When I was a kid, we puked in the toilet. Or at least in a bucket. Or in our own beds.
89 thoughts on “December 11, 2015: Kids These Days”
We had a car seat that had endured FOUR of our kids puking in it as some point.
Kid puke is just a part of parenting.
My sister got carsick one time and puked in my brother's carseat.
Both our kids' carseats have been barfed on multiple times. Good times. The 4-year-old used to throw up at least once a week from ages 1-2. Sometimes it would be from not chewing enough and he'd choke a little, other times it'd seemingly come out of nowhere. A lot of those, he'd be fine, just say "I need to throw up," run to the bathroom, barf in the toilet, and then go on his way.
Our 2 year old went through a phase where he'd just decide to stick his hand in his mouth as far as he could when he'd get bored, especially in the car. He did it once when we were heading up a mountain to go skiing, and with no where to stop, and stuck them in far enough to make himself throw up. Then, the older one woke up, saw it, and promptly lost his breakfast as well. Cleaning two kids and two carseats, in a parking lot, with the bathroom 100 yards away is what I call high intensity parenting.
I had a carsickness episode (well, Aristotle was the one throwing up) once where there was no bathroom anywhere near. I ended up using every piece of clothes we had packed (save one pair for a change), then all the wipes we had packed, in order to clean it up. Laundry at our destination as soon as we arrived.
I was a car barfer. I had an ice cream bucket, because my dad was a travel Nazi and would not stop for a little thing like car sickness.
I'm guessing you never called your dad a "travel Nazi" to his face.
Heh. No.
In case you hadn't inferred, my brother was in it at the time. I was asleep on the other side of him.
I puked on my classmate's desk once in 2nd Grade.
The whole class witnessed it.
I also puked on the classmate.
I heartily recommend Emesis Bags for car travel with little ones. Saved our noses and upholstery multiple times.
Two hour drive with a kid puking the whole time? I sat on the floor in the back to make sure the emesis bag was always near her face. Better than missing Christmas.
Two hour drive? Our holiday trips are always 9+ hours.
*wink*
Only four to five hours here.
Pops used to enjoy telling the story of the time I puked up a juice box's worth of orange Hi-C on the way from southwestern Wisconsin to Thief River Falls.
We were in the Cities, in the fast lane on 494. From the passenger seat I said, "Dad, I have to throw up."
"What?," Pops asked?
HRRRRRRNNNNNNGGGG!, I replied.
Sounds like that puking on my classmate story.
"Miss [P], I don't feel so good."
"Then go to the bathroom."
/Turn slightly to the right as towards the door.
/Throw up over desk of classmate to the right of me.
/Sure to get some on said classmate.
Second this recommendation. We often grab spares on visits to medical providers, if such is easy enough. We're out, currently.
I grabbed all I could after EAR's third and fourth C-sections (as the two from the second were so handy). When those were used, I realized that I could either a) have another kid or b) find a different way to procure them.
Or at least aimed at the floor.
I puked a few times as a kid, but not that many. My daughter, knock on wood, basically never pukes. Never.
Once as a kid I overate the sugary desserts that were left out at Christmas and lost my cookies. Good lesson, probably better than anyone telling me not to eat too many sweets.
If the kids are awake and aware they're ill, they're very good at getting it in the bucket/toilet/emesis bag.
It's the puking in their sleep or sudden onset that's the worst.
What about if it's your own bed but you're in the top bunk and it slides down the wall to your sibling's bed?
I puked from the top bunk onto the floor once. The floor in my bedroom was linoleum, so the dispersion was pretty epic. Pops was not amused.
Pretty sure the combination of teriyaki & pizza did it. (I was in second grade.)
Linoleum seems like a double-edged sword here. I'd rather clean Linoleum than carpet even if the mess is larger in area.
Let me attest, based on last night, to the pain of cleaning it from carpet. Especially since the mess area was linoleum-level.
When drop it from about 6.5 feet you get a pretty good splatter pattern up the walls...
called a "Splattern"
When Junior was just past toddler age up to almost starting kindergarten, he would just randomly puke. Usually in the morning. Sometimes when driving around in the car. He would do it 2, 3 times a month. Sometimes a couple times a week. Once he would puke, he would be fine. The times I remember Trey ever puking I could count on one hand.
