Progressively Worse

/ Ann Coleman

fullsizeoutput_5d20The other day I was driving happily along, when suddenly the emergency brakes slammed on and my dashboard lit up with warning signs.  This has happened a few times when I pull into my garage a little too quickly, but never on the street.  I was confused and alarmed, wondering what on earth had triggered the emergency brake system.  And then I spotted it:  a small twig with about seven leaves that had blown across the street, directly in front of my car.

I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if there had been a car behind me when my brakes slammed on.  Would my car have caused an accident in its attempt to avoid driving over a little twig?  I’ll never know, but the thought makes me distinctly uneasy.

I recently bought a new computer, and while setting it up I made the mistake of answering “yes” when asked if I wanted to upload all my photos to “The Cloud.”  I was already paying a small fee to use I-Cloud storage, so that seemed to be the sensible answer.  Sadly, it wasn’t, because it resulted in all my photos being uploaded twice, even the ones that I had previously stored only on my desktop.  Even worse, I got a notice from I-Cloud saying that I had used up almost all my storage and inviting me to pay more to increase it.  It also loaded all the photos (including the duplicates) onto my I-phone, which took a big chunk of that storage too.  And I found that if I deleted the photos from my I-phone, it automatically deleted them from my computer as well.  Since I prefer to keep most of my photos on my computer and just my favorites on my phone, that’s a problem.

The point of these stories is that new isn’t always better.  I know that these days almost any annoying new thing seems to be justified by either calling it progress or claiming it’s a “matter of safety,” but that doesn’t make it true.  I’ve had to spend hours deleting extra photos from my computer and still have no idea how to delete them from my phone while still storing the ones I want on my computer.  And I’ll never be convinced that a car hitting its emergency brakes because a few leaves blow across the road is keeping anyone safe.

In far too many ways, the progress from our technology has made our lives more complicated and stressful.  It may be more convenient to store all of our personal information, including medical and financial records, online but it also means we have to constantly worry about hackers stealing our identity and our money.  Say what you will, but identity theft wasn’t a big thing before the internet.  And remember the days when real people answered the phones if you called your doctor, bank, or just about any other company?  Now we just get an automated voice listing various options, and none of them are ever the reason why I actually called.

Yes, I know, technology is mostly a good thing and we must “embrace change” and “go with the flow” and all the other pat phrases that people trot out whenever anyone dares to question the infallibility of progress.  I’m just saying that in my opinion, change isn’t truly progress unless it’s a change for the better.  And I believe that it’s perfectly okay to point out the difference between good change and bad change, and pick and choose (as much as we are able) which of the new technologies we embrace and which ones we reject….

107 thoughts on “Progressively Worse”

  1. Bummer about your photos, Ann. You may have already done this, but if you purchased an Apple computer, they should have some sort of help that comes free with it, at least for some short term problems. Maybe they could assist you in getting just one set of photos uploaded.

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    • As a mac user, let me ask you a question? Do you think you’re the only one who mistakenly said ‘yes’? My husband goes crazy understanding Apple products but I tell him just to call customer support (which is oftentimes free) and he and the tech become best buddies in like a second. I’m certain Apple has a solution for your photos. I’d give them a call.
      We bought a new-to-us car in the spring. Everyday we learn some new feature the car has that we didn’t know about. All I wanted to master was learning how ApplePlay worked. Just plug and play BUT I needed the salesperson to show me.
      Good luck!

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      • Thanks, I’ll try calling them. On my computer, I just see the “help” icon, which doesn’t list their phone number. And when I go to the apple store in person, I’m usually dealing with a “youngster” who assumes that because I’m old, I’m also an idiot. So if the phone assistants are helpful, that would be a great thing! Thank you for your suggestion!

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  2. Agreed. I absolutely hate those automated things. I’m convinced businesses don’t really want to talk to people or problem solve anymore.

