{"id":110,"date":"2021-02-25T23:19:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T23:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendirank.com\/?p=110"},"modified":"2021-03-02T16:53:16","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T16:53:16","slug":"swinging-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Plugged In"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m going to need you to believe me when I tell you I didn\u2019t buy<\/a> that Alexa<\/a> to make Willie<\/a> crazy. It\u2019s just been an unexpected perk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I set up an Alexa for Willie and Indy. It seemed ingenious at the time. They\u2019re constantly forgetting appointments. And grocery lists! I thought Alexa could help with grocery lists! Willie has a complex system for her grocery list. It\u2019s a multi-step process that involves two rooms, an appliance, and two different applications on her computer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Personally, I just write my lists in a notebook. There\u2019s my short-term to-do list. Then my long-term to-do list. There\u2019s my to-do list for the kids. There\u2019s my Home Depot list, my Staples list, my Amazon list, my Trader Joe\u2019s list, my Giant list. My notebook goes where I go, in case I need to add or, even better, remove something from my list. So easy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And yes. I definitely will add things I\u2019ve already done to my list, just for the joy of scratching them off. That is so satisfying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I keep a separate notebook, now that we\u2019re really talking, for my writing to-do list. For example, upcoming stories will stem from the notes \u201cDaddy missing in apartment\u201d or \u201cDon\u2019s Rinella butt sassy pants\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anyway, sometimes Willie is cooking or doing dishes or otherwise unable to engage in her multi-step grocery list process. By the time she can, she\u2019s forgotten what she needs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So I set up Alexa to help with all of that. The Alexa app is now prominent on Willie\u2019s phone. Alexa now knows me, Willie, and Indy. The bedroom light is snugly plugged into an Alexa Smart Plug<\/a>, for Willie and Indy\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
One of the many alarming plugs at my parents\u2019 old house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I texted my siblings, asking them to remind Willie and Indy to use Alexa. Each day, when I check in with my parents, I ask if they\u2019ve used Alexa.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now Indy, who started his life when there was nothing but radio, made fast friends with Alexa. In the morning, he asks Alexa to tune into a radio station he likes. The station plays a march at 8:15 daily.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Willie and Alexa, well, not so much. Willie is a tech geek, or used to be anyway. Her computer is like her fourth child, and where Indy relies on his flip phone and refuses to text, Willie uses her smartphone so much she got mad when I confiscated it during her delirium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But some of the later gadgetry eludes her. She is dead set against Apple products. At Christmas, she asked me how she could watch a podcast. Facebook befuddles her \u2013 who is Olega Romanoff, and why is she trying to friend Willie? Willie doesn\u2019t even speak Russian!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although she has Amazon Prime and an Amazon Fire Stick<\/a>, Willie enlisted me to describe \u201cstreaming\u201d to her. Once she had a handle on it, I recommended the very fabulous Jack Ryan<\/em> on Prime. After all, The Hunt For Red October <\/u>is one of Willie\u2019s all-time favorite books.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have yet to get a handle on whether or not she\u2019s watched it. At different times she\u2019s told me she watched both seasons, she watched a couple episodes but couldn\u2019t figure out what was going on, she watched a couple episodes but it was too violent, and she keeps meaning to watch it. And no. These statements did not come sequentially.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She was also amazed at how she could begin watching Jack Ryan<\/em> in the living room, pause it, then pick up RIGHT WHERE SHE LEFT OFF in the bedroom!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So maybe it\u2019s no surprise Willie and Alexa don\u2019t see eye to eye.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By the time Alexa had been living with Willie for 24 hours, she was telling Willie not to say her name so much. Alexa then started calling Willie \u201cBob\u201d. Her real name is Barb. Family calls her Babs. Maybe Alexa was offended she didn\u2019t get to use Willie\u2019s family nickname? I don\u2019t know, but Alexa keeps calling her Bob and Willie doesn\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The real fight came when Willie asked Alexa to delete her current grocery list. According to Willie, Alexa replied \u2013 in a very snotty tone \u2013 that she was unable to delete the list. So Willie asked how she could go about getting the list deleted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alexa \u2013 who, I was assured, was very condescending at this point \u2013 told Willie to open her Alexa app. There, she\u2019d be able to locate the list and delete it herself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Willie was having none of this \u201cdelete it yourself\u201d business. But with no other options available, she was forced to open the app. And that\u2019s when she saw the message from Alexa:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to shout my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then it was on. Willie is Sarah Connor and Alexa is The Terminator. It is destroy or be destroyed, and Willie\u2019s never been destroyed in her life. Willie tried to make me her Reese. She asked me to get rid of Alexa. She wants The Terminator from Terminator 2 <\/em>\u2013 the one that helps Sarah Connor instead of annihilating her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Personally, I think Alexa should be more concerned with the clear fire hazards in her new home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m no Reese. There\u2019s no way I\u2019m jumping through a portal in time then exploding it closed forever. Also, exchanging Alexa sounds like a lot of work. I\u2019m kinda tired from monitoring everyone\u2019s sandwich cutting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Somebody had to concede. I\u2019m not sure who went first, but Willie and Alexa are in a fragile holding pattern. Alexa reminds Willie morning and night to flip her \u201cstats\u201d \u2013 the indicator on the apartment door used by other residents to make sure that Willie and Indy aren\u2019t, well, dead. Willie tries to be a bit quieter, a bit more reasonable in her demands.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And now I\u2019m beginning to think Alexa is onto something. If I send Willie an email that says, \u201cyou don\u2019t have to shout my name,\u201d will it work? Because Willie has shouted my name my whole life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Somehow, I think I\u2019d be Sarah Connor in that scenario.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And I have no Reese.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019d be terminated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m going to need you to believe me when I tell you I didn\u2019t buy that Alexa to make Willie crazy. It\u2019s just been an unexpected perk.   I set up an Alexa for Willie and Indy. It seemed ingenious at the time. They\u2019re constantly forgetting appointments. And grocery lists! I thought Alexa could help…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,3,6,7,4],"yoast_head":"\nPlugged In - Wendi Rank<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Who will win in a fight between woman and machine?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plugged In - Wendi Rank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who will win in a fight between woman and machine?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wendi Rank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-25T23:19:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-02T16:53:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-25-at-6.08.50-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"852\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"624\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"wendi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"wendi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"wendi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81fa1f6bb0eed6ccabd60fce3c44bdfd\"},\"headline\":\"Plugged In\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-25T23:19:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-02T16:53:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/\"},\"wordCount\":1101,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81fa1f6bb0eed6ccabd60fce3c44bdfd\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-25-at-6.08.50-PM.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Parkinson's\",\"Parkinson's disease\",\"Parkinson's disease awareness\",\"Parkinson's sucks\",\"sandwich generation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sandwich Generation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wendirank.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/swinging-seniors\/\",\"name\":\"Plugged In - 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