You may recall that Lucas and I enjoyed field trips together to Best Buy. After several subsequent trips, the TV I had been eying became progressively cheaper until one day, it was too good to pass up. Often hailed as the "best tv ever," this was my chance to own a piece of history, as Pioneer announced earlier this year that it was exiting the plasma tv business.

My patience was tested like Caine on Kung Fu (RIP David Carradine):

• First, I had to wait a couple weeks for it to be delivered.
• Then, once in the house, I started a mind-numbing 150-hour break-in procedure, which was documented and discussed on hundreds of pages of threads dedicated to this TV.  Technically, I ran it for about 167 hours over a 10-day period.
• Finally, I had to wait for time to mount it, which inconveniently coincided with the rest of the family sleeping.

After tapping into power and cable in the attic, I put all the components into the closet directly behind the tv.  Overall, everything went well, but I did learn a few lessons that I'm happy to pass along.

• Never indiscriminantly yank on cords through a wall when you need excess slack.
• Anyone who's held a PS3 knows it's built like a tank.  I've confirmed it can survive a six-foot fall.  See above.
• A PS3 runs too hot for an unventilated closet.  I let the stack run for a few hours together on a hot day and when I opened the closet door, I found the fans on every component turning at full speed.  I'll have to find a more pedestrian blu-ray player.

Ultimately, my patience was rewarded.  The picture is stunning.  I have yet to convince Grace why it should be professionally calibrated, but even with the recommended settings, it is really impressive.  Also impressive is the amount of heat generated by the damn thing, which is awesome in June when you have no A/C.  At least I can look forward to being toasty this winter.