DVD player funny story

Reading Beth Lock’s blog on her DVD player woes reminded me of a funny story (as most things do) that happened to me a few years ago.

A good friend of mine in Ohio was finally getting married after living with his girlfriend for 15 years or so (commitment issues?) and I drove to Ohio for the ceremony. Because he was a good friend, I decided to splurge a little for their gift. I went out and bought a good quality DVD player (around $300), purchased a DVD and made my way to the wilds of Ohio. The DVD purchased you ask? Dusk to Dawn by Tarentino. What a great odd movie with George Clooney and Quentin himself as a couple of Bank Robbers escaping to Mexico and meeting up with a Bar full of Vampires! Cheech Marin (Of Cheech and Chong fame) plays at least 4 different parts. Not one for the kiddies or those with weak stomachs.

I presented him with the DVD player and he asked me to hook it up for him (He’s a great guy, but technically challenged). I looked at the back of his TV and was shocked to not find any RCA style Audio/video connectors, just the old-style RF all-in-one connector. I should mention that this TV was about 20 years old. He had it hooked up to his sattelite and had to remove the connection whenever he want to watch a tape on his VCR.

I made my way through the stores in the area and could not find an adaptor. I convinced him that maybe it was time to move up a notch and get a new TV. One quick trip to WalMart and soon he purchased a 32-inch RCA stereo out TV and a new TV stand. We went back to his house and I put together the stand, connected his sattelite/VCR/DVD players to different inputs and gave him a quick lesson on using the new remotes. Everything worked great, sounded great, and looked fantastic. He and his new bride were very pleased.

As I made my way to the car for the drive back, my friend looked at me and started laughing. When I asked what was so funny, he replied that only I could give a wedding gift that ended up costing the recipient $450.