Our TV has finally gone on the fritz...

As we pay more than GBP 110 (US $220 and SG$ 330) a year for a TV license, when the TV dies it is a major problem. Technically we do not have to pay the license if we don't have a working TV, but we really need a new one. So, we're off to Curry's this morning to look at TVs.

This TV is one that I think we could live with. HWMBO, of course, feels it's too expensive and perhaps too big for the living room. I think it's more likely that it will fit (as there's nothing much at that end of the room anyway) and it will be enough TV for all the innovations that we will be needing in the future. High definition, digital, with all the connectors one needs. The Samsung (RIP) only had a SCART lead and an antenna lead, as life was simpler then. HDTV was only a gleam in someone's eye, if that, as was the DVD player. VCRs were about as sophisticated as it gets.

This TV is also attractive, but with the GBP 50 surcharge for a large product it is pricier than the previous one.

As we don't watch much TV, we don't want to spend TOO much on this one, but I think it's important not to spend too little and have a dinky TV that doesn't do everything that we will want it to do and, worse, will have to be replaced later on when new things come out that we might want. So, it's off to Curry's we go. More later when we've finally agreed on something.

Oh dear, I'll have to clean up the living room, too...

Well, we went to Curry's to buy a TV

...and we came out with this one, which seems to be well-thought of in reviews and is bigger than HWMBO wanted (he'd probably be satisfied with something the size of his Ipod screen) but smaller than I wanted (40": I'm no size queen!). It's HDTV ready and should work also with everything we've got at the moment.

They will install it and take the old one away (which will save me the trouble of calling the borough to take it away). We won't get it until Thursday, which means that HWMBO will miss Doctor Who this evening...but I'll be able to watch Have I Got News For You next Friday--that's the program on which the old set finally fizzled out.

The whole thing, including a stand and installation, was GBP 804.93. And yes, I am aware it might have been slightly cheaper elsewhere. Comparison shopping is so boring, and when you're TV-less, the quicker you get one, the better.

Now I have to unhook the old TV and clean the living room. In every silver lining, there is a cloud.

Today's birthday, and a farewell...

Today is Her Majesty the Queen's 81st birthday. This is her real birthday, not the public holiday celebrated as her birthday in some Commonwealth countries. If she goes on as long as her ma did, she's got about 20 years left in her. Prince Charles would thus ascend the throne 77 years young. And if Charles then sticks around for, say, 10 years, William would be almost as old as his father is now (57) when he ascended the throne. I will, I fear, be only a memory when William becomes King William V.

As is its wont, we were awakened this morning by the BBC stating ponderously: "Today is the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen" followed by the National Anthem. They do not wish her many happy returns of the day, as they used to for the Queen Mother and other senior royals whose birthdays they announced. We knew the Queen Mum was nearing her end when they changed from wishing her "many happy returns of the day" to "a very happy day".

And we bid a fond farewell to Terry Major-Ball, the brother of Sir John Major, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and First Lord of the Treasury (to give him his full title). Mr. Major-Ball was a truly interesting character, always ready with a smile and a quotable quote about his brother. He failed in the garden gnome business (I'll bet you didn't know there was such a thing as a garden gnome business) and pottered around in various professions until retirement. But when it came to his brother, he was loyal and discreet. He knew of John Major's affair with Edwina Currie but kept his trap shut about it. He wrote an autobiography that wittily said almost nothing controversial, thus rivaling Diary of a Nobody. Terry Major-Ball died of prostate cancer in Somerset last month. He'll be missed.