GPS and Oh! The places I can go or not!

If I am grateful for one of the modern gadgets, it is the GPS undoubtedly! For a person like me who has no idea or the sense of directions, it is definitely God sent. I will not be exaggerating if I say I, for the longest time had to think of India map to figure out east and west - hey hey hey!! I know at least the map of India!!

During those good old days of maps and travelling before kids, I would sit with the map figuring out where we were going and God help DH if we missed an exit or so. He is better at looking at the map in my hand and driving and making decisions than me peering at it with utmost concentration and wondering where the heck are we and which way should we turn to get back to where we intended to go in the first place. One time, thanks to me, we missed an exit in the Appalachian mountain range and our next exit was one hour away which meant that our already 11hr trip became a good 13 hours!! Now, I feel kids are a blessing to me because my primary job is to keep them happy and not map reading. However my kids and DH feel they are lucky and better off - thank God there is a GPS and mom can actually sleep on, neither of them actually need me on road trips now - for help I mean! Hold on, not so fast!! I ask them not to conclude so soon!

Though all I do now is make sure I have the right address and enter it in the GPS and follow blindly - even my 4yr old knows that, to my dismay, I believe I really simply cannot do that as experiences in the last month and half or so have taught me!

As part of my job I am required to go once a week, to a place about 30miles away from home - I am not super familiar with the place but have an idea. On the first rainy day with the GPS all set , I set out only to find out half an hour into the drive that the way the GPS is taking me is going to make me late by an hour!!! Yes, an hour late!! So the next week in my mind I decide, I am tired of making excuses for the GPS like - probably it is helping me avoid the peak down town traffic, probably this is a faster route, may be this place is really in the boonies etc and decide to take the simple straight forward route that I knew in my gut (yes, even I know sometimes!!) and guess what my GPS knows too apparently! Because in the second week, it simply took me the way I had anyways intended to go - Power of intention at play, is how I console myself! Before I began to feel that things were smooth, thanks to construction, one of the exits I had to take was soon closed. Hey it happens I thought and followed the GPS and her directions as I was really in a neighborhood I have neither been to nor heard of! What does it do? Takes me back two exits on those teeny-weeny traffic filled roads and sets me back by 25mins! Hey it is ok, it does happen once a while. No, not in my case - the exit is still blocked the second week and I follow the same routine feeling awfully stupid and the third week I do decide that I am going to take a road that logically looks like the one I should take and lo! even before I take the alternate route the GPS lady very nicely says "drive 3miles on this road to reach the HWS" - I was mad not only because I did not have a chance to prove my gut feeling bringing in the power of intention, but the GPS beat me to it by showing me an easier and a better route - though late by a couple of weeks! And in spite of the closures, I did reach my destination on time for the first time in 6weeks!!

Even though I am not brave enough to change her accent or use her for other purposes than the intended purpose, I do have my moments of triumph when I take a deviated stop once in a while without telling my GPS and she goes frantically "make a U turn now, make a U turn now" to a feeble (atleast in my mind) "turn left" when she sees that I am NOT going to take that U turn!! Am I talking with my GPS now? Is she becoming my companion and trusted friend? Is she the only one who can keep me on a straight road steering me in the right direction? Are my husband and kids right?

 

Dear Viji aunty, you are so sweet! GPS - is short for global positioning system and is used by many people in the cars. When you want to go to a place, you just put in the address and it will tell you exactly what turns to take to reach your destination! It is amazing!

Thank you for your first back and it is always always good to hear from you!

 

Dear CL, absolutely loved that statement :thumbsup and here I thought it was a gift only to me!!! I often tease my husband with a 'yeah yeah, follow what your girlfriend says, after all she knows better!!'

And here whether you like your MIL or not, you simply have to do it!! Now see I could never use the phone GPS, there I belong to stone age clinging on to my 8yr old phone

Thank you for your feedback, thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

Thank you Satchi for your feedback! While I have a lot of pet peeves about many a technology, I am happy with the GPS. Off late, I have been able to take some classes and not that much worried about driving in the night. I know GPS will help me get home and I am partial to mine and refuse to take even my hubby's

 

DNM, that's a funny response!! Loved it absolutely. Well I would have preferred a nice man's voice too but I am stuck with this woman and make do with the American accent most of the times - just so that in my trying to understand the accent, I might miss the exit! now, I do sound like a bimbo :bonk

Well, continue having fun with your Mr.GPS and going places ;-)

Thank you for your feed back!