Tenacious Tivo Trial

We have just had what will become known, in perpetuity,as the "Tenacious Tivo Trial" Incident. I write about it here because it is a monumental testimony to my wife's "Fight On!" Spirit of never giving up. She is a "Bull Dog" in this way. It is also proof of her record-keeping and filing system of every technical manual we have ever had to buy. She's a person who has had to "read manuals" and figure things out on her own throughout our married life just because we couldn't usually afford to call a service man or buy a new one. It is also because I was often "not home" to help her through these trials with my working second jobs etc. She was also a "Compliance Administrator" for her HMO to the DOC. She had to figure out all the tedious rules of legal compliance to keep the Intervalley Health Plan up and running. When she left that job for sales, Acct. Exec., they had to hire three people to do what she had been doing technically.

Here's how this particular "Tivo Trial" happened this morning. I usually get up early, swim and have my cup of coffee with the newspapers. I'm a bit clumsy, especially in the morning, after my hot jacuzzi with my arthritic fingers. I have a few broken coffee cups etc. to prove that. Anyway, I pressed two tivo buttons at the same time again and "froze up" the unit. Last time I did that, I called Tivo and they told me to unplug the unit and count to 20 and the reboot it. So as I was trying to do that, I must've knocked loose the "S-video" input line. Suddenly the screen went blank. Panic! We can't live without our Tivos. This living room one had last night's UCLA game in "March Madness" on it. So, not knowing exactly which cord came loose from which socket, and having to fish around, by feel in the back of the machine which is on top of the TV in a cubby hole, I just couldn't make my big hands do what was required.

Betty, my wife, was still sleeping. I didn't want to wake her up...oh no...been there, done that...not a wise thing to do. When she eventually arose, and was coffeed etc. she got out her file of Tivo manuals. She reads. Then her small hands get to work and after, several trial and error attempts and even a call to our "technologically talented" son. She figured it out and got it working again all by herself. She had gotten a magifying mirror from the bathroom that she uses daily, held the mini-flashlight, and figured out the schematic in reverse. She said she doesn't even know what an "S-Video" cable does, but she does know that the book says not to plug in the "yellow one" when the "red and white" one are already engaged.

I had stepped out of the room, a pit-stop needed. When I came back she had it running again and without "rebooting" She then proceeded to write down what she had done so when it happen again, she'll be ready. She filed it all away somewhere in her vast, but very organized files.

You can see why this is just another reason I can't live without her. She has this indomitable stubborness and tenacity and won't let anything deter her...not even multiple melanomas. I love her so. Bob!