Too much TV

Bry-man and I have been TV.... wrestling. Well, perhaps I have anyways.

I'm not a big spender. I am thrify, frugal, cheap, spend concious, all of that. I wear these titles with pride.   But I wanted a new TV this year, so I started saving... and 'shopping' around.

This isn't shopping. No, shopping is fun, and you get to discover great bargains on something that fits you just perfectly, or on something that you had never heard of before. There is usually a giddy-ness when shopping for me. Especially when I find that great find!

While there is plenty of new (and possibly made-up) terminology to learn, there has been very little 'fun' involved.

What size to buy, what type of screen is best for my uses, what the F!? does a hZ have to do with it?!?!

SO outta my league.

The first TV we literally walked home had every bell and whistle known to man (Samsung UN55D7000). But for 2,000 the picture quality was not impressive enough for me to justify keeing it. So we lugged the damn thing back and chose a Panasonic Plasma 60" monster. Now I find I am torturing myself with reading the comparisons between the different Plasmas that Panasonic makes, and my new monster is starting to look like the pathetic loser of the bunch.... WHY AM I DOING THIS MYSELF????

I just want to be happy with my purchase, and have it meet my expectations. I find that I'm feeling a twang of nostalgia and love for my old rear projection beast... that is still sitting in my corner hogging up more space than I *thought* it deserved... because it *never* had any flaws, it was a *great* TV. But is it because I bought it second hand, and therefore didn't: pay full price, have to deal with sales people, didn't have 'warranty' or 'calibration' options?

Yes.... because I wasn't particularly worried about being 'screwed' out of my hard earned monies by some dollar-seeking-sales-scum... But why did I trust the guy selling me a TV from his house, more than the sales man. Who has more to gain?  Curious....

I still haven't tossed the box for The Big P, and am having a hard time even considering it. That's going to make it all so.... permanent! It may need to be done in my sleep, so I have no choice but to love the thing. Sort of like having a child that only meets *so* many of your expectations. : P

So wish me luck, as the new 'parent' of 'name TBA' (because I name everything I pay a lot of money for... much like an American pays for the birth of their child). "I paid $2,000 for you.... you WILL NOT LET ME DOWN!" : D

My Home is a Library!

As of late, my home has resembled a used book store.

We had to move all of my living room furniture to accommodate a new TV, and in order to move my 3 book shelves, they had to be emptied.  For you Vancouverites, imagine MacLeod's Books re-locating to your living room! Impossible to know what was in there, and a daunting re-org task that required attention.

It's nuts! I love my books, and every summer I herd a fortune of books into my house from Garage sale-ing (yes it's a verb) all summer. Naturally I have found myself with some dupes, which require me going to another of my favorite used books stores to re-sell them.  A step I'd rather skip by avoiding the dupe purchase to begin with!

I tried to catalogue my bookshelves manually, writing each book in a wee notebook by author. I lost my steam after awhile though, and in the end always forgot the frakkin' notebook at home.... resulting in more dupes. 

When I bought my iPhone last year it was the big fix I was looking for! A way to catalogue my books electronically and always have the list with me! I don't leave the house without my phone... because like many people I love my iPhone... it's everything I've ever wanted in a device, and I NEVER get lost with it! (whoops, tangent)

Wouldn't you know it though, another hurdle presented itself. I couldn't simply type the books into the notepad. That's a waste of time, and so far as I know you can't 'sort' or 'search' a note.  I've been looking for approximately a year for an appropriate app for me to catalogue my dang book collection. Ideally it would also catalogue other items, DVD's, PS3 games maybe? I didn't want to be greedy... after all it's the books I'm concerned with not duplicating. 

Well the wait paid off. I've found this app 'Home Library' (http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/home-library/id399196568?mt=8)

Home Screen - 'Home Library'

The app is only $0.99 cents! A far cry from some of the $4.99+ apps that seem to offer only one option for cataloguing. Best part of this beautifully designed app is that I can scan just about every book in my collection and it will (just about) instantly input the book into my collection with a picture of the cover (if available; applies to every option), a brief description, cost, publication date, etc!!! Information I never thought I'd actually care about! Alllllll there for me to reference! Manual entry is an option, and if it doesn't find it by scanning you can do a keyword search.

I've scanned 200 books already and it proposes that my collection is worth approximately $3,000.00 ?!?! Holy crap. That's only two of my 5 book shelves.... I'm certainly rich in book.

The cherry on top is being able to keep track of what I lend out, as well as e-mailing an excel spreadsheet to myself to back up my collection. WOOT! I just love this frickin' app. There are bugs to be fixed up, and it crashes from time to time, but my info is always there to greet me upon re-opening the app. (Understandably I'm over working the poor thing).  This thing's only gonna get better, and then it's gonna get more expensive.

I found it, I love it, I recommend it if you are a collector and want to centralize your content for referencing! :) Happy scanning!