Why Does It Always Rain on Me?

"Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"

It's the title to a popular song by the Scottish, Brit-pop band, Travis. It also feels like the soundtrack to my life, lately.

Yesterday, I was excited. Why, you ask? Because I found myself a deal. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the stars align perfectly, giving us the opportunity to get an item we've wanted, at a price we can finally afford.

For me, that item was a TV for my finished basement (aka: "The Mancave").

I found a guy on Craigslist who was selling a rear projection TV. It was a 65" TV, which is massive and also perfect for what I wanted.

Because he wanted it out of his garage, he was willing to part with it for only $100. It was an offer hard to pass on, even though I wasn't really looking for a rear projection TV, for various reasons.

At any rate, I was able to talk my awesome wife into letting me make the purchase, because she knew how much I wanted a big TV in the basement, and it was a price point she was able to rationalize.

I was also fortunate enough to get two of my friends to help me retrieve the television, as it was a task I could, in now way, achieve on my own.

We got to the seller's house, and when I saw the TV, I had a typical, guy, elated response. But I played it cool.

I went to hook up my PS3, so that I could test a BluRay movie on it. For whatever reason, we couldn't get the input to work, causing me to strongly question whether or not I wished to make the purchase. I really only wanted to use HDMI outputting devices, so if that port was non functional, it kind of defeated the purpose.

Noting my disappointment, the owner offered to part with the TV for a mere $60. I went back and forth, battling with what I should do, in my head.

I finally succumbed, and I took his offer, thinking that I could figure out a way to get it to work, and that $60 was not really taking a huge risk.

I handed him the three twenty-dollar bills, we loaded up the monstrous TV into the back of my friend's truck, and we proceeded to drive the mere ten miles to my house.

But sometimes, ten miles is all that is necessary for tragedy to strike.

As we were driving, we heard a noise. We looked back, and noticed that something was flapping in the wind, so we pulled over to check it out.

In the one minute we had been on the road, the outer screen had cracked, and half of it was now scattered all over the highway.

There was no retrieving it, so we just finished taking the rest of it apart, and then re-embarked on our voyage home.

At that point in time, I didn't know how big a deal it was. Honestly, I just thought it was some kind of protective outer screen. A mere piece of plastic. I could replace it for a few bucks, right?

Apparently not.

After hours of Googling, it appears that we shattered something called the "lenticular screen," which is more than just a piece of plastic. It's a very specific, mirrored piece of material, and without it, the picture looks really odd.

It would seem that the replacement part will cost at least a few hundred dollars, and for that, I could just get another nicer LCD TV.

The worst part is that this all could have been avoided -- easily. All we would have had to do was wrap a blanket or something around the TV.

But we didn't, and now I have what results in being a 300+ pound paperweight in my basement.

I'm angry. I'm frustrated. I feel like an idiot.

It just was the last thing I needed.

So, why am I telling you all this?

First off, if you have inexpensive suggestions that I may not have thought of, I'd be all ears.

If not, you can make me feel better by sharing some recent stories of stupid things you've done. Misery loves company. Go head. Dive in.

When was the last time you did something really stupid that ended up costing you money?