Today needs to be filed under Leave Well Enough Alone…

Since the weather gods were predicting anywhere from 5″-8″ of snow overnight, we thought it prudent to switch our 9am gym training to Tuesday. You really never know with the weather forecasts around here – and shoveling a half-foot of snow before working out just didn’t seem like fun. Better to change the day and shovel at our convenience.

We woke up to reasonably cleared streets and just a few inches in the drive – nowhere near the catastrophe predicted. I went out to shovel the drive. I could have just driven over it but Victor’s mom’s aide was due at 8am – I did it so she could navigate a bit easier.

Having a free morning meant I could go shopping today instead of tomorrow. And, since I wanted to pick up some pods for our wifi, I thought I’d hit the Xfinity Store across the street from the grocery on the way home. And since I was going to the Xfinity Store, I figured I’d trade in our old bedroom remote for a voice activated one. What the hell… I like fancy.

Well… let’s just say it would have been easier if I had left the original remote at home.

I got the pods and set them up – immediate wifi improvement in the kitchen – and went to set up the remote. I’ve done this many times. Not a problem. Until today.

It would not sync to the TV. I followed all of the instructions to a *T* – but to no avail. I could change channels but not adjust volume or turn the TV on or off. I headed back to the store and they gave me another – a different model. Same thing. I went through 20 or more set-up codes – nothing would work. I tried and tried. Frustrated, I headed back to the store. A third guy – you never see the same person twice – gave me a voiceless remote. I tried it. it didn’t work. I went back to try and get my original back. Nope. Wasn’t gonna happen. Guy tells me it’s probably the box. I could bring back the entire system – main box, satellite boxes in the bedrooms… I told him I wasn’t disassembling my entire TV system for a remote. He gave me another of the same remote I had last time that didn’t work. I walked out, pissed.

I did try it, again – and – you guessed it – it didn’t work. I went online. I got even more codes from the Comcast website. Nothing worked.

I called tech support. Spoke with a nice woman who transferred me to a nice guy – who had me jumping through hoops for 35 minutes. He could not get it working. Finally, I told him to send out a tech – I wasn’t going back to the store and he wasn’t going to get it fixed over the phone. Set it up for tomorrow. Not bad.

Ten minutes later, the phone rings. Comcast tech on the line. He says he can walk me through it. I tell him I’ve been walked through and start explaining what I’ve been doing. He says he’ll be here in 15 minutes.

In no time, he’s here. Picks up the remote and starts playing. Within minutes, it’s working perfectly. I’m flabbergasted. Pleased, but flabbergasted. He said it had to do with the sequence of button pushing and I was given the wrong instructions. I didn’t bother mentioning I was following the written instructions in the set-up guide. It was working – I didn’t care how or why. I mentioned the original reason for all of this was for a voice remote and he says he has one in the truck – we have one remote working, so if he can’t get it to work, no big deal. In under a minute, he had it up and running, as well.

I don’t know what, how, or why I couldn’t get it done, but we now have two functioning remotes in the bedroom – one on each nightstand.

Let the games begin!

While all of this was going on, I was also baking bread and trying to get dinner together. The bread was very therapeutic – I shaped the loaves while calming down before my fourth visit to the store. You can’t be mad when working with dough.

I was going to do a boneless turkey portion for dinner, but went for a pork tenderloin, instead – it was easier. Turkey tomorrow night. I dusted the tenderloin with chipotle powder and cumin, and a pinch of salt and pepper and put it in the oven with cubed sweet potatoes dusted with chipotle powder and garlic powder. 15 minutes before coming out of the oven I added some broccoli.

Quick and easy, and calming. A perfect ending to a bit of a chaotic day.