You may recall that earlier this year my son fried my old laptop computer by pouring soda pop on the keyboard… while it was on…. Well, he hasn’t destroyed my new laptop (yet, knock on wood), but has instead turned his attention to another electronic device: our VCR/DVD combo unit.

Yes, the little guy (now 2 1/2 years old) stuck a VHS tape in the unit, which wouldn’t have been a big deal except that he put it in sideways. All the way. He basically bypassed the carriage mechanism that loads the tape and crammed the edge of the cassette right past the tape head.

I had to take the cover off the unit to release the tape, at which point I found another surprise: a DVD that had been missing for months! Apparently, the little darling tried loading a DVD into the VHS compartment a while back, and it had been lodged in there ever since — unbeknownst to my wife or me. No soda or peanut butter sandwiches were found inside, thankfully.

At first, the damage didn’t appear to be quite as bad as I was expecting, but upon further inspection, I’ve confirmed that the VCR portion is definitely inoperable. It rejects all VHS tapes now, apparently because the mechanism that threads the tape around the tape head is damaged.

But wait, it gets better. I went to the store to buy a new VCR/DVD combo (this one only cost approx. $90), and guess what? VCRs don’t have tuners in them anymore! That’s right — because of the changeover from NTSC (analog) to ATSC (digital) broadcasts set to take place Feb. 2009, manufacturers have stopped putting NTSC tuners in their VCRs. Oh happy day.

The only reason we use the VCR is to tape programs automatically to watch later. That requires a tuner — and a timer, for that matter. “Sorry,” says Sony. “Tough luck,” says Toshiba. It appears our VCR/DVD combo unit, which isn’t even as old as my son, is an irreplaceable antique.

We joked before that we would take the cost of the laptop out of my son’s college fund. We’ve now decided he will have no college fund. He can put himself through DeVry University and learn how to fix electronic things as penance.