Back to base, Geek Squad

Amazingly, the old gray-head stroke-survivor has done it again.
The combination DVR/VCR and television we bought yesterday (Saturday, March 6, 2010) at BestBuy in Henrietta seem to be running as intended.
And that’s despite nonuse of the dreaded manual, essentially.
As a stroke-survivor, my ability to comprehend arcane manuals is compromised. I can’t concentrate on written material.
I can look at them later; “Yeah, I remember coming across that.”
But it’s the old waazoo; try this and see what happens.
The reason we had to replace everything was no video to our TV.
I pull the plug on the TV when we take long trips.
And when my wife plugged it back in a couple weeks ago, zap and smoke.
At first we thought it was our TV, an aged CRT screen. But no video output from our combination DVR/VCR.
So we invested in a new DVR/VCR and television: $421.18.
I didn’t want our old TV blowing the video out of a brand-new DVR/VCR.
I connected everything just like our old system; cable to cable-ready DVR/VCR, and RCA connectors to the TV.
Both have to be on to get TV. When it’s not playing something our DVR/VCR broadcasts television live.
So I turned everything on.
Nothing!
“This ain’t rocket-science,” I kept telling myself.
But it looked like I was going to have to bring in BestBuy’s vaunted Geek Squad.
I had the television set to “TV” mode; I guess what it would be set at if my cable were connected directly to it.
Seemed there were 4-7 reception modes, two of which were AV-1 and AV-2.
“What’s ‘AV?’” my wife asked. “I suppose that’s AudioVisual, but it doesn’t say.”
The television did a channel-scan, but of course found nothing. My cable wasn’t connected to the TV.
Hours of frustration ensued.
I noticed a “Home” button on the DVR/VCR remote, and something about “Home” in the manual.
Hmmmmm; maybe I can get a menu via that “Home” thingy.
I also stumbled across a TV menu; the first item was “select input.”
It was set to “TV;” maybe it should be set to “AV-1.”
The old waazoo of a stroke-survivor; try it and see.
VIOLA! The TV is displaying video behind a DVR/VCR menu; the TLC channel. Something about mental wellness — drone.
I try playing a VCR tape, and it displays on the TV.
Hit “Home,” and I can set the clock and timer-record.
Pay-dirt; back to base, Geek Squad.
We seem to be stuck at TLC, but I notice a channel-select after hitting “Home,” so select Channel 13.
“How do we know what channel we’re getting?” my wife asked. No Channel 13 icon in the bottom-right corner.
I scroll around to Channel 11.
“That’s WXXI, no doubt,” my wife says. “They’re begging for money.”
“Yep,” I think to myself; “WXXI is Channel 11.”
Back to Channel 13 — something about protecting teenagers from sexual predators on the Internet. Still no icon.
To bed; now we’ll see if it records the news.
I don’t like the way the new TV is aimed; it’s aimed at our chests.
It’s not adjustable. Perhaps I could prop up the front of the base-plate.
A use for one of my “Dummy” books.

• I had a stroke October 26, 1993.
• “Henrietta” is a suburb south of Rochester.
• My wife of 42+ years is “Linda.”
• “CRT” equals cathode-ray-tube, what most televisions used to be. Now they are “flat-screen.”
• “DVR” is DVD recorder. “RCA” is Radio Corporation of America.
• BestBuy’s “Geek Squad” is their crew of technology wizards, that go to homes to set up HDTV, etc.
• “Channel 13” is the local ABC-TV affiliate, WHAM. “WXXI” is the publicly funded channel, Channel 21 on the air.
• E.g. “Macintosh for Dummies,” “Retirement for Dummies,” etc.