The Real Crisis Today

Ok, I think it's time to address the big issue we're all facing today.

Television remotes.

Ten years ago, I had one television clicker. When I hit the power button, the TV turned on right away. If I wanted to change the channel, I hit the channel up or down button. If I wanted to change the volume, I hit the volume up or down button.

Now, there are 4 remotes by my bed side. I pick up the Vizio remote to turn the TV on. It takes agood 45 seconds for the TV to turn on, so if you walk in your house at 8:59:15 on a Sunday night just in time (or so you think) for the Celebrity Apprentice, you are screwed. You will miss the very beginning. Then, if the TV is on the wrong channel, forget it. You can't just hit the channel button on that remote. You have to dig for the Comcast remote to change the channel. And when you change the channel, if it's too loud, you then have to find the Universal remote you purchased in Walmart to change the volume. If I lose the Vizio remote, I can't turn the TV on or off. Then I live by the sleep timer on the universal remote...if the TV was on when I lost the Vizio remote. This new TV doesn't have buttons on it so if I lose any remotes, I'm dead. And this is my crisis right now. My channel has been stuck on NBC for 2 weeks. NBC of all channels, (no offense to NBC, but you're failing) and I can't change it. So last night, while I was watching the Celebrity Apprentice finale, I wanted to flip channels on commercials to the Billboard Music Awards. So to "flip channels" I had to run into my sisters' room. I certainly got my exercise for a week.
Then, downstairs on the nice big TV we have one of the HD boxes. I have everything programed on one remote, but when you hit the "All On" button, the TV might come on, but the box and the sound bar will not. Or...the box will come on, but the TV will not. Then it's all out of sync until you hit the button 100 times and they all finally turn on at once. Then, at night when you turn the TV/Box/Sound bar "off," you come down in the morning only to notice the TV was all night, but you would never know because the box and the sound bar turned off so it's just a black screen. See, I though technology was supposed to make things easier. Why has it made my TV viewing experience terribly complicated?





I joke about my "real" crisis, but I realize I am terribly lucky today. Prayers to Oklahoma and everyone in the path of those storms.