My boss bought a 32-inch LCD TV and mounting bracket for the office. The purpose of this gadget is to replace the dry-erase board we had been using to convey the names and locations of events held at our facilities. Move into the digital age, as it were. Hanging the bad boy in the mason brick-lined hallway fell under my jurisdiction. How? I'm a guy and I own a hammer drill.
I arrive at work in jeans and my tie-dyed "work" shirt and begin the process. Naturally, the mounting holes on the back of the TV do not math the "default" holes on the bracket, so I have to use the supplied 'expanders.' Not a problem, and foolishly my confidence rises.
I open the drill to discover that I left the BIT for the drill at the house! Great. No biggie, I just headed down to the local hardware store and bought a 1/2" masonry bit. Back at work, I lay out the template on the wall and mark my spots. Again, no biggie, I did the same thing when I hung shan's shelves. Once that was done, the hard part came into play. You see, we are hooking up a computer to the TV and the TV's power plug is built-in to the unit. So, this means I have to take the nice, small hole that already had a network wire running through it and expand it by a few inches to accommodate the width and height of these connectors.
I have not heard anything so loud in quite some time! Holy cow! Of course, the bit is not long enough to actually go THROUGH to the other side! So, I spend time moving from one side of the wall to the other in order to get a wide/tall enough hole for the video connector. At one point, my boss decides to take a look through the other side of the wall. Did she TELL me she was going to do that? No. So, when I fire up the drill, she evidently rocked back and stood in shock much like the way cats do when you throw something at them from behind and it lands right next to them! My boss did not do that again.
Holes get drilled and I enlist some help to hang the TV and it looks great! i run a cable-tv wire to it and soon we are watching...well, Telemundo... Okaaay... A few presses of the "Channel -" button and we begin watching some daily talk show on a local network! Excellent. I get the computer set up and soon, there is a Windows desktop on the screen (well, after I changed the input source, of course).
Oh, I'm sorry, did I leave out the part where I went to use the men's restroom and after I finished, the thing overflowed from the fill-up tank!? Oh yeah, a good inch or more of water all over the place! Sharon, our maintenance woman, was NOT too happy with me!! I was told that my next "duty as assigned" would be plumbing the men's room so that this doesn't happen again....
I have a Master's degree. I am the Distance Learning Coordinator, soon-to-be Technology Coordinator. To my resume' I now add LCD TV hanger and plumber (though working at the city pool last week actually started my training in that line of work). I guess when it is all said and done, I am one of those people who does what it takes to get things done. For the most part... There is no way they will ever get me up on the roof of our crumbling office building - no matter what the consequences!
By now, you know that David Cook is the American Idol. I think he was as shocked as a whole lot of people. I think it was the right choice by far, but Archuleta had such a strong following, I thought for sure he was going to be 'the chosen one.' Thankfully, enough people with quick-dial fingers (including my Aunt, several times) voted for Cook. Congratulations!
Speaking of the finale... I have to say, that was probably the best Idol show I have seen yet. Overall, it was a great show! Superstar performers, surprise guests, excellent singing and dancing! Now, THAT'S entertainment, folks!!
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