Technology is a wonderful thing – when it works

Mom's pesky TV remote looks like the control panel of an ICBM silo. Image courtesy of Del Stone Jr.

Yesterday Mom experienced her first crisis with the new TV. It took me only two hours and three phone calls to get it fixed.

Seems one of the batteries in the remote started leaking, creating that white, powdery film we are all familiar with. It was blocking the current. I got rid of those batteries, cleaned all the corrosion from the posts and put in new batteries. Remote worked just fine after that.

But every time I tried to key in an HD channel I got nothing but question marks on the screen. Called my brother-in-law, George, who told me about doing a power cycle on the box. I did that but the problem persisted, so he suggested I contact Cox technical assistance.

Unbelievably I got a tech on the phone right away, who had me do another power cycle. She asked me what the box was telling me about resolution and I read her the number, 480i. So she had me go into the settings and remove 480i as an option, leaving only 720 and 1080. I did that but still couldn’t get an HD channel. That’s when she told me the HD channels had been relocated to the 1000s. Soon as I keyed in 1003 I got a nice, sharp picture.

Sheesh. Wish I’d known they’d relocated them!

Then, I couldn’t get the monitor to shut off. When Mom got back from her walk she showed me how you have to hold down on the power button to get the monitor off. Egads, this was too, too complicated.

Today I mowed her front yard. I was a little concerned because me knee has still been bugging me. But I got the job done with virtually no pain. I think this knee is getting better, albeit slowly.

I also fixed part of her back fence, which had been knocked down, presumably by a falling branch.

Then I filled my tank (in case Irene heads our way) and took a badly needed shower.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .