Skip to main content

Out of the forest~



Read this first: GPS unplugged~


The rest of the story . . .

I'm bad, but not bad enough that I didn't see something wildly inappropriate about the route GPS sent me on yesterday.

Bruce called the Garmin GPS help line this morning.

There was no plot against me fomented by artificial intelligence gone amuck, a possibility I'd entertained as I zigzagged around roads that went nowhere; no reality show with a helicopter hovering above, filming how long the black Toyota truck would go in circles before the driver pulled off the road and cried.

Apparently there is a preference setting in the GPS that was set to "avoid highways and avoid U-turns." Well, duh! I was trying to go 60 miles with a GPS that was determined to keep me off highways. No wonder.

To my credit I'd rebelled at one point and got on Rt. 95. I called the GPS some bad names, and yanked its dendrites from the cigarette lighter, because she insisted on instructing me to get off at each exit.

You should hear how sweet she sounds, how hypnotic, so, and this is my insecurity at work, I plugged her back in after a while-- just in case-- and I listened to her, because I can be bad at directions. So can she, although, in her defense, she was doing what she was programmed to do. We just had a communication gap. We're still friends.

The lesson? I should trust my instincts. I'm not as bad as I think. Sometimes.

Comments

Dawn said…
Oh Ruth! I'm right there beside you. I have no sense of direction! Glad you made it there and back again and you and GPS are friends again. :)

Dawn
Unknown said…
It sounds as if trusting your instincts is the way for you to go, but I think that is not always the case.

My ex, who was a terrific teacher, once drew a map of the Iditarod Dog Sled Race for her class of fourth graders to use in plotting the progress of teams in the race. This was in the days before the internet with its live updates and Google Earth overlays. Her map featured Alaska flipped horizontally and vertically, so that the teams were heading SE rather than NW as the course dictates. She thought I was teasing her when I pointed out the error. I had to show her two published maps before she relented. She seemed doubtful, even then.

Not everyone's instincts regarding orientation are reliable.

Clarence
Ruth L.~ said…
Clarence,
It's a good thing you got your ex straightened out before her lesson went public. The kids are great at spotting mistakes like that, and if they are too young to notice, you can be sure the parents will catch the mistake when the work goes home.

Dawn,
We're friends, but I don't take her everywhere. Sometimes she can be a drag.

Popular posts from this blog

One Winter Day in February!

It’s just a week that I have here, doing "farm duty" for friends while they are in Maui avoiding the February weather. Yay them! And yay me too! This is a week of respite...less than half an hour from home and hubby—and cats. I can enjoy the best of both worlds. My “chores” for the week: ·       Gather the chicken eggs (my favorite part!!) ·       Feed the chickens and ducks and give them fresh water (It bothers me that they have to stay in their coop while family is away. Makes sense, but I feel bad. Otherwise, this would be a favorite). ·       Feed three feral cats (my other favorite thing!) ·       Feed four alpacas and give them water (this is becoming a favorite...) Once done, that leaves plenty of time to...           To WHAT, exactly? What DO you do with the free time you’ve always dreamed of having...besides wasting it wondering what you’ll do with all that free time? On day 1, I a

For Alice~ She's home!!!!!!!

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Sometimes it's all about knowing that loved ones and friends stand behind you, knowing that support is there on the down days, the worry days, the days when you feel off-center, out of sync, bedraggled emotionally, and in pain, but knowing all the while that you're not alone. You're not alone... Alice is an online friend--she lives in Hawaii-- who belongs to the writer's workshop that I do. We've only "met" online, but those who have online friendships know that they can be just as strong as those in-person relationships. Alice was hit by a car while walking, and is in the rehab phase of things. She's working to regain mobility after a broken pelvis, a broken arm, and a broken nose. It's scary to realize how, in the blink of an eye, life can lurch and our plans for a time are displaced by survival and healing. We&#

San Antonio and Boston~

I'm in Austin. Two days after Christmas we flew to Texas for another of Worcester State's basketball tournaments. Bruce's motto is, "I didn't miss any of David's games in high school-- and he played three sports-- why start now?" My motto is, "I didn't make all of his games in high school-- nor did I try. The least I can do is go to the ones that require traveling to a place I've never been." David spends his days with the team. When they are not playing or practicing, the coaches take the kids out to see the sights. We have plenty of free time to see the sights and to relax, which is what I'm after, basketball aside. Today we headed 80 miles south to San Antonio and sauntered along the River Walk-- the much corralled and exploited, but nicely so, San Antonio River-- in sun and sixty plus temps. We visited the Alamo, and absorbed a bit of Texas's interesting history and culture. Beautiful! Eye candy! Never ashamed to lug a camera