Spectrum Begone

    One more home repair completed. The volume on the TV would drop out and I would have to turn the TV off and then on to retrieve it. Before calling for professional assistance, I checked the connections. I will say that the worst decision ever had been to locate the television set in a heavy oak cabinet. Trying to find the connections was a nightmare. I guess that setup made since years ago when there was a single  cord that plugged into the wall. But now with the tv isolated on an open stand, there are 5 different cables connecting the tv set to the cable box, in different colors for those who would discern such things. 

  When I touched a certain cable, the volume would lessen or disappear. The connection was firmly attached, but seemed to be slightly loose. The new cable, HDM1 arrived today, shipped from Monoprice. It was a simple matter to remove the old and attach the new. Both ends appear exactly the same, so I guess I couldn't have installed it backward. 

    

Who made khakis a thing again?

 Steve Kornacki          I hear that's true.

Now I understand. (I think.)

     I wondered how some of the new quiz shows could get away with being so obviously staged and phony, given the strict regulations imposed by the FCC after the Mark Van Doren debacle. That is until a well-known authority reported that shows featuring celebrities are exempt from those rulings. Believe it or not.

Birthday Cake Make-up Date

 

The Mind of America

    According to those in the advertising market, not of the highest intelligence. I admit I don't watch commercials deliberately, so I often miss the beginning. But take this commercial: A young woman presents her apparently significant other with some apparently small gift; "One for me and one for you,"  she says. I acknowledge I don't know what these gifts are. He reciprocates by leading her outside where a pair of brand-spanking-new trucks are parked in the driveway. "One for you and one for me," he tells her. Without any question as to how the vehicles showed up there, what they cost, why they would want 2 of exactly the same model, she runs to the darker colored truck, exclaiming "I love it."  No thank-you even. When the poor doofus tries to explain that the vehicle she is embracing was the one intended for him, she repeats her claim, "I love it."  He than concedes that "I like red."  

    I don't care what happens in that simulated interaction, but can't help but wonder what the creators of the ad were thinking when they came up with this idea. Who are they marketing to?  In what setting would one partner go out and buy 2 brand new trucks without consulting the other, as to make, model, need, budget, personal preference, not to mention who the heck surreptitiously delivered them. Are the advertisers directing their appeal to  millionaires, very young ones at that.

  Many Americans are presently not engaging in large purchases and it would not be smart of them to do so. Maybe the target  audience are those who watch fake and staged shows like The Masked Singer, I Can Hear Your Voice, The Bachelorette, Wrestling, Survivor, Jerry Springer----wait, there are a lot of those folks out there.

Maple Stump

 All that's left:   I rather like the stumps being there because it serves as a barrier. Off road traffic has hit that tree and others several times over the years. I can always put flower pots on the stumps for a classy look.

Bemis Heights 1844