Being where daily conversations deal with the nature of the black hole in the middle of our galaxy or analyzing the incredible photographs from the Mars lander is a thrill.

Having said that it was from one of the CSC technical staff, Chris Keller, that I learned a completely new, and extremely useful, piece of information.

If you are like me and when traveling from time to time forget both where you parked your rental car and in fact what your rental car is, you might, like me, try and find it by pressing the various buttons on the keys for the car with the hope that you will hear noises or see the trunk pop open. In case someone is looking you can pretend that you pressed the wrong key, close the trunk, and shake your head at how you did that – while being thankful that you found the car.

The problem with this approach is you have to be fairly close to the car for it to work.

Keller pointed out that if you hold the keys to your chin, or in my case to my chins, then your body becomes an antenna extending greatly the range of your key buttons. Voila! Long-distance rental car identification.

A great day of discovery.

The plane flight was uneventful, I was able to get tomorrow’s boarding pass before leaving the airport, and then went outside to catch the rental car shuttle.

After waiting for what seemed a VERY long time for the shuttle for my unnamed rental car company to come, whose name rhymed with Mudget, I arrived to get my rental car. The guy at the counter told me it was in C-8 around the building to the back, the list location near the road.

It was a new Altima. I put my suitcase in the trunk, adjusted the mirrors, adjusted the seat, and then went to put the key in the ignition.

No key.

In fact, there was no ignition. Just a button that said press to turn engine on and off. On the seat next to me was a fob.

I held the fob next to the button. Nothing.

I pushed the button and the ‘On’ light went on. Great, I thought, I’ll just push it again. The ‘On’ light went off.

I tried it again. On. Then off.

I stared at it. I opened the glove compartment for instructions. No instructions.

After trying to come up with any other way of starting the car, I got out, and walked back around the building, back to the counter, and asked how I started the car.

Obviously, the guy said, make sure the fob is with you. Press your foot on the brake and then push the button. The engine will start. Human engineering at its finest.

Somehow I felt that another gap between myself and Gen Y had opened up further, despite my continuous attempts to be relevant by being active on Twitter, Facebook, starting a blog, …