from my garden plot:

elsewhere in the community garden:

i'd planned on going to my parents' place to do some sanding, but by the time i finished with my community gardening (picking a carton of golden raspberries), it was already 2:00. once i arrived in belmont in the middle of the afternoon, it was just too hot to do any work on the western side of the house. the plan is to come back early tomorrow and do some late morning sanding before the sun starts shining from the west.

backyard garden:

dinner:

back at home, all was well, until my panasonic viera TC-L42ET5 HDTV suddenly switched off and began blinking its red LED. i noticed it was blinking in series and recognized that as a diagnostic indicator. i found the service manual and discovered that 8 blinks means the TCON power on the A-board (main board) is damaged. a few times it blinked 10 times, which meant the ZWEI/FRC was having issues (also on the A-board). so whatever the problem was, it meants having to replace the A-board. i'm not quite sure how the HDTV broke in the first place, it's never happened before, and i only bought it 2 years ago ($698), so the HDTV is fairly new.

a seller on ebay had used A-boards for $44 but he was all sold out; i ended up finding an online tv parts seller who had it for $55 including shipping. but first i took apart the HDTV just to take out the A-board and make sure i was getting the right part. it was remarkably easy, despite having to remove around 40 screws once i got the television flat on the dining table. there was no visible sign of damage. so i went ahead and ordered the part (refurbished), hoping it'll come by the end of the week and i can fix my HDTV. i don't even use it all that much, but it's one of those things that once you don't have it, you start it miss it.

i'd be lying if i didn't admit a part of me wishes the HDTV might be broken beyond repair. that'd give me a legitimate excuse to go out and buy a new HDTV. nowadays, for the same size (42"), i can get one cheaper and with even more features, that better smart tv integration. this panasonic viera does have some smart tv features (including wifi and 3D, i did a lot of research before i bought it), but it's proprietary and seems outdated (because it is, since they're never updated). nowadays, you've got fancy HDTV's that have built-in roku or android OS. i could always use an HDTV upgrade in my bedroom, although since i've been back, i haven't watched tv in that room. it's got an old CRT television with a digital-antenna-to-analog converter box.