How Many People Does It Take to...?

Considering the really bad news that is all over media today regarding transparency, accountability and integrity, I have opted for some levity of the really important topic today. We all remember as kids telling jokes having the question "How many people does it take to...?"  Well, here's the End of the Rainbow Valley's version of how many folks it takes to install our new flat screen TV.

You may remember me mentioning the 'old' 2003 plasma 42" flat screen TV decided to go kaput. According to the TV sales guy, it had outlived most of its plasma buddies. 

The new 49" much, much lighter 2015 model arrived by mail ( In fact, the UPS guy felt his truck was too big to turn around by the house and hand carried it from at least a city block away.)

The new TV patiently sat awaiting some more muscle to arrive to detach Old Faithful. Those old plasmas are 'really' heavy. It was a 2 man job for the installation 12 years ago so we knew 2 really strong folks were needed to de-install it from its swing arm wall mount.

Well, the calvary arrived alias Natureman's unsuspecting youngest son. And he thought he would be getting exercise chopping wood for this visit... 

OK, you know what's going to happen, don't you? This 'extraction' and installation became a long process.  After the decision was made how to remove the old plasma off of the wall mount, it took three of us to hold on to the old set and maneuver it off. A hammer came out and I feared disaster lurking. Well, it finally came off the arm mount and everything and everybody were still in tact. 

Next, the wall mount hardware had to be detached from the old set with the correct tools. The challenge was finding the necessary Allen wrench.  Whew, one was found. Now to attach it to the new back of the new flat screen. Yep, another problem. The old bolts were too large to fit in the pre-made supposedly 'standard' holes. One correct size bolt was found in Natureman's collection so off the guys went to the nearest hardware store.  They were back within a half hour, 4 bolts in hand but they didn't fit... Off again to the next small town, home within the hour. These bolts worked, thank heavens to the salesperson who realized the fit was in centimeters. (Weren't we supposed to convert?)

I was no longer needed so I proceeded to work on dinner. These installers were starting to sweat and were going to need more than a beer after this job. The height installation took at least four attempts as the wall cabinets hardware and wall mount arm were not cooperating. During this time a neighbor and his daughter stopped by and they happened to have a socket kit in the back of their truck with a correct size socket wrench that helped the process along. Halleluya for their arrival and relieving some of the tension. 

WD-40 unstiffened the wall mount arm, a couple readjustments, it came off its track, off on, the procedure was arduous. Can you imagine? 3 + hours later , the TV was mounted and swiveling with ease. Job accomplished. 5 folks in attendance. Some of us were smart enough to stay out of the way.

Isn't it beautiful?

All is right with the world the new flat screen is up. Maybe tomorrow I will even get the cable guy to connect it properly! Wait, does that mean it takes 6 people to install a TV?