MMP- Out of control

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Good Morning! I sincerely hope everybody survived Christmas with the family. Or your variation thereof.

As I was preparing for the hordes to descend, cleaning the house was high on the priority list. I dusted. I vacuumed. I picked up crap and put it in its assigned place.

Part of said crap was the variety of remote control devices we own. We have one for the TV in the living room. We have one for the cable box in the living room, which controls almost all functions on afore mentioned TV. We have one for the DVD player. We have one for the VCR which we never use, since we have a DVD player and it is so much cooler. We have one for the sound system. (Which isn’t hooked up at the moment, but it will be again soon.) We have one for the ceiling fan/overhead light. (Yes I know there are such things as “universal remotes,” but I have yet to find one that actually works all of our toys.)

On to the bedroom. We have a remote for the TV. We have a remote for the cable box, which works almost all functions on afore mentioned TV. And we have a remote for the DVD/VCR in the bedroom. Which we rarely use.

Have we been keeping count? 9. We have 9 remotes. The six in the living room are supposed to live in one of those fat fake book boxes you get from Pier One. But they are usually scattered all around the room.

That’s not including “keyless entry” to our cars! We each have each other’s as well as our own. That makes four more!

Does anyone remember when children were the TV remotes? :smiley:

2

Morning, Dolores --nice MMP.

We had a nice remote, once. We lost it and life has never been the same. We have 3 remotes now for awhile–and we tend to lose those, as well. Oh, and two for the downstairs(basement) TV and DVD–never can find those, since that is also the “rumpus room” (we don’t call it that, but remember when the basement WAS called that? Good times…)
I am sitting here achey and tired–Christmas is exhausting when combined with work. Off today and back at it tomorrow–blech. Must face the Maul today for a pair of shoes for my daughter for her trip on Wednesday. Double blech.

I hope everyone here had a good holiday. Ours was fine, if hectic. I am still full, so will be doing the spa thing today (in diet only, sadly enough!). You know, chicken buillon for lunch with one lettuce leaf–that sort of thing.

I do want one more remote–I want an automatic car starter for winter…

3

I’ve never posted on these threads but I always read. Today I finally see something I can add to!

For several years I had a TV in my room but I lost the remote when I moved into this apartment. When I plugged it in, I couldn’t program the channels, so for years I had this giant number on the screen. After a few years it got to the point I didn’t even notice that number anymore! Never did find the remote but when my SO moved in he finally pitched the TV and got us a new one. I noticed the day he put it out on the curb someone snatched it up, so somewhere out there someone is watching a TV with a big number on the screen. Maybe they have grown used to it and don’t notice anymore either.

This was the best Christmas ever for me. Everyone was happy, nobody was really sick for a change…it was peaceful. Last year was a little bit different. I went into labor early on Christmas morning so things were just a teeny bit more hectic. :slight_smile:

Today is my baby girl’s first birthday! Isabella was born at twelve midnight a year ago! Poor kid, gonna have a life of looked-over, day-after-Christmas birthdays. But I was careful. No birthday gifts in Christmas wrap for her!

Have a lovely week everyone!

4

I have a tale of two, count 'em, two golden moments I had handed to me as Christmas presents, related to the 92 pounds I’ve lost since June. The first one involves some storytelling, so pull up a comfy chair and some popcorn.

When VunderWife and I moved to Virginia, it was because I took a job here (the one I’m leaving this week, BTW) to end a 6 month long layoff. Money was tight, and one of the first things to go was my YMCA membership in Indianapolis. Naturally, that time was when I got to be my fattest.

I joined the Y here in January '04, about 2 months after starting my new job and setting up house, and I started to swim again. One of the lifeguards was an older lady (well, older than me), and we got to be chat friendly. I swam quite a bit, then tapered off for a while.

In the meantime, I went looking for a church to call home after 20 years of slacking in the spiritual department. I found one that I liked after going through most of the Lutheran congregations in the phone book, and started going there. I also happened to befriend a lady who was undergoing chemotherapy, because I lost both parents and a handful of other relatives to cancer, and I wanted to let her know she had a friend.

Well, to try to get to the point of this tale, one Sunday in late spring of '04, I started to approach Linda (the chemo lady) to talk after the service, and I heard, “Bob, I haven’t seen you for a while.” I started talking to the stranger, and had a nice little conversation with her. It wasn’t until we parted ways that I realized that I was talking to my lifeguard buddy. It was A Moment, so I found Linda and told her all about it.

“That’s Debbie, the assistant pastor’s wife.” My jaw dangled. Since then, the joke is that I’m one of the few in the congregation that can honestly say they didn’t recognize the preacher’s wife with her clothes on.