The Boy was a barfer as a baby and toddler. We had his bassinet on an up-slope.
When we moved to California I got in big trouble at a mickey d's. The wife had taken the girl for a diaper change, during which he and I were playing a game involving whipping our heads around. Oops.
She reminds me of that every couple of years as evidence of my parenting foresight.
I got the home theater bug again this week after helping someone pick out a music listening system for his family for Christmas. A new A/V receiver to replace my 18-year-old Kenwood is on the way. And I'm going to play with 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos, even though just a week ago I had: (a) hardly heard of it and (b) been quickly convinced that it is silly.
Excited!
If you don't mind my asking, got plans for the old receiver? I need one for my turntable.
Actually, I would like to pass it on at a very fair price (hardly anything) to someone who could use it. However, it's unique and big, so I'd understand if you wouldn't want to use it for music listening.
(Possible) Downsides:
o Unique styling.
o The remote is pretty absurd. You'd probably want to use a universal. Though you might need to use the original for setup from time to time, which will not be pleasant.
o It's big. Way bigger than a simple stereo unit for music listening needs to be.
I also have a NAD power envelope stereo receiver that doesn't have a remote if you're interested. I can look up more details. I also have a Jolida FX 10 tube amp, which does have a remote, definitely would require a phone preamp to use, and would require very efficient speakers because it's not super powerful. These two items would be more expensive.
(Yes, I have a bit of a problem. 🙂 )
And I have a "home theater in a box" to get rid of for a good price. Disadvantage: distance
If you want to email me about any further details, feel free to barry at bjhess dot com me.
Is it possible to get a halfway decent receiver that isn't so big? I've got an older receiver that's getting kind of flaky, and I'm interested in quality but my wife hates the large form factor of most (all?) receivers. I assume they are big for a reason, but I was curious if anyone here has any helpful information.
A/V receiver? Or just a stereo, music listening receiver?
To my knowledge most items will have the width of a typical audio component. It is possible to find some items that are shorter and less deep. I think Marantz has some items of that sort.
There are some stereo components that don't have the radio receiver part to fit your bill, though. Like the NAD D 3020, Peachtree Nova, or Minnesota's own Bel Canto. Those start at $500 and keep climbing up to near $2,000. 🙂
A/V. I have two bookshelf speakers (Polk TSi100) and a center channel speaker (Polk CS10) that I want to drive. I aspire to have surround speakers at some point, but not until we move somewhere bigger.
The width and depth aren't necessarily as much a problem as the height.
Those are interesting options if we ever decide to ditch the TV, though.
I'm willing to bet someone else around here might have more and better advice, but…
Marantz is probably the shortest I can think of. This guy is 4 1/8". Of course I'd probably suggest if you are buying something new to make sure it has Dolby Atmos and HDCP 2.2 (support for the 4k future). That gets expensive rapidly. Though there are ways to take the edge off.
Or you get something that just has what you need today and plan to buy something else if you ever decide you need 4k or Atmos down the road. More than likely that's the better advice. I'm guessing I've wasted a lot of money unnecessarily "future proofing" things like this.
Been gone all day, but I just wanted to pop in and say that yes, Marantz is your best bet for a physically small receiver.
At first glance it looked like Joe Nathan's AU, and at closer look I'm sticking with that guess.
That was what others were saying, but I figured I'd check with the best experts I know.
I had a friend in high school with the good manners to lay his coat on his lap, puke into the coat, and then throw the whole mess out the car window. I would have been happy to pull over and let him puke in the open air, but for some reason he didn't think of that. Something must have been impairing his judgement.
I must admit, watching the Vikings lose in 55" 1080p/120Mhz high definition is much better than watching them lose on a little cathode ray tube.
Heyward to the Cubs. They're having an incredible offseason.
If you, like me, just like to watch the world burn sometimes, make sure to check out the (absolutely NSFW) @BestFansStLouis twitter feed today.
