a media server?
Should I spend more money and get something bigger than the tv we have now?
Can I resist the urgings of my children and spend less, rather than more?
If I ignore my children will I regret it?
The DVD player just died, should I buy a bluray, will a new telly work with bluray?

What I really hate is that I feell that spending money on this problem is admitting that TV is an important thing in my life.  The amount I spend and the size of the device will advertise where they fit on the scale of stuff in my life.  And really, I watch TV for about 5-6 hours a week.  I'm likely to use this thing for about 2 hours a week, 'cos when I'm watching by myself or with mr-bassman, we use my laptop.  I should definately spend less on this than on a dishwasher.

Also, this illness I have is weird.  I started with a sore throat on Monday.  I've felt crap every morning, but normal during the day and then yesterday I conked it at 6pm.  Today I avoided exerting myself this morning but got really tired at 4pm, came home from work and slept for 2 hours.  I'm really tired again, but I don't feel like I have a particularly bad cold.  Only a minor sniffle.  There must be something happening though, I've seen green snot twice.  I hope I make it through the day tomorrow.

We're at the depressing stage of the process - all this stuff we agree that we don't want but even more stuff we have agreed to keep but don't have anywhere obvious to put it.


This is the computer collection that came out of the study.  Despite deciding to get rid of about half of it, there still seems to be a neat 2 cubic metre stack of technology in my family room that we'll have to find space for.  Unless I can persuade mr-bassman to get rid of more.  I have hopes.

Every computer that was thrown out had to be opened and checked for "useful" ram, network cards and/or video cards - like this:



And here is a picture of Rose's spots - they're larger and redder on her face, but none of those photos worked.


Just so you know - this is Rose's favourite t-shirt.  However gifts with this theme will not make you popular with her parents.

I'm sick, I'm home alone and I'm spamming you all with tales of my exploits.

I started thinking about how I play:

I make stuff
I experiment with cooking
I design stuff
I research stuff
I read books
I hang out with friends
I get other people to do outlandish things
I think about composting toilets
I write inane LJ posts
I read the internet

And I also thought about the "integrating play with the essentials of my life" thing.

So instead of, cleaning my room, getting dressed, going to the bank and buying bread, I made currant buns. (Grammarians welcome!)

I'll have lunch at about 3ish and eat cashews and pears in the meanwhile.

Edit:  Also, does this sound like bullshit to you?

breathing

hearing

buying bread...going to the bank to get money to buy bread

cleaning up the bedroom so I can find clothes to get dressed in to go to the bank to get money to buy bread

While I'm out I should buy asthma preventer, and see someone about the fact I can't hear

I'm glad there's tea and milk at home

but breathing would be nice.

I woke up with a headache, and I collapse with delight back onto the couch whenever I get up and wander the house.  I'm probably just overtired and stressed and my body is making me take it easy, but Sneetch did have the 'flu on the weekend.

I've also just read about pressure cookers.

I want one.

Just saying...

I regularly worry that I have cancer.

And watching sbs tonight I now know why.

I'm a hyperchondriac.

So, should I go and collect the results of my recent ovarian cancer scan, or my blood cholesterol test?

I should probably also go and get the lump on my eyebrow checked out. It's now big enough to see when I look in the mirror, and wasn't when I first found it about 18 months ago.

I still have a fever and I just rang Nurse on Call to check out how worried I should be about the chest pain when I cough and the continual pain between my shoulderblades.

I'm off to the doctor in the morning and taking anti-inflammatories for the pain and fever.

Since then I also took a look at the government health website and I think I have either pneumonia or pluerisy and pluerisy is more likely. I love internet health diagnoses. :)

On the good side, I'm not blue around the lips and I'm possible feeling marginally better now the nurofen's kicked in, but the sweaty face is a bit weird.

I guess I won't be at work for a few days.

Goodnight.

I first noticed the sore throat yesterday morning. It went away during the day and came back late last night.

During the night, I noticed how pleasantly cool the pillow was and my throat hurt some more.

This morning, my throat hurts a bit and my limbs are floppy. I'm dithering about going to work or not.

I'm aware that if I stay home I can do some of the sewing I need to do, AND flop on the couch at regular intervals. But that's bad, because I'm not just being motivated by feeling crap, so I don't know if my self-discipline is being pure.

OTOH I've also realised, over the years, that the days I DO have the self discipline to get myself to work, despite having other(non-work) deadlines/priorities, are the days that I feel so much better than I do today.

I think I'm staying home.