So, we come to Christmas Eve. I sat down in a pew, and Debbie performed as part of a musical duet, then sat down beside me when she was done. I was a little perplexed because she wasn’t her usual bubbly self. Hmmm. When we got to the candlelight part of our service, we passed the lighting of the candles down the pew. It was then she realized who I was, her jaw dropped, and then I got the biggest stage wink of my life. One of my favorite parts of the service is the peace, where you shake the hand and greet everyone you can reach. When I turned to Debbie, I got a bear hug and she whispered, “I didn’t recognize you!” Kewl.

After the service, I told her that we were now even in the recognition department. I also had fun telling her son the story about not recognizing his mom in her clothes.

The other golden moment is a lot simpler. As I was going up to the rail to take communion, one of the ushers said “Hello, Skinny!” as I walked by…

5

Nicely done, Dolores. We’ve got three remotes downstairs in the living room (TV, cable, and DVD/VCR player), and two upstairs in the room where I am typing this (stereo/CD player and a smaller TV.) I have no idea what the girls have in their rooms re: remotes.

Welsome to the club, Rushgeekgirl. Someone will be along to tell you where to send the chocolate.

Had a very low-keyed Christmas here yesterday. I got a chainsaw. I’ll have to check with my probation officer to see if I’m allowed to keep it.

6

Thanks, Ellie. I’ve heard of rumpus rooms, but I’ve never even had a basement! The water table is too high in Houston, so we don’t have basements.

Welcome to the MMp, Rushgeekgirl! And Happy Birthday to Rushgeekbaby!

Bobbo - that must have made you feel fantastic! We’re all so proud of you!

7

Dolores, I do remember when kids were the TV remotes… that was me! :smiley: Good MMP.
We had dinner at the fire station yesterday. The fire fighters cooked for the wives. Well, I did make a peach cheesecake, but that was just me showing off. :smiley:
The rest of the weekend has been devoted to the new kitten.
The girls are pretty much hating the whole process, but very slowly coming around. They will at least stay in the same room with him. They both hissed at him this morning. That was the first time he’s shown the least bit of fear. He came to hide behind me. He’s so funny. He has two speeds: full throttle and asleep. His fearlessness actually makes me a little reluctant to let him have the run of the house. He weighs about a pound, and he’s jumped off my shoulder before I could stop him.

8

Excellent job, Dolores. Do your remotes glow ever so slightly when you turn out the lights? Just don’t let all 9 of them get together, they might plan a mutiny. I still use the VCR to tape my soaps, but we’ve managed to narrow it down to 2 remotes in the living room and 2 in the bedroom. However, I do have a remote control for the space heater (in winter) and the fan (in summer) in the big bedroom. At the risk of aging myself, we used to have to get up and change the channel on the TV. But then again, only 3 channels to choose from, as long as the antenna was working. I’m old as dirt :cool: but still very cool. 50 is the new 40, right? RIGHT!

9

Spatial Rift Family Remote Count:

Family Room - TV remote, Cable remote, DVD remote, VCR remote, and 5 Gamecube controllers (some of which are broken)

Parents’ Room - TV Remote, Cable Remote, DVD remote

Cars - Two sets of keys for the van, one set for the Camry, and one set for the Lexus.

Let’s see, that makes a solid sixteen controllers of various types. No, wait, seventeen. Because the TV in the hallway has a remote as well. I challenge anyone to beat my seventeen. And we usually know where they all are, too.

10

[QUOTE=beckwall I’m old as dirt :cool: but still very cool. 50 is the new 40, right? RIGHT![/QUOTE]

Don’t believe it. I bought into the ‘40 is the new 30’ bullshit, and wound up with a separated shoulder…

11

Gah-someone tell this woman that my nick is Rigby.

Oh, wait–I just did.

:slight_smile:

12

We have a total of four remotes in the great room; one for the DVD player, one for the cable box, one for the TV, and one for the stereo which is currently residing in the garage. The stereo in the garage is SUPPOSED to live in our bonus room, but the hubby listens to the stereo while working out, and his work out equipment is in the garage.

Christmas Day turned out very nicely. There was tons of food. I have the leftovers for from the roast so I can make prime rib soup. MMMM-MMMM- GOOD!

All of us raked in the Christmas loot, I couldn’t believe it. I ended up with new jammies, three new sweaters, a book, a gift card from Sears, a picture to hang on the wall, a garden gnome, chocolates, candles and candle holders, and I think that’s it. It’s a lot, anyway.

I DO NOT understand why people keep giving me gnomes. I just don’t get it. But, I smiled, said thank you and will put him the garden to keep the others company.

