The Future is Here!

Kathleen Anderson

Well, the “Jetsons” era has come to pass. Robotic vacuums have been the rage for quite a while now. The FaceTime app on your phone puts you eyeball to eyeball with family and friends. Computers can turn on your lights, lock your doors and God only knows what else.

And last week, my granddaughters bought a car from the Carvana Vending Machine in the comfort of their home.

They chose it, got financed, ordered it from their living room, and had it delivered to their home in Olympia.  These kids are fearless. They are now the proud owners of a second car, an electric Leaf, and they love it!

They had seven days to drive it and decide if they wanted to keep it and every Carvana car comes standard with a limited 100 day/4,189-mile warranty. Should anything happen, they will take care of it so you can rest easy.

Carvana boasts “All of the vehicles in our inventory and our partners' inventory are inspected and reconditioned by technicians and have no reported fire, frame, or flood damage according to CARFAX™ and AutoCheck®.”

If you go to their website, you will see a tall glass building with cars on each level. More cars are available to view and all of the cars are used. This particular Carvana is located in Auburn and the Leaf was delivered to Olympia by a very friendly driver.

If you choose to go and buy one in person, you actually get a large coin to put in a slot, after you have made your selection, and the car is elevated down to you for a test drive or to just drive home.

No checking with the manager about discounts. The price is the price.

What’s next?

I fully expect to see hovercars in our future. I won’t be driving one. All the cartoons and shows that feature these don’t appear to have lanes. They hover above, below and beside one another and this makes me very nervous.

Homes for sale can be viewed on your computer, saving time and energy. No need to go to a dozen homes that won’t work for you when you can check them out in advance.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see other futuristic inventions appear, either.

As a matter of fact, I have a wish list already made up – just waiting for the inventors to catch up.

We already have watering systems on timers. How cool would it be if they could tell when our plants and trees need watering? And then just do the right amount?

Real Christmas trees could come with lights already strung and decorated. Birdhouses could be automated to fill daily, and automated shovels could dig the holes for plants and trees.

We currently have tractors and little backhoes that dig, but they are cumbersome and expensive. A lightweight battery-operated automated shovel would be the ‘bee’s knees’.

Automated dog trainers that could actually teach our furry friends to come, sit and stay would make my life so much easier. Dogs currently have their own television channel, so surely the automated trainers can’t be far behind.

And canning! There must be an easier way to can our home-grown veggies and jellies and jams. Getting the jars out of the hot water baths is the pits. An automated arm that would do this for us would mean we wouldn’t have to worry about getting burned or dropping anything.

Can and jar openers are already here, thank goodness. I fear I would starve without them.

The more I think about the future possibilities, the more excited I get. There are literally no limits!

Can’t wait to see what comes next. In the meantime, if you are in the market for a used car check out the link below:

Pickup & Delivery | Help Center | Carvana 

Kathleen Anderson writes this column each week from her home in Olympia.  Contact her at  kathleen@theJOLTnews.com or post your comment below.