What I really,
really, really want for Christmas
I cannot remember the last time that I got what I really, really wanted for Christmas, not that that is what Christmas is or should be about of course. But, still, that thought still pops into my mind each year. And even if you are going to treat yourself somehow, at least for a moment, one often thinks, “What would I really like to have, besides world peace?” What comes to mind for me is that Christmas I spent with my first wife who kind of dug it out of me. It turned out that besides having her try a new position, I wanted a leather coat. We would go shopping and it was her who broke me of the habit of thinking that I could actually make the various things that we shopped for. You know because I was an artist and, had a table saw, and my art degree from SMC, I could make all sorts of things. But she got me to see that it was okay to buy something that someone else made and that was kind of a gift in itself really.
And I think that coat was the last thing that I got for Christmas that I really, really wanted. In fact I still have it and if it ever comes back into style I would probably wear it again. Although, when you are married and your wife is not working, really, it can be like buying a gift for yourself. Because it can go like this; “Honey, I want to get you something really nice for Christmas, give me some money.”
You know that is a loaded question when you get down to it, “What I want for Christmas.” It is no wonder it should only be asked to children because what you find out when you get older is; you are probably not going to get what you want anymore or ever again. And what’s worse is, your always going to get something else you don’t want along with it.
And what I mean by that is this, as you mature, you realize that getting what you want always has strings attached. I at one time wanted a beautiful wife, I just wanted to come home and sleep with a beautiful woman and well I got that, but along with it came other things, in fact many other things I won’t be discussing here, one of which, though, was her dog. In between us every night was this little Chihuahua who loved to wiggle his ears, keeping me up all night tickling my leg because he insisted on sleeping between us. He probably did it on purpose. I thought later that what he probably wanted was to sleep with a beautiful woman too. One who did not have a man attached.
Yes, it is always something. You want a boat? Well, now you have to find a place to store the boat or pay dock fees every month, you have to pay license fees and maintain it and it is no wonder they say that a boat is really a hole in the ocean that you throw money in.
But that is how it is; you want a great big house to live in? You end up with gardeners and maids all over the place. I mean even Hugh Heffner had to give up the 747. He probably thought that plane was a hole in the sky you throw money up and into. I would like to ask him that question someday, one of those little oddball things that I still want.
Now the Buddhist’s have a pretty good idea about this whole thing. They believe that the goal is to not want anything. Pretty good huh? If you don’t want anything you can instantly be happy because there are no disappointments and there is none of the things that you don’t want attached to it either.
But, what if it turns out that to not want anything has some liability attached to it too. Maybe that is why it takes years and years and even several lifetimes to achieve that state. Then you get there and you suddenly have the realization that that is what life is all about, dealing with all problems you get from finally having the thing that you thought you wanted. But if you don’t want anything, there is no life. Maybe that is the great riddle of this universe solved; if you want to be in it you have to want things and then deal with the problems that they create? Maybe that is why the Fonz is cool because he could deal with the problems that were created from the want?
I mean you can see this with some of the people around you. It seems that some seem to “want,” lots of problems and when you try to take one of those problems away, they can get very upset. I have known many people like this. I usually try to keep my distance with them, not a bad idea. And if you think you are one of them, you probably aren’t because I always remove them from my mailing list.
But you see what I mean. They live for problems and they would be absolutely miserable if you took them all away. Boy you could build a whole religion around that one idea, “Enjoy your problems.” And if you don’t have enough of them, some politician is bound to create a few more for you. Boy you would not be re-elected if you solved all the problems for everyone, I mean, now what? There is nothing left for you to do so they fire you, or hang you.
Anyway life seems to be like that. And so what I really, really, really want is something, anything, that does not have too many problems attached to it. The best gift is something that does not have too many liabilities like socks, or better yet, you “like” the liabilities that come with it. Like wanting to be a lingerie designer. Now if you’re not gay that could be a liability that you could live with.
I could live with that, as long as my new model friends did not have Chihuahuas for pets.
The End William Czappa
All rights reserved
Winter 2007 ARC TV Gazette Circulation: way the
heck over 10,000
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The editor,
Well as always, we hope you enjoyed our newest story.
We finally did it. In conjunction with Amazon.com we have published
our first edition of the short stories in a real book form with over 47
of them plus bonus materiel. This will be book one and the end of the
my first series of short stories. So those of you who have been waiting
can now own your very own complete first edition signed copy. And
what a great Christmas gift this would make for the insatiable readers
in your life. We will have a book signing on December 8, 2007 at the
shop if all goes as planned, call or email ahead to be sure. They will
also be sold on Amazon.com round the beginning of December for
$15.99. Call or email a head if you are interested so we can have plenty
on hand for you. We also offer shipping to anywhere in the world. Will
also post this on our web site so you can check there anytime.
You know every story I write I think this could be the last one.
With the cost of rent going up and prices going down on some things we repair one has to think about these things. Of course I have had that thought for the last ten years. If we ever do not make it, you can always find me and my future writing at my web site, www.czappa.com. I will always try to maintain that web address no matter what happens.
High definition TV and the new VCRs.
Well as usual the government, FCC in this case, is really making a mess out of things, confusion in rampant. The FCC has a clock running on their web site and on February 17, 2009 the VHF transmitters will be turned off all across the country. UHF will still be in use. You will not have to buy a HDTV TV. If you are on your own antenna you will have to buy a converter box. The cable company and satellite companies will handle everyone else.
And, if you have been shopping for a new VCR you may have noticed that you can only buy combination units. VCR’s with a DVD in them. And there are no longer any tuners in these units. Now for many people that would not make any difference. But if you are using an antenna or a cable line, without a cable box, you will no longer be able to record with a machine like that. You will have to get a cable box but if you are using an antenna then you either have to buy a used VCR for a tuner or buy an antenna converter box, which now cost $180.00 but will drop in price as time goes on. You could also buy one of our rebuilt VCRs that still have tuners in them.
