聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 We just bought a new television after finally getting rid of the monstrosity that has dominated one entire corner of our living room for the past two decades (The thing just wouldn鈥檛 quit). Now we have an awesome, flat-screen, 60-inch device that takes up far less space, promises all kinds of up-to-date features, and doesn鈥檛 look like we鈥檙e still living in the late 1990s.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I am tickled pink that I can now rearrange the furniture in a much more pleasing and functional manner which also allows for a better flow of traffic. (Okay, there are only two of us, but somehow we still manage to get in each other鈥檚 way.)
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As much as I love the look and feel of our new TV, there is one drawback and it鈥檚 a biggie. We now have a new remote control which brings many new challenges for someone like me. I just got the hang of the old one and now I鈥檓 starting from scratch. Last night I spent the better part of the evening setting up the new system. I thought I was going great guns until I hit a snag and was stymied. After several minutes of repeating the process and not getting anywhere (What was that someone said about doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results? That was me.), I gave up!
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 When Ken came into the house later in the evening, he re-hooked the little TV that we had been using in order to watch the rest of the hockey game, squinting his eyes as he tried to pick up the puck. At one point, I suggested he might want to use binoculars.
So there sat our big, beautiful new TV and there we sat watching the piddly, little one we had brought down from the bedroom.
I don鈥檛 know about the rest of you, but am I the only person these days to still have trouble figuring out how to use a remote control?
When my grandchildren come for sleepovers, they often like to watch a movie鈥攖hat is if grandma can figure out how to get things working. When I finally manage to get the movie running, they stand up and cheer for my accomplishment. Even they know how remotely-challenged I am!
Now just to clarify, I work on a computer on a daily basis and face the occasional hiccup. But I have learned how to navigate through most of those issues. So, I鈥檓 not some dinosaur who is against all forms of technology. But remote controls seem to be my nemesis. Surely modern technology could produce a much less complicated means of running a television. Why must I need three remote controls sitting on my end table to run one unit?
So tonight I will once again attempt to get our new TV operational. I hope I can make it work, because the one thing worse that not knowing how to run your TV is having to ask your younger friends to show you how. It鈥檚 tough enough growing older without getting patronizing remarks from some younger folks.
Isn鈥檛 technology supposed to make our lives easier, not drive us to distraction?
