The Battle
Oh, me, oh my. I spent most of my Saturday troubleshooting smart thermostats. It was an unequal battle. They are smarter than I am. Or at least they think differently than I do. I try to remember it’s just a computer following logical steps, but then I remember someone programmed it, and what they think is logical may have nothing to do at all with what I think is logical. Thus, the battle is engaged.
My current stumbling block is getting the app used to control the thermostat to recognize that the thermostat in question exists. I stood next to it pointing at it, inputting all the codes, scanning QR codes, punching in numbers. The app and the thermostat refused to talk. It was like counseling a couple that is far down the road to divorce. No one said a word. I even tried it this morning at 3 a.m. when I woke from my slumbers as I usually do. I guess I thought I’d surprise them. Nothing. I went back to bed.
I’ll try again this morning, because I am nothing if not dedicated and I like my technology to work. At least the thermostat is keeping the house warm. I always claim I don’t like doing puzzles, but that might be a misstatement. This is a puzzle, and I will solve it. When the solution comes it will probably be something simple, but I will still feel an inordinate amount of satisfaction from overcoming the travails presented by an inanimate object. Then I will go around thinking, smugly, you wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I connected my thermostat to its app.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale