I was Put in Time Out by my Tesla!!!

 I am the proud owner of a Tesla. Yes that electric car that has everyone talking is mine. Is it the car of the future or will that Chinese car beat it out in the end? At this point in time I just don't care. I own a Tesla and I am happy.

BUT...Elon Musk does have a way of keeping his owners in line. After all, this car needs supervision and the learning curve has challenged me. The computer updates are amazing but if I screw it up, I will be put in "time out". Tesla gets sued when owners don't obey the rules and they wreck. Humans do that sort of thing.

Last winter Tesla came out with a new "supervised autonomous driving" opportunity for owners. I started using it immediately. But like a lot of people I didn't do my homework. It seems that if you override the system or if the camera in the cab catches you not paying attention, a computer somewhere in this world knows and gets mad at you. Even though I was in love with the new program and felt safer in the car than I had in the past, Tesla was not impressed. They were watching how I drove with the cab camera and monitoring things like abrupt stops etc. SOOO I received a message on my computer screen in the car and the function was locked for a week (or more). This grandma was put in "time out".

I went from frustrated to mad and back to frustrated. I could understand how the system wanted to save their own bacon...after all, a misstep by them could cost lives and they know it is not perfect. Highways and drivers are not all that reliable. Wrong turns by navigation, road construction and other driver all played a part. I think what frustrated me was the message that said that if the system was overridden more than 5 times, a driver could not use that option for a week. In other words, too much supervision was not a good thing. Hence my frustration.

If it were not for my sense of humor, this whole thing could have been bad. But in the end, I know that paying attention is to my advantage. I love the car. I am a busy woman and don't have time to fuss about the little stuff. At the age of 82 supervision is a good thing. And being in "time out" just made me laugh!

How's your day going?

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