One appliance in our household had the curious and dichotomous title of least functioning (saying something in our trailer) and most beloved: the TV.
We got three channels. Kinda. We just had snapped off rabbit ears because cable didn't come our to where we were from (not that the rents would have shelled out the cash to waste even more of our time). Getting the receiver to work involved shoving pillows back by the antennae (whether to hold them in place or as a dielectric, I don't know) and my personal favorite, having someone stand in the middle of the room. I don't know why this helped. But it did. Sometimes we'd stack pillows on a chair to try to simulate a person, which was less effective. Mom's sewing machine also sent the poor contraption into fits. I have studied physics and engineering for almost four years now. I have no idea how any of this works.
Really, the TV was meant for one thing, and one thing only (besides watching Masters of the Universe): Saturday morning cartoons. Nothing has ever gotten me out of bed so early quite as well as SMCs; I even got up hours before in anticipation sometimes. The first kid up would always turn on the TV, but not before placing our massive floor pillow (an entry in itself) over the speaker while we had to pound on the metal buttons to quite the static before we got it to the right channel so mom and dad wouldn't wake up and tell us to go to back to bed. X-men, Spiderman, Batman, Animaniacs: we all had our different favorites, and there were some we all loved (The Tick!!!!).
Other fun times with the TV were Saturday nights when we all rushed through showers to miss as little of Star Trek or Walker: Texas Ranger as possible.
We also just watched a lot of mindless TV, Fresh Prince and Home Improvement. We absorbed the stuff like sponges. I think in response to that, I now rarely watch TV.
Just when the poor contraption seemed to be at its nadir, Tracy and I discovered the wonders of running a cow magnet over the screen. The bizarrely warping colors were fascinating, much more so than reruns of Ghostwriter. However, each time we moved the magnet close, a little more of the color change became permanent, and pretty soon we had an all green TV. It eventually returned mostly to normal, except for a big green patch in the corner. Ahh, good times.
Any other thoughts on that wonderful hunk of scrap?
4 comments:
It really was a hunk of scrap. Don't know if you young uns remember the times we'd rent a VCR from the movie store? It came in a huge plastic briefcase. Those were exciting nights. Whatever happened to that ginormous orange pillow? I hope it's been properly disposed of . . . who knows what's living in that thing. Come to think of it, Mom might have re-covered it, and it might be sitting in their living room today, disguised in blue denim. Ewwwww
Haha, the very same.
There's no need to pretend you don't unconditionally love that pillow. I only vaguely remember the rental nights. But I do remember sitting on the couch for after-shower hygiene activities. There was nothing better than being squeaky clean getting your ears gouged and fingernails clipped too short while seeing Picard getting his game on.
We aren't even talking about the older TV's - the one with wicker speaker covers and dials, and the odler B&W one with the multiple dials.
Regarding making the unsuspecting passer-by stand still to enhance reception: I have worked in the manufacture of high-end RF products for over a year, and I have determined that there is a lot of black magic in the tuning of RF equipment.
But we sure used to fight over the front and center orange pillow spot with the zigzagging American-pride Afghan.
I think the Simpsons and Mom's betrayal warrant a separate entry...
the pillow is actually alive and well in the loft of the parents' house. it's sort of dark blue fabric now.
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