An uneasy mix

The clock on our DVD recorder has been wrong for quite some time, and after Sunday's time change the difference between real time and DVD time -- an hour and 20 minutes -- became unbearable. I'm not the most technically proficient person in the world but I do know how to set the clocks on all of our appliances, so yesterday I thought I'd correct the time and also set the timer to record something on Turner Classic Movies.

I could not get the thing to work. More specifically, I could not get the menu to appear on the TV screen. I pressed the DVD button on the remote to make sure I was controlling the DVD and not the VCR (yeah, we still have one of those). Nothing. I pressed the menu button, the system menu button, the top menu button. Nada. I put some fresh batteries in the remote in hopes that low juice was my problem, but no luck. My patience was running low, but I waited patiently until just before 5 p.m., when the movie was scheduled to start; at that point I inserted a blank DVD into the recorder and pressed the record button, figuring I'd bypass that pesky timer altogether and go straight for the kill.

Naturally, nothing happened.

I talked to Sean about it later that evening, and it turned out I had forgotten one teensy little step in the set-up process -- I'd forgotten to tune the TV to the auxiliary channel. Well, smack me on the forehead! Duh. I'd figured it was some dumb little thing I messed up on, and it had been such a long time since I'd recorded anything that it was no wonder I forgot. Since there was another movie I wanted to record today, I figured I could whip through the whole process -- adjusting the time, setting the timer -- in no time flat this morning since I knew exactly what I needed to do.

Surprise. No such luck.

As of now, I don't know whether I'm screwing up another step or there's something amiss with our remote control.

I'd like to stay zen about the whole thing, but the movies I wanted to record were Lured with George Sanders and Lucille Ball (what an amazing pairing!) and the cheap-o classic Detour. If there were ever two things that don't jibe, it's zen calm and down-and-dirty films noir. I wish I felt reflective and at ease about my minor mishap, but I'm feeling like someone is going to have to pay -- and pay big.

It may be time to consider . . . . . . DVR.