Alexa Weather

Last week Friday night, my wife was already in bed, and while I was in the bathroom to get ready for bed. While brushing my teeth, I could hear Alexa going on about something, but I could not understand what the device had to say. When I got in bed the wife tells me we are to get almost a half inch of rain that night. This was a surprise, since I had just looked at my weather app and it said to expect up to quarter inch. Why did it all of a sudden double?

The comedy resulted when my wife tried to get Alexa to reinforce her earlier statement about near a half inch of rain. She must have asked varied versions of "Alexa, when is it going to rain?" which sometimes triggers and amount, but Alexa did not provide an amount. She then tried something like: "Alexa, how much rain are we supposed to get?" That only elicited the response that it might rain and what ever percent chance. I think it was on the wife's fifth try when Alexa finally gave an amount. It was .24 inches. This aligned with up to a quarter inch my weather app had. I am not sure what had me laughing more, her questioning of Alexa that Friday night, or the incompetent and poor play of the Packers on Monday night against the Giants. The Packer team as a whole was a comedy of errors. 

Alexa device

Weather apps are not always accurate and neither is Alexa. Perhaps, it is near several weeks ago when it was cloudy and looked threatening, and had rained, and I looked at the weather app for rain, and it said for the next few hours about 17%. My wife went for a walk with her walking partner and I left on my bike ride. I got to Lussier Center and turned around and a few minutes later it started to rain. So much for an 83% chance that it would not rain in my vicinity. It would be my luck.

I hurried home, to avoid getting too cold. I thought the wife would already be home, but she was not. I was well soaked and had to dry my shoes and orthotics not to mention the clothes I had worn biking. I am hanging my wet clothes up in the basement to dry when the wife arrives home. Unbeknownst to me she and her walking partner had changed their route. I think the first thing she says to me is she heard my cough when she was walking down Exchange St, and without a stop says, "I saw you blow through that intersection." "That intersection" is the main four way stop in town by the Gazebo. The worst part was her tone and the look. Because they changed their walking route, I was caught blowing through the intersection. I think I would have been better off if a constable had stopped me.

The intersection I blow through

There are times when she is pretty much right on. For example, one time I asked when it was going to rain, and the device responded, "Rain is expected in five minutes." And sure enough, in five minutes it was raining. The best part is when asking for the wind speed. "It is breezy right now with winds at 2 mph, and expect a light breeze today at 12 mph." I still don't know who 2 mph is breezy and 12 mph is a light breeze.

And, just last night, my wife is sure she heard Alexa say the low was about 29, when in fact when the 6 am weather had it as 18 degrees. Now, these two scenarios point to one of two, although possible a combination of issues: 1) that Alexa can be wrong, or 2) that the wife needs her hearing checked. I can already hear her reaction! It will be worse than her stifling comment when she said, I saw you blow through that intersection." Ouch!

I have come to believe that Alexa is appropriately a female in both voice and name.  After all, when I play question of the day she rattles on about varied things at the end, trying to get me to join some trivia club, or see if I am smarter than a fifth grader. I am not sure what weather device she uses for her information, but perhaps it needs an upgrade.