Fonzie fixes

Okay so I moved into my current place about three years ago. I turned on the television, and the screen rolled for about 15 minutes before it finally stopped and I could watch it normally. Good times.

As time went on, however, the screen would take longer and longer to stop rolling, finally never stopping at all save like a time or two. I could never find a vertical hold button or knob on the front of the tv, so I thought all was lost. Chat was furious at me for not being able to watch television with them. Go ahead and join them, ask, it's all true.

It was so bad that my sister had loaned me her television last summer so I could at least watch something. It was so bad that, in the morning, I could close my eyes and feel dizzy from the rolling screen I was watching as I woke up. It was bad, no getting around that fact.

So for whatever reason last night I decided to dust the back of my television, as well as around it. I dusted the knobs back there that said nothing about vertical hold. Then I sat down next to it and chatted, as you do.

Ten minutes later I realized that the tv had stopped rolling.

My swiffer sheet fixed it.

So, fonzie fixes. Tell me how you sorted something out sight unseen.

I'm sorry if you already read my journal, I wrote it differently so at least it wasn't the same exact thing you just read!

How ya doing, buddy?

Being that I work in tech support, this kinda shit happens to me every day. Talk to a customer on the phone who's having a problem and suddenly the problem fixes itself, or something we did unrelated to the problem fixes it. It further proves my point that technology is magic.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I work as an agent for U.S. Cellular, so as you can imagine we get many daily inquiries as to why somone's cell phone isn't working.

Just yesterday, had this woman in the store. Phone keeps shutting off, recycling itself, things like this. So I'm thinking, software problem, right? I tried all known remedies with no success. Finally I just suggested that she make her insurance claim, so she decided she would leave the phone with us until she got her replacement unit.

About 20 minutnes after she was gone, I pulled the battery out of the phone, whacked it on the counter a couple of times, put the battery back in and SOMEHOW the phone operated normally. I called the woman on her home phone detailing the fix and the process used to achieve it, and she was ecstatic.

Thus proving, technology is indeed magic.

Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!!!!!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

My friend has this radio-thingamajig that plugs in to his iPod so that he can listen to the iPod over his car stereo. The device will occasionally stop working and all we'll hear in the car is static.

It can be fixed by waving your hand over it once. Sometimes.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

A few years ago someone sideswiped my car while it was parked on the street. I called the cops, and while I was waiting I leaned against the side of the car where it had been hit. Well, the cop showed up, I used my butt to push off the car to help me stand up, and in the process I popped out about 1/4 of the dent. I tried it about twenty more times to pop out the rest, but no luck.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Hydra

My friend has this radio-thingamajig that plugs in to his iPod so that he can listen to the iPod over his car stereo. The device will occasionally stop working and all we'll hear in the car is static.

It can be fixed by waving your hand over it once. Sometimes.

Those devices are called ITrips, and I believe this is caused due to radio interference, with your hand motion blocking the incoming interfering radio waves.

I could be wrong though, but a lot of the time when mine goes static-y I can hold my hand over it and it clears up a bit.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Any of those FM transmitters are very finicky. I found that holding the transmitter in my lap would help sometimes.

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Originally Posted by nuttyturnip

Any of those FM transmitters are very finicky. I found that holding the transmitter in my lap would help sometimes.

Yes. This is where my iPod spends most of it's time while I'm in motion anyway, but occasionally I will travel through an area (such as the local brewery here in my hometown) that broadcasts such a strong radio signal that the hand-over-the-transmitter fix is neccessary.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I think it's because your hand/body will then act as a bit of an antenna. The reason why just waving your hand over the transmitter might work is when there are two competing signals if you temporarily boost the one you're transmitting your car's radio will try to focus on that signal. I know my car's radio has a feature/filter that lets it tune into one signal even if there are two overlapping ones on the same frequency. It doesn't work perfectly, but it has helped in the past with my FM transmitter.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

When I was a mechanic still, I solved a LOT of problems by hitting things.

Electric motors, particularly ones for car door windows, would freeze and a good door slam while holding the button would unstick it.
Stuck solenoids, misaligned suspension componenets, loose body trim, etc. Sometimes a hammer was your best friend.

Of course, these problems usually only indicate a continuing problem, and the part should be replaced. But sometimes it wasn't necessary or the customer didn't want to pay for it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by nuttyturnip

Any of those FM transmitters are very finicky. I found that holding the transmitter in my lap would help sometimes.

I have the motorola T505 and I only have issues with interference when I venture into a completely different area of a state (ex: 97.7 works fine in Portland, but if I go to southern Oregon, where there actually might be a 97.7 radio station, I get interference). The T505 is just one button away from autoadjusting to a new non-taken radio frequency though, so no big deal.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.