The NOT so Smart TV: For the last few weeks, I have focused my TALLer Tales articles on experiences surrounding my mom’s recent knee surgery and stay at a rehab center. She is doing well but certainly counting the days until she can get out of there. Her anticipated “release” date is July 17. Thanks again for all of the prayers and well wishes!
Once we knew my mom would be taking up residence at the rehab center for six weeks because of the required IV antibiotic treatment she has to receive twice daily because of the sepsis, it was time to make life a bit more comfortable in her temporary home. The rooms are nice and the food is good. Our family likes the open door policy and the little bistro that has everything from coffee, sandwiches to snacks. The place is nestled in a neighborhood along the Macomb Orchard Trail, so it has a lovely country feel to it. Once we received the six-week “verdict,” I knew I had to come up with some stuff to keep my mom busy. She didn’t want me to bring a laptop or her iPad, and she seemed content with the channel offerings on the TV, but she missed her TiVo and DVR. So I decided … being me, of course … that I would rework the TV to include a Roku streaming device to give my mom the ability to watch a lot of the stuff she watches at home. I also have a subscription to YouTube TV, thus giving us more local and national channels along with DVR capabilities. The addition of the Roku device would turn the rehab center issued TV into a really Smart TV with a lot more to offer. When I get these brainy ideas, my family usually just goes along with the program. They know when I show up with the tools and cabling, things have been plotted out and are already “baked” in stone. The task now was to figure out how I could take the TV off the wall and rework some of the cabling to accommodate the Roku device and the needed network equipment to make it all work. This took a few days of planning and thinking. After a few visits of poking around the TV and investigating the ports in the walls, it was apparent the TV was mounted on a bracket that required a special tool to remove it; without that tool, this TV was NOT coming off the wall. I knew the TV was an LG, but I couldn’t find the model number to scope out its specifications on the internet. This was a challenge … and I love challenges. After about the third visit of trying to figure out how I was going to make this work, I decided to “give up” and simply inquire with the rehab center staff about what needed to take place for me to gain access to some of the extra HDMI ports on the TV. YES, I should have done that from the get go. I eventually got connected with George the maintenance guy who couldn’t have been more helpful. In the end, I didn’t need to take the TV off the wall because tucked away on the side of the TV, but entirely out of sight, were the extra ports I needed. With George’s help, I was home free and able to connect all my equipment with little difficulty. Now my mom was armed with a Roku device and could watch a vast variety of shows, and, even better, she could now DVR shows to watch later. Right now she’s on a Blue Blood binge.
I also had another task with this TV. I had to figure out how to get the remote to work better. This is no joke, but you have to hold the remote at a precise height and angle just to get the TV to turn on or off; I found this very annoying (and so does my mom). At first, I thought weak batteries were causing the issue, but changing them didn’t do the trick. Eventually, I gave up on the remote project because nothing I did made a difference. In retrospect, I probably should have called my buddy George because he probably had a secret fix for that too (but again, why take the easy route).
When all was said and done, I sat back and marveled at the work of art and tried to rework all the cables so it wasn’t so obvious I added all this equipment. My mom was grateful and amazed at the shows, movies and things now at her disposal. The Roku remote has a headphone jack so armed with a nice pair of headphones she can listen to her programs without having to listen to all the other noises in the rehab center.
When all was said and done, I tried explaining to my mom that I just upgraded her semi-smart TV to a REALLY smart TV. She questioned me on what makes a TV a “Smart TV.” I showed her a few examples and tried to explain that her TV, with the Roku device, now had hundreds of “apps” available much like her phone … a smartphone … has apps. Thus, the TV is now a “Smart TV.” After listening intently to my explanation and being laser focused on my demonstration, she said, “Well, this TV isn’t really THAT smart.” “Wait a minute,” I thought to myself. “What? After all this work, you don’t think you have a smart TV.” I’m sure I scrunched my face in utter confusion. “How can this not be a smart TV,” I asked. “Just look at all the stuff it can do now.” My mom paused a moment, smiled and then said, “If it was REALLY smart, it would be much easier to turn on in the morning. It may be SMART, but not THAT smart!”
Parish Center Summer Hours during July: Please note that beginning Monday, July 1, the Parish Center switches to its “July Schedule.” The Parish Center will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday only. We will not be open on Fridays or Saturdays during July. We will resume our regular office hours on Monday, July 29. With the change in hours during July, please note that exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place on Mondays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. until the time of benediction at 4:30 p.m.
The Parish Center will also be closed on Thursday, July 4. Thus with our “July Schedule,” we will be closed from Thursday, July 4 through Sunday, July 7
, for the 4
th of July holiday.
4th of July Mass: Speaking of the 4
th of July, the people of St. Joan of Arc, Star of the Sea and St. Lucy Parishes will gather at St. Joan on July 4 at 9 a.m. for mass. There will be no 7 a.m. mass that day. A light reception will follow the liturgy.
Enjoy the week. Know of my prayers! Happy 4
th of July! Just think … those “Christmas in July” specials are just around the corner!