I slept very late today. I need to make some “go juice”. I’m gonna have a slice of carrot cake with my coffee too. Yes, I should be watching what I’m eating, but screw it. I’m gonna be a slug today.

13

It’s because you have more than one gnome. Seriously, they think–well, she’s got 3, she must like them, so here’s a cute one for the others–now they can play canasta!

The solution is to make your gnomes gruesome–or behead them in a strange ceremony and take pics of it.
You’ll get no more gnomes, I promise you.

Look on the bright side: you could be getting those lil Dutch kids kissing… :eek:

14

Today I’m at work counting my remotes, er, remotely. There are 3 in the living room (2 separate stereo systems, 1 fan), and 4 in the loft (1 for the TV/DVD, 1 for the cable box, 1 for the loft stereo, and 1 for the VCR that I don’t use.

Christmas was nice and peaceful. And next week I’ll have New Years’ day off!

15

We’ve lost one of our remotes, and can’t find it. This is rather annoying.

I got a Dell DJ, some knitting stuff, a coffeemaker for my dorm room, and some jewelry.

The dog got a chicken stuffed animal. It has a hole in the bottom that she can lay “eggs” from. These eggs squeak. She also came with two extra. However, this is not the sort of toy you should open in front of a 15-year-old boy. He seems fascinated by the “anal hole” as he calls it.

The puppy was also supposed to get a coat that I was making for her, but I ran out of black velcro on the 24th after the stores closed.

16

Hah! Amateurs! Three in the loft, four in the bedroom and six in the LR for the various stereo components (I don’t use any of them, but still…).

17

Sorry, Rigby. If I’m old enough to remember kids-as-remotes, can I be allowed a senior moment every now and then? :wink:

We had a nice Christmas. Tom and I didn’t exchange much - we decided to shop the sales after Christmas instead. But I did get the Lord of the Rings DVD’s. Yay!

The fun part was watching the 14 yr old grand-niece and -nephew open their stuff. We tucked $50 bills into 4-piece Whitman samplers. Hee! Gave one to my 21-yr old too. They were suitably impressed!

The spread was devoured by all with much gusto. Boy, was I pooped afterward. It was wonderful, though.

18

They still make Whitman Samplers?
Boy, that takes me back…

Dolores -I, myself, was thinking of starting on Aricept now–why wait for more symptoms of Alzeimer’s to appear? That’s my thinking.

I feel a cold coming on-I may spend the rest of the day in bed–sleeping.
Lego castles are now modular. When I made one several Christmas’s ago with my older son-that sucker was made from Legos all the way from foundation to spire.

Now it comes with a pre-formed base and you build units to fit into the molds.

It does add flexiblity to play time, but I feel that some of the frustration and sheer geekiness is now gone from Legos.
Tis a sad time we live in, folks.

19

Welcome to the MMP Rushgeekgirl, Chefguy and monica! Glad to have y’all with us! Send chocolate to FCM and beer and cookies (or as bobbio says <snerk> cockies <snerk>) to me. Feel free to jump on in and go on and on about anything at all. That’s what it’s all about in here. Though sometimes we do the hokey pokey.

Good job on the MMP DR. Let’s see… swampcave remote count… four in the living room (tv, cable box, dvd thingy and vcr), two in the master bedroom (tv and vcr/dvd thingy), one in the kitchen (tv), one in the guest bedroom (tv), three in the study (tv, vcr/dvd thingy and stereo), plus remote thingys for the 'Stang and Blazer. Twuck has no remote thingy cause it’s just basic twuck. Like becks said, I remember when we had all of three stations to choose from (four if the antenna was turned just right and the weather was clear!) and used to walk all the way across the room to change the channel! Imagine!

I got a Little Big Town cd (good country music group!), a gift card from Wally*World, an angel food cake pan (this I did not understand), a bunch of socks (I wanted those), three new shirts (WHEE! new shirts!), an insulated wine bag (for carrying chilled wine and champagne places. it’s jake!) with my initials on it plus two wine glasses, and a bunch of blank cds (which I also wanted). So, pretty good haul.

Bobbio great stories. Ain’t it fun not to get recognized because of something good?

I don’t have to work tomorrow. WOOHOO! Course I’ll probably do stuff like laundry and ironing but still, no work. I’m also gonna clean out my sock drawer cause I have new socks and need to get rid of some of the grungier ones now, I guess. Woohoo! Sock sorting! Envy me!

20

And it was a drum changer and a person could strain a wrist by trying for a five channel change with just one turn.

The Ms. and I went shopping on Saturday and before we knew it had purchased socks, underwear and lightbulbs. High times, indeed. We put them under the tree. How pathetic are we?