By and large, Ranger’s adjusted well to being left to her own devices these past few weeks that I’ve been gigging full-time. No doubt having grown used to me being home during the days to having the house all-together devoid of humans can be a jarring transition for a young, high-strung pup. But we haven’t received complaints of any excessive barking and other than ripping apart the pet bed she’s pretty much kept her chewing exercises to paper products pulled from the recycle basket (or the occasional rent check). Well, there was that dead (but thankfully not-very-chewed) rat. And a towel or two.
Yesterday she raised it to a whole new level. When Susan got home she discovered the TiVo remote no longer in its previous and formerly safe place on the coffee table and instead on the living room area rug gnawed well past the point of no return:
The unit might still seem serviceable, but no. Trust me, I tried valiantly to revive it. Ranger’s massive mastications popped open the battery compartment door and laid waste to the circuit board and connections within.
Sigh.
At least she left the batteries alone. Maybe after she got one in her mouth and got the tiny little zing that comes from them when the contacts are tongued just so.
It’s funny but last night after we shut the TV down I debated on whether to leave the remote on the sofa arm because there was something in me that sensed the coffee table was no longer safe harbor, but I didn’t pay it any attention. And now here we are, with no way to change channels on the TV until the replacement remote, which I promptly ordered online ($30 plus another $20 for taxes and expedited shipping), but won’t be here until Monday, Tuesday at the latest.
With no retailers in the area selling only the remotes I was almost desperate enough to rationalize buying an entirely new TiVo box at the local Radio Shack for $99 (after $170 rebate), but nixed that plan when I read the small print on the rebate form that pointed out the rebate would be valid with new service activation only. I would’ve gone the extra $50 for a remote and a new box… but not $260.
So instead we await the new remote’s arrival, and think twice about leaving anything on the coffee table that we don’t want chewed up.
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