Automatic Garage Door Opener

Every now and then I post about something really cool our Tesla Model S does.  Initially, when we first got the car, pretty much everything it did was cool and exciting.   Over time cool and exciting becomes normal and expected but with a Tesla, surprises keep coming.  

This is due to operating system updates that come out from time to time, giving more features to vehicle owners.   In one release, our car was able to accelerate faster because the engineers figured a way to optimize things from the software side.   There have been lots of other updates, some much-awaited, that caused us to huddle in the car together after the update to read the release notes for specifics.

This update we got something called, “Summon”.   Or rather we got part of Summon.  Our car was manufactured before the full Autopilot features were available, and since we don’t have the hardware for the car to be able to navigate itself autonomously, we only get parts of the features.   So while our car can’t come to find us, it can open and shut the garage door itself when it finds itself in range.

So now when we back out of our garage, the car shuts the garage door.   When we come home, the car, detecting we’re in proximity to the house, opens the garage door for us.

My husband and I spent a good bit of time driving up and down our street and in and out of our garage we were so excited about this new little feature.   I have no idea what the neighbors thought.

The Big Boy Update:  My son has his first test for a belt in Tae Kwon Do at the end of the week.   He’s been away from class for over three weeks now and we’re hoping he remembers and can pass the test.   He has two more classes this week to prepare.   We’ll make a decision later in the week if he’s ready.   He really likes the class and the masters.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  I had to take my daughter out of Tae Kwon Do classes due to her eye surgery primarily, but also because she was having more and more difficulties in seeing what the instructor was doing.    Her brother went to class with my husband tonight and while she was calmly eating I asked her if she knew where he was.    We hadn’t really talked to her about it and I was worried she was upset.   She said, “he’s at Tai Kwon Do.”   I asked her if she knew why she didn’t go.   She said, “because of the jumping.”   I told her she was right and that her doctor wanted her to choose some other activities for now.   I talked to her about violin lessons and singing classes.    She said she would be interested in them.