Remote Controls or Controlled By Remotes?
Have you noticed how hard it is to watch TV in someone else’s house?
I was here in my friends’ home last night, alone, and wanted to see the end of the Red Sox/Yankees (delayed) game. There were two full pages of typed notes about how to watch television. There is a gray remote; there is a white remote; and there is another remote you shouldn’t ever have to use unless you messed up with the first two remotes.
When my parents have come down to stay with Chris while Diane and I have been gone, I’m always sure to leave instructions on how to watch the good television. (That’s assuming they’re home without Chris. Like most families, if I have any problem with some electronic item while our teenager is home, I just let him take care of it. Old dog. New tricks. I’ve actually been stuck before and had to “call” him at a friend’s house to figure out how to get a channel on. And by “call” I mean text message, of course. The new way to “call” a teen.)
There is a television remote; there’s a DVR/cable remote; and there is a DVD remote. It’s easy to do . . . if you know how to do it.
In an emergency at our house there is the tiny, old television in our bedroom. Here’s how it works: you turn it on and you move the channels up and down. That’s it. One remote. In a pinch, it’s been known to do just fine.
- – - -
Conversation last night:
“Hello, Alamo? Yes, I think I may have left my sport coat at the Alamo counter.”
“What color is it?”
“Well, I don’t do colors very well. But it’s light colored.”
“White?”
“That would be too light.”
“Brown or beige?”
“Again, I don’t do colors well, but that would be too dark. Maybe cream colored.”
“What kind is it?”
“I have no idea. But I can tell you what’s in the pocket.”
“Go ahead.”
“In the inside pocket there are three pens — two black and one red.”
“Is there anything else in the pockets?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Maybe some almonds?”
“Oh yes, of course. Some almonds from my American Eagle flight this morning.”
“Yes, we have it.”
I seriously need voice-activated remotes.
I seriously need clap-activated beeping remotes to find them!
by far one of your best post
That phone conversation with Alamo is pure greatness!
That was beautiful! I enjoy the gems you share!
I am, in fact, thinking still about the jeans quote. That one got to me. I think that anyone would not speak poorly of a good pair of jeans if they ever tried to wear a dress in SW Oklahoma or W Texas!!!
Blessings!
My name is Jeff, and I am a remoteaphile.
The good news is that I have been without any kind of cable or satellite television for 77 days now.
I am all caught up on my reading list and I know the radio personalities on Vermont Public Radio intimately.
Regular movement has returned to my thumbs. The soreness is gone.
I occasionally pick up the remote for the radio and pine for the former days…
I totally relate to the remote (yet too close to home) issues. On my smart days, I start trying to watch TV 5-10 minutes prior to the show time because it can take me that long to finally get everything on. Other times, I give up and just watch the old TV–one click and it’s on. (FYI: We have 4 remotes–you’re slipping, Mike.)
Moral: HD is costly in more ways than cash.
Same for me: two black pens, one red. One black is Uni-ball Vision Elite, the other ReVu ballpoint.
Cheers for pen nerds all around!
I find it interesting that one day you guys are comparing all your too-cool-for-school apps, the next day you’re crying Uncle when confronted with 4 remotes. I label both the same – too much techno stuff.
You can’t have it both ways – sorry.
What are you carrying three pens for? Isn’t that kind of overkill?
Richard – Have I never told you about my OC when it comes to pens? I had only three pens in my inside pocket because there are another half dozen in my backpack.
Kent – I see the contradiction, but iPhone stuff is so user friendly that you don’t have to TM a teenager to make it work.
Kent, A/V stuff isn’t pure techy stuff. I’m a whiz with 3 computer OSs and can built hardware to accommodate them and I can’t survive without my BlackBerry, but I often just scratch my head at the TV stuff. My brother is a gamer and he handles all of that. I don’t watch much TV, though, so I guess if my interests were more there, perhaps I’d be a little more knowledgeable. I’m more likely to put a DVD in my laptop or watch my show online than I am to turn on my television. I think the one in my bedroom hasn’t been on in at least 2 months….
All that’s to say that they’re different ducks. ^_^
Hilarious.
Too funny!!! lol
The hoarders of the remote no longer know how they function. Be sure to keep a 7-year old nearby, they’ll untangle the mess for you, or….ask any woman in the vicinity. LOL
This is hilarious!! We just moved out to the “country” and require DishNetwork TV since cable is not available. It’s been challenging to learn how to operate the system in dual mode with the DVR. But I’m grateful to have it! No iPhone for me – it’s just more than I need – but I think I can justify a Blackberry.
To underscore Q’s point, tonight I had a buddy needing a DVD in 30 minutes for a presentation at the Pepperdine men’s dinner. I downloaded it from YouTube, pulled it into iDVD, burned it, and got it to him with a few minutes to spare.
But I still am at remedial level with remotes.
How did you download it from youtube? I always have trouble doing that.
Surely there is an iPhone app for a TV remote.
When we travel to see our kids, we often get to be left at home with tiny children (what a pity!) and with unfamiliar remote devices. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to figure out how to get to the Today show or even more dire, to try and get a DVD for small children to start playing! Picture wailing and gnashing of teeth from all participants!
PS Are you really colorblind?
Not colorblind. Just color nonobservant.
Two words: Harmony Remote. You just click on whatever activity you want to do, such as “watch tv”, and all the components that need to come on to make that happen work. We only have it on one tv, and I don’t know how to make the other tv upstairs work. I have to ask my kids.
We want to hear about your pen thing. Sounds fascinating.
Good thing the airline didn’t serve sub sandwiches on your flight!
Hey, if you want to help a fellow Christian and CofC minister win a unique contest being conducted by the OKC Thunder (new NBA team), go to http://www.nba.com/thunder/news/lottery_challenge.html and vote on the best slogan. They asked for “7 lucky words” to describe a trip to New York City for the draft lottery, and on a whim, I came up with “Gonna wear my Thunderwear in Times Square.” (punny, huh?). Well, out of over 2,000 entries, it made the top three! So now it’s up to an online vote which ends at 2:00pm CST on Thursday. So, take 15 seconds and vote, and ask others to do the same. Sorry for the shameless plug on Cope’s blog, but I’m down by 3% right now and need more votes! Thanks!
BTW, I’m not able to be at Pepperdine this year, and I am missing it!
I was actually surprised you didn’t leave the beige/tan/white/cream jacket in the Admiral’s Club Monday morning. In your attempt to “pack lightly,” you were forced to wear (i.e. carry around and leave places!!!!) your sportcoat. You and Grant really are so similar… neither one of you have probably misplaced your beloved phone, but somehow you can’t remember to pick up the drycleaning from 1997!!!!!!!! Hee, hee, hee!
By the way…. my inbox did not have the email I was thinking would be there when we got back from Eddie’s last night …. remember???
Randy,
I posted the link on a discussion board I frequent that always has quite a few visitors. Last I checked, you were up a few percent with about an hour left.
When our oldest son left for college in 2003 he left us a precious parting gift in the form of a self published book which he called Guide to Happy TV Using, First Edition. The guide cover had a picture of him with a big smile giving us thumbs up. The next page had a picture of the remote with buttons circled that he warned us not to confuse. The third page was “Things you might want to do with the TV” which covered important topics such as if you want to watch a DVD, If you want to hear the TV through stereo speakers, etc. We referred to it often and enjoyed the humor and photos he included.