Recalculating

Remember how we used to find places we’ve never been? We used a map, we asked directions, then we used mapquest, and now all we have to do is hang the GPS on the window and follow the instructions. Lazy? Maybe, but it makes life a lot easier. The problem is not to become dependent on them.

Case in point, we have two GPS devices, one for each car. They’re different brands though and they each have certain little quirks, like choosing different routes. We were coming home from Pennsylvania and my wife had the road atlas spread out on her lap, and a GPS in each hand. I had three women telling me where to go at the same time. We reached a compromise when I got one model hung on the window for me, and Teresa had the other to check with the map. I made her mute the one she was holding.

One GPS I set to a British voice and she sounds so much more civilized. Now when I don’t follow her directions, and she sends me on some screwy routes, she doesn’t sound angry with me, just a bit disappointed in me. But I swear the more I make her recalculate, the more complicated she makes the route.

I do like using one even when I know where I’m going. It gives me an ETA, tells me the speed limit, and my speed, and I get to see what roads are coming up. Oh well, on this trip we need one, so we brought them both.