TV

Gene was just kidding in his "We're Almost There" post of a few days ago when he said something about "next a tv." 
But then we found ourselves
buying a 31" flat screen television. Oh, she who does not need tv and never owned one until a few years ago and had never had cable until she lived in Costa Rica stopped to look at the day's advertisements on the wall as she walked out of Hiraoka, a major electronics and appliance store. There it was in all its glory, at a weekend sales price of only S/.1199 (marked down from S/.1399). How could one resist? What a sale! With the 200 soles saved, I can buy something really nice, like a down comforter for the guest bed. On second thought, the tv I originally saw before discovering Hiraoka, was S/.1599, so I actually saved 400 soles, so with that I can probably buy ...
Wow! What a week. We are now officially living in our new house. Generally speaking everything has gone slicker than shit. Things have been delivered with I was told they would be delivered, which continues to flabbergast me everytime. They told us they would install our internet/tv/phone within a week and then called the next morning to say they were on the way. I inquired about water delivery and received a 20 gallon bidon and stand the next morning (which I thought was amazing service until a friend said that was terrible and next time I should call her company because they would deliver within a few minutes). The custom designed bed arrived when promised, as did the couch, mattress and some other stuff.
     So yesterday we arrived home with our incredible television (and a promise that on Tuesday afternoon at 3 o'clock someone is going to show up to install a "rack" for it on the wall). They cannot install today, of course, it being a major holiday. Gene has been playing around with it ever since, and even got a neighborhood friend (who is young enough to presumably know everything about everything electronic) to look at it, but somehow the cable is not talking to the television. Oh, well!
     Our "stuff" apparently is on a ship which is due here within a couple of days. Then I guess it takes a week or so to get it through customs, etc etc. We'll see how that goes. So far we've been informed that the port fees, etc (not including customs!) will probably be over $1,000 US, which sounds like a crock of shit to me, but I don't know how to fight it. I expected a few hundred max. Gene has been going around and around on that one this week with the shipper in Costa Rica as well as the people here. Near as I can see, it's a lost cause. You want your shit, you pay. Which is why I didn't want to ship anything in the first place.
Isn't it wonderful living in such interesting times!