    I also have that brake thing and the lane assist one. I turned them both off after the car jerked me clear across the lane because it thought I was weaving :-/

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    • I agree, because those systems are clearly designed to make people go away. And I’m going to check into how to turn off that automatic braking. If I can’t figure it out, then I’ll take it to a dealership. Safety systems are nice when they work properly, but far too often, they don’t!

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  3. I agree with you. I rarely go to Starbucks, but if I ordered online, I get a free one over the weekend. To make a long story short, it let be get the correct store, set up my order, but wouldn’t let me place it. I must have tried 9 times as that was the order. So in store a lady had ordered, and it was a different location. So they did cancel and reorder. With me she got it to 1 a and it wouldn’t let her place it. Finally worked. With this offer it was crashing the site.

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    • I like the technologies that truly make things easier, and that work for us. But I very much dislike the technologies that make us work for them, and make things so much more difficult and complicated than they have to be. Thanks for the comment!

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  5. You’re so right. Technology is pretty wonderful, but really have to understand it all, and I’m not sure I’ll ever understand the cloud. On the plus side for me, my car is a 2004 and it has no special features! So yay for that! Hope you get your pics back.

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  6. Change for the sake of change is not always a good thing. I have no use for the Cloud/Google/Facebook/etc. Too much stuff goes missing or can be hacked. As to car electronics, I had an incident where my cruise control kicked out, because the laser sensor had a bug splat on it. The good news is that the brakes did not slam on. Technology is good as long as it works. Stay well. Allan

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    • You’re right, Allan, it’s only as good as it works for us! And you are smart to avoid the cloud/google/facebook, as it seems to mostly cause confusion and stress. Brave new world, Indeed!

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  7. I agree with you. Technological
    progress isn’t always an improvement for humanity unless
    they help make dirty water clean,
    produce better ways to treat illness-pandemics, end climate change etc. It seems we are really missing out on knowing each other because we don’t look up from our pbones and buy the latest gadgets.
    Science and technology are the new “Gods” of our age. It is great to be notified if a twig is in your path as you drive but if we rely on it too much we lose common sense, practicality, using our senses etc.
    Do we really need all of this stuff?

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    • That’s what I worry about, too. If we become completely reliant on technology to keep us safe, is that really a good thing? Whatever happened to common sense and being able to take care of ourselves? Technology should serve us, but it seems that too often, we are serving it. Thanks for the comment!

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  8. I have a new car and we are frenemies. I find I have better control of the brakes if I don’t use the navigation system but with all the speed traps I like using it. But my goodness all the beeps and braking makes me a nervous wreck, so I am with you.

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    • It’s a shame that they have to overdo it, isn’t it? I like the warning lights and beeps that come on if there’s a car in my blind spot, and the back up camera. But I don’t like it hitting the emergency brakes over leaves, and even if I pull into my garage a bit quickly. I’m 63 years old and have never hit a garage wall yet, so I don’t really think I’m going to start now. LOL!

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      • Well, I’m 65 and I have hit a garage wall. 😫 Don’t think I don’t get teased about it on a regular basis either. The funny thing was I didn’t tell my husband for a few days because I didn’t want him to tease me at church. I knew I could get away with it because he is completely unobservant about things around him at home. So after church we go to lunch with our Sunday School class and this random dude comes in while we were all at the table, and proceeds to tell Danny (my hubs) how to get the paint and drywall off the car fender. Danny thanks him and after he walks off, Danny turns to me and says, “Babe, anything you want to tell me?” The table erupted in hysterical laughter. I was as red as a beet! Busted! So it maaaaay come in handy some day!!! 😂

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  9. Oh, I feel your pain when it comes to the question; do I pay for more “cloud” storage or not?! And I have photos saved in more places than I know. But, today, I don’t want to embrace change. I chuckle when I realize the mess I’ve gotten into with half my knowledge of that change.

