As my wife and our older daughter drove cross country recently to settle her into a new job, the cruise control on their car went out. It was an older car in the grand scheme of things.
Not being with them, I don’t know exactly what happened except that as they tried to use the cruise control, it didn’t work. Directions from the owners manual didn’t help. Like so many other things in today’s world though, YouTube did. They watched the video, Jerry-rigged the apparatus, and went merrily on their way. It even generated a text message photo to show the clown-like fix they administered.
Funny stuff, but it also pointed out one of those great inventions in the world. We don’t give many of our day-to-day accepted pieces of technology the credit they deserve. Cruise control is one of those.
I remember renting a car, probably over eleven years ago. I flew to Milwaukee and was driving to Appleton. That’s more-or-less a 90-minute drive. Got in the car. Made it quickly to the highway. Looked down at the steering wheel. Began foraging for buttons. Found nothing remotely applicable to cruise control.
When you don’t have something you expect, you’re disappointed. When you expect cruise control for an extended highway drive and the rental car doesn’t have that option, your calf muscle tenses in anticipation of being locked down for an extended period. Yeah, I made it, but my right leg wasn’t happy.
Electricity is another great invention that we undersell. Turn on the lights without a thought. Up the AC when it’s hot outside. Crank the heat when the temperature plunges in winter. We do those things without considering the miracle of electricity.
From the generation at the source to the successful transmission and distribution to your home or business on a network that stays consistently and effectively operational almost non-stop every second of every year is a true miracle. But we don’t stop to consider this because electricity has become ubiquitous in our first world lives. Flip the switch and we expect the lights to come on.
My personal favorite when it comes to great inventions is the bicycle. Those of you who’ve read my stuff for years know I’m huge on bicycling, having toured North America in 1982 and commuted by bicycle to my job consistently for 13+ years. The bicycle is clean energy. As one of my shirts says with a picture of a bicycle: “Renewable energy.”
It’s more than that though. It gives you exercise. Riding gets you outdoors, smelling, seeing, experiencing nature, the lay of the land, which way the wind is blowing. When you bicycle regularly, you come to understand the ebb and flow of weather patterns and know when rain or snow is coming.
If you stay on your bicycle long enough, you become able to tell time accurately by the angle and location of the sun. It provides you great exercise. It connects you with the earth. And, by the easy stroke of moving your legs with the leverage of a chain to tires, you more than double your ability in terms of speed to move around this planet. That increase your life experience levels.
Those are three biggies. Feel free to add your own. What are some other great inventions?
Not being with them, I don’t know exactly what happened except that as they tried to use the cruise control, it didn’t work. Directions from the owners manual didn’t help. Like so many other things in today’s world though, YouTube did. They watched the video, Jerry-rigged the apparatus, and went merrily on their way. It even generated a text message photo to show the clown-like fix they administered.
Funny stuff, but it also pointed out one of those great inventions in the world. We don’t give many of our day-to-day accepted pieces of technology the credit they deserve. Cruise control is one of those.
I remember renting a car, probably over eleven years ago. I flew to Milwaukee and was driving to Appleton. That’s more-or-less a 90-minute drive. Got in the car. Made it quickly to the highway. Looked down at the steering wheel. Began foraging for buttons. Found nothing remotely applicable to cruise control.
When you don’t have something you expect, you’re disappointed. When you expect cruise control for an extended highway drive and the rental car doesn’t have that option, your calf muscle tenses in anticipation of being locked down for an extended period. Yeah, I made it, but my right leg wasn’t happy.
Electricity is another great invention that we undersell. Turn on the lights without a thought. Up the AC when it’s hot outside. Crank the heat when the temperature plunges in winter. We do those things without considering the miracle of electricity.
From the generation at the source to the successful transmission and distribution to your home or business on a network that stays consistently and effectively operational almost non-stop every second of every year is a true miracle. But we don’t stop to consider this because electricity has become ubiquitous in our first world lives. Flip the switch and we expect the lights to come on.
My personal favorite when it comes to great inventions is the bicycle. Those of you who’ve read my stuff for years know I’m huge on bicycling, having toured North America in 1982 and commuted by bicycle to my job consistently for 13+ years. The bicycle is clean energy. As one of my shirts says with a picture of a bicycle: “Renewable energy.”
It’s more than that though. It gives you exercise. Riding gets you outdoors, smelling, seeing, experiencing nature, the lay of the land, which way the wind is blowing. When you bicycle regularly, you come to understand the ebb and flow of weather patterns and know when rain or snow is coming.
If you stay on your bicycle long enough, you become able to tell time accurately by the angle and location of the sun. It provides you great exercise. It connects you with the earth. And, by the easy stroke of moving your legs with the leverage of a chain to tires, you more than double your ability in terms of speed to move around this planet. That increase your life experience levels.
Those are three biggies. Feel free to add your own. What are some other great inventions?