My new TV

Yep, I got a TV. Haven't had one since the late 1980s when I needed a TV as a monitor for my Comadore 64 computer.

Might as well have one. It's "footprint" is small. With pocket TVs, and entire record collections fitting in an Ipod, one can be homeless and still have their "home entertainment system" in a backpack.

And the cost. Only $200, but this was on sale for $169. When I was a child in the mid 1960s, our first color TV was in the neighborhood of $400!

That was 1960s dollars. They've sure come down in price.

Back then, the whole house and yard was around $25,000, so the TV was a big chunk of the price of making a home.

Now days, houses are in the half million dollar neighborhood depending on where you live and products? They're so cheap they're practically throwaway by comparison.

Just think how many TVs a retailer must sell to pay the rent these days. It's insane.

Can't let the grass grow under your wheels.

Well, what about watching the TV, after all, that's what it's for. Is there anything to watch?

I'm not on cable. My computer is connected to DSL through the phone line.

In Bellingham, on air channels are limited.

There's channel 12 where I could watch COPS, if I wanted to. Also, it looks like Dr. Phil and some other things. There's KBCB; the shopping channel.

Two commercial Channels out of Vancouver BC as well. All in high resolution digital.

There's still some analog TV out of Vancouver as well. Canada hasn't totally converted yet. With a bit of snow (remember that stuff on a TV screen) I can get TV in Punjabi and TV in French.

The CBC is nice, but it's really snowy.

I'll have to plan a trip to Galbraith Mountain. It's our local mountain biker's paradise.

Why? Not for the trail rides, but a trip up the logging road just to see what more TV channels I can get out of Seattle and Vancouver. Channels from the top of Galbraith Mountain.

No, I don't plan to spend much time watching TV, but what the hell, it was way less than most people pay for one month's rent.