A malign presence?

Or is it present? My son bought me Alexa for Xmas causing shudders in this household at the thought of introducing a spy in the kitchen quite apart from having to speak to a disembodied machine which self identifies as female. But it was a present from the best possible motives, my son thoughtfully aware of my acute visual problems which sees me stumbling around the kitchen trying to make the tea in a cloud of unknowing until the lens goes in one eye and the nighttime eye patch is unstuck from my brand new one with the previously loved cornea. . And after much harrumphing especially from Sarah, this morning it played flamenco radio and Paco de Lucia along with telling me the FTSE 100 so I think it will function quite well as a music and radio hub ( I think hub is the correct terminology). Sadly Alexa doesn’t speak Spanish But all’s we’ll that ends well and I am grateful to my son for his generous and thoughtful Christmas gift. He’s a teacher and got Dickens’ Hard Times from me.