I accidentally won a 32" TV this weekend

I don't know what to do with it. I don't really want it, but I got a $400 TV for $20. My wife and I are currently in negotiations.

What happened was that J. bought us two raffle tickets for a benefit event for her sister's husband's aunt who has a disease. We gave them money because it was a nice thing to do and we wanted to support the cause. Then we forgot about it.

On Sunday morning, J's cell phone woke us up and I heard her mumble, "can I ask who's calling?" So I immediately knew that it was for me and I had to wake up too. She handed me the phone.

"Who is it," I asked.

"I don't know," she said. The woman on the phone introduced herself to me and I couldn't tell who she was, either. It sounded like a sales call. I responded with confusion.

"I'm calling about the benefit raffle," she explained. "Were you at the benefit last night?" That's when I thought, "oh no, somebody stole my credit card, and he's spending my money at fancy benefit dinners."

Finally something I said sparked J's memory and she said, "that's for the thing that we bought the tickets for!" And that's when the woman told me that my ticket had been drawn and we had won a 32-inch television set. I was surprised by how much it didn't excite me to upgrade from our current 27-inch one. I'm perfectly happy with that one. It's practically still brand-new. It satisfies all my TV-viewing needs. Why would I want a bigger, heavier one?

We had some friends over for the weekend, and enough money to buy food and drinks and hang out together, and I was totally thrilled. A larger TV does not add to my satisfaction in life; neither do many of the things I often wish for. Some time with good friends is the greatest thing I can imagine. Everything else is window dressing. I'm dangerous close to becoming truly content. But I still sat in awe when we watched our new G5 boot up for the first time on Friday night.