TV or Not TV

Dear Caroline,

Sorry this is getting dragged out, but life has been hectic as we plan for tomorrow's departure.

Today I had to go to the bank and cash in all the change we save for holidays. I can now tell you what it does to your shoulder to carry a bag with $700 worth of coins.

Then I had to spend almost that much getting two months worth of prescriptions. And then I had to get a special kind of light bulb for the bathroom so you can see yourself in the mirror. It's in the heat lamp/exhaust fan and I should warn you that the plastic white case fell out, and I am not sure if it is going to stay put. So don't be too startled if you're brushing your teeth and a white piece of plastic conks you on your hear.

Oh, and if it falls off again, don't look inside because there are dust things in there that I couldn't reach and you won't want to look at them because it would be very spooky if they started looking back.

Anyhow, after all that I had to work on the final part of that work project I have been doing. You can understand I was not happy when it cut into cocktail hour by 50 minutes. But don't worry. I am remedying that as I write this.

So, what else do you need to know about as you house sit? Well, the one thing you will not figure out by yourself is how to run the TV and DVD player in the lounge room. I know I showed it to you last week, but I also know no one can retain everything I said.

It's all complicated because I bought the TV from a friend of Stan at Lee's Fortuna Court. I think it was legal, but I didn't ask. Anyhow, the TV didn't come with speakers built in so here's what you have to do if you want to switch from watching TV to watching a DVD.

Take the NEC remote control and push Video 3.
Take the Yamaha remote control and push VCR (I know there's a DVD button, but I didn't connect it to work that way. Of course.)
Use the LG remote to run the DVD. (Only it won't control the sound.)
The only way you can control sound while watching a DVD is using the volume buttons on the Yamaha.

To go back to TV.
NEC push Video 2.
Yamaha push TV.
You can use the Yamaha or the Foxtel to control volume.

Or you can go upstairs and watch a DVD on that TV. Turn it on. Push AV and cycle through the AV options to get to the DVD player.

While we are on the subject, you can record things on the downstairs TV but not the upstairs TV. To record, push the R on the Foxtel.

And downstairs (but not upstairs) you can watch On Demand movies. We get two each month as part of our package, so please do it. (And we haven't used any in July yet so go for it.)

Well, my glass is empty so I am ending this. Tomorrow when you come here, there will be a shaker full of vodka martinis in the freezer. Olives in the fridge. Enjoy. And thanks for helping us out as we have the vacation of a lifetime.

Cheers

Don