Learning From the Young
I grew up in a time without technology like smart phones or even computers. Leaning on the intuitive use of technology I see with my nieces and nephews allows me to learn a lot.
Greatest Life Hack Lesson
How many times has this happened to you? You go to look up some information from a bill you’ve filed or from a document like your passport and find yourself without a piece of paper or pen? Recently, for instance, I had to renew my auto registration. I love how you can do that on-line in Pennsylvania for a while now. But I always forget it requires my car’s odometer reading and the insurance details.
Today, I ran upstairs to get my current odometer mileage and the start and end dates for my auto insurance. Of course, I didn’t bring a pen and paper with me to record it.
I realized quickly that I wasn’t going to remember a 5-digit number and two dates by the time I got back downstairs to my computer. So I did what all tech-enabled people do. I took a photo of the odometer and I took a photo of my insurance card!
To many of you, I know this sounds idiotically simple and obvious. But honestly it’s not usually the first thought that comes to mind. It is for many of the people ten years or more younger than I am. My first thought is that I need to bring a paper and pencil to write down the information.
How many of you also have a photo of your license plate stored on your phone for when you need it?
Taking photos of whiteboards at work before I erased them was the first time this idea was ever demonstrated to me. I have used it ever since.
Thank you younger co-workers. You can teach an old dog new tricks!
What are some of the great technological life hacks you’ve learned or know that you can pass on to the aged here?
Current Knitting
I made some additional progress on the garter scarf.
I decided that Dolores was really going to need something a bit warmer during this frigid weather. So I started working on the latest “outfit” for her.
Mary Jane Mucklestone really outdid herself with the hat design. I particularly love that there are ear-holes for her ears! And who would include six Fair Isle charts in a pattern for a sheep’s toque? While the festive scarf will take a while to complete (it’s a simple striped tube that it taking me longer than more complex patterns), Dolores head will stay warm and fashionable. I also have a few tassels to make.
Still not getting emails to tell me when you post. Am I the only one?
Sorry Jenny…the first plug-in I used to try and create e-mail notifications didn’t work after all the set up, so now I’ve switched it to MailChimp. You should get an e-mail at around 11:00 am Eastern US time today. Fingers crossed!
Oh, Joe, I am such a book junkie that I have had to stop buying them (I have enough insulation in my house thank you very much), that I go to the bookstore with my phone and take pictures of the books I want to read, and then go the library and request them! And even though I know I should not, I sometimes photo a knitting pattern in a magazine if there is only 1 pattern in the entire magazine I am interested in.
I sometimes take a photo of where I parked my car. Or text photos of products while I’m in the store to family to confirm that I’m buying the right one. Or I take photos of myself when trying to buy new glasses to audition the frames. Younger folks do that with clothes in change rooms so that they can compare outfits.