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    • Honestly, I the the old fashioned method of printing our photos and sticking them in a photo album was the best. I have no idea where my photos are floating around in the cloud either…nothing like technology to make us feel inept!

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  10. I was just having similar thoughts about technology! What do we save? And for how long:
    1. Trying to buy a DVD player for my mom & being told they’re dropping making them…everyone is streaming now.
    2. Looking over my blog page & wondering about deleting old posts. I have files on my PC, but wouldn’t printed copies be better, if I’m not actively editing? Do I save all, or vaporize?
    3. And pictures! Which to save? Should I print for family/community history, or let them go the way of slides (remember our folks hosting dinners & the click of the projector in the dark, as they regaled us with photos of their exotic vacations, which no one else got to go on?

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    • Exactly! Now that they’re dropping DVD players, that means all those DVDs we purchased are going to be worthless and end up in a landfill…how is that a change for the good? And some movies and shows I like aren’t available in streaming, so they’re just gone. Also not a good thing.
      Personally, I print a copy of each of my blog posts, just in case. Plus, looking at the stack of pages gives me a feeling of accomplishment. As for photos, I think when they went digital it made us much less discerning about which photos to keep and take…when we had to buy film we though twice about taking twenty photos of the exact same thing. I love digital cameras, don’t get me wrong, because we can instantly see if we got a good photo or not, but they do have their downsides. As for the slides, sure I remember them! But if we want to save the photos on them, we have to pay to have them converted….

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  11. Ha ha! I resist changes as much as the next fella. I get it, but If I may be the Devil’s advocate for a moment, this put me in the mind of Aristotle on writing, an example I have always illuminating. Aristotle thought that writing was the ruination of thought. He decided that if men were to learn to write and store information that way, they would fail to exercise their minds adequately, and would only mimicking true thought with the “new” writing.

    You are in good company Ann, complaining about change!

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    • That is a good point, and so similar to what many of us fear about technology…now that we can just ask google or Siri or whoever everything, will we retain our ability to research and remember? I know I have trouble remembering phone numbers now that I can just store them in my phone and look people up by name. So perhaps technology won’t dumb us down….here’s hoping! Meanwhile, I hope that we begin to be more intentional about only foisting off good change on people. Thanks for that comment!!!

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  12. Agreed, all the way! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pictured adding tech debris to my next door river. Every time I think one of these items is broken, I crumple but then rejoice in the next 10 seconds. And, hopefully, your auto mechanic can bypass the automatic braking? That is a true peril!

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    • I’m going to look into it for sure. I think a car that would alert me if a child suddenly ran into the street is a good thing. But a car slamming on the brakes for a bunch of leaves is downright dangerous. Someone suggested that the system might just need to be adjusted, but I suspect I’ll have to turn it off altogether.

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  13. you have my sympathy Ann, the very real reason why I still store photos and official docs on a memory stick … much easier to control 🙂

    That car issue sounds like it could put lives at risk, especially your own … please see if the manufacturer can sort it? I did a rant about my hybrids map reading capabilities .. maker said it would cost me $260/year to keep the system updated. I insisted they turn it off so I still use paper maps which are getting scarce but well worth it 🙂

    I believe we should insist on choices or options …

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    • Yes, I’m going to have that braking system looked into! I can just see it causing an accident sometime and then me trying to convince the police and insurance companies that I didn’t slam on my brakes, my car did. And I absolutely agree that we should start insisting on choices and options. Technology is not perfect, despite what we’re encouraged to believe.

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  15. My husband will sympathize with you. The back-up sensor on his truck would not let him back a foot or so into the branches of a bush, which was the only way he was going to be able to get turned around in an exceedingly tight spot!
    I’ve just started using Microsoft’s OneDrive to put files in the Cloud that I want to use on my PC, my iphone and my ipad. (Apple offers an app to use on my PC, but I couldn’t get it to download…) Anyway, on my computer, there is a OneDrive folder that I have to put files into that I want to sync. I said no to letting it sync all my photos anywhere else on my computer. Glad I did that because maybe I would have had the same problem as you!

