Loose Ends
Embracing change
Susan Nienow

Change is good for me. It shakes up my world and makes me adjust to new experiences. It is energizing - causes me to create new pathways in my brain.

I hate it. Last week our TV died. No sound. No picture. It probably earned the right to die. It was an antique - heavy enough to require extra support under the house. But, I knew exactly how to turn it on, raise the volume, change channels and turn it off.

Now we have a new TV. And a new remote that controls not only the TV, but also the neighbors' TVs and their coffee pots. That may be an exaggeration, but I still don't know what those extra 17 buttons are for, and I can't read that tiny writing above each one.

My other half suggested I read the universal symbols on top of each button, because they are the same on all electronics. I seem to be missing my universal symbol translation manual, though. I liked the old remote. I don't want to have to take time to make friends with a new one.

My brain seems to put the skids on any type of change. My car has nearly 100,000 miles on it, and I still spray the windshield when I want to turn the lights on.

Yesterday my bedroom radio quit receiving. All I want is a radio that sounds better than my old transistor. If you don't know what that is, ask your mother. I want AM and FM so I can hear the garden show on Saturday morning and listen to music the rest of the week.

I really don't need to launch a satellite with it. Just give me a tuning device with decent speakers that is smaller than a breadbox. I don't want it to play CDs or hook up any kind of pod. So far, I haven't found "just a radio."

On top of the new remote, I have to figure out a new computer. I liked my old one. We understood each other. But it was beginning to get cantankerous. On the advice of some very opinionated young people in my family, I switched from a PC to the other kind. It came with a remote with one toggle on it. So far, we haven't been able to figure out what it is for.

I like manuals and indexes. I could look up "remote" and find 57 entries. Then I would take the remote and the manual with me to the place I bought it, whimper to the techie, get the answer and drive back home. I could do all of that faster than holding on the phone so I could talk to someone halfway around the world who would then transfer me to someone in a different country and so on.

I have also changed Internet providers. I have had the same e-mail address since 1992. It's part of my personality, but I switched to my name so I can remember it.