GPS....

So, all week last week while we were traveling I was using my GPS Navigator software on my Verizon Voyager cell phone. It worked great....while in town. However, I ran into one small little glitch, dependency. I got so used to just searching and navigating that I simply never looked back. So when we left Wilmington to head back to the airport just outside Jacksonville, I typed in the address and listened to the directions, never once cracking open the map to see where it was I was going. All probably would have been well, however, once I got out into the middle of nowhere, I saw what I did not want to see, ROAD CLOSED - BRIDGE WORK UP AHEAD. Wait a minute!!!! The GPS didn't mention anything about the road being closed!!! Where the hell am I anyway? O wait, it's okay, I'll just use the detour option and recalculate my route, geez no big deal. O, wait, it's not okay, I have no signal out here, ERROR, CANNOT RECALCULATE. Damn.

I pulled out the map and realized I probably could have given myself a better route after seeing where the GPS took me, but the reality is, had the bridge not been out, it wouldn't have been an issue. The bridge was out though and now I can't even look up my course because the GPS errored out. Looking at the map though, I triangulated a position based on prior roads/interstates I had taken. Our location was right in the middle of all the highways. You know what I mean, that area that shows nothing but the color based upon the elevation of that location. We were in an area of a light shade of yellowish gold. I think that means it's a low elevation, but other than that, I got nothing, fortunately, there was no emergency, I don't think that would suffice for a location had I needed to call 911. So, I did what any city slicker would do lost in the middle of the country, I stopped when I saw some old gentleman mowing his yard and explained how my GPS stopped working and how I had no idea where I was. I am not lying when I say I got the deer in headlights look when I explained my GPS predicament. I could have spoke chinese and probably gotten farther into the conversation. However, when I asked how to get to the airport, a switch must have flicked on, and he politely explained how a turn here and a turn there would get me to where I needed to go.

Lessons learned:
GPS is only as good as its user.
Dependency actually is a bad thing.
And lastly, all the technology in the world will never beat, (say with a deep southern twang) turn right at the next stop sign, look for a big rock on the side of the road about a mile or so, and turn right again. Go until you see the big dead oak tree and hang a left, and there you'll be.....