Who the heck do I think I am?

This Christmas was a holiday of hand-me-down electronics. I got a GPS from Joel that had been his mother's, and then from my mother I brought back her old DVD player. It was the better of her two - I kept asking her if she'd rather we hook up that one to her bedroom TV and I'd take the lesser model - but she kept saying it made no sense.

Last night when I got home from Rochester and opened the back to unload, the DVD player slid straight out and fell on the pavement. On its face, of course. Which meant that the faceplate cracked in about five places.

At first I didn't even realize it was cracked. (Hey, it was dark outside.) But when I did realize it, I plugged it in anyway to check on it, and it turned on and the tray would open and close, but I wasn't ready to test it with a DVD because it didn't make sense to do that until I had it plugged in to a TV.

Well, this morning I got it hooked up to the TV and got it wired through the VCR... and the little "standby" light came on. But it won't stay powered up. When I click the remote power button, it comes on for a moment, displays "Sony DVD" and then shuts itself back off.

ARGH.

I feel really dumb for not making sure the thing was well secured (or for not opening the glass to get it out), or for just putting it on the back seat. It was 5-6 years old, but it was pristine, basically. And now it's toast.

It's old enough that I'm sure Sony wouldn't do anything about fixing it - and I'm sure it would cost just as much to replace the front as it would to just buy a new machine. Well. I've lived without a player back there this long so there's no rush to do that. It's just very disappointing to have broken the damn thing in the first place.

Unless anyone has suggestions for another way to fix it? I don't know what happened between last night and this morning that it suddenly won't run.

Gah.


ETA: First off, the whole faceplate has basically come off now. And second - a little research online shows that it would cost a minimum of $120 to get it fixed ($137 to exchange it through Sony). And used identical models on Amazon start at $25.99 (plus shipping)... And of course there are about 14 newer models for under $75.

The point being that I won't be doing anything about it for the time being, but when I do feel like it there are cheaper alternatives to getting it fixed.

So, y'know I said yesterday that there was a lot of flooding in Waltham?

Yeah.

My basement was not immune. Specifically, my *storage unit* in the basement. The one where I had books.

About 30 books with probably near-irreparable damage, including my senior yearbook from high school, a limited-edition "Order of the Phoenix", some books signed by the authors.... My dad's dissertation, some of the framed artwork he asked me to keep for him.... some are rare, some are out of print, a few are trade paperbacks easy to replace, but there's no extra money for that kind of thing right now.

About 20 books with medium damage, and another 30 or so with little to no damage, thankfully. The deluxe edition "Beedle the Bard" is okay inside, though the big case needs some repair. They're all drying out currently. I've got the worst ones in the bathtub with a fan on them; the medium-damaged ones are on the clothes drying rack. A few are outside. Some sheets and clothes that I'd set aside for a yard sale anyway, but that now have to be washed and dried.

There's stuff all over the place, drying out. Oy.

I have no idea if renters' insurance covers flood damage.

As losses go, really? Not so bad. The only thing that rips me up is the yearbook, and I'm working on saving that. I wish I could have saved the HP5, without having to tear off its box edition cover. No value left there. But the book will dry out.

I have to go report to unemployment and then I should shift laundry. Fun. Only - not.

1. No hat. Sigh. I'll just get another one from CafePress at some point.

2. Looking at the shows I wanted to audition for.... WHAT?! Everyone has moved to April performances instead of March???? GAH.

Seriously. "Singin' in the Rain" is the first three weeks of April, fine. But the other companies with shows I'd like to go out for - Weston, Netwon, Longwood - they're all putting up their spring shows in mid-late April, too, instead of March. Argh.

Well, okay - Concord Players is doing 'Scarlet Pimpernel' in the last two weeks of April / first week of May. Doable. Difficult, but doable. (Schedules audition....)

And there's always the school of thought that says audition anyway - get a better part and drop, but that's somewhat unprofessional.


3. My dad just got a traffic ticket in Georgia. He says he came to a T-intersection and in one of those "oh, why not?" moments blew through it to try to get through before the car coming in the other direction...only to realize too late that said car was a cop. Yeah. (Sounds VERY similar to my ticket that I argued away when I blew through the yellow light by going *right past* a cop who was already stopped at the light....)

Oh, well, it happens. Well, it happens to anyone who drives as much as me or my dad. But no one wants to make a habit out of it!


4. I'm so bored at work....