| | Things Used To Be SimplerRecently my television quit working properly, and the process of getting it fixed reminded me of the days of my youth when life seemed so much simpler. Almost all the guys carried pocket knives to school, and no one ever stabbed anyone else. No metal detectors or security guards were in the schools, because everyone knew that guns were for hunting, not for mass murder of unarmed school children, and teachers were treated with a measure of respect that would astound today's kids. We didn't have computers or ipods back then, and many times we had to make our own toys from the simple materials available. A piece of cloth; an old sock rolled up into a ball; a couple of buttons; a discarded stick of wood; some string; or whatever.
Back then we had vacuum tubes in our televisions. When one burned out, we could take the tubes to our local drug store, where a tube tester was available for us to test them one by one. After identifying which one had gone bad, we could then buy a replacement at that same store, go home, plug them back into the set, and more often than not, the thing would work just fine again. This entire do-it-yourself operation was completed in an hours time at a cost of $2 to $10 dollars. On a rare occasion, the problem would be a little more difficult. It was even possible for the picture tube itself to go out, but that was an even rarer occurrence, because most of those were rated for 50-100 thousand hours of use or more before they would fail. Since they were almost always fused, even a lightening hit usually was not strong enough to take a picture tube out. The fuse yes; the tube, no. Sets back then often operated for a couple of decades. We got tired of them before they would wear out. No more. Today everything is electronics. Circuit cards everywhere.
Anyway, after some procrastination, I called the place where I purchased the set some 18 months earlier. The dealer called its friendly mechanic who came out to my place and verified that I had a legitimate claim. He could not fix the thing on the spot, so there was nothing to do but take it to the shop. A few days later, he called to let me know what I had already suspected -- that the motherboard in the set had to be replaced. So here we are, a week and a half later, waiting on a new motherboard. Cost? Well, it would probably be several hundred dollars if I had not taken the precaution of buying an extended warrantee with the set - parts and labor. So now, while I sit here in the Autumn of my years, I can hear myself saying, "Oh, for the good old days, when life was so much simpler." |
| | Posted 10/16/2007 7:19 PM - 10 comments
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