She doesn't always get it right. I occasionally use "talk to text" when riding or driving. No, it isn't distracting and is completely hands free and you don't have to take your eyes off the road.
When heading east on I-10, I let Joan know that the westbound traffic was stop-and-go from Watson (Exit 117) to Estrella Parkway (Exit 126). Yeah, 9 miles. Some things about life in the big city are tedious.
When Siri read the text back to me before sending it, she said, "Traffic is backed up from Watson to Australia." I truly laughed out loud. No doubt it felt that way for those stuck in that traffic. For those not familiar, Estrella is pronounced "es-tray'-ya"... so I kinda understand how Siri got it wrong. I cancelled that and resent it, saying "es-trell'-ah"... makes me sound like a newby northerner in the southwest, but Siri understood what I was saying.
I think I will have a tor-till-ah for lunch. ;-)
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Other musings...
This has to do with dumping RV holding tanks, so the non-RVers may want to skip this. No bonus points for reading it, though.
Like most RVs, our Aspect has a gray holding tank and a black holding tank. The gray is for water from the kitchen sink and the shower. The black is... the poop tank. Those who RV know that when both tanks are full, you dump the black tank first, close that valve, then dump the gray tank; it flushes soapy water through the sewer hose. When we bought the Aspect, one of the "added features" was a macerator pump for dumping your holding tank. Some RVs have (or have added) a macerator pump to the outlet from the black tank to "chew up" any solids. (That is as graphic as this will get.) Wild Blue had a macerator pump off the black holding tank, which would allow us to grind up and pump it overboard, when 3 miles or more offshore (yes, that is legal); or use a pump out facility if the marina you are staying in has one.
When I read that the Aspect utilized a macerator pump, I figured that was, indeed, a nice feature. After owning for a very short time, I discovered the macerator pump is to move the gray tank contents over the rear axle and to the sewer connection. The only way to get the water out of the gray holding tank is via that macerator pump. With almost every other RV, gravity is what moves the gray and black tank contents.
Why is this significant? Thanks for asking. Many RVers will leave the valve open from their gray tank, so it just goes out their sewer hose and into the sewer connection in the RV park. You do NOT want to do this with the black holding tank, because (OK, this may be more graphic than I thought) the liquids will drain out, but the solids will plop onto the tank floor and eventually build up to a "poop mountain" in the tank. So, proper black tank use dictates that you close the valve as soon as the tank is emptied, and add some water to the tank so you don't get the dreaded "poop mountain." And as the black tank starts to fill, it is smart to close the gray tank valve so it can fill and be dumped right after the next black tank dump. In every RV we've owned the gray tank fills faster than the black tank.
So, since we can't leave the gray valve open and just let gravity do the work, I have to run the macerator pump - it generally works out to two dumps of the gray tank for each black tank dump.
I dumped the gray tank yesterday, but we could tell this morning that the black tank was getting full (you can tell by the sound of the flushing toilet, even though there is a monitor panel that reads "1/3, 2/3, Full" for each tank. That means we had a relatively empty gray tank and a black tank that was getting close for needed to be dumped. Easy resolution: we both took long, luxurious showers this morning... I felt almost decadent letting the shower run the whole time I was in there. Since we can't leave the gray tank valve open, we generally take shorter showers, turning the water off (just a click on the shower head) between wetting down, soaping, and rinsing. Holding tank strategy.
After getting dressed and getting the tanks dumped, I took Rufus for a walk after he had lunch. Still chilly here at 1:00 in the afternoon. A bit of north wind (reasonably light at 7 mph) that has a bite to it. Ruf got to meet a Schnauzer being walked by a couple... he was friendly, the Schnauzer didn't know what to think about this animal that outweighed her - she ran behind her human Momma. Ruf shrugged his shoulders - he was friendly, felt like he did his part in improving animal relations. ;-) He's a good boy. (In case I haven't mentioned that before.) The Schnauzer people were impressed with Rufus's good behavior. I guess some dog people think every cat is going to ready for battle when they encounter a dog... that hasn't been our experience. Because, he's a good boy.
Mid-afternoon, it is only 55º. It looks pretty out, because the sky is blue and the wind isn't howling. But, don't be fooled... the desert is crafty like that: sucks you in, then whacks you. It may be the pretty blue sky, but by the time the sun is ready to set, you will be freezing. When you think you're dressed for the weather, the desert will blast the temp up to turn you into a sweatball. When you think, "Oh, look at that pretty flower," it will be attached to a cactus, just looking to stab you with its spines. Deserts are like that. They are not a good boy.
(It is supposed to get into the 30s again tonight. Brrrr!)
4 comments:
The Siri story reminds me of an early encounter. A friend demonstrated Siri by saying “call my husband”. Siri responded with “which husband?” He had both a work and cell number and Siri could not tell the difference. LOL. Of course this happened in public. This was iPhone 1 or 2 so early days.
And Rufus IS a good boy [drink].
Siri isn't always "smart," anymore than some of the people at the Apple Store aren't "geniuses." On the whole, Siri does a lot better than "Jill" the voice of our Garmin GPS... I will say, "Find Home Depot," and she will say, "Did you say Olive Garden?" I guess I got to Olive Garden more often than Home Depot (which doesn't sound even remotely similar).
Rufus said to thank you for saying he is a good boy... because he is such a good boy. (make mine a double)
I'd love to tell Rufus that he is a good boy in person, but that ain't happening this trip. Alice leaves for Sun City (mom) and Tucson (friend) next Tuesday, but her plate is pretty full already. She has your cell number just in case. I'll leave that up to her.
Our GPS voice is always called "Ethel". She just reminds me of a fussy old aunt by that name.
Give Alice our best wishes for a good trip. I understand that "full plate" situation when away from home. We are another half hour further west, if she wants some time away or needs a hand with anything.
I told Rufus that he wasn't going to get to see you this trip out. He told me to tell you, "I like Earl - he's a good boy." That's pretty high praise.
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