just a selkie in the sea

(I also go by Liz)

avatar by @PotechiPon on twitter


it's at least 8 years newer than my car

  • push button start is weird. car... key...?
  • there's a backup camera? I have to remember to look at it and not just turn around in my seat
  • the headlights are just on automatically all the time I think? at least I couldn't figure out how to turn them in and the indicator turns on when I get in the car (my own car turns on running lights which are substantially dimmer than actual headlights, which is why I am concerned)
    • my car has a twisty thing on the end of that stick to turn on real headlights, which this car does not have
    • the stick on the left side of the steering wheel does high beams like normal: flash (in), steady (out). yes I made sure there was no oncoming traffic when I tested this
    • there's a button on the end of the stick but it changes views on a screen inset in the odometer when you push it. the odometer scale is compressed to allow this so I was dismayed when it switched off of telling me my actual speed
    • there's also forward/back buttons on the stick that advance you through those menus. there's like 8 of them. too many
    • I just want to turn on my headlights. I forgot to figure this out before I started and now I am driving 55 (the speed limit) (people behind me hate this)
    • is this why I am constantly being blinded by new car headlights. do they just constantly have their high beams on because they don't realize they're not just the headlights
  • the radio is on really quietly and I keep forgetting to turn it off until I'm driving, and I can't do that, because it's on a touch screen I have to navigate which I will not do because I am driving

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in reply to @JhoiraArtificer's post:

It takes me so much time to adjust to a new car too.
People seem to be expecting it to be instantaneous but there's so much basic stuff that switches around between brands, that figuring it out on the go is not advisable. And I have yet to go into one of these modern cars with all the bells and whistles.

I am convinced that car manufacturers just Stopped Caring about aiming headlights and reducing glare. It used to be the jerks with aftermarket HID lights who would blind me, but now it seems every vehicle bigger than a Smart Car has LED lights that shine directly into my eyes.

Maybe I'm just getting old, but yeah, there's something to be said for simple physical controls that I can feel immediate feedback from and not have to look at.

I can barely believe it myself, but back-up cameras have been a legally mandated requirement for all cars in the US since 2018. It's, like, a safety feature. There will never be another car without one. Real life is weird.

I drove a foreign rental with back-up sensors instead of a camera over the summer, I vastly prefer it. Grainy-ass pixel camera can't tell a squirrel from a hole in the ground in low light.