DVS
A ghost from your dreams
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2002
- Posts
- 11,416
Damn, it's already started! And it's not even Thanksgiving day, yet!
I just got a phone call from my sister. Sister #1 (oldest sibling) is in town, staying with sister #2, for the family dinner, tomorrow. Without telling me, the two of them decided to make a DVD of some VHS tapes they had, for a relative that will be there for the dinner, tomorrow. No problem with this, as long as they don't need my help.
The saga continues...
Sister #1 has one of those DVD/VHS recorders that will record just what's on the VHS to a DVD, without using a default record speed, such as SP, LP, etc. That way, you get the DVD recorded at the fastest speed possible, for the length needed. It's just a fancy way to record from one to the other, without having to think about limits of the two media.
OK, that's fine, too, if you know how to use the damn machine. In her haste to get on the road, #1 forgot to bring the remote to this machine with her. To make matters worse, the thing has been sitting unplugged for well over a year, so it has defaulted back to "new out of the box" settings. But, none of that seemed to faze her, and she was trying to record from VHS to DVD with the fancy settings. This is fine, too, if she can figure out the whole situation on her own. But, that never happens.
She called me and asked me if all DVD-Rs are the same length. "A DVD has more space on it than a CD, right?"
"Yes, a DVD has a lot more space on it."
"Then, why does my recording stop at 1 hour?"
"What do you mean?"
"We're trying to copy VHS tapes to DVD, and it keeps stopping at 1 hour, even though I have it set to FR."
"FR? I don't know what FR means."
"I think it's the setting for when you want to just record what is on the VHS tape to DVD."
"That's possible, but I don't know anything about your recorder." I have never seen her DVD recorder so why should I know what FR means? That's the first problem...she assumes I know everything and can fix her mistakes. Then, she gets the glory. It's been this way for years.
I told her I've never heard of the FR speed and she'd have to check her manual. That's when she went into detail and told me she she thought it meant to record from VHS to DVD and only record the length of the VHS...like I mentioned in paragraph 2, above. Again, I told her I didn't know anything about her machine and she'd have to check the manual. Maybe it had defaulted to something strange, because it had been unplugged for so long.
She seemed to disregard what I just said and continue thinking out loud by saying, "maybe I need the remote for this."
"That's possible, because you can't do some things without the remote", I tell her. "But, you might be able to change the record speed to SP to get a 2 hour record time. FR might not work correctly, because it's been unplugged for so long. But you need to have the manual to find out if there is a button on the machine you can change record speed with."
That's when she told me about her next problem. She couldn't get to google. "Why can't you get to google," I asked.
"I don't know. It keeps timing out. I thought I'd get the manual online, but it keeps timing out."
"What do you mean it keeps timing out?"
"This morning, I wanted to download Chrome, so I could use it for Mafia wars, and I couldn't get to google to get it."
"That doesn't make sense. You can't even get to the google web site?"
"No. I don't even have google as one of my search engines."
"What are you using, Firefox?"
"Yes, but it keeps timing out."
"Type google.com in the address bar."
"I did that, and it says it can't find it."
"There's something wrong then, because you should be able to get google.com without any problem."
"Well, that's what I thought, but I wanted to be sure."
"Try Bing. It should find the manual."
"Bing? The search engine?"
"Yes, it's the Microsoft search engine. It should work fine."
So, I guess she tried Bing and found the manual, while we were still on the phone, but I decided to search for it myself, just to find out what FR meant. And if nothing else, I could find out if there was a button on the front of her machine that she could change the speed to SP, so at least they could still record the VHS to DVD and not be totally out of luck.
I asked her what the model number was, and she told me. Of course, she was on speaker phone, so a D sounded like a V, an E, and just about every other letter in the alphabet, so getting the model number wasn't that easy. Not to mention the dogs were barking in the background, so I was trying to hear her, in-between barks and her yelling at the dogs to shut up.
I finally got the model number, and was searching for the manual. But by then, she had used Bing and found the manual on her own. She was still talking like she didn't know what FR meant, but thought it was the setting she wanted, although the recording stopped after 1 hour, instead of the full 120 minutes of the VHS tape.
I said I was searching for the manual, to find out how to set the speed to SP. Then she told me that she had the manual. She had used Bing and was looking at it as we spoke. But, she again said she thought she would need the remote, and she had left that at home.
I told her to check the manual, to see if there is a button she could press to get the speed to change to SP. That is usually the 2 hour record setting on most DVD recorders. For a 120 minute VHS tape, that should work. But again she started talking about the FR setting and thought that would be the setting she needed. And that was the setting that came up, when she turned the machine on.
