Out with the old, In with the new!

Right after we Zoomed to Torah Study this morning, I began taking apart the A/V system in the family room so I could install my new Denon AVR-X1700H (the name just rolls off your tongue, doesn’t it?). I thought it would take a couple of hours to get everything reconnected, but I was wrong. I didn’t finish connecting things until after dinner, and it took another hour or two to get all of the remotes properly reprogrammed and set up all of the devices and audio profiles.

In the process, I discovered that I’d wired the rear speakers out of phase when I last set things up. It’s easy to fix by swapping the red and black wires for each speaker; when I have a little more energy, I’ll swap the banana plugs on those speakers so the color-coding is right again.

It wouldn’t have taken quite so long if we hadn’t also had an appointment with one of the companies we’re considering for solar, Sunrun. It was a good conversation and I learned a lot, but I also came away with new questions. They were pushing a “Prepaid Power Agreement” where you own the equipment but they take the tax credit; they’d include 25 years of maintenance and battery replacement and even install an EV charger as part of the deal. It costs about $1200 (after tax credits) more than a straight purchase, which is less than it would cost us to get a charger and have it installed, so it’s appealing…but it also seems too good to be true.

We also did a lot of planning with Diane’s brother and sister-in-law for our upcoming trip to France; we’re arriving a few days before our cruise, and we wanted to find tours that would complement the cruise line’s offerings. We decided on a “Silk Tour in Lyon” and another tour that concentrates on WWII and the Resistance – and we’ll still have plenty of time to wander around on our own.

Progress on many fronts, but not a very restful Shabbat!

Restraint

It’s been a busy day.

My computer finally finished the Handbrake phase of the Mel Brooks Blu-Ray conversion after working on it for 60 hours. We started conversations with two companies about installing solar on our house. We made a trip to Costco. We made a quick stop at the soon-to-be-closed Bed, Bath, and Beyond and left with two head assemblies for my shaver (something I needed to buy soon anyway) and two tray tables (I’m sure we’ll find a use for them, and we did resist buying the four-pack), all at 40% off. And we went to Best Buy and picked up a Denon AVR-X1700H receiver to finish the A/V upgrade cycle.

The receiver is still in its box and I haven’t tried reworking the subtitles on any of the converted Blu-Rays. How’s that for restraint?

Shabbat Shalom!