It's funny, but I taught my kids directions by, "Go south on main street and east on Killian..." to this day they all have vehicles with compasses in them. I never understood car manufacturers that produced cars without compasses. My oldest daughter complained to me when she rented a car some years ago that didn't have one. But now they all have Google maps on their phones and navigation systems in their cars, so...
Nowadays, owners’ manuals are usually online, and you just get a quick-start guide to get you up and running.
I’ll order (and pay extra for a printed owner’s manual if that’s available, or download and print the online one. I have them all in binders.
I even save the little cardboard card that comes with, say, a baking dish, because it’ll have the max oven temp on it, or whether it’s broiler-safe, and I always forget that.
Funny story - you know I love my America’s Test Kitchen/Chris Kimball stuff - well, he went out of his way on one episode years ago to warn people that Pyrex glass baking dishes aren’t broiler-safe, and he detailed how they cracked one in the test kitchen, thought it was a manufacturer’s flaw, until someone was smart enough to read the owner’s guide, where it plainly said it wasn’t broiler-safe.
He tried to play it off like, “Well, that’s not our mistake, because everyone just assumes they are,” and I was yelling at the TV, “Speak for yourself, Kimball, I read that when I bought my first one 25 years ago, numb! RTFM!*”
*Read The Fu…er Fine Manual
If I were to do that, I'd forget most of it. I look for answers only when I have a question.
That’s how I give directions, and how I “see” directions in my head, but MrsT is a “Drive down Locust until you see the Holiday Inn, then turn left at the next light,” person.
I don’t like doing that, because I always think, “I think I got that right, but what if there’s something that I didn’t think of? Where’s the manual?”
I absolutely read my car’s manual, especially with the way all the settings are software-managed and menu-driven (which I don’t like…give me a knob any day - wait…did I just say that?!My dad would buy a new car, and sit and read the owners manual.
).
That seems like common sense to me. Sorry Craig!
That was the issue on ATK, thermal shock. They’d taken the dish from the oven and sat it on the counter in a much colder kitchen.
I don’t like doing that, because I always think, “I think I got that right, but what if there’s something that I didn’t think of? Where’s the manual?”
Obviously, that’s different for different things. I’ll read the $10 toaster manual once, just in case there’s something in there the manufacturer wants me to know that I hadn’t considered, but it’s a toaster, turn the knob, push the paddle down.
But if it’s something more complex, I want the reassurance that setting this feature on my super-smart thermostat didn’t just conflict with this other setting on my super-smart thermostat.
I absolutely read my car’s manual, especially with the way all the settings are software-managed and menu-driven (which I don’t like…give me a knob any day - wait…did I just say that?!
When I bought my Fiat, it came with a “most common features” manual on the phone app (things like how to navigate the 6,081 menus to reset the clock), but I had to order a printed full menu. It was free, but I definitely had to opt in.
The day before the very first choice night I bought myself a lobster and made Thermidor butter which I had the next evening with very indulgent and peaceful glass of £30 Riesling to congratulate myself on my new found Tuesday evening freedom