For less than $200 million reportedly. Cubs with a steal.
Sounding like it's around 8/$185. Wow.
Its going to be hilarious when the Cubs win 70 games next year.
Its going to be hilarious when the Cubs win 170 games next year.
FTFY!
I think they're one Rowengartner away from winning the whole thing.
i Its going to be hilarious when the Cubs win 70 games next year and then lose in epically painful fashion in the playoffs.
FTFY
They.... Seem angry
It was tough to tell initially due to the lack of fire-head emojis, but I got that impression as well
As I've mentioned before, we're finishing our basement. Since we're basically creating a new family room down there (dry bar, couch, Metrodome seats), it seems like we should upgrade our a/v as well.
What sort of this should we get to allow us to stream, etc.? For perspective, our Blu-ray player we use for Netflix is about five years old. The only console I have is a PS2. Our TV is also about five years old.
What's the best idea to consolidate/update this stuff? Smart TV? PS4 or other gaming system? Different Blu-ray player?
I'm just looking for ideas.
Spoons will probably want to chime in on this, but you can either go Smart TV or Smart Blu-ray, whichever gets you the best back for the buck. Streaming isn't an issue; a Chromecast will do the trick for <$30.
When I put up the crown molding in our flex room, I used the opportunity to hide surround speaker wire behind it.
If you're an Apple person, and therefore already hooked into the Apple ecosystem, I think the Apple TV is a pretty good device, and the latest Apple TV got some pretty great reviews. I have the old version and am semi-hooked into the Apple ecosystem and it works pretty well for what it does. It's pretty easy to use AirPlay to stream videos or music straight from a laptop/iPhone/iPad, but requires you to have those devices, obviously.
I haven't tried anything else, though I would be wary of Smart TV options, my intuition is that the standalone devices are cheap enough that you'll get more bang for your buck if you find the best TV regardless of Smart/not-Smart and then find the best streaming device that works for you.
One thing I'm really loving is this universal remote. It was very straightforward to program and it's been super nice to stash all my other remotes. (Though I wrecked at least one of them by keeping the batteries in, rookie mistake.)
I agree on the Smart TV. I saved the money on that and got an Apple TV. I hear that Roku is pretty good, too (actually better), if you aren't biting the Apple.
Sheenie has a complete hatred towards Apple (something to do with its IP), so that option is probably not palatable.
Because the drywall isn't up yet, we've snaked a tube to run wires, but a wireless system might be ideal.
*high-fives Sheenie*
Wireless is the obvious route, but not sure of the cost currently.
I use Amazon Fire tv. It works well. Amazon prime has a lot of the old house shows. I use hulu and netflix.
I'll throw in on the Roku as well. I've had a Roku LT for a few years now and been very happy with it after cutting the cable cord, although I'm thinking about upgrading to the Roku stick or the Roku 2 because they are compatible with Android/Windows devices for screen sharing. The other nice part about them are the remote control apps, since we lost the remote to the thing within like three months of owning it. (fell into the couch in such a way as to make it impossible to retrieve...f***ing Ashley furniture.)
+1 to using an Apple TV or Roku as a streaming device. (PS4 is pretty good as well if you actually want that for other reasons. It also plays Blu-Ray. I use this for our home theater area.)
Not to throw a wrench in, but if I had a basement ripped to the studs and was planning an area to watch movies, I would probably wire it in for ceilings speakers for Dolby Atmos. (Well, I think so. Ask me next weekend after I've tried to set it up in my home without ceiling speakers.) I would also run speaker wire from where the TV will be to wall plates for rear speakers (and maybe side speakers depending on the space) - surround sound reasons.
I would probably run a conduit from the front to an area in the ceiling that could house a projector as well. Just in case I want to run wire for a projector later. And I suppose there'd need to be power up there as well. 🙂
get everything as puke-resistant as possible
I'm sure vomit just slides off Metrodome seats
There's a chance that's already happened to those exact seats.
A friend once barfed at the dome ... in the trough ... during the 8th inning.
