More on knowing "how" to do things:
Obsolete Skills. The front-page lists a few of the biggies, like dialing a rotary phone (which I did, as a child: we didn't have push button phones until, oh, I don't know, I think I was in college). There are other things (possibly not all SFW) listed on the subpages (and many of those skills are computer/early-Internet related).
But a couple bugged me.
First, reading a Vernier scale. You still have to do this from time to time if you work in the sciences, with certain pieces of equipment. It's not obsolete. It's just a little fiddly and you have to get used to it.
But the one that really bugs me is "map reading." I don't own a GPS device. I don't LIKE GPS devices. If I have to go somewhere, I consult a good map first. (I have the Oklahoma Gazetteer in my car, and I actually wore out a copy of the Illinois Gazetteer when I was doing my graduate research - finding all the tiny little cemetery prairies on county roads that were only marked with a number).
I know people who like their GPS, and it's great for them - but GPS devices can break. Or they can be wrong. Or you can be somewhere that things haven't been updated recently. With a good map, I can see the "big picture" so if there's bad construction (like when I was coming home last week) I can figure out a workaround.
I don't know; I tend to feel like relying too heavily on technology and not knowing how to do things like read a map (and yes, I know people who can't read maps) sets you up to be a little helpless. (Though that may be largely because I've seen too many "failures of technology" where things like the network went down, or a device broke, or something).
Or maybe I'm just prejudiced because I would get the "coveted" role of Navigator on family trips (mainly to keep me quiet; my dad learned that if I could LOOK at a map and see we were still 200 miles from our destination I wasn't going to be asking if we were getting close). And being able to read and understand a map is one of those little things that I'm proud of.
4 comments:
I can read a map and enjoy doing so. Home repairs, for the most part, are beyond me. I don't have the know-how or the tools to do most of them. I also didn't grow up with a handy father who could fix stuff. We lived in rental property where the landlord was responsible for fixing things. Mom could sew and crochet and cook and can so I'm better at those things although I've never canned anything.
We just got a GPS this year, and I can't say I really trust it. Even Google maps has been wrong on occasion. But it seems like you can't really buy maps anywhere anymore. And I have a heck of a time trying to read them anyway with these 46 year old eyes.
I fly a small airplane and pride myself on map reading - sadly all my flying friends have a gps. But I recently got one for hiking - just because I want to have a track of where I went and the info about altitude gained and milage....but I'm with you, it is so much fun to know how to do things!
"buying a roll of film" :(
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