Garage door opener

My garage door is one of those that tilts up and horizontal when opened. After years of use, the remote for the garage door opener wasn't working as well as it used to. Changing the battery helped: I could open the door from a couple of houses away (which was certainly better than 5 feet, when the battery was weak). But it used to be better.

I asked my electronics wizard friend, Jim Peisker, if he had any ideas. He opened up the remote and receiver and pointed at a couple parts. He said we should replace the electrolytic capacitor because those can degrade over time. ("Of course!")

After he replaced those, I was amazed at how well it worked, even from 10 houses away where I'd first round the corner.

That left such an impression on me that I've oft thought of including those details in a movie and then make some additional upgrade to the garage opener that would make it even more powerful, which in my mind means the door would violently blow itself off the face of the garage when I tested it from the far end of the block.