The PS4 is a better gaming system than the Xbox One, but I prefer the media apps on the Xbox. It has an HDMI pass through so I can run satellite in and just run all of it through there. Honestly, though, a Roku is probably your best bet. The new ones seem great and play just about everything. J's Roku XD is still holding up strong in our room, despite using consoles for everything else.
The Roku has a great processor and is the streaming device I'd suggest unless you want to pick up a PS4 or Xbox One.
A Smart TV would also be a good option. Good processing power (depending on brand) and lots of apps (even more dependent upon brand). At this point you almost can't get a good TV that isn't smart, so when it's time to upgrade the TV, you'll probably end up with your answer.
My PS3 and my non-smart plasma* TV (both of them still thankfully chugging along... where's some wood to knock on?) work great as a media platform. I've also got the PS3 set up to play media files from my computer. Also, you can easily set up a TV like that to basically be a second monitor for your computer.
*Okay, so when I bought it, after researching, I decided plasma was the way to go. However, I remember hearing that plasma has basically died because the LCD screens looked "brighter" in the store displays, so everyone went with those despite plasma possibly being the superior choice. I've always been curious on what others thought about that.
That's correct. Plasmas were far superior pictures, but customers wall right up to the brightest display in the store, and some insist that it's the best picture regardless of how over-saturated the color is, and how much motion blur there is.
OLED is new technology that actually improves on what plasmas could do, but it's still early and very expensive.
We put a plasma in our bedroom because it's darker and less reflections, and it's perfect there.
I bought an LCD that I'm still using about 7 years ago. I don't remember specifically why I got it over a plasma, but I think cost had to do with it. It's only 720p, so I think the motion blur is less noticeable (or I'm talking out of my ass) and, at the risk is of sounding like a Luddite, the picture is perfectly fine at that resolution. We may be going too far on the resolution thing, a sentiment I share with video games and graphics. Kids these days...
It's been a rock solid tv, though, but I'm starting to think its about time to upgrade. I've been putting it off because I'll be mildly depressed when I buy something that is immeasurably better for like a third of the cost I bought this one for. It'll be the same feeling I had when we sold our previous couches for about $2400 less than we paid for them.
We may be going too far on the resolution thing
No way. Bring on the 8k 240 Hz screens!
No Blu-ray through Roku, right?
Right. Better streaming (Roku) vs. disc functionality (Blu-Ray player). Pick your poison.
Or get both!
Both choices have poison? That doesn't seem like a Dread Pirate thing.
Follow up to Aquinas being sick:
Today was his school Christmas program. All morning long, he stayed home from school but seemed absolutely fine. To the point where I was beyond comfortable having him go back to school. (I know, I know, you wait 24 hours. I'd probably be somewhat irritated at myself if myself was someone else's parent...)(But between the way he was, and the Christmas program...). So I took him back to school around noon, his Christmas program was at 1:30. About halfway through, he started loosening his tie, rolling up his sleeves, fanning himself. It was obvious he was right back to feeling under the weather. He made it through, and I picked him up immediately after. He was looking a bit green, but seemed to be getting better again after we got him into some cool air.
I rolled my eyes at the end of his Twins tenure because of the veteran leadership thing, but he is still one of my all time favorite Twins players.
Forgoing $12.5 million for 2016.
And definitely one of my least, though he had his moments.
Corey Hart is retiring. Not all that significant because he's been hurt for three years now, but he told me he wanted to retire last year but his wife wouldn't let him, which was pretty funny.
This is a bad loss for the Wolves. oof.
overtime losses for everyone!
Yeah, what's with these leads not holding? That was excruciating to watch.
#firesmitch
(Full disclosure: I didn't follow the game and haven't checked the recap yet. I'm just assuming they blew a second half lead because he left the bench in longer than he should have.)
After checking the recap and seeing that they had an 18 point 3rd quarter lead and that Martin and Prrince played a combined 74 minutes, I have determined that my full disclosure was not necessary.
I was keeping a weather eye on the TV at the far side wall at Applebees last night during OT play, and could see the outcome coming. Full disclosure: Twayn's bro bought my Baileys 😉
We had a car seat that had endured FOUR of our kids puking in it as some point.
