Alexa the Quilter

The Amazon Alexa device is interesting in what information it can provide. My wife was telling the story about a former co-worker who volunteers in the school with young children. Her former co-worker was working on "Th" sounds, and she was wanting the kids to say thermometer, so she said something like your parents would look at this to get the outdoor temperature? They looked at her with rather befuddled faces and she said, what do your parents do when they want to know the temperature? The children responded, "they ask Alexa." Alexa is great telling one the weather, and the outdoor thermometer is going the way of the can opener. But, is Alexa is a quilter?

Amazon Echo Dot

The wife quilts, and sews. Right now she is making quilt that she donates to an organization that works with pregnant women in non-ideal situations. This past Friday night I asked Alexa how much snow are we going to get. She responded 2.16 inches. I have asked before for both rain and snow and marvel at how she gets it to a hundredth of an inch. She could have said 2 inches, or 2.2, but no, she has to go to the hundredth of an inch. Her prediction probably was true as of 5 pm Saturday, but Saturday, from 5 pm to early Sunday AM, we had a good 6 + more inches of snow. I don't even know how you would measure snow to that level of accuracy. I was commenting on her precise amount, and my wife said "she must be a quilter." 

My wife can judge measurements very well, particularly in the smaller dimensions. It comes from her years of sewing and quilting. She may not be as precise as Alexa, to the hundredth of an inch, but she is very close on her estimates. I have even measured times when she gives has given me a measurement, say 2" and I measure and she is right on. Years of sewing and quilting have given her an eye for measurements. 

A Quilt

Alexa has a habit to get chatty, particularly after I ask the question of the day. Alexa always seems to be wanting me to get into some trivia club or group, or try Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader" challenge. The next morning, after my wife's comment Alexa was in one of her chatty moods, and I asked her to stop or end and she continued. My wife made a comment about her being so chatty, and I responded to my wife that, "Well, she is a quilter." I think that is the first time I can recall when my wife did not have comeback, I left her speechless. 

Alexa is great for providing current weather or forecasts for a specific area, although I tend to think her wind level is off. I am still trying to understand how she describes wind speed, breezy one day light breeze even though a higher windspeed the next day. I then came to realize understanding Alexa is like trying to understand what a woman wants.