Mechanical things…
WHINY WEDNESDAY
I’d like to lodge a few complaints today on the topic of electronics. Nothing in my life, thus far, has made me feel more inept than the challenge of remote controls, and TV game/ equipment set ups. See, I can’t even articulate what it is I’m trying to say because the topic renders me stupid. My brain is not unlike the tangle of cords hiding behind all the ‘Best Buy’ stuff. I think it goes without saying, that I would make a great Amish person.
I actually avoid watching TV in our comfortable family room because there are 3 controls and 3 mystery boxes under the TV, in a cabinet. It’s like Pandora’s Box under there. (No, not Lisa Vanderpump’s daughter, Pandora. Now that’s a box I wouldn’t mind opening, as it likely contains Beverly Hills treasures and precious gems.) I would prefer 1 control and 1 box. If everyone’s so smart, why hasn’t anyone come up with that simple concept? Hmm?
My kids laugh at me because I still refer to any thing that records as a “tape player” and of course the thing that gets recorded on is a “tape.” I’m fast and loose with the word “tape” even though I can clearly see that the world is now using “discs.” My brain refuses to accept this.
Just as an aside… My best friend from high school changed her name from Lori to Mallory in our senior year. Everyone made the transition easily, that is, everyone except me. Thirty years later and I’m still calling her Lori. She hates me.
I believe we’ll have bar codes inserted into our body before I can comfortably start talking about discs.
If that’s not enough there are games and additional boxes that can be added on to your “system.” I would seriously LOVE to work out using wii fit and Zumba in the privacy of my own home. But, I can’t. I’m scared. What if I press the wrong button and I break something?
Who needs wii-fit anyway? By the time it would take me to figure it all out, I could become an Olympic athlete. I envision myself throwing the shot put, but instead of the heavy metal ball, I would throw the wii-fit box, cords and all.
Words that mean nothing to me: Nintendo, X-box, DVD, DVR, Blue Ray, HD, universal remote, etc.
I am the same as you, with the bottom line, words that mean nothing.
It takes kids a few hours to learn how to use them, but i’m lost.
To me, it’s all Greek! In fact, I might have an easier time of it if I was actually learning Greek! haha!
Don’t even pretend you don’t know what dvd means!
And you can’t do Zumba or wii fit because I have them at my place! Games are sometimes hard to set up, but they usually all work the same. It’s easier than it sounds. If I can do it, then you definitely can. You just don’t want to!
I barely know what a DVD is, just barely. haha! I had the wii fit at home the whole time you were in school and I never touched it!
You know I’m a mess with all this. It intimidates me. The three controllers just exhaust me. It feels like I have to do so much work to just turn on the TV.
Thats true. I will admit that the tv down stairs is confusing. Your set up is much better!
Hah lucky for me I’m still young enough to be a whizz at anything that’s thrown at me, especially considering the people I know and the places I’ve worked 🙂 If you ever get stuck you know where to come!
I think it’s a slight generational thing. When all this technology was coming out my age group wasn’t paying strict attention. I rely on guys like you and Michael Cargill to see me through. It makes me feel powerless.
Thanks for the invite! I might just show up on your door step and give you a heart attack. haha!
I work in IT support so this confusion that surrounds technology is not new to me. It used to infuriate me but I sort of understand it now.
Using the remote controls as an example I think it’s down to how people try to use it. I could take pretty much any remote and would look for a button labelled ‘menu’ or has a symbol that looks like a menu. Then I would scroll through the menu options on the screen looking for something that would be for the video settings, or input settings, etc.
People who struggle, like yourself, tend to try to remember it as a series of steps. Like ‘press 3rd button on right for menu. Up twice for audio, right once, down twice’. It’s no wonder you get confused!
You would look great in a bonnet though.
Thanks for the wise words. I’ll refer back to this next time I want to throw my remote control out the window.
It’s just confusing and it doesn’t take much for me to feel out of my depth.
Thanks for the bonnet comment. At least I know the Amish people would embrace me.
Ha ha! I also call everything a “tape” and any kind of player a VCR! I wonder if Pandora’s middle name is Box? Should be if it isn’t. And I can’t stop thinking about how Lori changed her name to Mallory. I’m sorry but I’m afraid I’m always going to think of her as Lori too. Mallory?? Lori is so much better!
I like what you say and the way you say it — nice layout too. 🙂
Hey Linda!
Thanks. I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets confused with all this technology.
I wasn’t going to put the bit about Pandora but then I figured what the heck. Sometimes I just write stuff that makes me laugh and if somebody else gets my humor then that’s great.
I just told my daughter about your Bill Murray encounter. The part that made me laugh was when you referenced Lucy at the Brown Derby! haha!
Thanks for coming by!
I suck with technology too. At least you’re not so far out there that you call actors by their character names and don’t know the difference. That’s a real sign that you’re an old fart.
Has anyone really gotten in shape on Wii fit?
No, I don’t do that but I have given my drive-thru order to the trash can a couple of times. I’m not kidding.
Lily works out with Wii fit, among other things. She inspires me.
I have a wii fit and used it for about 3 months playing the games and such, but mostly yoga. Then I got pregnant and it kept telling me I needed to lose weight. There’s no setting for knocked up! I haven’t used it in 2 years.
And I can’t hook up an entertainment center to save my life. My parents are just as clueless as me, and ask me to help them because now it’s all fuzzy or something, so they wait it out for our next visit and my husband hooks it back up. We’d be staring at static forever if he didn’t take pit on us.
Yeh, I don’t want to be sexist here but I have to say that most males seem to be born with an entertainment center set up chip in their brain. I don’t know a single female who can do this? We just stand in the background with our hands on our hips, overseeing the whole operation! Haha!
I think I got into IT because long ago, I had to set up the vcr for my parents so the clock would stop flashing 12:00.
Ever since, it’s been easy. And since tech is how I make a living, that;s a good thing…
Oh my gosh, that would be a nightmare job for me. Well, at least I know who to call if I need some help. Since you don’t mind driving 3 hours for a sandwich you probably won’t mind driving to Chicago to set me up, right? : )
well, first we should see if we can set up a web chat. It’s easy!