Tech Updates

One of the reasons that I wanted to attend seminary in person was the chance to be geographically closer to my family. Since I don't want to waste any time in the few years that I'll spend in DC, on Friday, I went down to Williamsburg to see my parents.

My trip today was both easy and not. As I was getting adjusted in the car in the parking lot of Wesley, I saw a deer ambling across the parking lot. If we hadn't seen them a few weeks ago, I'd have thought I was losing my mind.

I got turned around leaving DC--I recognized the McDonalds from an earlier trip that my sister and I made to Wesley in early August.  We stopped there to try to get our bearings.  I kept driving and saw signs for I 95, and I knew I was on a road going east.  I thought, if I'm not careful, I'll end up in Baltimore. I turned around, got on 395, and zipped on down.

I thought I would recognize the Williamsburg exit. I was all the way to Newport News before I realized I had missed it. I got off the interstate, looking for a place where I could park and program the phone. Instead I got on a road and the sign said, "Only Ft. Eustis traffic. All others must exit." So I exited and got back on the interstate headed west.

From that direction, I saw a sign that mentioned the next exit was good for parking for William and Mary football games.  I took that exit, but missed a subsequent exit.  Happily, another sign directed me to downtown Williamsburg.   

I drove around the downtown, which doesn't have many places to pull over and park for a few minutes. Happily, at the Municipal Building I was able to park and program the phone, which took me in to my parents'. Plus I figured out how to have it talk to me.

Can I make it talk to me again? Can I remember how I did it? That remains to be seen.

In the future, I can probably make the trip in 2.5 to 3 hours, if the traffic isn't snarled.  In the future, I'll program the phone before I leave.  I thought about how glad I was to have the phone.  Of course, if I hadn't had a phone, I would have gotten the directions before I left and written them down.

Technology is amazing, when it works.  My dad spent several hours on the phone yesterday trying to get the cable reconnected to the TV and chasing down the answer to a banking question.  My mom and I spent time trying to figure out where a book delivery went.  Some background:  when I opened my packages of books a week ago, I realized I had ordered the wrong version of one of them.  It was a book on CD, but I need a paper copy.  So, I ordered it again to come to my parents' house so I could pick it up this week-end. My folks said it hadn't come, but I had gotten a notice that it was delivered on Tuesday. Hmm.

 
I checked the address, and I had mistyped one #. So we went to that house in the neighborhood, which was vacant. No book by the front door or in the carport. But there, by the back door, was the book, waiting patiently for me. Happily, it hasn't been a rainy week in Williamsburg.

Tomorrow, I'll collect my books, my laptop, my smart cell phone, and head back to DC.  I'll take some tomatoes and peppers, items I bought at a farmer's market yesterday, veggies that will provide the basis for meals this week.  Low tech joys and high tech joys--it's probably the secret to a satisfied life, a life that can deal with tech issues and keep it all in perspective.