Kid puke is just a part of parenting.
My sister got carsick one time and puked in my brother's carseat.
Both our kids' carseats have been barfed on multiple times. Good times. The 4-year-old used to throw up at least once a week from ages 1-2. Sometimes it would be from not chewing enough and he'd choke a little, other times it'd seemingly come out of nowhere. A lot of those, he'd be fine, just say "I need to throw up," run to the bathroom, barf in the toilet, and then go on his way.
Our 2 year old went through a phase where he'd just decide to stick his hand in his mouth as far as he could when he'd get bored, especially in the car. He did it once when we were heading up a mountain to go skiing, and with no where to stop, and stuck them in far enough to make himself throw up. Then, the older one woke up, saw it, and promptly lost his breakfast as well. Cleaning two kids and two carseats, in a parking lot, with the bathroom 100 yards away is what I call high intensity parenting.
I had a carsickness episode (well, Aristotle was the one throwing up) once where there was no bathroom anywhere near. I ended up using every piece of clothes we had packed (save one pair for a change), then all the wipes we had packed, in order to clean it up. Laundry at our destination as soon as we arrived.
I was a car barfer. I had an ice cream bucket, because my dad was a travel Nazi and would not stop for a little thing like car sickness.
I'm guessing you never called your dad a "travel Nazi" to his face.
Heh. No.
In case you hadn't inferred, my brother was in it at the time. I was asleep on the other side of him.
I puked on my classmate's desk once in 2nd Grade.
The whole class witnessed it.
I also puked on the classmate.
I heartily recommend Emesis Bags for car travel with little ones. Saved our noses and upholstery multiple times.
Two hour drive with a kid puking the whole time? I sat on the floor in the back to make sure the emesis bag was always near her face. Better than missing Christmas.
Two hour drive? Our holiday trips are always 9+ hours.
*wink*
Only four to five hours here.
Pops used to enjoy telling the story of the time I puked up a juice box's worth of orange Hi-C on the way from southwestern Wisconsin to Thief River Falls.
We were in the Cities, in the fast lane on 494. From the passenger seat I said, "Dad, I have to throw up."
"What?," Pops asked?
HRRRRRRNNNNNNGGGG!, I replied.
Sounds like that puking on my classmate story.
"Miss [P], I don't feel so good."
"Then go to the bathroom."
/Turn slightly to the right as towards the door.
/Throw up over desk of classmate to the right of me.
/Sure to get some on said classmate.
Second this recommendation. We often grab spares on visits to medical providers, if such is easy enough. We're out, currently.
I grabbed all I could after EAR's third and fourth C-sections (as the two from the second were so handy). When those were used, I realized that I could either a) have another kid or b) find a different way to procure them.
Or at least aimed at the floor.
I puked a few times as a kid, but not that many. My daughter, knock on wood, basically never pukes. Never.
Once as a kid I overate the sugary desserts that were left out at Christmas and lost my cookies. Good lesson, probably better than anyone telling me not to eat too many sweets.
If the kids are awake and aware they're ill, they're very good at getting it in the bucket/toilet/emesis bag.
It's the puking in their sleep or sudden onset that's the worst.
What about if it's your own bed but you're in the top bunk and it slides down the wall to your sibling's bed?
I puked from the top bunk onto the floor once. The floor in my bedroom was linoleum, so the dispersion was pretty epic. Pops was not amused.
Pretty sure the combination of teriyaki & pizza did it. (I was in second grade.)
Linoleum seems like a double-edged sword here. I'd rather clean Linoleum than carpet even if the mess is larger in area.
Let me attest, based on last night, to the pain of cleaning it from carpet. Especially since the mess area was linoleum-level.
When drop it from about 6.5 feet you get a pretty good splatter pattern up the walls...
called a "Splattern"
When Junior was just past toddler age up to almost starting kindergarten, he would just randomly puke. Usually in the morning. Sometimes when driving around in the car. He would do it 2, 3 times a month. Sometimes a couple times a week. Once he would puke, he would be fine. The times I remember Trey ever puking I could count on one hand.
