Vodka: my Absolut saviour

Sampling the local drink and cuisine is one of many enjoyments of travel, although perhaps ‘experience’ is a more appropriate word when it comes to describing the local firewater. Throughout my travels, both as a tour leader and as a tourist, I have always been game to give the local drink a try. Indeed, my ability to down cheap neat vodka without gasping, alleviated a potentially uncomfortable situation in a backstreet bar in Warsaw.

The Berlin Wall had come down not long ago, and travelling in Poland had become less restricted. Not wanting to visit the usual tourist haunts, my friend and I wandered naively through Warsaw’s back streets. After various conversations with passers-by which involved much hand waving and pointing, and some very raised eyebrows, we eventually located a tiny ‘locals’ bar. It was getting cold and against our better judgement we descended the stairs and opened the door into a smoke-filled bar. The place went silent. Swarthy looking men and tarty looking women glowered suspiciously at us and the phrase ‘stranger in town’ immediately sprung to mind. But undeterred, we strode purposely to the bar, and after a quick glance of what people were drinking, we ordered vodka.

The barman racked up a couple of glasses and reached far below the bar; I had a feeling we were getting the ‘not-so-very-good’ stuff. With a face as expressionless as the floor, he poured us generous measures of clear liquid from a bottle, which I think had the word vodka on it. Only then did he let slip a slight smirk as he pushed the glasses to us.

Raising the glass to my lips, I poured the entire measure into my mouth, held my breath and swallowed. Maybe it’s a gene left over from my distant Scandinavian roots (I am from Yorkshire stock), but I’ve always had a leaning towards vodka and considered myself a reasonable drinker of the liquid. But this? This really was the proverbial rocket fuel; as I gulped and suppressed the strong gag reflex, I also somehow managed to also keep my face as straight and as I put the empty glass back on the bar, I looked the barman straight in the eye.

He smiled and the whole bar erupted. Much back slapping ensued, the atmosphere became distinctly jovial and the better vodka was lined up. I can’t quite remember what happened after that, how we conversed or how we got home, but my hazy recollection is we had a good time.

Being able to knock back highly potent alcoholic drinks ‘in one’ is probably not a skill to include on the CV, but it definitely has its uses!

You can read about another of my travel escapades in the travel anthology, From the Grand Canyon to Great Wall, the best, the worst and most ridiculous stories from the road. It’s in numerous ebook formats and you can even get a hard copy! Visit http://www.slenkdeellc.com/Grand2Great.php

Technology, what is it taking from us?

A car which parks itself. A robotic voice commands us to turn right…. How many of your friend’s telephone numbers can you remember, or indeed, can you remember your own phone number? Or for that matter, what is 6 x 7? I don’t doubt the brilliance of technology and the impact it’s had on our lives (as I sit here tapping on my laptop instead of writing this blog out in long hand) but I do question our reliance on it, and what exactly it is taking away from us.

The BBC technology commentator Bill Thompson highlighted an experiment which confirms something I have long suspected; a reliance on technology actually hinders us.

In the article, an experiment is described whereby participants were asked to solve a reasonably complex puzzle using two versions of a computer program; one version offered more help to the user than the other.

The results found that those with less support could play better after an initial learning period. This group also coped better with interruptions and remembered more about playing the game after an eight-month gap, indicating that they had remembered the game rules more than those who got support from the game program. Dare I suggest that trial and error, and repetitions help us to properly learn something?

So what are we losing when we let the car park itself? The driver no longer has to reverse, turn the wheel to the correct angle and judge distance from other cars. OK, yes there will be fewer insurance claims and scrapped cars, but much of our spatial awareness comes with experience…. Plus, as the car is doing the parking, the driver’s focus is taken away from the road sooner and they’ve failed to notice the cyclist coming up on the side of the car as they open the door to get out….. And for those of us who are used to driving on narrow lanes in the UK, people appear not to know how to reverse into passing places these days.

Now let’s examine the sat-.nav. Being a little ‘old school’ I personally don’t own one, but keep a road map in the car. However, of my friends who have used them, they have been sent in the wrong direction, have found themselves on unsuitable roads for large vehicles and have been directed to go the wrong way down a one way street….. I don’t doubt sat-nav’s usefulness, particularly when driving in a city, however I’m highlighting it should perhaps be used in conjunction with other aids…. such as a map.

In my experience, the reliance on technology is actually making us stupid and lazy. At the risk of sounding like my granny, I was taught some basics: how to read a map, drive a manual car, my times tables, how to add up, subtract and divide in my head. Thanks to technology advancements, all these skills are being lost. Recently I queried the amount shown on the till for my grocery shopping. The young girl stared at me in disbelief when pointed out the amount of each item (there were only four items) and suggested they came to a figure approximately $10 less than the amount shown on the till. There was no calculator (or Abacas for that matter) to hand so a supervisor was called to help and we started again. Items were dutifully rescanned and lo, second time round the till agreed with the amount I’d suggested! Apparently the discrepancy was because the till hadn’t been closed off properly from the previous customer. And there was me thinking a cashier would know the price of the groceries and perhaps have the ability to do basic additions. But there again, why should the cashier bother to know these when a computer does it for her?

And now for the irony; we’re told our brain is not being used enough, so we’re encouraged to download an app which has a number of puzzles/memory exercises to give our brain a work out. Personally, as well as my everyday brain exercises, the sudoku and crossword on the back of the daily newspaper work quite well for me, but I guess it’s no different to driving to the gym to use the walking machine……. is it just me, or have we just gone full circle?