Daily Hits of Happy: May 8, 2020 - 238

Maybe Technology's Not All Bad

Sorry Technology. I humbly take back all that bad stuff I said about you when I was trying to re-work elements on my website.

You definitely have redeeming qualities.

I learned this past week that we ignore technological advances at our own peril. Or, in this case, at my parent's risk.

Feeble Attempts to Assuage My Guilt

After my mom fell and broke her leg (and laid there for an hour before getting help!). I learned that technology could have really helped this situation.

I'd mentioned getting my parents those necklace alert things. (Of "I've fallen, and I can't get up" fame.) Neither of them gave me any reason to think this would be an appreciated or used gift. (Excuse 1)

My mom's always been entirely mobile and relatively healthy. (Excuse 2) Through this terrible event, I've learned that my mom has stayed overnight in the hospital four times in her life: each time to have a baby. So the last time she was in a hospital overnight was 54 years ago...nearly 55.

Even if I had known the amazing things the new Apple watches can do, I would have had to convince my parents to get new phones to go with them. They kept resisting this as they were used to their old phones and didn't want to learn new ones. (Excuse 3).

And, finally, I will mention that I got them an Echo a couple of Christmases ago. (A gadget that could have called an ambulance or my father at my mom's request.) However, the thing annoyed them, so they unplugged it and put it away in a drawer.

Sigh. I thought maybe writing this down and baring my soul to my millions of readers would help. (Okay, well...both of you.)

But it doesn't help a bit. I just want to hit the rewind button on the Universe. If you notice yourself having the feeling of deja vu a lot in the next week or so, you'll know I figured this out. (Or, I guess, you won't...'cause none of this will have happened.)

Modern Marvels

I've learned since the fall that the Apple Watch Series 5 can tell if someone has fallen and ask if help is needed. If there's no response...it just calls for help on its own.

That would have been nice. Really, really, really, nice. Mom was bringing in groceries, said she didn't feel well, and went to lay down. She thought she was feeling a little better and got up to close the front door she'd left open. That's when she fell.

Her doctors think she may have been having issues with her heart. This watch would have known that too. It can do a constant ECG scan and alert you if there's a problem. So Mom wouldn't have even gotten up.

She could have called my dad for help from her watch herself. (My dad was home, but was at the other end of the house and couldn't hear her. She'd set her phone down in another room before going to get the rest of the groceries out of the car. Thank heavens, a neighbor came out in their front yard and heard my mom call for help.)

Watching Out For the Watch

The good news: a few months ago, my dad finally broke down and got the new phones for him and mom. Dad said he still didn't want to get rid of his old one, but the folks at the phone store didn't even recognize what his phone was. (Dad said the kid didn't seem to be familiar with the old coal-powered phones.) Baahhahah.

I thought I was resistant to change because I went from an iPhone 6 to the iPhone 10. They went from the 3 (No. That's not a typo!) to the 10.)

They've now had some time to get used to their new phones. Now they've got the right technology to use with their new watches. I got the cellular version, so it wouldn't matter if they weren't near their phones. The only downside is pick-up at a store isn't available right now. I'm not sure if they're back-ordered (they won't arrive until the 18th), or if all stores are closed due to Covid-19.

Hopefully, they will never need them for something like this again, but I'll feel a lot better knowing they've got them.

So that's the lowdown on the Hits of Crappy for the day.

Now let's get back to the happy!...