The Boy was a barfer as a baby and toddler. We had his bassinet on an up-slope.
When we moved to California I got in big trouble at a mickey d's. The wife had taken the girl for a diaper change, during which he and I were playing a game involving whipping our heads around. Oops.
She reminds me of that every couple of years as evidence of my parenting foresight.
I got the home theater bug again this week after helping someone pick out a music listening system for his family for Christmas. A new A/V receiver to replace my 18-year-old Kenwood is on the way. And I'm going to play with 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos, even though just a week ago I had: (a) hardly heard of it and (b) been quickly convinced that it is silly.
Excited!
If you don't mind my asking, got plans for the old receiver? I need one for my turntable.
Actually, I would like to pass it on at a very fair price (hardly anything) to someone who could use it. However, it's unique and big, so I'd understand if you wouldn't want to use it for music listening.
(Possible) Downsides:
o Unique styling.
o The remote is pretty absurd. You'd probably want to use a universal. Though you might need to use the original for setup from time to time, which will not be pleasant.
o It's big. Way bigger than a simple stereo unit for music listening needs to be.
But make your own judgement! It's the silver Kenwood VR-2080 (manual).
I also have a NAD power envelope stereo receiver that doesn't have a remote if you're interested. I can look up more details. I also have a Jolida FX 10 tube amp, which does have a remote, definitely would require a phone preamp to use, and would require very efficient speakers because it's not super powerful. These two items would be more expensive.
(Yes, I have a bit of a problem. 🙂 )
And I have a "home theater in a box" to get rid of for a good price. Disadvantage: distance
If you want to email me about any further details, feel free to barry at bjhess dot com me.
Is it possible to get a halfway decent receiver that isn't so big? I've got an older receiver that's getting kind of flaky, and I'm interested in quality but my wife hates the large form factor of most (all?) receivers. I assume they are big for a reason, but I was curious if anyone here has any helpful information.
A/V receiver? Or just a stereo, music listening receiver?
To my knowledge most items will have the width of a typical audio component. It is possible to find some items that are shorter and less deep. I think Marantz has some items of that sort.
There are some stereo components that don't have the radio receiver part to fit your bill, though. Like the NAD D 3020, Peachtree Nova, or Minnesota's own Bel Canto. Those start at $500 and keep climbing up to near $2,000. 🙂
A/V. I have two bookshelf speakers (Polk TSi100) and a center channel speaker (Polk CS10) that I want to drive. I aspire to have surround speakers at some point, but not until we move somewhere bigger.
The width and depth aren't necessarily as much a problem as the height.
Those are interesting options if we ever decide to ditch the TV, though.
I'm willing to bet someone else around here might have more and better advice, but…
Marantz is probably the shortest I can think of. This guy is 4 1/8". Of course I'd probably suggest if you are buying something new to make sure it has Dolby Atmos and HDCP 2.2 (support for the 4k future). That gets expensive rapidly. Though there are ways to take the edge off.
Or you get something that just has what you need today and plan to buy something else if you ever decide you need 4k or Atmos down the road. More than likely that's the better advice. I'm guessing I've wasted a lot of money unnecessarily "future proofing" things like this.
Been gone all day, but I just wanted to pop in and say that yes, Marantz is your best bet for a physically small receiver.
What do we call it when we try to ID an autograph? Was it Rhu that posts those? Well, found one on Twitter... https://twitter.com/twinsdaily/status/675335684467527680
At first glance it looked like Joe Nathan's AU, and at closer look I'm sticking with that guess.
That was what others were saying, but I figured I'd check with the best experts I know.
I had a friend in high school with the good manners to lay his coat on his lap, puke into the coat, and then throw the whole mess out the car window. I would have been happy to pull over and let him puke in the open air, but for some reason he didn't think of that. Something must have been impairing his judgement.
I must admit, watching the Vikings lose in 55" 1080p/120Mhz high definition is much better than watching them lose on a little cathode ray tube.
Heyward to the Cubs. They're having an incredible offseason.
If you, like me, just like to watch the world burn sometimes, make sure to check out the (absolutely NSFW) @BestFansStLouis twitter feed today.
