I think I need to take a gadget class

I had to set the alarm again last night so I’d wake up in time to get to the VIS and open it by 8:00.  I would have made it too, if I hadn’t got stuck behind a huge slow moving farm tractor. 

As you may recall, I chose to operate the VIS rather than teach 100 first graders from the Anahuac school district.  The classes were to take place around the pond which is now behind the new VIS.  All of the volunteer teachers were there early to review their materials and wait for the kids to arrive.

And arrive they did.  Each class lasts about 12 minutes or so, and then the kids march around to the next of six stations.  I think there were six ‘rounds’ today before our teachers then took their last group on a nature hike to the Willows where they board their buses once again.  In the meantime, I handled all the adult visitors to the refuge, and battled with the latest glitch in the touch screen computerized cash register.  It seems the touch screen feature has decided to take a vacation, and I had to struggle with no mouse.  I have an awful time with that pad where you use your finger to move the cursor.

Afterwards, I had a sandwich for a quick lunch before I took Colin and Denise to Bush International Airport in north Houston.  They’re flight really doesn’t leave until tomorrow, so I actually dropped them off at a nearby motel.  None of us could drive them there tomorrow since we’ll all be busy with 239 students visiting our sister refuge, McFadden NWR.

I didn’t get home until almost 5:00, and then I thought I’d check out how to operate the going away gift I was given yesterday.

Here it is.  Looks pretty innocent doesn’t it?  It’s a Travel Sound Therapy System (what ever that is).  I thought it was a digital clock, but it turns out to be much more than that.  Did you notice that on the bottom of the unit it says “Thank you for your time”?  Ha!  Time is what it took to figure out this little gadget.  It amazes me that when I bought my new laptop with Windows 8 last summer, no instructions came with it, but this puny little machine has a 30 page instruction booklet!

Okay, I’m one of those people that actually reads instruction booklets.  It took me almost a half an hour just to figure out how to set the ‘home’ time.  There is also an option to set an ‘away’ time.  Huh?  If I’m away from my bedroom clock, I just look at my watch.  I really don’t need to know the time in Paris, France, for instance, so I’m thinking this is a feature I can live without.

Since I need to set an alarm for tomorrow’s wake up, I thought I’d try to do that.  OMG!  What a convoluted deal that was.  I thought I did it, but I wasn’t sure.  You see there’s this setting for a 24 hour clock or a 12 hour clock.  I chose 24 since that’s how long a day is.  Mistake!  The alarm went off at six this evening to the sound of a waterfall.  I thought I had chosen a chime.  So, I reset it to a 12 hour clock after figuring out I’m not in the military. Things were not going to get any better…

I had it working on electric at the time, so I installed four back-up batteries, not included, so I could move the clock and its settings to the bedroom.  Well, you can guess that that didn’t work.  When I unplugged it to move it, all the settings went back to the factory setting that showed it to be 12:00 on Jan. 1, 2008. 

I guess I didn’t mention that there are also Sound Therapy settings for sleeping or relaxing or recording a custom sound.  There are eight different sound settings (like white noise, rain, thunderstorm, or ocean surf to name a few)  And of course there’s also the volume for everything and the sleep enhancement feature with supporting scientific breakthrough evidence of its usefulness.  I think I need to take a gadget class.

I didn’t think I needed stress therapy, but after trying to get this wonderful(?) gift to work, maybe I do. 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy