In the on-going attempts to learn what all the features are on my Escape and how to use them, we did master the Memory Control for the driver’s seat. This is a feature we’ve never had before and it is nice. You can actually set it to remember three different drivers, but since the only other one who will use it is our son and that’s only for a few days each year, we probably won’t program his preference. The setting are for the seat, not the mirrors so those have to be adjusted each time. I accidentally discovered something yesterday that may well bring a chuckle to anyone this applies to. Okay, most Ford vehicles have the gas tank filler on the driver’s side. I realize this, but for some reason I will occasionally forget and either pull up on the wrong side or stop the vehicle before I get to the pump and check. As it turns out, there is a little indicator as one of the dash lights. There is a pump image and the handle for the pump shows it being to the left on the driver’s side. How clever is that? I hadn’t noticed it before and certainly wouldn’t have thought to look for something like that in the thick owner’s manual.

I also noticed while I don’t there are no cup holders in the pockets of the driver and passenger side doors, there is a slight recess that will steady a water bottle. The only drawback to the cup holders in the back seat is they are in the fold down console of the middle seat. Those door pockets also have spots for water bottles, but it does leave out whoever is sitting in the middle seat. We don’t have that very often though so I guess we can mange. It will be interesting to see what I discover next.

There is actually a short article about this that may or may not get published in the paper (not every article makes it into the limited space per week). As so many of us look to staying in touch without traveling and unable to meet in large groups, the phrases, “Facebook Live”, “Zoom”, “Face Time”, “Whats Up” have been added to “Skype”, “Videoconferencing,” and who knows how many I’m missing. Some of us are old enough to remember the early video-teleconferences with the odd lags between transmissions. While it was “cutting edge” at the time, it was still awkward.

We had Skype for a period of time on our computers and I’m not certain of why that fell out of favor. I didn’t (and don’t) use Facetime that much on the phone, however, I do now have the What’s Up App since that allows me to engage with those who have something other than an I-phone. Zoom is what has become immensely popular and as with other technology, I can manage only a few of the functions available. Part of the popularity is the free version so literally anyone with a computer can participate. Ideal is to have a camera so you can be part of the video piece, but you can be on with only audio as well (an advantage over Skype). Apparently a large number of people can participate at the same time as long as the “host” has the paid service which is reasonably priced. If no one has a paid service I think there’s a maximum of 40 minutes allowed. Anyway, with the on-going prohibition against groups of more than ten gathering for meetings, most of the local organizations have adapted to Zoom. I’ve been hoping we won’t have to do this for Homestead Center for the Arts, but we may have no choice. An issue though is we have quite a few people who either don’t have computers or who are not comfortable with them. There is a chance we can do some sort of hybrid set-up since we usually don’t have more than about ten who attend the regular meetings who are also not comfortable with Zoom. It will be interesting to see how we work this out.

My attempts to actually learn all the gadgets/features of my new Escape continue. On the plus side of what I like, I think I have successfully set the “Memory Seat” function for me. Hubby hasn’t driven it yet, but once he does, we’ll see if we can set the one for him. There are three settings available. The only other person who drives it is Dustin during their annual Dec/Jan visit so I doubt we’ll bother with that for him. Oh, and the middle seat in back is child-approved. Granddaughter should be comfortable in it although she’s had a growth spurt so I think she’s over the height where the special seat is required.

It has taken a bit to become accustomed to the screen mounted on the dash and I am now comfortable with setting the navigation system. The hands-free telephone is nice, too. In fact, there’s a hands-free text function that I’m not entirely sure of yet even though Hubby showed me how it worked on his truck. The text appears on the screen and then the voice asks if you want to respond to the text. If you answer “yes”, it somehow sends it. (I’m not going to try to figure that out).

However, something I didn’t realize and didn’t think to look for is there’s no CD player. The reason is there’s an audio function that allows you to do everything through the phone. I haven’t tackled this yet, because except for long trips I don’t use a CD. Hubby does listen to audio books during his commutes and has it all figured out. Rather than subscribe to one of the services though, he gets his audio books from the library download service. And no, I haven’t the faintest idea of how to do that either. I will tackle it at some point before too long.