For less than $200 million reportedly. Cubs with a steal.
Sounding like it's around 8/$185. Wow.
Its going to be hilarious when the Cubs win 70 games next year.
Its going to be hilarious when the Cubs win 170 games next year.
FTFY!
I think they're one Rowengartner away from winning the whole thing.
i Its going to be hilarious when the Cubs win 70 games next year and then lose in epically painful fashion in the playoffs.
FTFY
They.... Seem angry
It was tough to tell initially due to the lack of fire-head emojis, but I got that impression as well
As I've mentioned before, we're finishing our basement. Since we're basically creating a new family room down there (dry bar, couch, Metrodome seats), it seems like we should upgrade our a/v as well.
What sort of this should we get to allow us to stream, etc.? For perspective, our Blu-ray player we use for Netflix is about five years old. The only console I have is a PS2. Our TV is also about five years old.
What's the best idea to consolidate/update this stuff? Smart TV? PS4 or other gaming system? Different Blu-ray player?
I'm just looking for ideas.
Spoons will probably want to chime in on this, but you can either go Smart TV or Smart Blu-ray, whichever gets you the best back for the buck. Streaming isn't an issue; a Chromecast will do the trick for <$30. When I put up the crown molding in our flex room, I used the opportunity to hide surround speaker wire behind it.
If you're an Apple person, and therefore already hooked into the Apple ecosystem, I think the Apple TV is a pretty good device, and the latest Apple TV got some pretty great reviews. I have the old version and am semi-hooked into the Apple ecosystem and it works pretty well for what it does. It's pretty easy to use AirPlay to stream videos or music straight from a laptop/iPhone/iPad, but requires you to have those devices, obviously.
I haven't tried anything else, though I would be wary of Smart TV options, my intuition is that the standalone devices are cheap enough that you'll get more bang for your buck if you find the best TV regardless of Smart/not-Smart and then find the best streaming device that works for you.
One thing I'm really loving is this universal remote. It was very straightforward to program and it's been super nice to stash all my other remotes. (Though I wrecked at least one of them by keeping the batteries in, rookie mistake.)
I agree on the Smart TV. I saved the money on that and got an Apple TV. I hear that Roku is pretty good, too (actually better), if you aren't biting the Apple.
Sheenie has a complete hatred towards Apple (something to do with its IP), so that option is probably not palatable.
Because the drywall isn't up yet, we've snaked a tube to run wires, but a wireless system might be ideal.
*high-fives Sheenie*
Wireless is the obvious route, but not sure of the cost currently.
I use Amazon Fire tv. It works well. Amazon prime has a lot of the old house shows. I use hulu and netflix.
I'll throw in on the Roku as well. I've had a Roku LT for a few years now and been very happy with it after cutting the cable cord, although I'm thinking about upgrading to the Roku stick or the Roku 2 because they are compatible with Android/Windows devices for screen sharing. The other nice part about them are the remote control apps, since we lost the remote to the thing within like three months of owning it. (fell into the couch in such a way as to make it impossible to retrieve...f***ing Ashley furniture.)
+1 to using an Apple TV or Roku as a streaming device. (PS4 is pretty good as well if you actually want that for other reasons. It also plays Blu-Ray. I use this for our home theater area.)
Not to throw a wrench in, but if I had a basement ripped to the studs and was planning an area to watch movies, I would probably wire it in for ceilings speakers for Dolby Atmos. (Well, I think so. Ask me next weekend after I've tried to set it up in my home without ceiling speakers.) I would also run speaker wire from where the TV will be to wall plates for rear speakers (and maybe side speakers depending on the space) - surround sound reasons.
I would probably run a conduit from the front to an area in the ceiling that could house a projector as well. Just in case I want to run wire for a projector later. And I suppose there'd need to be power up there as well. 🙂
get everything as puke-resistant as possible
I'm sure vomit just slides off Metrodome seats
There's a chance that's already happened to those exact seats.
A friend once barfed at the dome ... in the trough ... during the 8th inning.
