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quislibetI had to wait for half an hour or thereabouts at Government Center before a B train deigned to appear. But at least it was inside.
Upon arrival at BU Central, I went to Radio Shack to buy the cable that will allow me to hook the iBook via its own adaptor cable (already purchased, and fortunately not very expensive) to the television for DVD viewing on a screen larger than 12 inches. Alas, woe, I am screwed yet again by the fact that my television is a TV/VCR combo with no sort of hookup potential except for the cable. I had to buy a big hub thingy in addition to the S-video cable. All the while that this was unfolding, the employees were dealing with some sort of "emergency in another store" and so the entire transaction took rather longer than it should have.
As the expense mounted up, the man assured me that at least it was cheaper than buying a new television (not if this keeps up, I thought glumly), which, he said, was my only alternative. Except that the alternative, of course, was to keep watching DVDs on the laptop. But whatever.
Then of course came the autopilot questions: did I want a cell phone? "No." Did I want satellite TV? "No." The price couldn't be beat. "No, thank you." Not even with free hookup and a rebate? "No, I am not interested in satellite television in any way whatsoever."
At least, to my surprise, he didn't ask for my full life history at the checkout counter as is usually the case, but perhaps we can assume that this is because it was already in the system. I would say that it could have been called up by the use of my credit card, except that they handled that transaction in a surprisingly low-tech way, with one of those carbon copy stamp machines.
Anyway. I went in expecting to buy a ten-dollar cable, and spent rather more than that. With all of the cables and adaptors, I have now spent as much as my mom did at Best Buy vel sim. for the entire DVD player they have.
There are more terrible things in the world, I know. But still.
Upon arrival at BU Central, I went to Radio Shack to buy the cable that will allow me to hook the iBook via its own adaptor cable (already purchased, and fortunately not very expensive) to the television for DVD viewing on a screen larger than 12 inches. Alas, woe, I am screwed yet again by the fact that my television is a TV/VCR combo with no sort of hookup potential except for the cable. I had to buy a big hub thingy in addition to the S-video cable. All the while that this was unfolding, the employees were dealing with some sort of "emergency in another store" and so the entire transaction took rather longer than it should have.
As the expense mounted up, the man assured me that at least it was cheaper than buying a new television (not if this keeps up, I thought glumly), which, he said, was my only alternative. Except that the alternative, of course, was to keep watching DVDs on the laptop. But whatever.
Then of course came the autopilot questions: did I want a cell phone? "No." Did I want satellite TV? "No." The price couldn't be beat. "No, thank you." Not even with free hookup and a rebate? "No, I am not interested in satellite television in any way whatsoever."
At least, to my surprise, he didn't ask for my full life history at the checkout counter as is usually the case, but perhaps we can assume that this is because it was already in the system. I would say that it could have been called up by the use of my credit card, except that they handled that transaction in a surprisingly low-tech way, with one of those carbon copy stamp machines.
Anyway. I went in expecting to buy a ten-dollar cable, and spent rather more than that. With all of the cables and adaptors, I have now spent as much as my mom did at Best Buy vel sim. for the entire DVD player they have.
There are more terrible things in the world, I know. But still.
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no subject
Date: 2003-01-15 08:42 am (UTC)Or perhaps because Radio Shack has officially stopped doing that, one imagines after mounting rude and harassing responses from the customers over the years. There was a sign announcing the new policy at a store I visited the other day. Not that it mattered to me much, as I don't think I've told them anything since, like, 1990 (no really, you don't need to know my name to sell me a pack of batteries).
no subject
Date: 2003-01-15 08:57 am (UTC)RF adapter?
Date: 2003-01-15 10:50 am (UTC)Re: RF adapter?
Date: 2003-01-15 11:07 am (UTC)Right now I have the S-video cable, which I am told gives better picture quality, but is of course more expensive...
In any event, your tale strangely fascinates me.
Re: RF adapter?
Date: 2003-01-15 12:15 pm (UTC)Re: RF adapter?
Date: 2003-01-18 10:26 am (UTC)