Well it is Friday, we have just had a bitter East wind sweep across Colchester and a rather vicious snow storm. Luckily none of it landed but the temperature has dropped and it is very cold indeed.
Before I tell you more about my television (I know, I know, be patient), just to say that I am still a book reviewer and will be writing about my recent round up of titles which I have had patiently awaiting my attention for some time. I have had books on the go since before Christmas, by my bed, on my coffee table and other places I will not mention, and have been reading and dipping into them over a period of two months. I have spent the last week finally rounding them all up, finishing them and organising my thoughts on same. I have said before on Random that while there are occasions when I simply find a book unreadable, I just leave it and do not diss it here - we all have different reading tastes. I usually only write about books I have really loved and enjoyed and that is the aim of my blog. However, after reading The Children's Room by A S Byatt I ventured a slightly less than enthusiastic review and was pleased with the fascinating responses I received. I have decided in future that if I, personally, find a book difficult or not to my taste I will air these views, temperately I might add, and not just rave about books to the exclusion of all else. There have been a few on here that I have been less than enthusiastic about, but most of my reviews are favourable. After four years of reading and writing for Random I now feel perhaps I can flex my muscles a bit and, also, not feel quite so inadequate as a reviewer. Anyway, we shall see..
OK My television - problem persisted so decided to visit a small firm in Colchetser, Levett & Ward. They have been around for years, no huge showroom, no website, just what looks like a shack on the London Road with limited parking space and no glossy entrance. But, they were just what I was looking for - I knew if I went in there I would not be faced with a smirking twelve year old looking pityingly at me and telling me my TV was kaput and I needed a new one. Armed with the information from the Helpful Man of a Certain Age who I spoke to in Ipswich, I went in armed with my remote for the DVD and the TV. The gentleman I spoke to (another Helpful Man of a Certain Age steeped in TV folklore) tested both of them and said they were fine. We then exhaustively discussed all the possibilities and he said that he was quite happy to look at the TV, they have a workshop out the back and that he would give me an honest opinion on its state.
By the way, did you know that as all modern TVs are digital and are computerized, when we are asleep at night with the TV turned off, even if you have switched it right off and not on standby, It Never Sleeps? Updates to systems are run while we are asleep and we know nothing about it..... I find that rather spooky and when I told him how my tv had switched itself back on in the middle of the night, he said yep it was scary but that is what accounted for it. Now did any of the whizz kids I spoke to earlier know this? Of course not.
So resigned to the fact my TV was seriously mental, when he suddenly said 'Do you have any other remotes at all?' I have one for my stereo and told him so and he then told me that it might be emitting a signal which was confusing the TV. But I point it to the stereo in the corner, nowhere near the TV says I, makes no difference the signal is probably bouncing off the walls and affecting the TV.says he Then it occurred to me that I have moved my stereo and radio around in the last few weeks and whereas before it was within reach and I used to switch it off and on manually, since the move I have used the remote.
Leapt into the Batmobile and drove home at warp speed and when I got indoors I tried the television. Still dreadful and hopping around and being difficult so I picked up the stereo remote, sitting there looking sooo innocent and with no guile whatsoever and took out the batteries. POW!!! The picture on my TV steadied, the channels staid put, all is OK and the DVD works properly.
I sat down totally gob smacked. I have tested the TV since and all is fine and so the stereo remote is now battery free and in a draw and will remain there - permanently. I simply cannot believe that that is what all the trouble was and it has now confirmed my opinion even more, that the lack of serious customer service in the electrical trade is endemic. All the information I have received came from two men, both in their fifties who were trained electricians and TV engineers and who knew exactly how a TV worked and what could cause problems - nobody else I spoke to had the faintest idea.
If I need anything in the future, I know where I will be going - it will be Levett & Ward and I am about to send them an email with my thanks. They have saved me a fortune with their half hour chat and good advice that I received from them this morning.
There are times when small is beautiful.
