[Tubejunke]

Sometimes you have to do without in order to appreciate what most of us take for granted. I learned this about many things in life, but the topic is small screen TV sets. The power goes out a lot where I live for whatever reason. So I always have kept a small TV around that I could run on a power inverter from my truck's battery.

For years I had a 13" black and white which at the young age of 45 is not crazy small. That's all that me and my grandmother ever had when I was growing up and we didn't even think twice about it. Dad had the monolithic 25" remote controlled, color floor model in the basement, but we were happy with what we had.

Anyway, I donated the 13" a while back and found an 80s Panasonic AM-FM-TV portable that ran on D cells or AC line. It has like maybe a 4" black and white tube. Panasonic really had it going on with quality and durability back in the early to mid 80s. Everything I ever find is bullet proof. So, twice now the power has gone out and I lit the oil lamps and set the little tv on the coffee table and was perfectly content. It sure beat sitting there in the dark! The inverter runs the tv and either the DirecTv or free TV box for hours before the low voltage alarm sounds and I go crank the truck and recharge the battery.

Really I could easily run my bedroom 19" PANASONIC that plays around the clock many days without flaw. It would just run the battery down a lot quicker. It's another 80s set. I don't have the stuff for nostalgia; I just have it to use. Just regular stuff to me and works and lasts better than the crap their pushing these days.