Again, I told her that because the machine had been unplugged for so long, it might have defaulted back to some strange setting that made it stop recording after 1 hour. "You have the manual there...check the initial setup of the recorder to see what it defaults to."
"Oh, you mean it might default to 1 hour, instead of 2?"
"I don't know, but it's possible. See what the manual says."
"But, think I need the remote and I don't have it."
"That's possible, but look at the manual to see what it says. I can change the record speed on my machine, without the remote, but there are some things I can't do without my remote."
"You mean by pressing two buttons together or something?"
"Well not on my machine, but you have the manual there, it will tell you what to press, if it's possible."
"I just don't think I'm going to be able to do this, without the remote."
"You might not be able to do the FR recording thing, but you might be able to get the record mode changed to 2 hours, if you just check the manual. Even without the remote, you might be able to still copy your VHS tape to DVD. All of this is in the manual. Just read the manual and it will tell you the answers to these questions."
Well, she finally hung up the phone, but I'm sure I'll get another phone call in a few hours explaining what she had to do to get the whole thing to work, or that she finally just gave up, because she didn't have the remote.
I'm going to be there tomorrow for dinner, but she will still call me tonight. Even though I have to work tonight, and need to be sleeping today, she will call me. She might ask me if I was sleeping, but she'll still tell me her results. And I'll hear it tomorrow, too. There might be a few additional clues as to why she couldn't do something, but I'll still hear about it. Of course, it won't have anything to do with her lack of basic knowledge of the process or her lack of skill for doing what she wanted to do. It will all be because something didn't work like it should, which just means how it worked the last time she used it.
Now, for sister #2...what she did to her computer so it won't access google but can get to just about any other web site? I'm sure I'll get that job, after she feeds me. I guess it's a pretty good trade off.
This is life with my sisters. I love them both, but when either of them wants to do something, I end up getting a phone call, when something goes wrong. If I had been involved in the first place, it would be so much easier for me, but that never happens.
Sister #1 has called me from a friend's house, before...asking how to fix something she deleted on their computer, while trying to fix something else. I guess she's the "go to tech", for some of her friends. Now that's scary! And people wonder why I have to worry about migraines during holidays.
I just got a phone call from my sister. Sister #1 (oldest sibling) is in town, staying with sister #2, for the family dinner, tomorrow. Without telling me, the two of them decided to make a DVD of some VHS tapes they had, for a relative that will be there for the dinner, tomorrow. No problem with this, as long as they don't need my help.
The saga continues...
Sister #1 has one of those DVD/VHS recorders that will record just what's on the VHS to a DVD, without using a default record speed, such as SP, LP, etc. That way, you get the DVD recorded at the fastest speed possible, for the length needed. It's just a fancy way to record from one to the other, without having to think about limits of the two media.
OK, that's fine, too, if you know how to use the damn machine. In her haste to get on the road, #1 forgot to bring the remote to this machine with her. To make matters worse, the thing has been sitting unplugged for well over a year, so it has defaulted back to "new out of the box" settings. But, none of that seemed to faze her, and she was trying to record from VHS to DVD with the fancy settings. This is fine, too, if she can figure out the whole situation on her own. But, that never happens.
She called me and asked me if all DVD-Rs are the same length. "A DVD has more space on it than a CD, right?"
"Yes, a DVD has a lot more space on it."
"Then, why does my recording stop at 1 hour?"
"What do you mean?"
"We're trying to copy VHS tapes to DVD, and it keeps stopping at 1 hour, even though I have it set to FR."
"FR? I don't know what FR means."
"I think it's the setting for when you want to just record what is on the VHS tape to DVD."
"That's possible, but I don't know anything about your recorder." I have never seen her DVD recorder so why should I know what FR means? That's the first problem...she assumes I know everything and can fix her mistakes. Then, she gets the glory. It's been this way for years.
I told her I've never heard of the FR speed and she'd have to check her manual. That's when she went into detail and told me she she thought it meant to record from VHS to DVD and only record the length of the VHS...like I mentioned in paragraph 2, above. Again, I told her I didn't know anything about her machine and she'd have to check the manual. Maybe it had defaulted to something strange, because it had been unplugged for so long.
She seemed to disregard what I just said and continue thinking out loud by saying, "maybe I need the remote for this."