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    • My car beeps and flashes alarms every time I back out of my son’s driveway, just because it’s on a slant. So annoying! I can’t imagine not being able to actually back out…that must have been very frustrating! And thanks for letting me know about OneDrive! That sounds like the solution I’m looking for. I want to pick and choose what is kept on each of my devices.

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  16. I’m with you on all accounts. I bought a basic car without all those features. My husband’s car does everything. One time while sitting still at a red light, it suddenly tightened our seat belts as it thought a turning car was going to hit us. Hate it!

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    • How annoying! And I read an newspaper article a while ago, which was an interview with some tech person who is working on “smarter cars.” These cars will notice when we’re getting sleepy and alert us to stop. It will also notice when our kids in the back seat are acting up, and turn on a movie on the screen for them, which will be turned off if it sees the kids going to sleep. I’m not making this up…the car will be watching every single passenger and deciding what we need accordingly. She said that she knows some people will find this intrusive, and might want to turn it off. But she also said it will probably be designed so that it can’t be turned off….for safety. That’s the point where I start riding my bike everywhere!

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  18. I think too much of anything is bad…I had this discussion with someone recently because there are people that think new is always better. It often is…and it often opens Pandora’s box.

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  19. Wow! The car braking on its own would have completely freaked me out! NO thanks to that technology. The Apple store is now open for walk in and there have been a couple times BC (before Coronavirus) that I went in with issues and they were very helpful in straightening them out! I agree that change for the sake of change is wrong… but sometimes the changes are wonderful and very helpful!

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    • Yes, sometimes change is good and sometime change isn’t so good. I’m not against change at all, I’m just against accepting all change as progress, because in my opinion, it isn’t. Sometimes change can make things worse, so I think that we need to be discerning about what we embrace and what we reject. And thanks for your tip….I might go in and see if they can help me figure out how to have I-cloud back up photos on my phone and computer without insisting that they have to be the same photos. That would be so nice!

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  20. The so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its evolutional infancy. It may take ages to reach at the cognition level of primates. The Boeing 737 Max fiasco is a glaring example of bad AI killing hundreds of innocent in cold blood when the software wrongly decided that the nose of the aircraft was tilting upwards and it should be pushed down to level the plane and down went everyone. It happened in Malaysia —poor pilot tried to correct it manually thrice but the software kept dipping the nose as if possessed— and the tragedy was swept under the carpet and not until it happened again in Africa these aircrafts did not get banned. You have raised a pertinent point about cloud storage. I would request you to download all your chosen photos into an unconnected hard disk and keep a backup of the hard disk too. Yes, that may sound paranoid but that is the only way to save yourself from damage from all quarters including the owners of the cloud too. As far your car sentient car, it’s brain needs to be re-wired, or perhaps you may try disabling its thoughts.

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    • I remember hearing about that plane going down in Malaysia, but you’re right, the cause of it wasn’t broadcasted. And that’s just so irresponsible…not to mention deadly! Where AI will lead us, I don’t know, but I’m sure it won’t all be good. And thanks for your suggestion. I think that’s what I’ll do, because it’s the only way to be sure that I’ll have control over my photos. A friend talked me into trying the Cloud, and it was fine at first. But now it has become a huge hassle! As for my car, yeah….it’s thoughts need to be disabled for sure!

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  23. A thought provoking post, Ann. The downside of technology – when it isn’t that smart. Spellcheck has caused me more annoyance than I could possibly convey! Ha ha, who hasn’t sent a text that was completely destroyed by spellcheck?

