Another Phase

Haven't seen an ant in several days, so it seems that Fate is sending me another irritating phase of life where things electrical go kerflooey.  Hot as a baked potato and dripping wet from the hose after coming up from the barn, I was ready to have a sit down and try to cool off.  I picked up the remote, pushed a button, and...nothing.  On, off, channel guide...nothing worked.  Usually when this happens it means the batteries are dead, but I'd replaced them recently, twice in fact.  Good grief, this thing is eating batteries like they were jellybeans.  Okay, new batteries installed, I started pushing buttons.  Nothing.  I keep a good supply of all sizes of batteries and thought perhaps the new batteries from the drawer might have been old, so replaced the "new" batteries with even newer ones and got the same response.  Nada, zilch, zippo.  I hit the reset button on the receiver and got a message on the screen that there was complete loss of signal.  Aarrgh.  Unplugging the power cord didn't help.  It was time to call 911-tech support.  The nice lady determined that the remote was deader than a door nail and they would send me a new one.  "And what do I do in the meantime?"  She walked me through the steps of which buttons to push on the receiver, actually got a picture back on the screen, and wished me a good day.  Uh huh.  So for a week or however long it would take for the new remote to get here, I'd need to get up every time I wanted to change the channel, turn down the sound, etc., and there was no way to get to any prerecorded programs or DVR anything new.  Ratchafratch.  I have two satellite receivers, each with two televisions and two remotes, #1 and #2 (I did mention that Steve went overboard on telephones and televisions).  I knew a #2 would not work on a primary receiver, but wondered if the #1 in my bedroom would work on the living room TV.  It was worth a try.  Ta da!  I'm back in business until the new remote arrives.  Now all I have to do is remember to take the thing with me from room to room.

Drat.  I couldn't get a photo that would show the really unusual moon last evening.  It was full and glowing red, what I think is called a blood moon.  The picture of sunset isn't particularly spectacular, but the deepest red in the picture is the same color as the moon.




This morning it is the computer that's gone wonky.  It's running as slow on satellite as it used to on dial-up.  Just another phase.

I've learned never to ask, "What next."