It goes without saying that technology is a magnificent thing. Yay, progress :) Every now and then, I find myself faced with a "backwards" experience that reminds me to appreciate the technology we have today. Sadly, these aren't very life-altering or profound backwards experiences -- I mean, it's not like I occasionally shit in an outhouse in the middle of the night or have to pluck my own chickens before dinner. No, it's just little things and I say, geez my life really has been made easier/better/more full because of this small advancement.
Most recently I experienced this in a rental car.
I hopped into my recent rental (mind you, a 2010 model of a foreign variety) and was initially perturbed only with the lack of a satellite radio subscription (most of my corporate rentals have this handy feature). Annoyed at having to bring my own satellite radio set up, the true inconvenience of my trip surfaced within the first 25 minutes of my 380 minute drive -- manual temperature controls. What unholy, sadistic, hippie engineer came up with this gem on a 2010 car? Or was it some asshole accountant who triumphantly announced how much money the precious company could save by omitting an automatic temperature function on all base models? (Probably the same asshole accountant who decided to omit pieces of the braking system to make those fail, too . . .)
So, whilst driving along the interstate at 5 a.m. in brisk fall weather, hoping to bring the internal temperature of the automobile to a comfortable 72 - I was instead forced to choose from a variety of fan speeds, blower locations, and that lovely little dial that alleges to represent the most precise of temperature settings: Red and Blue (or a mix of the two, which is strangely not purple). I actually grabbed the key fob to confirm the year and model of the car, because I was in utter indignation that vehicles are even made like this anymore. Surely this car is a 2002, right?
Needless to say, gentle reader, you can imagine that I was pretty jacked up throughout this entire car ride - doomed to be either too hot or too cold. I must have looked like a senile old woman in a nursing home - constantly opening and closing windows, taking off my jacket, fiddling with knobs and levers, yelling at invisible people. All to no satisfaction.
Hi There! I like your blog :)
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