Author Topic: Just say "no"  (Read 9375 times)

Rebecca Stapler

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Just say "no"
« on: July 11, 2013, 07:09:55 PM »
This is not very badass, but it's a start. A baby badass step in my larger quest for badassity.

I originally typed up a long post in "Ask a Mustacian" about whether we should buy a friend's used plasma TV for $150 because our TV is going to shit the bed any day now (we tried troubleshooting it with the manufacturer but had no luck, and with a little research found out that this is a common problem that costs a lot to fix).

After typing it all out, I realized that we should just let the TV shit the bed and then try to find the best deal we can on what we actually want (we don't want another plasma after this one had such a short life). We're not going to suffer if we have some down time with the TV broken. Although, I am keeping my eyes peeled for the right price on the TV we want.

Frugal_in_DC

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2013, 07:18:05 PM »
Better yet, just say no to a TV. Period.

shadowmoss

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2013, 07:53:56 PM »
Watching TV, like many things, I guess, is just a habit.  Once you stop doing it for awhile it starts to feel really, really strange to watch it again.  I haven't had a TV for about 5 years. 

DebtDerp

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2013, 09:11:36 PM »
Don't waste your life watching television like all of these people:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/med_tel_vie-media-television-viewing

Honestly, when I realized this equates to 1.5 years over 65 years I almost puked. Considering a quarter of that is probably commercials I think you should just say no altogether.

FiveSigmas

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2013, 09:32:45 PM »
This is not very badass, but it's a start. A baby badass step in my larger quest for badassity.

I originally typed up a long post in "Ask a Mustacian" about whether we should buy a friend's used plasma TV for $150 because our TV is going to shit the bed any day now (we tried troubleshooting it with the manufacturer but had no luck, and with a little research found out that this is a common problem that costs a lot to fix).

After typing it all out, I realized that we should just let the TV shit the bed and then try to find the best deal we can on what we actually want (we don't want another plasma after this one had such a short life). We're not going to suffer if we have some down time with the TV broken. Although, I am keeping my eyes peeled for the right price on the TV we want.

Why is your friend selling the TV?

EMP

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #5 on: July 12, 2013, 09:56:04 PM »
Don't waste your life watching television like all of these people:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/med_tel_vie-media-television-viewing

Honestly, when I realized this equates to 1.5 years over 65 years I almost puked. Considering a quarter of that is probably commercials I think you should just say no altogether.

They really need to put obesity rates right along side that info for maximum effect.

DebtDerp

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #6 on: July 12, 2013, 10:09:33 PM »
Good Idea.

Here it is:



Source for Obesity Rate:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2228rank.html

What's up Italy? I thought carbs were bad.

Nords

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #7 on: July 12, 2013, 11:06:57 PM »
Although, I am keeping my eyes peeled for the right price on the TV we want.
29" Panasonic CRTs are going for $0 in our neighborhood, awaiting curbside pickup at roughly every 10th house on the third Monday of every month...

dragoncar

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #8 on: July 12, 2013, 11:40:44 PM »

worms

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2013, 05:38:06 AM »
What's up Italy? I thought carbs were bad.

Perhaps it is because the Italian cuisine we see outside of Italy is a corruption of the truth - real Italians don't pig out on Pizza and pasta! They also eat a lot of fresh vegetables.  Surprised at the TV rate, though!

Rebecca Stapler

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2013, 07:51:11 AM »

Why is your friend selling the TV?

Because they want a "smart TV." IMO, ridiculous! Our TV isn't "smart," but it's friends with our PS3, so it gets smarter by osmosis.


29" Panasonic CRTs are going for $0 in our neighborhood, awaiting curbside pickup at roughly every 10th house on the third Monday of every month...

I need to move to your neighborhood! Well no, I need to drive through there every so often, apparently.

etselec

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2013, 09:24:09 AM »


29" Panasonic CRTs are going for $0 in our neighborhood, awaiting curbside pickup at roughly every 10th house on the third Monday of every month...

I need to move to your neighborhood! Well no, I need to drive through there every so often, apparently.

In the affluent town where I grew up, there was a town recycling drop-off point for "special" recyclables, including electronics. Needless to say, this is where my family went for computer monitors and keyboards, and to replace our 30+ year old TV when it finally bit the dust. It's amazing what perfectly good stuff people will throw out in order to upgrade. I'm sure that people more entrepreneurial than my parents made a fortune taking that stuff and selling it on Craigslist...

In any case, it might be worth checking if your town (or one nearby) has a place like this.

Jamesqf

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2013, 11:07:59 AM »
I don't own a TV myself, but I do see what friends have.  On that basis, I wouldn't suggest getting a plasma TV period.  The picture quality on LCD displays is so much better.

chicagomeg

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2013, 11:47:46 AM »
I don't own a TV myself, but I do see what friends have.  On that basis, I wouldn't suggest getting a plasma TV period.  The picture quality on LCD displays is so much better.

