Tuesday, December 01, 2009

My Favorite Geek Scores Two Bargains In One Day

I mentioned this on Facebook already, but I haven't said anything about it here yet....we now have IN-MOTION satellite TV in the truck!

Since we've been on this UPS run, I haven't really been able to watch much of it since when it's my turn to sleep, I actually sleep. Ed, on the other hand, has found himself a comfy little spot on the bed, remote in hand, satellite spinning its little heart out.

Two weeks ago when we we were at Fort Bliss in Texas, Ed got to talking to some of the truck drivers as we were waiting to get loaded. He was saying how we were looking to buy a Qualcomm for when we get started doing A & E (Ammo & Explosives) loads and also that we wanted to eventually get the in-motion satellite system. The Qualcomm and the in-motion satellite system are both around $1,500.00 each, so we thought we'd wait until the new year to buy them.

Wouldn't you know that there were two drivers who actually had these items and were looking to sell them? The guy with the Qualcomm said he'd never even taken it out of the box. From what he told Ed, the truck driving gig was just something for him to do; his real passion was horses. He said he just got his CDL so he could haul his horses to and from shows. He decided he liked the driving part, so stuck with it. He said he had plenty of money (and not in the snobby-I'm-better-than-you way) and he wasn't looking to make any money off the sale, so if Ed wanted, he could have the Qualcomm for $100.00. Well, Ed just jumped all over that! Ed handed over the cash, the guy handed over the brand new unit and two people were very happy.

A little later in the morning, Ed was talking to another guy about satellite TV. This guy said the one he had needed to go in for repair and since his wife couldn't be without TV for a minute out of the day, he just went out and bought a new one rather than waiting on the one he had to be fixed. He was planning on selling his old unit on Ebay. Since he said it needed some repair, he'd give it to Ed for $900.00. Well, another deal was closed within a matter of minutes; Ed bought the satellite dome and all its components from him.

Because Ed is a nerdy little genius, he took the dome apart, spent some time looking at wires and circuit boards and whatever else was under it, and figured out a way to fix it. With soldering iron in hand, he spent a few hours working on the dome, going in and out of Home Depot, each time coming out with one more item to help him get it working. Then suddenly, he burst through the back door, excitedly telling me to "come look!" The satellite was spinning. It was fixed.

Once that was done, he moved on to spray-painting it black to match our truck, drilling holes in the top of our sleeper, snaking the coaxial cable in through the upper cabinets (this is the only part I helped with - grabbing the end as he was pushing it through from outside) and attaching all the components. He made a phone call to the satellite TV company and set up our account. VoilĂ ! Television.

It's actually pretty amazing. Although I don't watch a lot of TV, it's nice to be able to have something to watch when you want to. I usually have the Food Network on, even if the sound is muted. I like seeing the cooking happening. If I see something I like, I raise the volume. As I mentioned, because of the run we've been on, we haven't had a real chance to make a lot of use of it, but I'm glad we have it. There have been many times when our digital antenna can't pick up a signal because we're not near a metropolitan area or don't have a strong signal. This can pick up pretty much anything, anywhere.

I've always been aware of Ed's mastery of gadgetry, but I'm really impressed with his shopping skills. Who knew??


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO:
Your Beating Heart
2 YEARS AGO:
All I Want For Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth
3 YEARS AGO:
Eddie Opens An Eye In Vegas Friday
4 YEARS AGO:
You’re Giving Me Agida

3 comments:

Gil said...

That's the way to go. Remember to let Ed have time to watch Giada!

all things bradbury said...

that is so cool!!....i'd love to have one if we ever had time to watch it....lol....

Anonymous said...

OMG, now you've taught him to shop!
Next he'll be helping you put on your makeup. lol
Greggie