I Love Gadgets, but They Don’t Love Me
There’s a lot going on around here this month. We have lots of travel, lots of celebrations and lots of effort to stay out of the heat. Last weekend on my way home from Dallas it was 109° and every time I stepped outside it felt like I was heading onto the surface of the sun. I don’t remember it being this hot the past few years. But of course it’s possible that I’ve blocked it out.
In an effort to stay cool I have been equipping myself with cooling gadgets and devices. I like gadgets and new technology. I can’t always figure them out, but I still like them. To prove my gadget inadequacy, you need to hear the little fan story.
I bought a small, pen-sized fan at The Container Store last December. It was in those stocking stuffer bins that you dig through to see if there’s a good gift for that hard to buy for guy but instead find things you want for yourself.
This fan is barely bigger than the AA battery required to run it and I knew it would be perfect for me to carry in my purse over the summer (and on planes or in church or the backseat of any car ‘cuz I get hot everywhere). When I got it home I took it out of the box and put a battery in it only to discover that the blade moved backwards and wasn’t blowing, but pulling the air. “Um, this dumb thing doesn’t work at all,” I thought as I tossed it on the foot of the bed and looked through the garbage for the box so I could return it. Then my husband came in, saw me with my head in the trash and asked what I was doing. “I have to return that little fan because it doesn’t work so I am looking for the box,” I murmured. He asked what was wrong with it, I told him and he laughed. I recognized the tone of his laugh. It’s the one that says, “Oh Lisa, you really are a cute dingbat.” So I stood up from my trash search in time to see him take the battery out of the fan, flip it over and put it back in the fan. “No!,” I rolled my eyes,” It will turn on, it’s just going the wrong way!” That’s my own tone that says, “You men think you can fix everything but you’re not so smart.” He grinned like the Grinch and held the little fan up to my face and I felt the breeze….his trick had worked! The blades were going to right way!!!
He still teases me about that, but in my defense I had never heard that a battery could work in either direction.
I also had an issue once with a portable DVD player in which I got my favorite movie (“You’ve Got Mail”) permanently stuck. I told my kids, “Sorry you can’t use the DVD player anymore. It won’t open. I have tried 1,000 times to get that DVD out.” That’s when my 5 year old took it, pushed the button on the side and it flipped open. Oh. I hadn’t seen that button.
At Disney World last May I bought a cute little Minnie Mouse umbrella that I had a devil of a time opening and closing. I’d have to press it closed by sandwiching the umbrella between my body and a wall and shove against it. Then to open it I would have to pull it with all my night. I kept thinking it seemed unusually hard to open & close. Then one afternoon while waiting in a covered area for the rain to stop I saw a little girl with the same umbrella. I was thinking about how it must be impossible for her to open when I watched her pull it out, push the little button and pop it open. I sent my husband a text, “THIS DUMB UMBRELLA HAS A BUTTON ON IT!! LOL!!!”
And don’t even get me started about the hands free faucets in public restrooms. I have never in my life been able to make one of them turn on. I am at the mercy of other ladies in the bathroom who are willing to swipe their hand under for me.
I did figure out how to use my small necklace fan. It hangs around your neck and blows on your face. That fan, Sonic ice and my bottle of peppermint oil are my summer BFFs. I will wear that little necklace fan anywhere and everywhere and I don’t care if it makes me look like a sci-fi creature or that it makes a humming sound. I NEED it. (although I have thought of trying to bling it up somehow)
In Dallas also went to a used bookstore which, frankly, I generally stay away from. As soon as I entered I knew it had been a mistake. I didn’t even get past the second display in the front of the store before I had an armful of books to purchase. Did I need these books? No. But that’s what happens in used bookstores.
I walked out with $60 worth of used books, but no gadgets. I at least had the wisdom to avoid that section of the store….even though I really wanted this cool looking booklight that I saw out of the corner of my eye. I felt certain that I would somehow put the batteries in wrong and never hear the end of it.
Have a great week. Stay cool!
If you like this post, you will also like How to Keep a Simple Summer Menu and 10 of My Favorite Summer Oils