September 6 – “No signal found”

The light is on.  All appears normal.  We settle in for a calm, relaxing evening together.  Cheese dip and chips for a light supper.  Something on Netflix to occupy our minds without too much rational thought required.  A perfect setting, right?  What could go wrong?  Simply fluff up that couch pillow, wiggle down into your favorite spot, reach for the remote.  First a cursory check of the live channels to see if there is anything we just can’t afford to miss.  Didn’t think so.  Astros don’t start until 9 p.m.  Playing in Oakland.  Switch over to the appropriate input station and check out the old standby, Netflix …

But wait.  “Searching for signals” changes quickly to “No signal found.”  Ah, power up the Wii, which is our receiver for the service.  That should do it … But wait.  Nothing changes on the TV screen, but the light on the Wii is gone.  Not red, mind you.  It is out.  Black.  What just happened?  I immediately followed the typical protocol in such a situation.  Repeat the same procedure.  Again.  Again.  Nothing.  Maybe if we unplug it and try again.  Nope.  No change.  Maybe try it in a different plug.  There’s the light.  Success.  Power up the Wii again.  Light is … gone. 

During my uninformed efforts, Chris quickly googles the situation on her phone.  Try this.  Try that.  Nothing.  Nothing.  What’s next?  Well, next is “Call customer service.”  That figures.  Let me try everything else one more time.  Still nothing.  Reluctantly, I agree to call. 

On hold.  Let’s watch American Pickers while we wait.  They find some interesting antiques sometimes.  On hold.  Oil artifacts museum.  On hold.  So exciting … a poster of Marilyn Monroe advertising oil.  On hold … wait.  A click.  The service guy.  “What have you done so far?”  “Try a different component input place on your TV.”  Nope.  No change.  “Well, then your next step is to send it to us, and for $75 we will fix it.  Two to three week turnaround.”  We’ll get back to you on that. 

So here we are.  Is there another way to connect to Netflix?  Guess we could go through the computer, but that is a hassle to hook up to the TV.  Why don’t we go old school and just watch one of the movies we have on DVD?  There’s a winner.  So what did our evening consist of?  Oz, The Great and Powerful.  Hmm.  Maybe he can fix our Wii …

1 Peter 5:10-11 says, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Father, thank you for being the one we can call on to restore the things that really matter.  Amen.