We all know election years bring not only volumes of mailers, but also streams of telephone calls. Some are simply robocalls asking for support, others are of course asking for donations. Polls are divided into two types. One is an actual poll which measures different things and the key to these is length. A few really are brief as promised while others seem to drag on and on. I tend to respond to polls though because I do have a family background (maternal side) of small town politics and polls can be helpful. The ones I dislike – and occasionally terminate before completing them – are the negative campaign disguised as a poll. If you haven’t experienced one of these, here’s the way it works.

It starts off in a normal way with questions about your likelihood to vote, do you approve of X,Y,Z, which issue do you consider to be most important and so forth. Then the very thinly disguised campaigning starts. Are you familiar with Candidate A? What is your opinion? Are you supporting him/her? Are you familiar with Candidate B? What is your opinion? Are you supporting him/her? If you know this about Candidate A, does that make you more or less likely to support him/her? If you know this about Candidate B, does that make you more or less likely to support him/her? By about the second question, it is obvious which candidate the “poll” is pushing and of course the “things” revealed are statements you have no way of knowing the validity of unless you’ve been following the campaign all along. If I haven’t become so annoyed at this stage that I tell them to stop, I go with the standard, “doesn’t have any impact” on my opinion no matter what the “thing” is they mention. After all, the individual calling doesn’t write the script and is probably merely trying to make a salary. This is the only reason I try to continue with them until it’s over. Unfortunately, we have another 4.5 months until election. Sigh!

Okay, I have no problem acknowledging the 1950s/1960s TV series were “old-fashioned” by today’s standards. Things were different then and when, as Hollywood does, in deciding to re-make a series or movie, the choice is to retain as much of the old as possible (which they do infrequently), “modernize” it (sometimes successfully), or create a different take. That’s the approach HBO selected for their series Perry Mason. We recorded the first two episodes and I tried. Now, before I say more, it turns out my first objection was an error on my part. I did read a few of the Perry Mason books, but they were the later ones and I didn’t realize Earl Stanley Gardner wrote them in the 1930s through the 1960s. When I saw the first episode was set in the early 1930s, I thought it was a mistake. Hubby did a quick search and set me straight.

With that said, I’ve told Hubby he can record all the future episodes and watch them whenever he wants to. After all, I generally head to bed between 9:00 and 9:30 so he has plenty of time. I don’t want to spoil anything, however, this is not remotely like the Perry Mason of the original series. There is a Paul Drake, a Della Street, and an uncle Mason who is the lawyer. This Perry is a private detective, damaged from his experience in WW I, and has a very long way to overcome numerous issues/flaws. The warnings prior to the show of sex and graphic violence were accurate if that tells you anything. The period piece is well done and I’m okay with “noir” to a point. For example, HBO’s first “True Detective” short-run series was dark, yet manageable. Season Two was worse and by Season Three it was beyond what either of us cared for. I don’t know how long Hubby will stick with this Perry Mason, and there will no doubt be those who enjoy this type of show.

I’m not entirely sure what triggered this thought – probably something posted by one of the writers on Twitter. I think I’ve mentioned before I grew up in a series of small towns in Louisiana and we were a basic middle class, one-income family. Mother worked occasionally, but never anything consistent or for long. Anyway, the library was always important for us and I spent lots of summer time with different reading programs. I had my phases; of course Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Victoria Holt and Norah Lofts for historical fiction. Frank Yerby was in there, too, but in confession mode – his racy take was where I learned all sorts of things that had the librarian ratted me out, I wouldn’t have been allowed to read his books any longer. (Of course, maybe she didn’t really know either) I went through a Western phase too with Louis L’Amour and Zane Gray. In fact the first time we went to the Zane Gray Restaurant in Islamorada, it was a special thrill. Then there was science fiction with Azimov, etc.,. although not Robert Heinlein. Some fantasy as in most of the Dune series, but interestingly nothing by Tolkien. Other classic literature came through school and since I was always taking honors classes in English I had plenty of those to read. French lit later was an entirely different situation.

I mostly alternate now with mysteries, lighthearted reads, some poignant, historical fiction, and the occasional literary fiction. I generally steer clear of that because so many of them seem to feel the need to be depressing. I wouldn’t mind fantasy if I could find an author I really like, however, I haven’t found one since Anne McCaffrey. There are thousands of fantasy books, but all I’ve tried fall flat for me. We did give Martin and Fire and Ice, the first of the Game of Thrones books, a try. Aside from having way too many characters to keep track off, if you think there was graphic violence on the TV series, it was only part of what was portrayed in the books.

Anyway, I do also try to support other indie authors, and have found a few I enjoy.