qq三国剑士点智力:简单生活的真諦是什么？你知道吗？

和谐生活方式的真諦.

My family is temporarily living with my in-laws while we are waiting on an answer about a house that we’ve put a bid on (it’s a short sale, so it takes a looooooong time to hear an answer). Last year my in-laws decided to update their kitchen and bought brand new high tech appliances. I am the one cooking most of the time now that is why I am always on the war path with the “progressive” kitchen. My ultimate goal is to have simple appliances that can easily perform simple tasks:

     我们等着关于我们承包的一座房子的回复，因为它是卖空交易，所以要很长很长很长的时间，于是我的一家暂时和我的岳母岳父住一起。去年，我的岳父母决定更新他们的厨房，并买了新品牌的家用电器。我现在是做饭时间最多的人，所以我总是在和多功能厨房做斗争。我的终极目标是拥有能轻松完成任务的简单电器。

Stove –heat pots and pans

火炉--加热炊事用具。

Microwave – reheat food

微波炉--加热食物。

Dishwasher – wash and dry dishes

洗碗机--清洗并干燥碗碟

Instead of having something simple and easy to use I have these monsters that can do everything that I do not need. A microwave that takes 5 minutes to sense how much food you have in the plate and calculate the necessary time to reheat it (it’s much simpler to set it on 1 minute and check whether the food is warm enough or not). By the way, the super microwave broke about a week ago and the repair guy said that it will be very difficult to fix it. A stove that has so many buttons that I can never remember which ones I should press to heat the oven (my babies press all of those buttons at the same time and the stupid thing does not have an option to lock the touch screen). A dishwasher that can chew up a whole cake but cannot clean plates and glasses. Simple living is not possible in this kitchen. Oh, and I forgot to mention, these are stainless steel appliances and the range has a flat ceramic cook top, so you have to clean these things every time you touch them or even breathe on them. What a waste of time!

       不用一些简单的，容易使用的东西，相反，我有这些庞然大物来帮我完成我根本不需要做的事。微波炉可以用五分钟时间辨別放在盘子食物的分量并计算出加热所需的时间（把时间设为1分钟，然后检查有没有加热好会更简单。）然而，这个强大的微波炉一周前坏掉了。来修理的家伙说很难再修好它。火炉的按键太多，我都不记得该按哪个键加热（我的孩子同时按了所有按键，于是不可避免的悲剧是锁了触摸屏）。洗碗机可以嚼得下一整块蛋糕却洗不干净盘子和玻璃容器。在这个厨房里，简单生活是不可能的。哦，忘了提了，这些家伙都是不锈钢的，里面都有平的陶瓷加热板，所以每次用完后都要清洁，甚至往上面哈气。真是浪费时间。

So many things in our life get too complicated nowadays and simple living gets further and further out of our reach. We are forced to think that the more functionality the device has the better it is for us and the more efficient it is. We spend money on high tech gadgets and appliances that are supposed to simplify our life but in fact they do quite the opposite. I know some gadget-lovers who would starve themselves in order to get the money to buy the most up-to-date and feature-filled technology and say that they are marching in step with progress. Before you buy your next “progressive” gadget slow down and consider these few ideas:

     我们的生活中很多的东西都太复杂了，简单的生活越来越遥不可及。我们都觉得，设备功能越多，对我们越好，我们做事越有效率。我们花高价买机械和电器，我们原本以为它们会简化我们的生活，然而适得其反。我知道一些机械爱好者为了买最新和最具功能的高科技产品节衣缩食，还自称，他们是与时俱进。在你买下一个多功能设备之前，停下来，考虑一下下面的想法：

We waste our time browsing through options and discovering new features that we will use maybe just once in our lifetime

      我们浪费了大量的时间走马观花的选择，来发现那些我们也许一辈子只会用一次的新特征。

We pay more for something that we do not need

   我们花了更多的钱在我们根本不需要的东西上。

We get overwhelmed with the choices we have

   我们被我们手里的选择压迫着。

Complicated things break more often than simple ones

   复杂的东西比简单的东西坏的更勤。

If something breaks you will spend more money fixing it

    如果它们哪里坏了，你往往要花更多的钱修理。

    你要花更多的时间去学怎样使用复杂的机械。

It takes more time to use a complex gadget than a simple one

Ask yourself the question “What is the most important function of this product?” Look for appliances or technology that are great and reliable and that do not offer you any extra features that you do not need

      问你自己这样的问题：“这个产品最重要的功能是什么”。寻找那些真正伟大的，可靠的电器或高科技产品，而不是那些给你提供你根本不需要的功能的产品。

Simple does not mean old-fashioned (that’s a common misconception that I notice in gadget-lovers)

      简单并不意味着过时。（我注意到那些机械爱好者总是有这样的误解）

Proprietary rights – if a device has some new innovative technology then manufacturers often place proprietary rights on parts in case you need to replace something and it makes any repair a financial burden for you

      所有权。如果一个设备有一些新发明的技术，制造商通常会保留所有权，以防止你更换什么东西。这就给你的修理增加了财政负担。

Complicated devices won’t make you more productive

    复杂的设备并不能让你做事更有效率。

I think that life with simple technology is so much more balanced and easy. Simple functions make life … simple. What are your preferences?

    我认为生活中的科技越简单，生活就越和谐舒适。简单的功能才能让生活简单。你的选择是什么呢？

Keep it balanced!

       让生活更和谐吧。