Rant #1,221: Simple, Isn't It?

These new-fangled cars ...

All I want to do is open the door, sit down, put the key in the ignition, turn the car on, and drive away.

It isn't that simple anymore, as I am learning with my new car.

There are all these gizmos and gadgets in the car that are making me crazy.

The basics of the car I have down pat. I can get from point A to point B pretty well.

But it is the other stuff that is making me crazy.

Let's start with the dashboard.

I have driven at night just a few times since getting the car, and when I turn on my headlights, that is easy, nothing too hard with that.

But the dashboard does not light up as I am accustomed to. I can see it pretty clearly, but it does not light up brightly.

Yesterday night, I was out taking my son to the doctor, and driving there, the dashboard lit up like I like it after a few minutes of driving.

Driving home, it never lit up that way. I have no idea why, what I did earlier to get it to light up, or any clue at how to get it to light up brightly immediately.

Next we have the radio. I have been listening to an MP3 disk I made on my computer, and while the music plays just fine, although it is not in shuffle mode, it seems to play songs randomly.

This really is the least of my problems, because it plays pretty well, but not in the order that the tracks were originally burned in.

Heck, I cannot even program that stations I want to listen to on this radio yet.

Next comes the trip meter, and this is where I think I just have to bide my time, and all of these things will be found out.

I could not find the darn thing. Usually, it is right by the speedometer, and a simple push of a button resets it.

Heck, in this car I could not find it, could not find any trace of it.

After some trial and error, I found that I could access it--and several other speedometer and other things that I will probably never use--through a control on the steering wheel.

But I could not figure out how to reset it.

Here is where the hope I was talking about comes in. I simply could not figure this out at all, but then I figured, "Let me try this other button," and lo and behold, it worked like a charm.

Now, you are probably saying to yourself, "Why doesn't he read the manual. All the answers are in there."

Well, that is not quite true.

I have read the manual, which is as thick as a small encyclopedia. I have even read the quick tips card that was provided. But I find that all the answers are not in there, or at least, not explained so this guy with a master's degree can understand it.

Maybe I need a doctorate, I don't know, but it seems to take for granted that this is not the first "smart car" you have driven, and doesn't explain very much in what you would call "English."

I am sure I am not the only person who has struggled with what I would call "nuisances" when purchasing a new car like this, but it can be very frustrating.

But like I said, these are nothing but minor problems, and through trial and error, I will conquer them.

I just wish for the days when you could just get in a car and go to where you had to go, and not worry about such nonsense.

But in our high tech world, those days appear to be over.

I guess that I am a guy for a different time, but the time is now, and maybe I am still stuck in the early late 1970s to early 2000s, when you didn't have to worry about such stuff. I never did with my other car.

Technology is wonderful, isn't it?

By the way, I will not be around tomorrow. I have to take care of a personal issue, nothing horrible, so I will speak to you again on Friday.

See you then.