Manual Labour

2 runners ran 3km help Mrs S and her brother, Brian, to work the tv.

Mrs S is out of touch with technology but her brother, Brian, whom she lives with, loves tv and films. Unfortunately Brian has memory problems: Mrs S explained that on good days Brian can work the tv but on bad days forgets. So she asked us to write instructions down for her and Brian to follow on his bad days.

After getting to grips with the tv/freeview box themselves, Ellie and Ben wrote a series of instructions. First up was how to turn on the tv and the freeview box, then get to the TV guide, record a show and find the subsequent recordings afterwards. That bit was fairly straight forward.

They hit a snag, however, when it came to the VHS/DVD/SD Card player... it was a touch more complicated! After sorting plugs and cables round at the back of the tv, they successfully turned the “silver box” on... and off and on and off. Turns out that out of the three remotes available, the only one which worked for the device also worked EVERYTHING ELSE AT THE SAME TIME. So when turning the box off, it turned off the freeview and the tv. Press play to play a VHS, it also played something recorded on freeview. Ben found the manual online but was no further enlightened... I hate to admit this but they gave up. Maybe Ben and Ellie were just too young when VHS machines were a thing and maybe a more ~experienced~ GG Yorkie may fare better.

After checking that Brian could understand the instructions, and having a quick chat with Mrs S about all the other things GG could help her out with, it was time for Ben and Ellie to run home... and to google how to work that damned machine!