Alexa, Where Is My Car?

I have recently started to use Amazon’s Alexa device to compile my supermarket shopping lists. It has proved to be successful in ensuring I return home with at least 90% of the things I need. It probably goes without saying, that just because an item is on my list, that is no guarantee that it will make it into my trolley and home with me. By my standards, a 10% margin of error is a vast improvement compared to relying on my memory or an old fashioned shopping list which more often than not, I leave at home.

However, not all of my supermarket shopping experiences are this successful. For example, if my trolley is full, I sometimes leave it parked in an aisle while I pick up the last few items from around the store. Reacquainting myself with my trolley is not something I can take for granted these days. On numerous occasions lately, I have drawn a complete blank and cannot remember where I have left it. In these days of one way systems around supermarket aisles, it can take considerable time and effort to locate it!

A similar thing happens with my car. I park my car at the supermarket carpark. This itself presents many challenges but that’s for another blog. I do my shopping with the assistance of Alexa’s list and all is good. With 90% of the shopping I need, I pass through the self scan checkout and head to the carpark and I cannot for the life of me remember where I have parked my car. It is not a momentary lapse, it is a complete blank that happens more often than not. I wander the carpark with absolutely no idea where I parked my car less than an hour before. I eventually find it but fleetingly wonder if I should start using my local Tesco Metro. With only four parking spaces it would be difficult (but not impossible) to lose my car there!

As with most of these strange phenomenon, my default position is to blame Parkinson’s. I think the menopause would be a pretty good contender too but friends who’ve had similar experiences have them only as a one off, not an every time supermarket shop experience which has become the case for me. I did some research and found that it is indeed a recognised Parkinson’s ‘thing’.

The Parkinson’s Foundation writes that people with Parkinson’s, can experience difficulty with measuring distance and with depth perception, which may interfere with parking a car or remembering where the car is parked. They don’t offer any solutions to the problem but I am delighted that it’s ‘just’ my Parkinson’s and nothing more sinister. It does mean it’s a long term problem though, so until Alexa can locate my car for me, I’ve downloaded the ‘find my parked car’ app. I suspect it might pinpoint a car park for those who’ve been on holiday and left their car ‘somewhere near Heathrow’, rather than pinpoint the exact location of the car of a twice weekly shopper who has ‘lost’ her car in the car park again but I figure it’s worth a try!

PS Mum, don’t worry, it was just locating my car that was a challenge. I recognised my car, remembered where I live and found my way home with 90% of my shopping! x

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