Watching TV on Hulu Plus is not the same as watching TV on TV, especially when there are no commercials. It requires a bit more concentration (a lot more concentration, actually). This week I watched three seasons so far. Twenty four episodes a season at about forty-eight minutes each (no commercials is a wonderful thing, mostly) has taken a lot of time this week. Fifty-seven point six hours. Almost as many hours as I used to put in at work on a light week when I had a job (any wonder why I don't want to return to the 24/7 work lifestyle?... but that is another story and as much as it {more specfically the absence of income} dominates life these days, I do not feel like lamenting over the stress of poverty or potential tragic outcomes at this time).
And then there is wow (almost). As an impulse, when I opened the module for the fantasy football draft, I wanted to see it on a bigger screen so I unpacked one of my larger monitors and connected it. There is a connectivity issue that must be resolved. The monitor came with an old standard VGA cord with side screws but the laptop does not have a screw in holes so sitting with the laptop on my lap and typing is not ideal as any movement can distort or disconnect the larger monitor which then confuses the automatic settings for the two monitors.
At the moment, the settings are perfect and the video runs full screen on the large monitor and the laptop monitor is free for Notepad and another browser and anything else I want to connect. I either need another cable or I need to connect the desktop keyboard. The latter would resolve the heat of the laptop on my lap so I will attempt that next, though getting used to the desktop keyboard will take some a moment or few.
So I can watch old TV shows (compromise) on a 24 inch monitor (compromise) and while using the laptop. Next step is connecting the 55 inch Plasma TV and logging into Hulu (compromise) there. I can check out Netflix and the others there or here as time goes by. The hold up for the TV is not having a place for it. Where it sits not is sort of ideal for the space, but the bed is in the way because the bed is elevated by the boxes the bed sits on. The fridge is in the spot the TV would be on if the fridge could be moved to the other room. One step at a time.
My slow moving on hooking up the TV is mostly due to my not wanting to have such ease of access to the distraction the TV provides because if I get too comfortable with distraction here I won't keep looking for a job or go out as much as I should and that is not healthy. The job search goes poorly, but as I noted above, that is another story and I do not feel like lamenting or stressing any more thn I always do under the surface.
So it is almost 4am and I woke after four hours of deep sleep and did not feel like sleeping more. So I came to the newly set up media area and turned on season four of Elementary and adjusted the monitor cables so there is as few glitches as possible. It is hot and the laptop makes it hotter so I must make the keyboard change now.
So I did that and it works, except that the keyboard is older and even though I hardly used it, some of the keys no longer have letters on them. Logitech loses points big time. I will look into some form of marker or stickers to return the letters to the keys that are blank or nearly blank. The whole computer industry loses points for creating so many different keyboard layouts that it slows productivity when a user moves from keyboard to keyboard (not to mention all the different ways to connect).
Meanwhile, the monitor cable connection continues to be flawed even with the laptop not moving at the moment. I will keep trying to find a stable situation for the cable ports, but the point of a laptop is mobility so I will need an alternative connector. Both the laptop and monitor have HDMI ports so I need to find an HDMI cable that works for both. I don't think it has anything to do with the cables, but the audio is terrible for late night watching because it gets louder and softer to extremes that the volume must be adjusted not only for the opening and closing but during the show. I understand the whispered dialogue enhances a sense of intimacy between characters and maybe that would take something away from the show if it was gone, but it is not condusive to optimal relaxing when living in close proximity to someone who is sleeping.
That is where the current audio-visual changes to offer more stimulation and distraction stands at the moment. I hope you enjoyed the slice of this journey through this process
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