At Cornerstones, we have an alarming number of 'smart' devices, controlled by Alexa [The Other Woman, as I call her] Bob loves gadgets, I find her very frustrating at times!In our cars, we always refer to the voice on the Satnav as Grace. If you know the hymn "Amazing Grace" you will recognise the reference- "Tis Grace has brought us safe thus far,and Grace will lead us home"
Our original satnavs were plug in devices, which attached to the windscreen/dashboard. Then Bob's Skoda Kodiaq had a built in satnav and screen. My Skoda Fabia, purchased in the Spring has a screen - but I have to attach my phone via a cable to use satnav facilities.
All well and good, but my phone has really been playing up of late. I know Norfolk is not always good for mobile phone signals. But last Sunday, in the pouring rain, somewhere just north of Hoddesdon, I lost signal completely. And I was still on minor roads, and the GB atlas was in the other car. [my thanks to the lovely family parked in the layby, who were able to reassure me that the next right turn would take me to the M11 junction at Stansted] I got home safely.
I have been really frustrated with my mobile phone when texts and messages don't come through promptly. or I cannot make calls/WhatsApps due to lack of signal.
So I have just invested in a new phone. A shiny Motorola, and all is well and good. Bob said he had an old i-phone which had battery issues, and why didn't I keep that in the car, solely to operate the satnav? That way I am not constantly plugging/unplugging my Motorola [wear and tear on the socket] This seemed a good idea. So he kindly set it up for me on Saturday morning, good news - it works perfectly. Battery issues don't matter as it is always plugged in and charging.It will be interesting to see how long the £15 credit on the sim card lasts, if the i-phone is only used for satnav.[My regular mobile operates on a monthly pay-as-you go tariff from GiffGaff and is both cheap and reliable.]But the voice is different! There are four choices- two men [no!] or two women [American or Mancunian] We've opted for the latter. She sounds a bit like my mate Rachel.. I shall still call her Grace.
Grace, Alexa, Siri...[oh, and the gadget in the workshop is called Dot] When my grandmother was growing up, the best regulated homes had female assistants called Mollie, Elsie and Gladys
Our original satnavs were plug in devices, which attached to the windscreen/dashboard. Then Bob's Skoda Kodiaq had a built in satnav and screen. My Skoda Fabia, purchased in the Spring has a screen - but I have to attach my phone via a cable to use satnav facilities.
We call our satnav Sassy because she gets really sassy when you ignore her directions in a known area! We were just talking at the weekend about Norrie changing phone provider so that at least one of us has a signal when we are away in the Moho. Catriona
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DeleteYou won't believe it, but I recently drove with sat nav in the car for the first time... it's very comfortable. And yes the voice is important... I chose female. A hug for you.
ReplyDeleteMay we always be on the right path!
Absolutely, always keep to the straight and narrow way!
DeleteSat nav is still a novelty for us in our not so new anymore car bought Aug last year. Our next challenge is to persuade it that we don't want radio 2, or any radio playing in the background when we use it!
ReplyDeleteBackground radio can be distracting
DeleteI don't have any gadgets or satnav. I like to plan my routes via a map and write down on the back of an envelope to put them in my memory. I wonder if you lived alone would you live as I do without gadgets in the house. It is fine to do so.
ReplyDeleteI find sat available useful when driving in large and unfamiliar cities, because you get advance warning about being in the correct lane, which is helpful. Some gadgets are useful, others not so much.
DeleteWhat a lot of 'other women'!
ReplyDeleteIt's ok, I know I'm always his #1
ReplyDeleteUsually our 'car lady' is turned down and hubby prefers to follow the map. He is pretty good at directions so we are mostly ok although we sometimes have an unplanned diversion :-)
ReplyDeleteEven satnavs can lead us astray sometimes
DeleteSat nav is very useful! I used to get on such a pickle trying to give CBC directions from a map when we first started going out. Kx
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to get confused
DeleteI couldn't have a male voice telling me what to do on my Satnav either, mine is always switched to female. The guys at a garage I used to go to in Oxfordshire once altered it to an Irish male voice as a joke ... that didn't last long!!
ReplyDeleteAlan's new car (he's had it six months) has a built in Siri, we didn't even know how to communicate with her until last week when he found the button on one of the steering wheel arms after advice from my son.
Why do they make every car Different? That reminds me,I need to alter the clock now we are back on gmt
DeleteWell written Angela. Sat Nav is of course hugely useful, but I still think it's a bit unnerving the way computers seem to rule our lives now ( I realise the irony of that sentence as I tap out my reply on an I pad 😉🙃😄 )
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
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DeleteNo plans to have any other women in my house!!
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DeleteDH has Alexa in his office and it amuses me to hear him bossing her around and ordering her to play Leonard Cohen or other favourites. She is very useful for long distance phone calls. As for Sat Nav, we used to have a GPS gadget that we used in the car and I finally got rid of it when it tried to get us to drive left straight into the St Lawrence River! I still prefer maps.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you were wise enough to ignore that instruction [we had a hire car in Sicily, and the satnav told us to drive down a set of steps, just like in the Italian Job!]
DeleteI am afraid I don't use any of those devices! I don't like a lot of gadgets; they just confuse me!
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