Hendrik (87 years old)

Report of the day to his new oral pen pal

This morning, I felt a little strange, not well rested. This has never happened since my alarm clock has been connected directly to my Health Monitoring at home. When I called Robo Reid to run a system diagnostics test, he indeed identified an error in the Sleepy program that controls my sleep pattern.

Having a Robo roommate is quite handy. Besides being a good friend and caregiver that always gives me excellent suggestions on what to eat, wear, or do, he is also able to always track down every irregularity right away. Sometimes, however, I still miss some humanity in him. They can still make progress in that regard.

Anyway, I decided to just call my oldest son. He works at the producer of the Smart-Home technology that I work with, Alphanumerics. It may sound surprising, but when Reid opens the door for him, even Robo Reid doesn’t greet him. I am always happy when one of my children is here. Ever since my wife passed away, I don’t see them very often. They have busy jobs at the university or at the tech companies just outside the city. The advantage is that they provide me with the latest care systems, consoles, apps, and so on. My son looked into the error and fortunately, he was able to solve it, too. Then he says, “Reid could have done this as well.” I know, but I called him, because that way, I knew he would stay for dinner.

Reid selects two meals for us. In-vitro meat, again. It is very good, but still, I can always tell the difference with the real meat of the olden days. Or have I just become an old bore? “Will you still go to old Together?” my son asked. I said I wouldn’t. The elderly people there are poorer and don’t have access to expensive car care. “I find your company’s app, Senior+, much more fun. That latest VR lens has greatly improved the lifelike quality of the 3D experience, and at least, this allows me to come into contact with people who are more connected to my environment. I don’t feel at home among those poor things at old Together.”

Right before he leaves, he brandishes one of the paper magazines in my living room once more. “You bought prints again? Reid doesn’t approve of you walking longer distances. You know this, dad!” I like to read the paper magazines I have printed at the Proxy Contact kiosk. It reminds me of the days of old. But for some reason, my home tech goes out of its way to make me read those same magazines digitally. Of course, I know that the home tech’s offer and Reid’s recommendations will improve when I do more digitally… perhaps that’s why?