Don't plasmas use a ton more electricity also?

yolfer

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2013, 12:29:15 PM »
The discussion of various TV qualities reminds me of this cartoon:


Iron Mike Sharpe

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #15 on: July 17, 2013, 06:55:33 AM »
I got rid of TV in March when I bought a house.  I do have Netflix though, but I'm sure my average minutes a day watching it is well under 30 min/day.  And if there's ever any movie I want to watch, I just reserve it from the library.  Though I've only done that 3 times so far.  I just can't find the time to watch movies, either.  Plus, I'm not really into the whole "watching people pretend to be other people" thing to begin with.

Haven't missed TV at all.

Rebecca Stapler

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #16 on: July 17, 2013, 07:12:16 AM »
I don't own a TV myself, but I do see what friends have.  On that basis, I wouldn't suggest getting a plasma TV period.  The picture quality on LCD displays is so much better.

Don't plasmas use a ton more electricity also?

There's another reason not to get a plasma next time! After the fact, as we were researching the issue we're having with this TV, we learned that plasmas have a lower life expectancy than LCD's. I had researched it when we bought it, and bought a Consumer Reports-recommended model, and chose plasma over LCD for some reason or another, but now I'm kicking myself. It's not on every day, but I'd still rather cut down on electricity use.

ace1224

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #17 on: July 17, 2013, 07:23:40 AM »
i looooooooooooooove tv! say no to plasma

TrulyStashin

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #18 on: July 17, 2013, 08:01:44 AM »
On June 13th, a storm came through and knocked the DirectTV receiver around just enough that we had no signal (I'm new at this and cancelling service was on the list anyway).  After a couple of days of no TV, I stopped missing it.   Then I cancelled the service and ordered an antenna so we can get free broadcast TV.

Last night, my teenage son was griping about not being able to watch the MLB All Star game and he must have griped to my ex-husband about it because I got this text:

"No TV for All Star game?!  Seriously?!"

I didn't text back because I didn't see any value in using up a text on my Ting account.

Heh.

nktokyo

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2013, 08:04:03 AM »
Better yet, just say no to a TV. Period.

+1. Make friends with Coursera instead.

hybrid

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #20 on: July 17, 2013, 02:40:51 PM »
On June 13th, a storm came through and knocked the DirectTV receiver around just enough that we had no signal (I'm new at this and cancelling service was on the list anyway).  After a couple of days of no TV, I stopped missing it.   Then I cancelled the service and ordered an antenna so we can get free broadcast TV.

Last night, my teenage son was griping about not being able to watch the MLB All Star game and he must have griped to my ex-husband about it because I got this text:

"No TV for All Star game?!  Seriously?!"

I didn't text back because I didn't see any value in using up a text on my Ting account.

Heh.

If you had, you could have told the ex it was on Fox 35 locally, and that your son merely assumed it was on ESPN, and had he bothered to check....  ;-)

Katnina

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #21 on: July 17, 2013, 03:03:42 PM »
Better yet, just say no to a TV. Period.

Agree!
We have no TV and it is lovely.  We occasionally watch stuff on Hulu, and I have the PBS app for my iPad so I watch masterpiece mystery sometimes, but both really enjoy not having a TV, because we get so much more stuff done without one.
Hubs loves an out of market baseball team, and I offered to buy him MLB at bat for his ipad ($115), but he didn't want it.  He prefers watching one game a week at our local bar that has the MLB package, always puts the game on for us, and has $1 drafts :).  For anyone who has cable just for out of market sports teams, do the math & see if it would be cheaper to watch the games at a bar-in our case, it is!

EMP

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #22 on: July 18, 2013, 05:03:49 PM »
Better yet, just say no to a TV. Period.

Agree!
We have no TV and it is lovely.  We occasionally watch stuff on Hulu, and I have the PBS app for my iPad so I watch masterpiece mystery sometimes, but both really enjoy not having a TV, because we get so much more stuff done without one.
Hubs loves an out of market baseball team, and I offered to buy him MLB at bat for his ipad ($115), but he didn't want it.  He prefers watching one game a week at our local bar that has the MLB package, always puts the game on for us, and has $1 drafts :).  For anyone who has cable just for out of market sports teams, do the math & see if it would be cheaper to watch the games at a bar-in our case, it is!

That probably works better for baseball and basketball.  My college football team is expensive to watch out of market either way. 

MountainFlower

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Re: Just say "no"
« Reply #23 on: July 18, 2013, 08:52:16 PM »
There are always CRTs on craiglist for nothing or next to nothing.  That's what we did when we setup netflix for the kids.   I don't get the whole flat screen thing, but then again, I haven't had cable or reception for 20 years