During a single day in the modern world we use many mechanical objects to lighten our burden and make life easier and more pleasant. We are not always kind to these machines and sometimes they are unkind and even malicious to us.

When the brakes on your car screech whiningly and ear-piercingly they are pushing you into action. They always pick the wrong time to make those noises. Don't they know that you have a full schedule and have no time to drop off the car for a brake job. Inconsiderate and self-serving is what they are.

The scale in my bathroom is also guilty of many transgressions. I weigh myself before breakfast and my number is X (no personal secrets revealed here). I complete my morning routine and the number is now X plus 2. Now that is impossible! I cannot weigh more after having lost fluids. Was the scale lying in the first place? Was it just sitting there on the floor for hours on end waiting to play a cruel joke on its owner? I would not be surprised.

Computers are not innocent either. Lately my computer (no names or brands mentioned here) has taken to telling me that I have performed an "illegal procedure" and immediately shuts me down. I protest to the computer company that I am a law-abiding citizen and that I take umbrage at being called a criminal and a law-breaker by the machine that I pay for monthly. The computer is certainly not appreciative and it prides itself on being nasty and difficult to get along with. When I telephone to complain, my call is shunted to somewhere in Asia and I receive no satisfaction.

Even though I seem to be in a curmudgeonly mood let me also heap praise on one of my favorite mechanical devices. My television set has carried me through a bleak, cold winter when I truly needed comfort. It was not responsible for electrical outages and it performed nobly. I hope it doesn't take these commendations too lightly and let it affect its demeanor. Sometimes too much praise is hurtful.

The word "anthropomorphic" is defined as "ascribing human form or attributes to a being or thing not human." My car, my scale, my computer and my TV seem so life-like it is hard to relegate them to a category that is not human. I think it is my problem not theirs.