Monday Memories--Dad's VCR

My father had no mechanical ability, and he passed it along to me. My mother knew it all, so why should he learn--carpentry, plumbing, wallpapering, gardening, etc. We used to joke that he'd trade cars rather than change the oil. After my Mom died and he moved from the retirement apartment into the Lustron (which had been built by his parents in 1949), someone, probably a grandchild, decided he needed a VCR to keep him company. He probably had a few movies and some homemade videos, like my sister in concert, or a family event. Keeping in mind that he would probably never learn to record anything, he was given a Daewoo play-only VCR [if he bought it himself, I'm sure someone will know]. Somehow, we ended up with it when his home was cleared out after his death in 2002. Two weeks ago I rediscovered it in its hiding place under the TV and decided to take it to Lakeside to see if it would work with our broadcast-only TV up there. I took along the movie "Dirty Dancing" as a test tape.

Keep in mind my technical knowledge and ability. Although I noticed every light on its tiny dashbroad came on when I attached it, and I couldn't find any play or eject buttons, I put the tape in anyway. By the time I found the buttons (lift the little lid, dummy), the tape was stuck. Smacking it didn't work (which was probably dad's method). So I brought it back home.

Last Tuesday evening we were looking at our 3 remotes, the TV and the DVD player, clueless how to play the DVD of Ireland photos we'd been sent, so our daughter came by after work to explain it for the umpteenth time. After rereading the instructions she told us we'd have to use a newer TV. Fine. But then I told her about daddy's Daewoo. It will never work again, but after about 30 minutes, she did get it to give up the tape. She's a genius with a screw driver, having rewired ceiling lights and installed an attic fan for her in-laws; however, there were two screws left over when she finished.