Google Home To The Rescue

Yesterday was a tough day, at least for the better part of it. I am beginning to feel that my Range Of Motion exercises are wearing me down, leaving me in bad shape for the rest of my day. I am going to change that in the near future, making the ROM exercises a part of my evening routine. That way I can get a good rest afterwards.

The better half of the day started when David showed up for dinner. We talked finances and vacations, along with life in general. I showed David a quick and easy way to do up some tasty fried chicken, and he made sure I go lots of food. Unfortunately he suffered from the malady I often display; he was tired after cooking the dinner so he didn't eat that much. Nonetheless, dinner was great, especially starting with a beer and topping things of with a few glasses of wine.

Wine. Therein lies the rest of my tale for last night and this morning. I will admit to having consumed a beer, and the better part of a bottle of Montepulciano. This, combined with the exhaustion still hanging on from the morning meant I was more than ready for bed. My HCA, Kabira, settled me in at which point I realized I didn't have my phone. I asked Kabira to bring it to me, after which she left. I was in bed.

Part of my evening ritual, once in bed, is to read the news on my phone and to check into Facebook before going to sleep. I remember reading the news. I don't remember anything after that. I must have fallen so soundly and solidly asleep that I didn't even know it was happening. I slept solidly and soundly until around 6:00 AM, when a pesky fly woke my up by buzzing all around my head. I was well awakened by all my efforts to kill that little bugger.

It was then that I notice my phone was not on my night table, attached to the charger as it usually is. I had absolutely no idea where it was. Without it, I would not be able to let Semhar, or Sam as I call her, in to do my morning routine. This all happened after about an hour of fly swatting and attempting to get back to sleep. At this point, Google Home came to the rescue. I said "Hey Google, call CBI". Google Home promptly made the call. I needed to respond to an IVR prompt, at which point I saids "Hey Google, press 1".

I was connected with the CBI Coordinator and left a message for Sam, letting her know that I did not have my phone and asking her to contact Moe, our building superintendent, to get into my building. That message complete, I tried to sleep again. Once again that pesky fly had me up and swinging. It was about a half our later that I realized I had something called "If This, Then That" or IFTTT installed on my phone, and thus on my Google Home.

IFTTT is a kind of scripting interface to allow multiple functons to be performed on Google Home, functions which are not innately on the device. One of these scripts is called "Find My Phone". So I said "Hey Google, find my phone", The command was promptly accepted, whereupon I heard my phone ringing and felt it vibrating under my left thigh. I guess I fell asleep with the phone in my hand and it fell beneath or beside me. Then, at night, as I rolled from back to side, the phone slid further and further underneath me. I grabbed the phone and texted Sam that all was well.

So, Google Home to the rescue, not once, but twice, all while I was laying on my back in bed!