Tech guys giveth and taketh away

As previously lamented numerous times on this blog, the march of technology is relentless and not unlike Sherman's storied march to the sea. Except in this case there is no sea which will bring an end to the destruction.  While these guys (and really, they are all either guys or women who think like tech guys) live to tweak and "enhance" they unknowingly or with evil intent wreck havoc on what once worked just fine for folks.

Let me get specific about what has bunched my shorts lately:

In my 2018 RAV 4, there is no CD player (and indeed nearly all new vehicles). Apparently we are all so entirely living on our smart phones that we no longer borrow audio CD's from a physical library to play in our cars. So, I purchased a portable CD player which will let me use the car speaker system, but will not let me pause or go back or forward. This must be done on the small black player with tiny black buttons. So "hello God!"should I attempt this while operating a moving vehicle.

Also, but usefully, I will be able transfer a downloaded (onto my dino home computer) audio CD from a virtual library onto a sufficiently large USB  drive which will be fully functional via the sound system.  I just confirmed that this works with a USB containing a selection of my similarly retrograde music.

Unrelated but a needed touch of silly.

But wait, there's LESS! Apparently in order to make use of many (most?) of the wonderful new sound system features, I must use a smart phone. I checked to see if my android tablet with Bluetooth was compatible. Alas no, as it is NOT a PHONE!! So, unbelievably I cannot set a favorite radio station by holding down one of the available preset locations (as was possible on a 2016 RAV). Nooooo, you get to do this only with a smart phone. Would it have created problems to continue manual setting capability? I sure hope so, as otherwise this deprovement ends up just being evil.

Now that I have vented some frustration (you still there?), I will end this screed with something to help me and perhaps my dear readers return to pre-blog equanimity setting.

I should do more of what the girl on the far right is up to.