May 10, 2007
Lois: It happened just the other day. The incident I have so carefully avoided. I needed to move the outlet strip that my iPod docking station/alarm clock is plugged into. Then it happened. Oh noooo ... the plug unplugged! What to do? Quick, fix it. Plug it back in! Maybe it won’t notice. And you know what? It didn’t. The clock, alarm time, music programming all remained intact. Nothing happened. I must have just been lucky — this time.
I never touch the settings on that instrument panel. The alarm is set for 6 a.m. and it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, or what the occasion is, that’s the time the alarm is set for and that’s that! Until my daughter comes home from summer vacation, that is as it will stay. I will just roll over, turn it off, and go back to sleep if it isn’t a school day.
Remember the "good old days" when all you had to do was plug something in, turn a switch, and it went on? Attaching an antenna or rabbit ears wasn’t so hard. All you needed was a screwdriver and a little common sense, no manual required. TVs, radios, and vacuum cleaners were electric appliances. No more.
The kids chipped in and gave me a Roomba for Christmas last year. Normally, a cleaning appliance isn’t considered a great gift idea, but I love it! It vacuums for me, saves my back and my time. It only requires a little programming, does a great job, and is very easy to clean. But alas, one very sad day, just before Christmas, it got sick, a virus maybe. It just starts up and spins in circles now. I got out the manual and checked every sensor, reprogrammed, (several hours ) and no improvement. The manual says that it is not a vacuum cleaner, it is a computer and I will need to speak to or send it to a technological specialist to cure my precious helper. Ever called tech support…?
For Christmas I gave my husband a home theater system. He really enjoys it. The surround sound that accompanies special effects is spectacular and truly does enhance the home movie watching experience. However, it stores five DVDs at a time, the remote control has about fifty buttons, and there are multiple steps involved in programming a movie selection to play. Unless someone else is setting up and starting a movie for me, I’m not going to have that kind of time until the summer.
Power failure? The lights come on just fine. Then the journey around the house begins, reprogramming televisions, appliances, clocks…
All the new technology is terrific. It offers products, opportunities, and solutions we never imagined as kids. But I do like the security of simplicity. Plug it in. Turn it on. Turn it off. All done!
(Yes! I think it worked!)
Laura, 25: Walking into the home I grew up in is comparable to walking into a time warp. Every clock deliberately tells a different time. The goal: to keep my perpetually late mother running closer to “on-time.”
I admit, I’m guilty of this as well, and it probably drives my newlywed husband nuts. I have five clocks I use regularly. My alarm clock, set 15 minutes fast; the clock in my car runs 17 minutes fast; the clock in my bathroom is about 7 minutes fast (but really it’s 53 minutes slow, because I can’t figure out how to spring forward); I’m not sure how fast my microwave clock is, but it’s less than five minutes; and finally, the clock on my cell phone, which actually reads the real time. But this is my system and I understand it.
When I go into my parents’ house in Pennsylvania, it’s a time trap. You lose or gain up to an hour an a half walking from the kitchen downstairs to the bedroom upstairs. Imagine all my clock scenarios, and at least double it. I once understood the science to the clock timing in the house, but now I notice its absurdity more than ever. Because I live in the Central Time Zone now, I already feel an hour off. I walk around in a constant state of timelessness — but not in a laid-back I-have-nowhere-to-go-I’m-on-no-schedule-kind-of-way. More like a head-aching-I-thought-it was-6 p.m.-and-it’s-really-7:30 p.m.-what-time-does-the-sun-go-down-around-here-anyway? kind of way.
All this time, all the energy we put into making sure the clocks are set to our specific system, they don’t’ keep me (or my mom) on time. If I were a betting lady, I’d probably guess that Chrystin has her own clock system too. Maybe it’s human nature, trying to fit 15 extra minutes into our days. What it really makes me do is short division when I’m half asleep, obviously increasing my chances of oversleeping.
So, starting today, I’m going to try a new experiment. For the first time in my life, I’m going to live in real time. I’m setting all my clocks to the same hour, minute and second. Maybe that way the power outages and accidental unplugging won’t be so hard to remedy. We’ll see how long this experiment lasts. My hypothesis: I’ll be back to my old ways by the time we fall back.
Jackie, 18: My clock has always read the correct time for the fear of being late for something. The fact that I could miss a few minutes of class, practice, or a party scares me because I hate to miss out on things. To me being late sends my day into a hectic frenzy while also sending a bad message to people that I could be irresponsible. However, I have a very huge weakness when it comes to time in the morning when I have to wake up for the day. If I have to be up at 8 o’clock for a 9 o’clock class then I have to set the alarm for 7:30 so that I can hit the snooze three to four times before actually motivating myself to get up out of bed and start the day. Once I get rolling though there is not stopping me.
Chrystin, 29: Hmm…”Don’t Unplug That!” Is that game anything like the game, “Don’t Flip That Switch”? Laura and Jackie will remember that game fondly (insert laughter here).
I don’t have a plug-unplugging phobia, but here is my electrical phobia: blowing the circuit in the room where I get ready every day. Here’s the way I have my daily beauty prep set up: hair dryer (1700W); flattening iron (300W); and cutesy lamp from IKEA (40W light bulb) — all plugged into the same extension cord. And in the summer, there’s also a fan plugged into it. So, you can imagine that when the fan is spinning because it’s sweltering under the running hair dryer and the light’s on because you gotta see what you’re doing and the flattening iron is warming-up, it’s a lot going on within on little power cord. It might benefit you to know that this room also has a computer, two printers, a TV, an overhead hanging lamp, and speaker. And, yes I do have Diane Sawyer on in the morning when I’m getting ready. Needless to say, this room’s circuit has a lot going on.
You can imagine that this circuit blows. And, often, at the worst possible time…like I’m running late for an interview or getting ready for a wedding. You’d think after 4 years in this habitat that I’d be able to reactivate the circuit without trouble but you’d be wrong. The breaker box is in the corner of dark closet with a whole lotta stuff in front of it (of course!).
I’m not gonna lie, there have been times when my co-habitant has not been home to deal with the circuit that I’ve gotten ready in the kitchen. It’s not sanitary but a girls got to do what a girls got to do!
Laura, 25: FYI, “Don’t Flip That Switch” has to do with a few mysterious light switches in our house. Growing up, there were certain ones (one in particular, had something to do with lighting in our back yard) that we weren’t allowed to touch, and others that we could flip up and down but never see what they affect. To be honest, I still don’t know what would happen if we did flip them. What are they attached to anyway?!?
Comments
debster52 (anonymous) says...
lol...the good old days before the "clapper"...and remotes...you turned it off and on and walked across the room to change the channel...lol...we had mysterious light switches too which only makes me laugh more at the insurance commercial where the hubby is turning the switch on and off and the garage door 2 houses down is going up and down...lol...thanks for the chuckle....
May 27, 2007 at 8:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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