The PS4 is a better gaming system than the Xbox One, but I prefer the media apps on the Xbox. It has an HDMI pass through so I can run satellite in and just run all of it through there. Honestly, though, a Roku is probably your best bet. The new ones seem great and play just about everything. J's Roku XD is still holding up strong in our room, despite using consoles for everything else.
The Roku has a great processor and is the streaming device I'd suggest unless you want to pick up a PS4 or Xbox One.
A Smart TV would also be a good option. Good processing power (depending on brand) and lots of apps (even more dependent upon brand). At this point you almost can't get a good TV that isn't smart, so when it's time to upgrade the TV, you'll probably end up with your answer.
My PS3 and my non-smart plasma* TV (both of them still thankfully chugging along... where's some wood to knock on?) work great as a media platform. I've also got the PS3 set up to play media files from my computer. Also, you can easily set up a TV like that to basically be a second monitor for your computer.
*Okay, so when I bought it, after researching, I decided plasma was the way to go. However, I remember hearing that plasma has basically died because the LCD screens looked "brighter" in the store displays, so everyone went with those despite plasma possibly being the superior choice. I've always been curious on what others thought about that.
That's correct. Plasmas were far superior pictures, but customers wall right up to the brightest display in the store, and some insist that it's the best picture regardless of how over-saturated the color is, and how much motion blur there is.
OLED is new technology that actually improves on what plasmas could do, but it's still early and very expensive.
We put a plasma in our bedroom because it's darker and less reflections, and it's perfect there.
I bought an LCD that I'm still using about 7 years ago. I don't remember specifically why I got it over a plasma, but I think cost had to do with it. It's only 720p, so I think the motion blur is less noticeable (or I'm talking out of my ass) and, at the risk is of sounding like a Luddite, the picture is perfectly fine at that resolution. We may be going too far on the resolution thing, a sentiment I share with video games and graphics. Kids these days...
It's been a rock solid tv, though, but I'm starting to think its about time to upgrade. I've been putting it off because I'll be mildly depressed when I buy something that is immeasurably better for like a third of the cost I bought this one for. It'll be the same feeling I had when we sold our previous couches for about $2400 less than we paid for them.
No way. Bring on the 8k 240 Hz screens!
No Blu-ray through Roku, right?
Right. Better streaming (Roku) vs. disc functionality (Blu-Ray player). Pick your poison.
Or get both!
Both choices have poison? That doesn't seem like a Dread Pirate thing.
Follow up to Aquinas being sick:
Today was his school Christmas program. All morning long, he stayed home from school but seemed absolutely fine. To the point where I was beyond comfortable having him go back to school. (I know, I know, you wait 24 hours. I'd probably be somewhat irritated at myself if myself was someone else's parent...)(But between the way he was, and the Christmas program...). So I took him back to school around noon, his Christmas program was at 1:30. About halfway through, he started loosening his tie, rolling up his sleeves, fanning himself. It was obvious he was right back to feeling under the weather. He made it through, and I picked him up immediately after. He was looking a bit green, but seemed to be getting better again after we got him into some cool air.
Michael Cuddyer is going to retire
I rolled my eyes at the end of his Twins tenure because of the veteran leadership thing, but he is still one of my all time favorite Twins players.
Forgoing $12.5 million for 2016.
And definitely one of my least, though he had his moments.
Corey Hart is retiring. Not all that significant because he's been hurt for three years now, but he told me he wanted to retire last year but his wife wouldn't let him, which was pretty funny.
This is a bad loss for the Wolves. oof.
overtime losses for everyone!
Yeah, what's with these leads not holding? That was excruciating to watch.
#firesmitch
(Full disclosure: I didn't follow the game and haven't checked the recap yet. I'm just assuming they blew a second half lead because he left the bench in longer than he should have.)
After checking the recap and seeing that they had an 18 point 3rd quarter lead and that Martin and Prrince played a combined 74 minutes, I have determined that my full disclosure was not necessary.
I was keeping a weather eye on the TV at the far side wall at Applebees last night during OT play, and could see the outcome coming. Full disclosure: Twayn's bro bought my Baileys 😉