Jane Eyre, Trapped

Had to rescue Jane Eyre today. She had got herself trapped in our telly in the kitchen. It ate the video and then refused to spit it out. It was a bad buy that telly. It went wrong just after the guarantee expired (I wonder how these devices know to do that) and I had a big fight with the supplier (no names - but Haley probably shopped there) to get it mended. Anyhoo, it broke again today in just the same way. A cassette got stuck inside and stalled the motors, causing the power supply to cut out.

This time there was no talk of repair. It was simply a matter of getting the tape out and then taking the whole thing to the tip (where I can mingle with all the rich and famous). There is something very liberating about taking something to bits without caring how to put it together again. I had the video out (undamaged) in ten minutes. The TV will never work again.

I used to know someone who worked in a TV repair shop. He had some lovely stories of upright, solid citizens who would bring in video players for repair because they had copies of "Swedish Chartered Accountant on the Job" or somesuch stuck inside them. He would make a special effort to be in the shop when the owner turned up to collect their mended machine, to describe how the tape had got stuck and hand back the video with a smile.