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  24. Gosh Ann, that must have been quite a shock. I would have died in my seat. I don’t have Emergency Braking in my car, thankfully, but all the other beeps are enough to unnerve me. I agree with you – some things are just great (such as parking sensors) but not everything about modern life is and we are entitled to our right not to embrace them all. One thing which I have lost to tech advances today is peace and quiet. There was a time when meetings and work ended by 5pm. Now, with Google Meet and all manner of apps, we are forced to attend meetings, even over the weekends, and which can go on till past 9pm. Not fun.

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    • Yes, being connected all the time is really, really bad for us. People need some downtime, and we just don’t get it anymore. People text us when we’re in the middle of something important and still expect an immediate response. And meetings should not be happening off “company time!” Employees have a right to their personal lives. I’m so sorry you have to put up with that!

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  25. We are holding on to our 2012 vintage car for that very reason – first the learning curve of all the new electronics, and more importantly, the fact that the new technology hasn’t had all the bugs worked out. I get that in many cases, such as computers and what not, we are “Beta” testers for the company, for for the auto industry? That should not be sanctioned!

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    • You hit the nail on the head with that one! Technology should be thoroughly tested before it is released to the public, especially in areas where mistakes can cause so much harm. I’ve read where the self-driving cars have had serious malfunctions, and that’s downright scary, considering at some point in the future, all cars will be self driving.

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  26. Yes, yes and yes. I just had a conversation yesterday about Kindles with a patron at the library where I work. We both agreed that some of the older Kindles are better. And it applies to many other things, as you say!

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  27. I prefer to be in control of my life, and to decide what is and isn’t useful to me. Because of that, I intend to keep my 2011 Corolla until I’m no longer driving. Since I’m nearly 75, that seems feasible!

    As for the Cloud, I made an early decision never to make use of it. I keep my photos on my computer, back them up on external hard drives, and live a happy life. Of course there are some ways that I can’t avoid being involved with “Cloud life,” but when it comes to where I store the important things, I’ll never use it. For one thing, even the Cloud can disappear. It’s also based on technology, and those servers can be hacked, etc., as easily as anything else. WordPress hasn’t gone down recently, but it used to disappear on a regular basis. That’s why I’m in the process of copying my posts into Word documents, and saving those, too. As the old folks like to say, “You never know.”

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    • My son is in IT and he told me that the I-Cloud isn’t all that secure, so all I want to store on it are my photos. The trouble is, I’m pretty sure it’s storing everything on my phone, which is one of the reasons why I refuse to have Apple Pay activated on it, and I never use my phone for ordering things off the internet or any other important thing. I think you are making some very wise decisions!

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  28. These are distinct warning signs to us when technology is taking over our lives. When I am driving my Honda Pilot and I am navigating a curve and a car comes from the opposite direction, warning signals are flashing on my dashboard. I wouldn’t mind being warned about real danger. But this is unnerving and totally unnecessary.

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    • That would bother me a lot too! It’s telling you there’s danger when there isn’t. I don’t understand why the auto industry was so quick to install all this stuff in our cars before it was more thoroughly tested and they saw all the problems it cased. I’ll never be one of those who believe technology is infallible, but sadly, I know I’m in the minority.

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  30. Sometimes, I try to remember back to simpler times…now, I do not go anywhere without my phone. Once upon a time, we would have had to use a pay phone for an emergency on the highway. Life is much more complex these days…and not all of it is helpful! I find that I need to disconnect from time to time…go work in the garden, no electronics in sight!!! I am sorry for what you have been through. My car sometimes does this beeping thing to alert me that I am too close to something… A few times, there seems to be nothing all that close. It does alarm a person and that is upsetting. Wishing you a weekend with some peace and quietude…we all deserve some of that!!! 🙂

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    • I’m the same way, Linda! Now I feel “naked” if I leave my house without my phone, but I used to set off on cross country trips with no way to communicate with others except for stopping at a pay phone. I do appreciate all the ways cell phones come in handy, but I agree that sometimes we need to “unplug” and just be by ourselves. It’s necessary for our emotional health. I hope you have a peaceful and wonderful weekend too!

