Upgrade

Once upon a time, in a land far away...actually it's only a half hour drive from here...my grandmother asked me to help her record a program. I tried to show her how to do it herself, but she didn't seem interested in learning. At the time, I didn't get it. What was so hard about programing a VCR?

Fast forward to the dawn of the DVD age. Our first VCR/DVD player combo was pretty simple to program, but it eventually had to be replaced. That's when we decided to upgrade to VCR/DVD-R (because recording on DVD's would save so much space!) Oh boy. That machine drove me nuts. The instruction novelette that came with it was written in English but could have been Greek because I just couldn't quite GET IT. There were way too many steps required to set up a simple recording. After several tries, I did what most normal people do once they get to the stage that they realize technology has passed them by...I gave up. If I missed an episode of Heroes or NCIS, I would simply watch it online instead. The problem was that I couldn't do that with American Idol and since softball games directly interfered with getting my David Cook fix, I found myself resorting to the unimaginable. Yes, it's true...I begged my teenager to help me.

Earlier this year, when we replaced our 20 year old set with a new TV for hubby, we also traded in our old cable box for a new fancy, smancy DVR cable box. Everyone told me that I would love having a DVR, but to be honest, I was afraid to even try figuring it out. I didn't need to face the humiliation again. Accepting that I technologically challenged had been a big step for me. I was comfortable with my status. Why risk further shame?

Then it happened. I don't know how to describe it other than to say that a reckless feeling overcame me, prompting me to give it a shot. The kids were in school, which meant that hubby would be the only one to witness my attempt - and he would never dare laugh at ME. Well, not much anyway. He was lying on the bed with The Mistress (aka his iPhone) when I softly commented that it would really be nice to record Angel since I'm usually busy getting the kids ready for school when it's playing. I think there must have been something in my tone because he actually looked up from his game playing and took me seriously. After a whooping 30 seconds of direction, I did it!!! I set the DVR to record Angel. OMG that was so easy!!! I even found out how to go back and actually watch the recording! I am WOMAN!

That jubilant feeling emboldened me. I put the remote on the nightstand, looked over at hubby (who had returned to his game) and offered something I knew he'd been waiting for.
"I'm ready."
He almost dropped the phone in surprise. Almost. Tentatively he asked "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now - before I change my mind."
He reached over, gently took my hand and led me....
.
.
.
to the van. I should have been a little more nervous than I actually was as we drove to the AT&T store to get his new 4G phone and transfer the 3G one to me. After all, I had mocked The Mistress for so long that part of me secretly worried she would rebel once she was mine.
The transaction was almost painless. Except for the paying part, but even that was less than I was expecting. My first phone call came in even before we left the store. Thankfully hubby was right there to show me how to answer. Whew.

Once home, he took both phones and handled all of the transferring for me. Then he went to work. Now it's just me and the phone. Obviously I can't call her The Mistress anymore (that title was transferred over to hubby's new phone.) I'm not sure what I'll name her. First I think I'd better figure out how to actually use her. So far, I know how to answer it when it rings.

This may take a while.