DeJONGHE: I want the simple life

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Those born with specific, superior skills and knowledge, when applied, produce great things in the areas of science, art, music, sports, medicine, technology, etc.

Those of us not born with distinctive and exceptional talents or intelligence just try to manoeuver through life as best we can. Not all of us have the capability or even the need to be smarter, faster, stronger, more creative or more skilled than those around us. Some of us just want to enjoy life in its simple perfection.

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DeJONGHE: I want the simple life Back to video

Recently, just before the car race and world’s men’s curling gold medal championship game, the screen on my TV conked. I spent a lot of time online and on the phone trying to figure out what was wrong. Eventually, a very nice person gave me this little tidbit of honest information – if the screen goes black it’s likely a fuse but if it goes blue it’s the screen and that could be expensive. Of course, my screen went blue.

I shopped around and found an inexpensive TV replacement available in Simcoe. The salesperson kindly let me order over the phone and we set a time for pick up.

When I got it home I began the grueling process of setting it up and getting it to work. Now, like I said, everyone is not proficient at these things. I want it to work when I plug it into the electrical outlet. Well, you know that never happens. The one-sheet instruction ‘manual’ was as limited as my technical abilities. Trying to figure out the picture-only instructions to get the feet on was a test. There were no instructions on connecting the cords so I had to guess. I was grateful there were only two. Once hooked up and turned on it said, “Follow the instructions on the screen.”

That sounds simple enough. I didn’t want to sign up as a member of anything nor did I want to subscribe to any specialized programs. They kept telling me to use the password from my Google account. I didn’t even know I had a Google account.

They didn’t like it when I tried to sidestep these wonderful offers so a standoff developed. I contacted my resident technical specialist, Trudy, who tried to walk me through the process and gave me YouTube videos to help before she gave up on me. I watched all the videos and even tried contacting the company looking for help, which they would readily give me for a price.

By this time I had missed the race and the curling so I gave up, too. I unplugged it, ignored it and went about my simple life. In the morning, refreshed, I tried again and thankfully it, too, had given up on me allowing me to program without incident.

I just want the TV to be a TV. I don’t care how smart it is. I don’t want it to mate with my computer, operate from my phone or spawn unlimited movies, videos or anything else. Unless it vacuums, I do not want any apps.

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