A First World Problem

We have two remote controls for our garage door and one of them doesn't work very well. The problem is that it doesn't disengage; it's in the "ON" position all the time. As a result, it's very touchy. Driving over a bump or slamming the trunk shut can trigger it to go off. That's actually OK because we only need one. We have been storing the faulty one in the house and use the good one in the car.

The other day I was at home looking out the window and happened to notice that the garage door was open. I could tell that it hadn't been open long because the light was still on and the door cable was still moving. I realized that when I had picked up something from the tray inside, I had accidentally touched our faulty remote control for the garage door. I went back to the remote and picked it up. As soon as I did so, the garage door closed. I didn't even have to touch the button - just pick up the remote.

An easy solution would be to take out the battery but there doesn't seem to be any way to open up the remote without breaking it completely. I suppose I could break it, but I keep hoping that we can fix it somehow.

I put the remote down on the table by the window and the door opened again. I picked it up and the door stopped mid-way. This kept happening. Even the vibrations made when walking past the table triggered it. (We live in a wooden house, remember.) So I decided to put the remote on the window sill because that is more stable than the table. I realized that this was a temporary solution. I had to get the remote far away from the garage.

The next morning, I decided to take it to work with me and leave it there. This was easier said than done. Erik had already left for the day when I left for work. Conrad and Arthur were away. I gently picked up the remote and the door went haywire! I walked to the car and put it in the passenger seat. The door is opening, stopping, closing, over and over again. I drove out of the garage, down the back lane and half-way down the next street where I stopped the car and walked back to the garage with the the good remote control. Sure enough, the door was wide open. I closed it and walked back to the car and off to work.

I phoned Erik from work when he got home and the garage door was still shut.

The faulty remote control is in my desk at work until Arthur gets home and figures out how to fix it.