At Least It Wasn't The Fridge

(Oh please, not the fridge.)

So, after (I'm sure) annoying my downstairs neighbor with a half hour of DDR, I put a frozen dinner in the microwave, got a plate ready, went into the living room and turned on the TV.

I said ... I turned on the TV.

Turn.  On.  Dammit.

The cable box goes on; the TV does not.

I assume the problem is the remote, and try to turn on the TV the old fashioned way (i.e. the power button).  Nada.

I assume the problem is the A/C.  I make sure the TV is plugged in to the power strip.  It is.

I assume the problem is the power strip.  I unplug the TV from the strip, divert the cord, and plug it directly into the wall.  No dice.

I assume the TV is broken.

Dammit.  The TV is broken.

I haven't had the TV for that long.  (I can't quite pin down how long -- no, no, wait, I can.  I bought it when I was dating that guy, and I remember taking that guy to that show, and if I google for the review ... July 02.  Damn thing is six years old.  Surely, a TV is supposed to last more than that.)  Still, I'd planned on replacing it when I bought a new house.  Because I bought the TV back in the time when nifty flat-panel TVs were too expensive, so I bought the compromise:  a flat screen.  But it's still a standard TV, with a big fat ass.  A huge ass, in fact.  I pretty much need a miner's helmet and a canary every time I go back there and hook up a new component.  So I planned to, y'know, leap into the world of pretty flat panel TVs, once I had a new house.  Because I'd then know the size of the wall I wanted to put it on.

Except the TV broke now. 

I know there are many people out there who can function without television.  I am not one of them.  I have two other TVs, and neither one is really going to hold me until the happy day when I move into a new place.  One has been dying for years -- makes an annoying buzzing sound regularly -- and I use it only for hooking up the Playstation.  The other is a relatively small TV in my bedroom.  My bedroom, people!  I can't eat dinner in there! 

I solvef the problem tonight by eating dinner in front of the computer.  While reading buyers' guides for new TVs.