Death of a DVR

It happened quite suddenly. I pressed the play button on my DVR last night and the screen went black. Little did I realize that was it. Finished, kaput, DOA.

But, of course, I didn't realize it at the time. Driven by guilt, I assumed it was my fault. What had I done to cause this aberration? I pushed every button on the DVR remote. I pushed all the buttons on the TV remote. The same signals came up. “Check your cable.” Then “no signal.”

I changed the source input all up and down the line. Actually, my Blu-ray line showed signs of life but only in a small window on the upper right corner of the screen. Not good.

Oddly enough, the DVR was still able to record. And since we have other set top boxes in the house, we were able to watch a movie I had DVR'd a few days ago. Ever the optimists, we went to bed hoping a good night's sleep would restore not only us but the set top box as well. It was not to be.

This morning, I unplugged and re-plugged cable after cable to no avail. I finally admitted I had to call FIOS tech service thinking perhaps one of their non-striking elves could get me back on line.

I actually got through to a nice man within a half hour of listening to their not-so-soothing music. He was very patient and we tried different things but bottom line, the DVR was dead. Was this an unusual occurrence? I asked. Not so much, he said.

Then he volunteered to order a new DVR for me. I expect it in a few days.

So that was me and FIOS today and it was BIG.