How We Quickly Forget About Old Technology

Twins Logo at Target Field in downtown Minneapolis

You get used to new technology so quickly that you forget how things used to be. I noticed this phenomenon when I ran across my old 2009 blog about a unicyclist in Land Park. I had included a photograph of this unicyclist in the blog and posted it on my Land Park Blog where a bunch of people made comments about how darned lucky was I to have had my camera with me that day. What were the odds? Remember, there were no cellphone cameras in 2009. The blog before that talked about how I might have been the only agent in Sacramento without a national calling plan on my phone, which is completely incomprehensible today.

Even so, even being surrounded by all of this technology, sometimes we have to rely on doing things the old-fashioned way, or what I call always having a Plan B.

I landed at the Minneapolis airport last night, in town to visit my niece and sister and to spend a little bit of time with my dying brother for a few days. I remember when it used to be the Lindbergh airfield, but today everybody includes St. Paul in the title so that poor city won’t feel left out, and they tossed in international, like they did in Sacramento to add that cosmopolitan flavor, even if you can only fly to Mexico, but it is still just the Minneapolis airport to me.

After much discussion with my sister about her vehicle situation, in light of the fact she owns a SMART car that holds only 2 people and doesn’t always go into reverse, it seemed like a good idea to rent a car at the airport. How hard could it be to find the hotel, which was only a few miles away?

Hertz asked if I wanted GPS. Well, first, I used to live in Minneapolis, even if it was 13 years ago. Second, I had printed out directions from the Hertz rental spot at the airport to the hotel from Google. Third, I had Siri and, because sometimes Siri is unavailable, there is also my own GPS map app. How could I get lost driving to the hotel?

Well, first, the GPS in the rental car was not activated. Second, it was too dark to read the directions. My map function would not work. The arrow just sat there and refused to move. Siri could not hear me and at one point she flashed a message on the screen that she was not working for some reason. Wake up, Siri, wake up!! Still, cars were moving along in the exit lane and I had to quickly choose from an assortment of electronic billboard signs, which offered a variety of freeways and roads at my disposal.

Quickly I eliminated all of the ways I knew for certain I did not want to go and then chose 494 toward Bloomington. All the while I continued to scream at Siri to take me to the hotel, but she could not hear me. Every so often, I poked the arrow button to no avail on my GPS app. Then I spotted the 24th Avenue exit, which sounded familiar so I took it, and way off in the distance I could make out the Ikea store, which is near the hotel. Do I turn left or right or go straight? I chose straight, made a right and turned directly into the hotel parking lot and spotted my sister at the entrance.

How lucky was that? It was like magic. I got there on my own accord, and I still don’t know how I managed this without technology. But I do know that I had packed my bluetooth into my luggage and had not turned it off, which is why Siri could not hear me.