Monday, April 17, 2017

It All Works With Electricity

Thursday night my youngest daughter came to pick me up at the airport in Salt Lake but couldn't bring my car because of a small problem. Instead she drove her car.

Sunday evening my oldest son celebrated his birthday and spent part of his dinner feast extolling the virtues of the new car he purchased recently for him and his wife. He pointed out that if he locked his keys in the car, he could use an app on his smartphone and unlock the car. I asked him what would happen if he left the lights on. His wife jumped in and pointed out that the app also allows you to turn the lights off. I then asked what would happen if you left the lights on and forgot about it, as would usually be the case. She had to agree that the app would not work with a dead battery.

When my daughter tried to pick me up on Thursday evening, my car's battery did not have a charge. A small light in the interior got left on during a trip on Saturday and nobody turned it off. When I got home from the airport I couldn't even open the trunk where the car battery is stored because my trunk latch requires electricity. Fortunately I could use the key to unlock my door and open the hood where there is a second set of electrical terminals for charging the battery.

Technology is advancing and there are a number of great features that now come standard with a number of cars. My son has a new car that he and his wife appreciate. It is just important to remember that electricity is an important part of this new technology and we shouldn't take it for granted. After all, if the car next to us at the ski resort on Saturday had some of this new technology, the owner wouldn't have had to call a locksmith to get into his car. He could have just pulled up an app on his smartphone and unlocked the doors without much fuss.

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