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  31. I’m right there with you, Ann. I suppose that’s why so many of us keep the things we’re comfy with long past their projected expiration date and refuse to upgrade to the shinier, new models. I’ve long thought every techy toy needs to come with at least an hour’s “rent-a-teen” who can do the installation and so forth while we sit and marvel at their comfort with emerging technologies.

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    • That would be very nice! My son (although he’s in his thirties, he works in tech) will help when I ask, but I hate to ask him too often. And I still maintain that some technology is much better than others! Thanks for your comment, Debbie!

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  32. Your car stopping abruptly sounds dangerous. I am considering getting a car with those safety features, and hadn’t heard of how it actually takes over and stops. For a twig! That whole photo storage thing is complicated isn’t it?

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    • Yeah, that’s the problem with some of the safety features: they decide something is dangerous, even when it isn’t, and react to it. The beeps always go off when I’m backing out of my son’s driveway too, since it’s on a hill, but thankfully the brakes don’t kick in. I’m thinking they need to rename “smart” cars to “sorta smart cars.”

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  34. Poignant piece, Ann. Us middle-aged folks will always be at a disadvantage to the younger generations when it comes to embracing technological change. It is astonishing how natural they interface and adopt new automation. For us, we remember the good old day when you kept your photos in a box in the garage and were responsible for braking your own car.

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    • Yeah, young people seem to accept technology without ever questioning it. I’m not sure if that’s an entirely good thing, but they do manage it better! Personally, I just want to be able to choose when I want to use it and when I don’t, but that isn’t always possible. I just got a crown replaced at the dentist, and as I sat looking at the large, three-D image of my tooth on the screen, I was very thankful for the technological advances in dentistry….it makes it much more accurate and much less painful!

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      • Indeed, Ann. Technology in dentistry (and many other professions) is a wonderful thing. The problem is that technology is now the world’s default setting. Yesterday, to buck the system, I paid for a small grocery item in cash. Now, I’m not sure what to do with the coins I received in change.

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  35. Only dead fish “go with the flow”! I am very much with you on the advancement of what is called progress is not always helpful or useful. Mostly it is like selling our souls to the TEC devil as we sign away our personal rights each time we open an app, subscribe to a site, or purchase an online item.
    Not a fan!

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    • I agree! It makes me sad (and a little scared) to see how easily most people give up their privacy and control simply for the “convenience” of technology. There needs to be a balance, I believe. We need to embrace that which is good and useful, and reject what infringes too much on our personal lives.

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  37. Couldn’t agree more Anne! Although I recognize the value in advanced technology on many fronts, I do find myself longing to regress to the good old days at times. Oh man, I am getting old!!!

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    • You and me both, Lynn! I do know that some of my resistance is just because I was not raised with all this technology. But some of it is because I see too much blind acceptance of the idea that ANY new technology just be good and accepted and embraced without question, and I honestly don’t think that’s a good thing at all.

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  38. OH MY! You are so fortunate that someone was not behind you. That is (one reason) why I am not a fan of automated things. I am not sure where and I didn’t read all the comments, but there has to be a setting you can switch off that will allow you to delete your photos from one place and not both. I have to update my phone, but I know it is going to take a long time and I don’t want to do it when I am in a rush because of exactly this reason. When I am in a rush I just click on things and end up not liking what I agreed to (in my haste). I hope it works out for you! Photos are so important!

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    • Someone suggested contacting Apple support to find it, and I could always go into the store to ask. But they are “synced up” and I don’t know how to undo that (when I delete a photo, I always get a little warning saying that the photo will be deleted from all my I-cloud devices, so it’s obviously designed to do that.) I’m going to research how to do it and hope it’s possible to delete them from my phone and not my computer.

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  39. Sometimes I lament my lack of tech savvy, Ann, and other times I’m relieved that I’ve decided not to learn something new. Technology can be a massive headache. And the Cloud… don’t even mention photo management… I spend so much time deleting duplicate uploads! And I’m glad you’re safe!

