When I was traveling in February and March I stayed with my daughter Kaycee for the Colorado portions of the trip. Kaycee is taking a couple of online college courses and was working on homework every night I was there - very dedicated she was.
One of the last evenings I was there we were sitting on the sofa. I was watching TV and she was working on her PC laptop on a paper for one of her classes. She asked me to proof something for her on her paper and handed me the laptop.
I immediately reached up and started to drag my finger on the screen rather than using the keyboard. Uh, I have apparently been ruined by my Iphone, which I have only had since January, but now apparently I assume every computer screen is going to being touchscreen. I should be able to tap it twice to make the text larger, and again twice to make it go smaller.
There are some other automatic assumptions I make now that don't always end well:
Keyless remote on my automobile - Really, the most annoying part about my whole trip was always fumbling around to find the keys. The Kia Soul did not have a keyless remote...you actually had to put the key in the door and in the ignition - such a nuisance! This is my Prius key. It never comes out of my purse.
Sensored toilet flushes - I know I have walked out of many stalls without even thinking about turning around and flushing the toilet because I am so used to them flushing automatically. My sincere apologies to the women who use the stall after me.
Sensored water faucets - I don't think I've ever been in a house or RV with sensored water faucets, yet I still find myself waving my hands underneath the faucets waiting for the water to start flowing. I have caught myself doing this in my bathroom in the RV, but that isn't so bad because noone sees me do it - standing there waving my hands, mindlessly, under the faucet. In public, though, it is another deal.
Sensored paper towel dispenser - I have a problem with these in general because I think I have invisible hands or something. I always have to "Wave My Hands Under Dispenser" a little longer than should be necessary - and this is the embarrassing part - I can rarely do this without talking to the dispenser. Usually I am swearing at the dispenser. I do this without even noticing because it is such a common problem for me. This is a link to a funny site with a cute cartoon about waving your hands under the towel dispenser.
http://memebase.com/2011/04/19/memes-master-towels/
The Phone Book - Yes we have one. One from Bend, Oregon; one from Las Vegas, NV; one from Dallas/Fort Worth, TX and now one for the greater Orlando, FL area. I have never cracked the spine on any of these books and at the moment could not tell you where they are in the RV unless Walt threw them away without telling me - something I hope actually happened.
GPS Navigation - Even though we have it in our car we still have to stop and buy maps - yes people, MAPS. They do still publish maps. My atlas is one of my favorite books but rarely gets used in real life. We have the Toyota navigation product in our Prius and it is definitely substandard.UnUn Oftentimes, we will use the navigation apps on our smartphones concurrently, just to make sure we don't miss a turn.
Starbucks on every corner - This one is actually fading because Starbucks in central Florida are few and far between, but prior to coming here I would be totally annoyed if there wasn't a Starbucks within a couple of miles whenever I got the urge for a cup of coffee. I do have to actually resort to buying my iced coffee from McDonald's now. I have sunk so low.
These are just a few things that come to mind. If you have some other ones that you think of or take for granted post in the comments. I would love to hear if anyone else has these same issues.
Copyright (c) - 2012 - Chardale Irvine. All rights reserved. You may not publish or reprint this article without permission of Chardale Irvine.
One of the last evenings I was there we were sitting on the sofa. I was watching TV and she was working on her PC laptop on a paper for one of her classes. She asked me to proof something for her on her paper and handed me the laptop.
I immediately reached up and started to drag my finger on the screen rather than using the keyboard. Uh, I have apparently been ruined by my Iphone, which I have only had since January, but now apparently I assume every computer screen is going to being touchscreen. I should be able to tap it twice to make the text larger, and again twice to make it go smaller.
There are some other automatic assumptions I make now that don't always end well:
Keyless remote on my automobile - Really, the most annoying part about my whole trip was always fumbling around to find the keys. The Kia Soul did not have a keyless remote...you actually had to put the key in the door and in the ignition - such a nuisance! This is my Prius key. It never comes out of my purse.
Sensored toilet flushes - I know I have walked out of many stalls without even thinking about turning around and flushing the toilet because I am so used to them flushing automatically. My sincere apologies to the women who use the stall after me.
Sensored water faucets - I don't think I've ever been in a house or RV with sensored water faucets, yet I still find myself waving my hands underneath the faucets waiting for the water to start flowing. I have caught myself doing this in my bathroom in the RV, but that isn't so bad because noone sees me do it - standing there waving my hands, mindlessly, under the faucet. In public, though, it is another deal.
Sensored paper towel dispenser - I have a problem with these in general because I think I have invisible hands or something. I always have to "Wave My Hands Under Dispenser" a little longer than should be necessary - and this is the embarrassing part - I can rarely do this without talking to the dispenser. Usually I am swearing at the dispenser. I do this without even noticing because it is such a common problem for me. This is a link to a funny site with a cute cartoon about waving your hands under the towel dispenser.
http://memebase.com/2011/04/19/memes-master-towels/
The Phone Book - Yes we have one. One from Bend, Oregon; one from Las Vegas, NV; one from Dallas/Fort Worth, TX and now one for the greater Orlando, FL area. I have never cracked the spine on any of these books and at the moment could not tell you where they are in the RV unless Walt threw them away without telling me - something I hope actually happened.
GPS Navigation - Even though we have it in our car we still have to stop and buy maps - yes people, MAPS. They do still publish maps. My atlas is one of my favorite books but rarely gets used in real life. We have the Toyota navigation product in our Prius and it is definitely substandard.UnUn Oftentimes, we will use the navigation apps on our smartphones concurrently, just to make sure we don't miss a turn.
Starbucks on every corner - This one is actually fading because Starbucks in central Florida are few and far between, but prior to coming here I would be totally annoyed if there wasn't a Starbucks within a couple of miles whenever I got the urge for a cup of coffee. I do have to actually resort to buying my iced coffee from McDonald's now. I have sunk so low.
These are just a few things that come to mind. If you have some other ones that you think of or take for granted post in the comments. I would love to hear if anyone else has these same issues.
Copyright (c) - 2012 - Chardale Irvine. All rights reserved. You may not publish or reprint this article without permission of Chardale Irvine.
HaHa! I totally get the automatic bathroom stuff! It's very annoying to have to remember to flush the toilet! I wish I had the smartphone experience to compare, though. One day soon T-Mobile will drag me kicking and screaming into the 4G world...
ReplyDeleteLove, Lynn
your cuz...