Doing the Unthinkable

You may ask what that could possibly be. This might conjure up many images. What is the one think that we almost never do?

[Intentional pause in writing.]

[Flippant pause in writing.]

[Hi, mom!!!]

Okay, that is enough. I figure if you are still here I would tell you. I am reading the manual. Yes, I was looking for a book to read and I thought, “Why don’t I figure out how my cell phone works?” I have an iPhone 7 so I checked some books on Amazon. Then I remembered that in iBooks there is a free manual. I like free. I downloaded it and I am reading it. I have learned about some new features that I did not know I had. Ex. 3 D Touch and Voice Control.

The book is 379 pages long. It isn’t that bad. I skim and skip over the things I know. I am probably like you and just play around and guess at how to use the cell phone.

What essential thing are you using without reading the manual?

It is interesting to read those manuals which have been translate by a non-English speaker. If a Japanese has done it I translate it back to the Japanese word and it makes sense.

(Picture is of a Cammenga Lensatic Compass.)

1024px-Cammenga-lensatic-compass-model-27

Bookmark the permalink.

28 Responses to Doing the Unthinkable

  1. 10 Cents10 Cents says:

    Mike, do you know what page the Apple Cheerleaders are on?

  2. Vald the MisspellerVald the Misspeller says:

    I have a Cammenga Lensatic Compass, a relic of Navy survival school, which I had forgotten how to use — apparently, my memory doesn’t carry over from one millennium to the next.

    So I downloaded the manual and now, Dime, if you’re lacking direction in life, give me a call and I’ll tell you exactly where to go. But don’t wait too long, because after the Apochalypse — with the attendant collapse of civilization — your phone won’t work. And Apple probably won’t be honoring your warranty either.

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      Vald, hurry up with reading that manual I could use some compass-shun from you.

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      I put a picture of this compass in the OP.

      What is so good about this compass, Vald?

      Vald, have you ever thought of just breaking down and buying a GPS for the Valdmobile? I mean the sextant and compass is okay but it is the 21st century.

      • Vald the MisspellerVald the Misspeller says:

        ‘What is so good about this compass, Vald?’

        No batteries. And the luminous bezel indicator.

        ‘…ever thought of just breaking down and buying a GPS…’

        So what happens when the Van Allen radiation belts catch fire and the great global direction finder in the sky goes tits up? As long as I’ve got a map and my compass I’m good. Or,barring that, I could stop and ask directions. (This presupposes I am not constrained by a female passenger who suggests we ‘stop and ask’. In that case of course I could NOT stop and ask, lest my man-card be revoked.)

        • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

          I thought Brent told me you had your man-card permanently torn up. It might have been another Vald with a Cammenga Lensatic Compass with a luminous bezel indicator.

          Did you here about the lousy Tate compass? They were no good. In fact it was common knowledge that ….
          He who has a Tate’s is lost.

          • Vald the MisspellerVald the Misspeller says:

            Nice: this goes right to the top of my list of Groan Worthy Puns of 2017. You know, if Vaudeville weren’t already dead, it’s stuff like this that would have killed it.

            • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

              Hey, a dentist friend told me that joke. He also told me the snake joke that Noah told about getting a pair of snakes to multiply. “Even a mere adder can multiply on a log table.” After that I past out so I don’t know what happened next. (I may be exaggerating a tad.)

  3. BrentB67BrentB67 says:

    Good advice.

  4. TKC1101TKC1101 says:

    I always RTFM. In fact, I remember when the acronym was invented.

    I still read the owners manual on my cars, even my space heater.

    It’s a compulsion, a personality defect.

    Life is probably a happier place when one does not read the manual.

    I believe that is called blissful ignorance.

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      It is not very wise to not read the manual on something that use often. It closes a person off from getting the full benefit and stopping us from destroying something we need.

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      TKC, how long does it take you to read the manual?

      • TKC1101TKC1101 says:

        Depends. We all know How Long is a man from China.

        Or at least from Chinatown.

        As in “Forget it Jake…It’s Chinatown”

        I tend to read fast, even faster if I care not about comprehension. I never worry about premature comprehension.

        I understand they have an ointment for that now.

  5. EThompson says:

    “What essential thing are you using without reading the manual?”

    My two new computers and my Android; the manuals are so annoying, I’ve hired a techie to install and explain them all to me whenever necessary. The geniuses smart enough to invent these gadgets have no idea how to teach us to use them so I hired a knowledgeable young ex-Marine who- btw- used to be Mad Dog Mattis’ personal driver.

    The only problem with this hire is you never (and I mean never!) want to irritate him. He is one of the few people in this world of whom I am slightly afraid but he knows everything and I haven’t had a virus since.

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      Liz, most thing are not that hard. I have helped friends before.

      You sound like a techophobe. Just get out the manual and go through it. If you have any questions just ask. You are plenty smart enough. You know more about fashion than I will ever know.

  6. DevereauxDevereaux says:

    Centime, considering how you get manhandled here on this space, you might want to learn how to use that compass. It is terribly useful if you need to call a fire mission.

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      I had four brothers, Dev. I don’t feel manhandled here. I feel like Croc Dundee in that scene when his girlfriend says, “He’s got a knife.” You guys are just having some fun.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWl8EbNN8NM

      Anyway as Father of the PIT, the main rule was if you can’t take it don’t dish it out.

      When you order up a Daisy Cutter, you don’t have to be too precise.

      • DevereauxDevereaux says:

        You ALWAYS have to be precise, Centime. Just because it’s a daisy cutter doesn’t mean you can drop it haphazardly. After all, most common use of a daisy cutter was making a helo zone.

        You have clearly never had an Air Force F4 run an air strike in support of you. Those dudes were happy they found the right grid square.

        • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

          Dev, don’t make me go nuclear. ;-)

          • DevereauxDevereaux says:

            See, even THAT needs accuracy. While the number is classified, know that you can’t knock out a missile silo unless you hit it within certain parameters. With a nuc no less.

            • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

              Dev, I will drop Hillary with a parachute. Surely I just have to get the right hemisphere for that. I am keeping Al Gore in reserve.

    • EThompson says:

      * J’adore Centime; this is officially my new moniker for our favorite rascal on the Internet.

  7. 10 Cents10 Cents says:

    Vald, I have a compass on the iPhone. It also has a function to see if you are on the level. (You are not.)

    • Vald the MisspellerVald the Misspeller says:

      No, I list hard to starboard, I thought everybody here did.

      • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

        You forgot about BDB, Vald. He is heavy into the port. He doesn’t like keeping anything bottled up for long.

  8. 10 Cents10 Cents says:

    Hey, I finished the thing. The last quarter was all about accessibility.