The Man Stick

Mike and I agree on many things, but one thing in particular is that every Sunday we all go to church. Before church everyone better be getting ready for church. So watching TV in your pajamas is not on the approved activities list for Sunday mornings. When Mike found some individuals watching TV in their pajamas, he quickly turned off the TV, confiscated the remote and put it up high out of reach.

This would be the end of the story, but some smart person built the entertainment unit, where Mike hid the remote, so that there is a narrow false space behind some decorative moulding. Shown here:


The problem with this narrow shaft is that it goes 7 feet down all the way to the ground from the top. Unfortunately the remote was placed just in the wrong spot so that it fell all the way down with no easy way to reach it.

There's many approved "keeping the Sabbath Day holy" activities, but I'm not sure retrieving a remote is one of them. And I'm quite sure the mutterings that occurred under one's breathe are not approved.

When asked, "wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just buy a new remote?" the response was an emphatic "NO!" And taking pictures of this seemingly funny scene was just not appreciated.

You'll notice that after church he did not even take the time to change out of his church clothes as he normally does, it was straight to work.

There were many creative "tools" used in the effort to retrieve the remote--a fishing pole, magnets, duct tape, broom stick, flashlights, flood lamps, etc. A few of them were lost down the shaft during the retrieval process and again questions about how much remotes cost were just not appreciated.

Many tried to help in the cause--father, son, grandfather, brother-in-law, neighbor, friend, but all had a difficult time. (Please note the gender of all those trying was male. The women who were watching just wondered, why not buy a new one?) Several had the remote in their fingertips, but then somehow dropped it back down. They walked away discouraged, shaking their heads, trying to think of "a better way".

The "tool" that finally did the trick was built by my dad, Grandpa. Many different concepts were incorporated into the design. A weight to help lower the devise to the bottom and keep the string taunt, a wire hanger scooper to get up under the remote, and super sticky tape to keep the remote stuck to the tool on it's way up. Tool shown here:

Dad was sure his invention would do the trick. He worked on it all Monday morning (hours) hoping that he could retrieve the remote and remove some of the stress from Mike's shoulders--so they could enjoy the game that night. But he left for work disappointed with the remote still down the shaft.

Yes, the successful remote retriever was the nimble fingered mother with gifted fine motor skills. She pulled the remote up on her second attempt, using Grandpa's device, spending less than 5 minutes on the task.

Instead of receiving appreciation or praise for my success, they just were plain annoyed and didn't care to comment. And of coarse as you may suspect I'm not allowed to use the remote. It's a "Man Stick". Whatever.