Siri, are you there?

The other morning I was home with Lil Sis while Big Bro was at preschool. I was following a Facebook conversation about possible times to get BVTMB portraits taken for those of us who missed the latest writers meeting. I could go that same day or over the weekend. My weekend was already booked so I made a quick decision to go that very day.

I rushed to make myself presentable for my portrait, get Lil Sis dressed (it had been a lazy morning up until then), and pack snacks since lunch would be delayed due to this last minute trip.

I got the directions to the portrait studio in a town 45 minutes away using Google Maps. Lil Sis and I picked Big Bro up from preschool and began driving to the studio. I turned on Siri to recite the directions as I drove just to be sure I wouldn't get lost. I didn't really need Siri for most of the way but I was being lazy.

5 minutes later my phone battery died so Siri was gone, my map was gone, I couldn't call the photographer for directions and I had no car charger.

Boy, did I feel like an idiot. A technology dependent fool.

Thankfully I had't gotten far before this technology malfunction so I drove the 5 minutes back home to charge my phone enough so I could study the map. I wrote the directions and the studio's phone number on the back of an envelope too. How 1990s, huh? But I couldn't take any more chances with my barely charged cellphone.

We made it to the studio just fine. We weren't even late.

It's easy to forget how dependent we have become on gadgets and devices to do simple tasks for us--things that we used to do automatically like study a map or write down directions! It's potentially very risky business if you think about it. Sometimes a little low-tech methodology can save the day. I know I will be more careful in the future, and buy a car charger too.