Got it in one

[susandennis]

I have a ceiling fan in the bedroom. It has a light in it. It can be operated by:

1. remote control by the bed
2. remote control by the door
3. alexa
4. Google Home
5. either of my two phones (through an app that controls a hub that controls the fan - aka infinite points of possible failure)

I asked Alexa to turn off the light. She did. 2 mins later it was back on. I asked again. Again she turned it off and then... it came back on. Google Home had the same problem. I tried the phone app. I tried the remote control by the door. It stayed off for almost exactly 2 minutes every time. I don't care except it was going to make sleeping kinda rough. And removing the light bulb requires a ladder.

Where oh where to start the troubleshooting... There are probably 597,380 different reasons why this was happening. Fuck.

So I started with 1. It's actually the remote I use the least. It's in the bottom of a shelf box under the kleenex box. I dug in and discovered it was upside down. I had just replaced the kleenex this morning with a fresh, heavier box. Yep. The kleenex was turning the light on! Ahhhhhhhh I apologized to Alexa. I know, from experience, that Google Home doesn't care. And I moved the bed remote over to behind the TV for safe keeping.

I canceled my Monday swim. I went down to the dumpster to take a load of boxes and was out of breath before I got there. When I got back, I took a couple of hits off the inhaler and was better right away but clearly there is still some issue. It will be fine by Wednesday, which is my next swim.

Costco has my new prescription ready and it is exactly 1/2 of what I thought it would cost and that's without insurance, which I think is interesting. It means the Costco price is better than the insurance price. I can dig it. Monday. Also I need bacon and toilet paper.

Comments

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

So many times have I done hardware troubleshooting and/or customer troubleshooting. "What was the last thing you changed?" is the money question.

"I haven't changed anything!! It just happened."

Well let's see. What did the PC look like when you started using it today?

"It had that message, you know, the one about service package or update or whatever.. I just hit yes."

[susandennis]

i was so relieved because the next options were ugly. and the ladder one, ugliest of all.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

Well, good troubleshooting technique. Simplest first.

[restoman.livejournal.com]

Kudos to you for figuring out the ceiling light problem!

I am glad it wasn't the beginning of the rebellion where the robots all rise up against us!

[roasted-beets.livejournal.com]

After any power failure, Alexa (in the kitchen) decides to connect to my iPhone (located farthest away in the house) which should be connected to my bedroom speaker (because this always happens at night). My sleep podcast isn't doing much good in the kitchen and my husband ends up unplugging Alexa because she won't obey him and I sleep through it all. 😂

[richaarde.livejournal.com]

See, this is why I refuse to live in a house that is smarter than I am.

[terri gordon (from livejournal.com)]

I’ve heard of the evil Kleenex box, but you are the first person I have known with one.
I am off the check my box, since I too have changed mine out recently.
God knows what evil atrocities it has planned for me! 😳
ThanKs for the much needed laugh!

[legalmoose]

I've had this happen with TV remotes (of which there are too many). Or my favorite, a video game controller after replacing the batteries, which somehow caught and stuck one of the buttons down.

[spacefem.livejournal.com]

this is hilarious!

aren't you happy you live in the digital age when there are so many things to make life "simple"?