It Wasn't Even Gift Wrapped

In November, Mr. Fixit’s big television in the living room blew. He began watching the 13-inch set that had been in the kitchen. I offered him the 19-inch that I watch in the computer room, but he said it was too much trouble to disconnect the components; he just sat very close to the screen on the little set. We put the huge, 27-inch set on the floor in the living room.

The day after Christmas we took advantage of the sales and purchased a new television. He got a very nice 37-inch HD TV that gets a wonderful picture. It has a thin screen so it is very light. No, we didn’t pay extra to Directv to get the HD channels because we would have had to lease or purchase a HD receiver plus pay the extra monthly fee. Not only do the sets cost the earth, you have to pay through the nose for all the things needed to get the HD channels.

In the meantime, the old set just sat in the living room floor. The thing weighs a ton. It took the two of us to get it from the entertainment center to the floor. Mr. Fixit has been working or the weather was bad so it sat there until today. He loaded it onto a hand-truck and I helped him get it out the front door and down the front steps. We were going to take it to the recycling center, but we couldn’t lift it into the pickup. He suggested that we leave it on the street for the city to take.

Our little town has very stringent rules regarding garbage pickup. All garbage must be in plastic bags. All bags must be in the city-issued garbage container. If your container is full and you put just a plastic bag beside it, they won’t pick up any of your garbage. In order to have the city pick up big items like appliances or furniture, you must call and ask them to pick it up. They then will pick up the items within a few days. If you don’t call, your old fridge could sit there for years like a lawn ornament.

After he placed the TV at the end of the driveway, I tried to call City Hall with no success. Apparently, there was a problem with their phone system. Mr. Fixit decided to go to Wal-Mart. He was gone maybe 45 minutes. When he came in, he said, “Wow, that was fast. The TV is gone.” I told him that I wasn’t able to make arrangements for the pick-up of the TV; someone else must have taken it.

I feel sorry for the person who took it. They probably suffered a hernia lifting a heavy television that doesn’t work.