$300 Would Buy A Lot of Yarn

Fred and I are most definitely not techno junkies. You won't find us standing in line, credit card in hand, waiting to buy the latest techno widget. More likely, you'd find us at home, clinging fiercely to our outdated techno equipment.

We own no I Phones, nor I Pods. No Wiis, nor DS games. Katie, our 17 year old niece, has a new cell phone that provides her with the nutritional information of all the menu items of her favourite restaurants. Our cell phone sends and receives calls. That's it! While Katie's phone is never far from her hand, ours is never out of the dresser drawer until we take a road trip.

But, we do own two TVs. Our 'main' TV is downstairs in the knitting rec room. By our standards, it is large - 27 inches - and new - five years old. Upstairs though, in the living room, where we watch the evening news and occasionally turn on the weather channel, we watch a 21 year old, 13 inch, TV. (You know your TV is old when it's thickness is greater than it's screen size.)

So, lately, I have been campaigning for a less embarrassing TV. At our house, campaigns of a financial nature, such as laying out money for a new TV, can last longer than an American presidential campaign. But when a recent Sears flyer advertised a 32 inch TV for $349, the vote was cast.

At that price I expected them to sell out quickly, so I set the alarm and placed my order by phone, at 6:15 am on day one of the sale. Delivery would be October 18th, I was told.

October 11th, Sears called. "Due to unprecedented customer demand, and despite their best efforts to satisfy that customer demand... " - the rep was reading a script with a bottom line of 'no TV for Brenda.' What the heck time did the rest of Canada place its orders? For the inconvenience I experienced, Sears was to give me a $25 credit. But Dang!! No cheap TV.

So, this past week, Friday, October 17th to be exact, Fred and I went shopping and purchased a new TV. Cost? $300 more than the unavailable Sears cheapie. Do you know how much yarn that $300 would have bought? Makes me ill to think about it.

By 5pm on the 17th, the TV was hooked up, the box that it had come in was broken down and in the recycle bin and we sat watching our new marvel. So big. Great sound. Wonderful colour definition. Then, the phone rang. It was a Sears recording. Our TV was in! Dang. I bet I won't even get the $25 credit now either.