So isn’t that ducky! You can no longer easily record on a new VCR or recording DVD. Good reason to keep your old VCR or recording DVD going as long as you can. The reason they did this, other then stupidity, is they do not want to include the new more expensive HDTV tuner.
Remember, if you are not ready to take the HDTV plunge and your set is not fixable we still have lots of quality rebuilt TVs, VCRs and Stereos too in stock.
Tape
duplication
If you want to have your home movies or video tape converted into DVDs please get them in early as this is the season to do that. They do make great holiday gifts. Remember we can also convert audio to CD from reel to reel tapes or cassette tapes or even records. We can also put slides and photographs on DVD.
Keep in mind that audiotapes and videotapes gradually loose their data. So if you have home movies on videotape it would be a good idea to have them transferred to DVD as soon as possible so all those memories are not lost. It looks like from our experience that 8mm film actually lasts longer then videotape.
We do not have a long enough track record with DVDs to really know how long they will last but, if you were to make a fresh copy of your master every 4 years or so, you could keep them going indefinitely because each copy of a DVD is an exact copy. That is till it starts to disintegrate then data is lost or it will not play at all or may start skipping. Even then sometimes making a copy can save it.
Small appliances
You know we have been doing lamps and small
appliances now for some time and it is interesting to find out why people would
fix a toaster, coffee maker or hair dryer. One person recently said they got
tired of buying a new toaster every year so they went to a thrift store and
found one like the one the used to have, the kind that lasted 20 years.
Computer
Policy Primo order of the Universe #1, Star Trek issue #101
Back it up. If you keep lots of writing or photos or music in your computer, it cannot be stressed enough you must back up your computer on a regular basis or risk loosing all of your hard work. If you do not take the time to back it up they will eventually be lost as the hard drive will fail and that will be it. You can expect the average hard drive to fail every four or five years of normal use. This will probably decrease as, like everything else, products get made cheaper and cheaper and are made in Communist China. If you do not know how or have the software to do it we can install it and teach you how to do it. It is really easy to do.
We do warranty service and Mitsubishi Sales also.
Not only are we a warranty service station now for Zenith and LG but we just became a servicer for Costco and have also signed up for Sears as well. We expect to add other companies to our list also in the near future. We are now a Mitsubishi authorized dealer to; check our prices.
Mounting Plasmas and LCD
We have become quite the experts on
installing Plasma and LCD TV sets on walls. This is a job that needs to be done
right. We have witnessed some horror stories where the TV has fallen off the
wall. One 60” was installed with drywall screws. Remember even if you purchase
your TV somewhere else we are happy to install it for you. We also offer HDTV
consulting; we come to your home and
help advise you on the best way to
install a HDTV on your wall and hook up surround sound.
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All the things we do.
TVs & Plasma, LCD All sizes, makes and models
of TVs. Big screen and projection TVs. We do home service calls or bring it in
and save. We offer pick up and delivery
at a nominal charge too. We are a Zenith and LG authorized service and sales
center. We also install Plasma and LCD
TV sets on walls.
VCRs & DVDs All makes including
3/4" professional machines and time lapse. From head cleaning to a full
rebuilding, our service is fast and efficient. One day DVD & VCR cleaning.
Stereo & Audio All makes
and models serviced. CDs, cassettes, tuners & amps. We also specialize in
repairing record players and tube amps too. We fix speakers and answering
machines.
Microwaves We repair all makes and
models of microwave ovens and do house calls on built-ins.
Computers & Printers We repair Computers, printers, and laser printers
and fax machines.
Antennas & HDTV We repair and install
antennas, repair and run inside cable lines, and hook up TVs, VCRs, stereos and
surround sound systems. We are the HDTV antenna experts.
Sales New and Used We sell new and rebuilt TVs,
VCRs, and stereo equipment. We are a
Zenith, LG, RCA, JVC, Mitsubishi and Samsung dealer and sell Panasonic, Toshiba
and many other makes. Check our prices on Plasma and LCD HDTV’s. Our prices are
competitive with the big guys and our equipment is more often newer. We install
new sets in your old fine wood TV cabinet.
Audio & Video We rent, slide, 16mm film
and overhead projectors. Video projectors, Bigscreen TVs,
Rentals DVDs, VCRs Camcorders,
Plasma and LCD TVs. Amps, mics, flip charts and more for weddings, parties, sports events and
sales-training meetings.
Tape We make copies of tapes
(most formats, even European) and copies of your old 8mm or
Duplicating 16mm movie film to tape or DVD.
They make great gifts. We also make audio copies from phono, to Cassette or CD.
Make copies and save your memories.
Lamps &
Small We
fix lamps of all sorts, toasters, hair dryers, curling irons, phones, flat
irons
Appliances any many other odd items - just call and ask, we once repaired a bird incubator.
Ebay posting We
will post items for you on Ebay. We first find out how much the item might sell
for, photograph it, make sure the money gets collected, package and then ship
it for you. With our knowledge and over 2000 positive feedback rating we can
get top dollar for
your goods. We can fax or email you our rates.
Art We are the oldest art gallery in
Burbank showing the internationally sold California Assemblage sculptures
of Bill Czappa. Gallery open daily. Visit our web site, www.czappa.com to see
the work or for more stories.
Short Stories Pick up a copy of our book
of all our short stories now offered in a real book format for
only $15.95. Enjoy all of the stories many of them never published
in our Newsletters.
ARC TV & VCR, 2529 W. Magnolia, Burbank,
CA 91505 Tel (818) 848-9998
E Mail: arctv4@relaypoint.net Home page: http://www.relaypoint.net/~arctv