"That's possible, because you can't do some things without the remote", I tell her. "But, you might be able to change the record speed to SP to get a 2 hour record time. FR might not work correctly, because it's been unplugged for so long. But you need to have the manual to find out if there is a button on the machine you can change record speed with."
That's when she told me about her next problem. She couldn't get to google. "Why can't you get to google," I asked.
"I don't know. It keeps timing out. I thought I'd get the manual online, but it keeps timing out."
"What do you mean it keeps timing out?"
"This morning, I wanted to download Chrome, so I could use it for Mafia wars, and I couldn't get to google to get it."
"That doesn't make sense. You can't even get to the google web site?"
"No. I don't even have google as one of my search engines."
"What are you using, Firefox?"
"Yes, but it keeps timing out."
"Type google.com in the address bar."
"I did that, and it says it can't find it."
"There's something wrong then, because you should be able to get google.com without any problem."
"Well, that's what I thought, but I wanted to be sure."
"Try Bing. It should find the manual."
"Bing? The search engine?"
"Yes, it's the Microsoft search engine. It should work fine."
So, I guess she tried Bing and found the manual, while we were still on the phone, but I decided to search for it myself, just to find out what FR meant. And if nothing else, I could find out if there was a button on the front of her machine that she could change the speed to SP, so at least they could still record the VHS to DVD and not be totally out of luck.
I asked her what the model number was, and she told me. Of course, she was on speaker phone, so a D sounded like a V, an E, and just about every other letter in the alphabet, so getting the model number wasn't that easy. Not to mention the dogs were barking in the background, so I was trying to hear her, in-between barks and her yelling at the dogs to shut up.
I finally got the model number, and was searching for the manual. But by then, she had used Bing and found the manual on her own. She was still talking like she didn't know what FR meant, but thought it was the setting she wanted, although the recording stopped after 1 hour, instead of the full 120 minutes of the VHS tape.
I said I was searching for the manual, to find out how to set the speed to SP. Then she told me that she had the manual. She had used Bing and was looking at it as we spoke. But, she again said she thought she would need the remote, and she had left that at home.
I told her to check the manual, to see if there is a button she could press to get the speed to change to SP. That is usually the 2 hour record setting on most DVD recorders. For a 120 minute VHS tape, that should work. But again she started talking about the FR setting and thought that would be the setting she needed. And that was the setting that came up, when she turned the machine on.
Again, I told her that because the machine had been unplugged for so long, it might have defaulted back to some strange setting that made it stop recording after 1 hour. "You have the manual there...check the initial setup of the recorder to see what it defaults to."
"Oh, you mean it might default to 1 hour, instead of 2?"
"I don't know, but it's possible. See what the manual says."
"But, think I need the remote and I don't have it."
"That's possible, but look at the manual to see what it says. I can change the record speed on my machine, without the remote, but there are some things I can't do without my remote."
"You mean by pressing two buttons together or something?"
"Well not on my machine, but you have the manual there, it will tell you what to press, if it's possible."
"I just don't think I'm going to be able to do this, without the remote."
"You might not be able to do the FR recording thing, but you might be able to get the record mode changed to 2 hours, if you just check the manual. Even without the remote, you might be able to still copy your VHS tape to DVD. All of this is in the manual. Just read the manual and it will tell you the answers to these questions."
Well, she finally hung up the phone, but I'm sure I'll get another phone call in a few hours explaining what she had to do to get the whole thing to work, or that she finally just gave up, because she didn't have the remote.
I'm going to be there tomorrow for dinner, but she will still call me tonight. Even though I have to work tonight, and need to be sleeping today, she will call me. She might ask me if I was sleeping, but she'll still tell me her results. And I'll hear it tomorrow, too. There might be a few additional clues as to why she couldn't do something, but I'll still hear about it. Of course, it won't have anything to do with her lack of basic knowledge of the process or her lack of skill for doing what she wanted to do. It will all be because something didn't work like it should, which just means how it worked the last time she used it.
Now, for sister #2...what she did to her computer so it won't access google but can get to just about any other web site? I'm sure I'll get that job, after she feeds me. I guess it's a pretty good trade off.
This is life with my sisters. I love them both, but when either of them wants to do something, I end up getting a phone call, when something goes wrong. If I had been involved in the first place, it would be so much easier for me, but that never happens.
Sister #1 has called me from a friend's house, before...asking how to fix something she deleted on their computer, while trying to fix something else. I guess she's the "go to tech", for some of her friends. Now that's scary! And people wonder why I have to worry about migraines during holidays.
Last edited:
