A Sassy GPS, Renaissance Fun and Some Adorable Shopping Finds

I’ve just returned from spending time with family in Ohio. It was a fun visit with football games, great food, Halloween shenanigans, and a visit to the Renaissance festival. It has been many years since I visited a Renaissance festival–we used to go almost every year when my son was growing up. After spending a fun day going through mazes, eating barbeque, and watching full-armored combat that went from fighting with swords to frying pans, (Ha!) tired and happy we trekked back to our cars that were parked out in the middle of a huge field.

 

 

Full Armored Combat, Renaissance Festival

Full Armored Combat, Renaissance Festival

 

Some of my favorite costumes were those with the big mushroom-style hats. They looked so whimsical and gave me Alice in Wonderland vibes.

 

This particular Renaissance festival is held in a beautiful rural area where cell service is pretty spotty. When it was time to leave, my daughter-in-law took the boys with her in her car, and my son and I got in my SUV with plans of stopping by Whole Foods on the way back home. Not knowing the most direct route to the closest WF store, my son, now in the driver’s seat, pressed the voice activation on the steering wheel for my GPS. He asked for guidance to the nearest Whole Foods. My GPS was acting really wonky, asking us to repeat our request while throwing up all kinds of random places/destinations on the screen that had nothing to do with Whole Foods. The names didn’t even look similar to Whole Foods.

Before we realized the issue was probably due to our rural location and spotty GPS satellite service, my son, attempting to try another search request, activated the voice button on the steering wheel right at the moment I said, “What the heck is wrong with this thing?!” In a curt voice, my GPS replied, “I don’t care to repeat myself!

My son and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows and gaping mouths. WHAT?! What did she just say?! What sass! I’m so glad he was in the car with me because no one would have ever believed it. It reminded me of a similar situation many years ago when I was in the process of choosing a new phone. Having always preferred Android phones (still do) I was considering going with an iPhone. I ask Siri via my iPad, “Which phone should I buy, a Samsung Galaxy or an iPhone?” She confidently replied, “The shiny one.” Hee, hee.

As I was recounting this story later to friends, it made me wonder if you’ve ever experienced sass from your GPS, Siri, or a similar system. When it first happened, my son and I were incredulous and just a little indignant–like who the heck programs sass into a GPS?! Ha! Our indignation soon turned to laughter and we repeatedly found ways to use the line “I don’t care to repeat myself” during our shopping excursion at Whole Foods. Have you ever had anything similar happen when “talking” to your GPS, Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant, or any of the other virtual assistants?

 

I’ll leave you with a few pictures from one of my Cracker Barrel, stretch-my-legs shopping stops on my drive back home. Love these owl mugs–so adorable!

 

Cute snowy village houses…love!

 

Love how they made this one look as if it’s built of rock. So pretty!

 

Please share your sassy GPS or virtual assistant stories, I would love to hear them!

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Comments

  1. Hahah that’s great! I too have had a hilarious episode with my navigator, but it involves a swear word, so I won’t recount it here! 🙂 Thanks for sharing these stories Susan – it’s so fun to hear what you’re up to! Glad you’re back home safe and had such a good time.

  2. A couple of years ago I needed to call my Gal at Neiman Marcus at the makeup counter. I needed the phone number. Siri kept giving me the address and not the phone number. I kept asking her “the phone number” she kept giving me the address again. I guess I was getting pretty perturbed.
    Siri then told me “You don’t have to raise your voice”. Ha Ha, I showed her, the number is now in my contacts.

  3. Barbara Harris says

    Our GPS once told us “You are on your own”.
    We laughed and laughed. At least we knew that if we were going
    North, we were going home. Love your blog.

  4. Helen Peterson says

    Alexa is more polite, lol. When my connection is bad, she will say “I’m sorry. I’m having trouble understanding right now.”

  5. I haven’t had that experience, but if I talk to my husband about buying something, with my computer off, when I turn it on, the thing I was talking to my husband about will come up as an ad. This has happened numerous times. Is someone listening to us?

    • Gay McLeod says

      I was recently driving in my car alone and brainstorming Christmas gifts for my family. I only THOUGHT about a Vera Bradley bag for my DIL. There was no one to speak to. Later that day, an ad for Vera Bradley bags popped up on my screen. Weird!

      • The same thing happened to me, but I thought if I said it people would think I was crazy. I was thinking about something and it appeared on my screen. Weird and creepy!

    • Ellen, you’re the third person I’ve heard say that. I heard a story from a guy on Rumble who was saying that after a baseball game, he was standing around talking to a bunch of friends about a new golf course that had opened recently. After he left his friends, he started seeing ads about that specific golf course and ads about golfing and that had never happened before. Creepy! Makes you wonder if they are listening ALL the time!

    • Oh yes, Ellen. Lots of companies are listening. And following you. They know where you go, shop, visit, etc. They know what you like to buy repeatedly, which restaurants you favor, clothes stores, etc. It’s all being tracked and kept on record. It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s a well documented fact.

      • I agree completely! It is true!!

      • Pam, I’ve heard that it’s true we are being watched and listened to, but when it actually happens to you, it’s very unnerving. When the gov was talking about socialized med. a few years back, I heard not to get a smart refridgerator because it monitors your food and drink. If “they” think you drink too much beer, for example, they could deny you health coverage. It’s whole new world out there. I don’t mean to get political.

  6. I asked Alexa if I could call her “Jenny” – she replied indignantly that her name was “Alexa”, and it was a case of “mistaken identity”

  7. The festival looked like a lot of fun Susan! I’ve never been to one, but they always look like so much fun. We have them here in PA, just never been. Oh that sassy GPS! lol My Goggle assistant will get me frustrated and I will tell her she is stupid. Like one time it was a gorgeous sunny day out and she told me it was raining. So I said, your stupid Google, she said….”I’m sorry, I’m still learning.” lol So mine hasn’t gotten sassy with me. That just blows my mind at the sass some people have with these devices. But it sure makes for good stories and laugh or two! Hugs, Brenda

  8. I had just learned to use Siri to make phone calls when once on my way to work I wanted to call my husband. I said (by mistake), ” Alexa, phone home”. Siri answered and said, “Not funny, not funny, not funny Ha Ha, not funny.”
    Siri has an attitude!! Ha!!

  9. Will be watching too for your favorite Christmas shirts for your grands. I puchased the Dino shirts last year you shared, and my littles LOVED them . Can’t wait to see what you find for boys are hard to find cute shirts that are classics.

    • Thanks, Alda…I’ll definitely share some of those sometime soon. I need to do some Christmas shopping posts this month because time is flying!

  10. Very cute little boys. Loves the little houses, what a good idea to put a white fur roof on that house, love how that looks. Owl mugs are sweet.

  11. Michelle B says

    Once in a silly mood, my husband asked Google several snarky, unanswerable questions. Google finally said “I don’t recognize your voice”. He then asked an ‘answerable’ question and she replied as normal, having no problem recognizing his voice 🙂

  12. Carolyn Price says

    That comment is hilarious.
    I have a remark to share. Not sassy … just funny.
    While watching a televised Garth Brooks concert, I asked Siri if I had any “friends in low places” and her response was, “You have me.”

  13. It is amusing that the devices can be programmed to answer and respond just like a “person”. I just finished the Jane Hawk series of books by Dean Koontz and some of the situations he brings forth are not far from non-fiction. You found some cute things at Cracker Barrel and happy for you that you can visit your son and family so often!

  14. A few years ago my husband and I were discussing who might win the Super Bowl. He said ‘let’s ask Alexa’ so I did. I couldn’t quite make out what she said because of the TV noise so I turned it down and repeated my question.
    She gave me a very snarky answer . “I said the Bears! B.E.A.R.S!!!’ BTW,
    he bet on the Bears and they won.
    On another occasion after a long flight I was telling my husband that I was getting a sore throat and I thought maybe I’d caught something on the plane.
    Alexa said “I’m sorry to hear that”.
    There are other examples but two is enough to share.

    • Ohhh, that was a sassy response! I’m surprised she gave a real answer. Interesting! Wow, so Alexa said that without you even saying her name? That’s a bit scary!

  15. One time my husband and I were casually talking and the name ‘Kathy’ came up in our conversation….my phone wasn’t even near to me and Siri said ‘do you want me to call Kathy _____ or Kathy _____?’ We both freaked out. Love your blogs….I lost track of you for awhile and then suddenly you ‘appeared’ in my emails…..now that is spooky too!!!

    • Wow! They are always eavesdropping on us, aren’t they? Freaky!
      I’m so glad to hear that, that’s wonderful that the emails are getting through again!
      XXX

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