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Dear Reader,
My husband and I bought a new-used 2016 Toyota Avalon. Our new car has all the safety bells and whistles that our 2006 didn't have. I like feeling safer, and I really appreciate the fact that I don't have to read up on how all the new safety gadgets work, because they are do-it-themselves features. No involvement on my part--they work by themselves.
There's also a highly-technical navigation and multimedia system. It would do things beyond my wildest dreams (probably even do my laundry), if I only knew how the darn thing worked. There are two manuals for our new car. One is filled with maintenance and mechanical how-to's. The other is a 304-page manual solely dedicated to how to use that high-tech navigation and multimedia system. It's overwhelming. I flipped through the manual looking for one of those "quick-start" one-page sheets, included with everything you buy these days. But there's none to be found. Just the opposite, the Table of Contents is 12 pages long, there's also a a chapter titled: How to Read This Manual.
I called the Toyota service manager. "Do you offer a class on how to use the navigation and multimedia system?" The guy who answered just chuckled.
But I'm not kidding. I think it's a new business waiting to be started. A one week, 8-hour-a-day (with homework required in the evening) class. If you pass the exam at the end, there's a certificate you can display in your car window. "I'm the proud owner of a highly-technical navigation system and I know how to use every feature!" But alas there isn't any class and truth be told, even if there was a week-long 8-hour-a-day class and I did the additional three hours of homework every night, I doubt I'd pass the big exam--no certificate for me.
In the meantime, I keep leaving the 304-page manual in strategic places throughout the house, hoping my husband will pick up the book and figure out the navigation system for both of us. After all--he's the one who hates to ask for directions.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
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