[An episode from 3 months back.]
Finally after serving us for close to 10 years, our TV died on us last week.
This one was from the generation that did not require a prefix to identify it – it was just a TV. The regular old, bulky CRT TV.
I didn’t realize I had feelings for it until it died on me – I am surprised at the grief I am feeling. For a TV.
My TV was good. I have never had to take it for repairs.
Of course, it has misbehaved at times. But 2 things have helped us (my TV and me) overcome those troubled times: 1) my being a fully qualified Electronics engineer, and 2) my being handed down the single most important equipment fixing technique from my father.
The former aspect has equipped me with the skills to tell a diode from a transistor (I had successfully demonstrated this to my visiting lab examiner in my eighth semester Viva voce too), and the wisdom that a TV has many more components than just these 2 items. So I have never tried to mess with the internals.
The second, more important aspect, is the one that has fixed the niggles really. And I am going to pass this on to you now. So take a pen and note this down if you need to.