[Andrew2]

Some great stories on here.
OK, here's the story of Mr Birkhead and his Hollywood Musicals. Mr B had been with us a while and whenever we encountered him he would always tell us of his undying love of the 40's and 50's MGM musicals. As a fan myself we had numerous conversations on the subject.
He loved the luxurious, slightly over-saturated colours and the warm, golden colour balance.
One day he bobbed into the shop and announced he was treating himself to a brand new Sony TV, and chose (I think) a KV-2212. Nice telly.
He'd had it for a while when he began calling us out (always asking for me, despite knowing I was happily tied to my bench). The problem was always the same - he couldn't get the colours right - ie his Hollywood films didn't seem to have the same sumptuous look as he remembered.
'Could you twiddle the colour controls?' he would ask. Well, I was reluctant, as the pics looked fine to me and I really didn't want this to become a regular thing. Still, I obliged, and sure enough it became a bit of a habit. He was always apologetic though.
On one visit, I noticed he was taking quite an interest in my twiddlings, and subsequent events revealed the reason....
One Saturday morning, Mr B rang the office and asked for me. The boss told me 'no more twiddles for this guy, he's a time-waster!'. But when he started talking to me I realised something was up. Mr B was rather quiet and hesitant, and he explained to me that last night he had been watching one of his films and thought once again that Technicolor had got it wrong and decided to take matters into his own hands. Oh dear...
He'd removed the back (on these it was a heavy black plastic moulding) and had a tentative go on the presets he had so closely watched me adjust on my last visit. Eventually giving up, he went to put the back cover in place (You're ahead of me now aren't you?) but before he could get a screw in place, it slipped down and 'psshshshshssss...'.
Yup, Mr B had necked his tube.
'Could you come up, Andy?' I told my boss and we struggled to control our mirth.
I brought the set in and found the price of a new 22" Trinitron CRT plus the labour costs would have come to not far short of a new set!
And so Mr B ordered a new 2212 and from that moment on he kept his Technicolor dreams to himself. Every time I saw him after that he was very shame-faced.
It was a pity really, he was a nice, mild-mannered bloke and I liked him a lot.