Remote Control

I bought several workout DVDs so I'd have something to do on days when it was raining and I couldn't go for a walk. It was my inability to get the DVD player to work that prompted us to get a new "smart" TV. And I know it works because we've watched a DVD or two on it.

So yesterday when I popped Jillian Michaels into the DVD player and watched all the promotional stuff so I could get to the main menu, I was very disappointed that I couldn't actually get to the "workouts" from the menu. I clicked the source button. I clicked the up and down arrows. I clicked the forward and back arrows. Nothing. I took the DVD out and put it in again. I watched the promotional stuff again. I clicked all kinds of buttons, which is scary because that's how the last TV got buggered. I tried the controls on the front of the DVD player. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to get the selector to move from "Recommendations" to "Workouts". No luck. It was obvious that this DVD was just defective and I would have to send it back. Rats! Sending things back is always a bit of trouble, so I figured I would just have to go through all of the DVDs I bought to make sure I didn't need to return any others. But for the time being, I just wanted to get my workout in before the markets opened. I set Jillian aside and opened up Denise Austin. I put Denise in the DVD player and was just about to get in position to work out when I noticed a remote control on the chair. Hmmmm.

I had discovered the source of my problems with Jillian. I wasn't using the right remote. I was using the TV remote instead of the DVD remote. Duh!!! Nothing wrong with Jillian at all. Back into the machine. Worked perfectly.

Hopefully, I'll learn from this mistake. But there is a remote for the satellite dish, a remote for the TV, a remote for the DVD player, a remote for my computer monitor and a remote that belongs to something else that we may no longer have. In a drawer there are two remotes for the Wii. I'm not a morning person and it would seem that I'm easily confused. But it made me think about how many things are controlled by wireless remotes these days. In addition to the remotes associated with the TV, we have remotes for the garage door, remote locking devices for the Jeep and the PT Cruiser, and a remote control for the Sleep Number bed. One of the ceiling fans has a remote control. I'm sure I've missed some. And be truthful, how many of you have ever pointed the key fob for your car at your door with the expectation that the door would unlock?

Remember the days when you had to get up to change the channel? (No channel surfing in those days!) You had to get out of the car and open the garage door to get the car in. (In torrential rain, snow, wind, all types of weather.) If you couldn't remember whether you'd locked your car doors, you had to walk all the way back to where you were parked and physically try the door and manually lock it if you'd forgotten. Those remote controls are great little devices. Now, if only my husband had come with one....