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    • I couldn’t agree more on the headache statement! Sometimes technology helps, other times it makes things even harder. Which is why I truly believe we need to question it more and dump the technology that doesn’t help us at all. Also, why in the world don’t companies test it better before unleashing it on the unsuspecting world?

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  40. I agree with you, Ann, and all your followers who have commented. I am fortunate that I became tech savvy prior to my retirement and I have tried to stay ahead with new changes. And what changes, too many, too incompatible! Upgrades, updates, uploads, all barely do what they are supposed to, interfering with my existing programs which makes working online harder and harder every week. Also, I object when a program is made redundant and I am ‘forced’ to make changes. I want stronger Consumer Rights in the internet world! Stay safe – Gretchen.

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    • That’s a very good point, Gretchen! What we need is consumer rights….changes are just forced upon us, whether we want them or not (I’ve just been “upgraded” to a new level of I-Cloud service which does a whole lot of stuff I don’t want it to do. No one asked if I wanted the upgrade, and there is no opting out.) Whatever happened to choice????

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  41. Pingback: Progressively Worse — Muddling Through My Middle Age – Thoughts with Shane Wong

  42. So true, Ann, no choice, no money back guarantee. At the risk of becoming a Grinch, I must mention that I read real books as well as e-books on my iPad via BorrowBox and Overdrive. The Overdrive platform unsuccessfully merged with library platform Libby losing my books history, etc. Overdrive changes were meant to be end of October, instead kicked in first of October (no consumer information, no advice, no apology) and now I am left with a half-formed app which offers me a poor selection of books. The world used to worry about political dictatorships and takeover regimes whereas the internet has successfully and insidiously managed both. Apologies, I am not usually this gloomy… Gretchen.

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    • It’s not gloomy, Gretchen, it’s just honest! It never ceases to amaze me how much of our privacy and choice we willingly hand over in the name of progressive technology. Things we would guard carefully from other people we just hand over, meekly, without a murmur every time technology demands it of us. I will never give up my real books until someone pries them out of my cold, dead, fingers!

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  43. Oh, Ann, you are so right. I try to guard my personal details but mostly this is now impossible if I want to function in today’s society. Like you, my real books are precious and reign supreme. Happy reading for a long, long time!

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    • Yes, it is very hard to guard our privacy these days! I’m glad to hear you share my love for real books….I hope enough of us do that publishers realize there will always be a demand for the real thing!

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  45. Oh boy do I resonate with this post, Ann! My car slammed the brakes on the other day and the car in front of me was so far in front of me…it actually scared me! Maybe a stick flew across the road in front of me too, because it sure should not have hit the brakes for that car! Progress…hmmmmm…I’m on the fence about it all too!
    Sending good thoughts and energy ❤

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    • Thanks, Lorrie! What scares me is the movement toward self-driving cars, because I’m afraid they’ll be released before they are actually safe. (And really, so we need to lose control of yet another aspect of our lives?) I like my car overall, but some of the “safety” features on it really don’t function all that well. The alarms always go off whenever I back out of my son’s driveway, which is at an angle. But it’s not really a steep angle at all, so there’s no danger of scraping my bumper on the way out. Yet the alarm lights and sounds come on every single time!

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      • It almost creates fear, Ann! And I know I work so hard not to be in the energy of fear. I know there are instances where these safety features save lives…and that is super. But it’s a little like humans are not perfect…and humans create the technology…soooooo….
        I do love my car…I turned off the lane assist because I was driving by a cyclist on a 2 lane (in each direction) highway and so I edged over the line…AND THE CAR THREW ME BACK INTO THE LANE!!! I was like…no thanks! I’m pretty good at keeping the car in the lane all by myself. And because I rarely go out at night I should not fall asleep at the wheel!! 😉
        Have a great rest of the week, Ann!

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