The History Channel has sold out.
Yes, my friends, that last bastion of wholesome, educational, boring television has gone the way of the sexy, go-go hipness of Discovery and The Learning Channel.
A few days ago, I was staying at the quaint Sky Harbor Bavarian Inn in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Really. Our room was nestled into the side of the mountain, with a balcony that extended into the cradling arms of the surrounding trees. As I lay on my side, the eastern window that looked out onto the balcony gave me a gorgeous view of a mountain sunrise.
That was the first day.
On the second day, clouds obscured the sunrise, Dexy was fussy, and Sven lost the remote control sometime during the night. The last thing he had been watching was The History Channel, so I was stuck. After two infomercials (Your Baby Can Read! and something about how to trick the government out of money) I watched a riveting documentary about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel System. (Get it? "Riveting?" Because it's about road construction? And they use rivets? Never mind.)
By the time this documentary ended, we were all awake. The remote control was still nowhere to be found. Since the hotel used digital cable, we couldn't change the channel manually. Fortunately, the next thing to come on looked like something the kids would like: Uncovering the World of the Paleo-Indians. Computer animated Columbia Mammoths? Cool. Computer animated saber-toothed cats? Cooler.
Computer animated saber-toothed cats ripping the face off of a mother while her child stands there and watches? Not so much.
"Mommy?" Princess' anxious voice sounded as I ripped apart the bed in attempts to find the remote. "Mommy, what happened to that mommy? Did the bad tiger kill the mommy?"
"He bite! He bite!" exclaimed Dexy, looking concerned.
"Look! Handy Manny!" I bellowed, finally discovering the remote on the floor behind the headboard. And all was well. But it got me thinking: since when did The History Channel show such shlocky, over-dramatized pseudo-historical fare like this?
I don't know. But I'm not pleased.
And speaking of not pleased, I have something to say about remote control manners. If you and your partner go to sleep and wake at different times, it behooves the later-retiring partner to make sure the remote control is in a secure, easily accessible location for the earlier-rising partner. If it is not, the early riser is permitted to search the area around the sleeper, including ripping covers off and shoving the sleeper off the bed, if necessary.
That is all.
4 comments:
Ah, I've got my Deb fix. I even loved the vacation photos.
Here's hoping my computer gets fixed, sooooon!
This is exactly why I don't watch the History Channel. Too much violence! Not because it doesn't have women in skimpy outfits, looking for love.
The last paragraph of this post was the absolute best. What you described is cardinal rule in my home.
Glad to read that you structure your life around similar rules. :)
-Francesca
I agree most whole heartedly about the remote control. No matter where the television watching has taken place, the last user MUST and I do emphasize MUST make sure the remote control is in a safe and secure and I might add easily found location!
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