Life has its way of bringing conflict our way. That is pretty much one thing we can always count on whether we like it or not. Take, for example, the new remote control for our cable boxes.

I really love new advances in technology. I might not always buy the new gadget or gizmo right away, but I really do appreciate it when something new comes along. Sometimes, I even envy those who immediately take the plunge.

But I also know that sometimes companies foist something new on us for no real reason at all except to give us something new so we are distracted. This is when I start to lose my faith in most everything.

I think this might be the case with the new-fangled remote the cable company has rolled out recently. I only see one or two real benefits to the change, which makes me learn all new locations for the buttons on the thing.

Not that big of a problem in the big picture, but I can’t figure out why they feel they need to do this kind of thing.

I should have learned by now, to be honest. I received one of the new ones several months ago when one of our cable boxes went to the great electronic recycling bin in the sky.

So when I had to take another box back in – they said it was too old to deal with some new software they say they will upload for the menu – I made sure to get new remotes for each box so they matched.

Big mistake. I could deal with the new one I got for the basement TV a while back because I only use it for sports usually and don’t flip channels too much. We use a different remote for the living room TV so it’s a moot point.

But the bedroom TV is now controlled by this new thing which really should be simple, but I just can’t wrap my mind around.

I should not have this much trouble remembering which side controls the volume and which side controls the channel. The location of the button to see the on-screen guide should not cause me confusion. And why can’t I deal with where they put the mute button?

To top all of this off, the new cable box for the living room is some new, sleek model which doesn’t show us what channel we are viewing. My wife and daughter complained about this first, but it hadn’t bothered me until they brought it up. Now, I can’t stop checking the box to see what channel I am on.

As you can tell, these are big problems. Real big problems. I don’t know how to handle all of this change.

The good news is that I heard there is a channel which gives you advice on how to deal with technological problems like this. If I could only figure out the remote so I could tune in.