B
BeeSweet
Guest
This is mostly a venting thread I guess, although advice is welcome.
Earlier this year, maybe six months ago I guess, my father in law gave us his old television because he bought a new one. It’s a 36 inch Sony Trinitron XBR. A beastly monster of a television. I didn’t want it from the beginning, and said so. We have a very small living space, and frankly big TVs are just not our style. The largest TV we’ve ever had is a 19" I paid $100 for back in 2001. Prior to that, we had a 13" television I won at my highschool project graduation. TV is just not an important part of our entertainment life.
Now, I probably could have been nicer stating my opposition to taking this old television from my FIL. I don’t remember how I handled it exactly, but I probably turned up my nose right away at the offer and said something like “what do we need that big of a TV for?” Combine that attitude with a history of FIL dumping his junk on us for many years, and you’ve got a situation between my husband and myself that’s at times unfortunately contentious. Last week I bagged up about three trash bags of old clothes given to my husband by his dad. Nice clothes (suit type stuff, probably expensive), but my husband is taller than his dad, so they’re just not use-able and they’ve sat in the closet being stored for the past four years. It irks me to no end that FIL does this sort of stuff, and then I have to throw it away for him.
So, the 36" television is basically broken now, and has been for one month. I was able to figure out how to get it to work again for a couple of days, and then it pooted out again. I don’t have an owner’s manual, but from what I’ve discerned on the internet, this TV is past it’s prime, and really not worth fixing. I can get a nice new television that’s more practical for our living space for the same amount of money it would cost to fix this one. But we don’t even need another television.
So, now husband is once again caught in between his father and me. I hate that. I can’t have this stupid piece of junk (and yes, I refrain from that kind of language around my husband) sitting in the living room with no definite plan through the holidays. I can’t move it myself, it’s huge and weighs a couple of hundred pounds at least. It’s been broken for one month, with no effort or even a word on the part of my husband to do anything to either fix it, or get rid of it. So, I’m having to be pushy. I started the gentle nagging this past Friday. Today I told him if we could get it out of here before Thanksgiving that would be great.
I feel bad for him, because he didn’t ask to be put in this position, and he works very long days, so expecting him to spend half of one of his days off to get rid of this thing, well it just makes me feel bad for him because he didn’t ask for any of this. If it were up to him, he’d probably just leave it where it is for years and use it as a shelf.
I’d like to pay a junk removal company to come and haul it off. When I asked how much DH would be willing to spend on such a service, he said $15-20, but that he’d do it himself. The service I found will come haul it away for $120 and recycle it. 
Sympathy / empathy / & advice on how to handle this without getting into an argument will be greatly greatly appreciated!!!
Earlier this year, maybe six months ago I guess, my father in law gave us his old television because he bought a new one. It’s a 36 inch Sony Trinitron XBR. A beastly monster of a television. I didn’t want it from the beginning, and said so. We have a very small living space, and frankly big TVs are just not our style. The largest TV we’ve ever had is a 19" I paid $100 for back in 2001. Prior to that, we had a 13" television I won at my highschool project graduation. TV is just not an important part of our entertainment life.
Now, I probably could have been nicer stating my opposition to taking this old television from my FIL. I don’t remember how I handled it exactly, but I probably turned up my nose right away at the offer and said something like “what do we need that big of a TV for?” Combine that attitude with a history of FIL dumping his junk on us for many years, and you’ve got a situation between my husband and myself that’s at times unfortunately contentious. Last week I bagged up about three trash bags of old clothes given to my husband by his dad. Nice clothes (suit type stuff, probably expensive), but my husband is taller than his dad, so they’re just not use-able and they’ve sat in the closet being stored for the past four years. It irks me to no end that FIL does this sort of stuff, and then I have to throw it away for him.
So, the 36" television is basically broken now, and has been for one month. I was able to figure out how to get it to work again for a couple of days, and then it pooted out again. I don’t have an owner’s manual, but from what I’ve discerned on the internet, this TV is past it’s prime, and really not worth fixing. I can get a nice new television that’s more practical for our living space for the same amount of money it would cost to fix this one. But we don’t even need another television.
So, now husband is once again caught in between his father and me. I hate that. I can’t have this stupid piece of junk (and yes, I refrain from that kind of language around my husband) sitting in the living room with no definite plan through the holidays. I can’t move it myself, it’s huge and weighs a couple of hundred pounds at least. It’s been broken for one month, with no effort or even a word on the part of my husband to do anything to either fix it, or get rid of it. So, I’m having to be pushy. I started the gentle nagging this past Friday. Today I told him if we could get it out of here before Thanksgiving that would be great.
I feel bad for him, because he didn’t ask to be put in this position, and he works very long days, so expecting him to spend half of one of his days off to get rid of this thing, well it just makes me feel bad for him because he didn’t ask for any of this. If it were up to him, he’d probably just leave it where it is for years and use it as a shelf.
I’d like to pay a junk removal company to come and haul it off. When I asked how much DH would be willing to spend on such a service, he said $15-20, but that he’d do it himself. The service I found will come haul it away for $120 and recycle it. Sympathy / empathy / & advice on how to handle this without getting into an argument will be greatly greatly appreciated!!!
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) The last movie we rented together was Winter of '06, and that happened because he was sick and it was cold outside. DH basically does not come inside without a reason, he lives in the yard. He didn’t want the TV, he took it because he does not like to say no to his dad. So, he was dumped on the same way I was. He was actually told several times by his dad to come and pick it up. It was basically forced on us. I have little doubt that my FIL knew it was garbage when he gave it to us. He had just moved into a new home, having moved this big TV from a third floor apartment to a house in the suburbs. From what I read on the internet, these TVs do not like to be moved. I’ll bet dimes to dollars that it started showing signs of dying after FIL moved, and so he decided to sucker us into taking it under the guise of being benevolent. He could have had the old one hauled off when he bought the new (even larger) TV, but he likes to pass off his junk to his son and then pat himself on the back for it. This sort of thing has been going on for years. I have a 55 gallon fish tank which DH shows zero interest in as well which was a “gift” after FIL decided it was too much maintenance for him.
I’ve learnt to not tell him now, and he’s always sooo happy after the event!:bigyikes: I know, men can get really busy sometimes, so I like to help out where I can! I’ve been known to rearrange the furniture in many rooms in one day, including computers and all the whizz stuffff that goes with it and fridges. I always have a plan carefully worked out beforehand - makes it so much easier than simply geting stuck!:aok:
TV went bye bye today! :extrahappy: :dancing: :egyptian: