In fact, I feel so much better that I learned how to reprogram the remote control for the garage door opener. Like a totally 21st-century person, I climbed up a stepladder and photographed the machine with my phone, then took the serial number from the photograph and Googled for a user manual. Bingo!

Following the instructions thus acquired, I then climbed the ladder again and did the business in 10 seconds (push one button, push another button, look for a little red light to flash). Then I put the ladder away.

Mind you, all this was made possible through an off-hand question to the guy behind the counter at the dry cleaners' yesterday, who also repairs cellphones (small town). It took only a little more than a year for me to realize that a guy who fixes cellphones might be sufficiently gadget-oriented to give me a hint.

I feel kinda silly, but then I remind myself that I never even considered buying a garage door opener until 2013, when (a) we had some money to spare for about the very first time in our lives, and (b) I had fallen once too often on the icy driveway while heaving open the door by hand, and begun to worry about breaking a hip.