In preparation for our trip out of town a bit back, Dudette and I decided to invest in a GPS system. I mentioned it here.
Not that we tend to get lost though it has happened (but we won't talk about that trip), it just seemed like a good idea. I can honestly say that the two of us work well as a team when driving. We change tasks well as either pilot or co-pilot/navigator. Maps fear us, not because we turn them into origami specimens, but because we can actually USE them. Messes up the map's psyche, not being able to confuse us like the typical masses.
As it turned out, putting the GPS to work on the trip was fun. We got a lot of entertainment out of the thing. Its constant chirping when giving direction caused us to snicker at it most of the time. And some of the information it produced caused us to raise an eyebrow at times...such as giving a top speed during part of the trip at 97 mph. Good trick that one, since it was dark and rainy at the time and we were generally pushed to hit the posted speed limit.
Not to belittle the gizmo though. It did do exactly what it was meant to do, give directions. Pretty darn accurate ones at that. Being in an unfamiliar area and making trips and changes on the fly, the GPS followed through getting us to the desired locations with little to no difficulty (it works better when you enter accurate information).
On one such excursion, it was Dudette and Bogie trundling around that brought back the naming of the GPS. Seems while they were on the road, the thing was chirping along, giving directions to be followed when Dudette, who could see the destination, chirped back, "Alright Dude, we got it."
Bogie laughed and responded with (and forgive me on the quoting here, I'm taking creative license with the conversation), "Doesn't sound anything like 'Dude. Call it 'Gary'."
Despite the fact that the gizmo has a female voice (with accents if you want them...kinda funny), it got named 'Gary'. And though I argued that maybe we should call it 'Jerry' to cover the vocals, I find that I still refer to it as 'Gary'.
So we now are the proud owners of a GPS with gender issues. How Californian.
Still, Gary/Jerry is very cool. Simply and very intuitive to operate, accurate (to the info given), and holds a charge for quite a while when used. I can't complain. So if you are directionally challenged, try one out...start at the low end and figure out what you really need. Or if you are lucky, get a salesperson like we had and get right where you need to be without paying out a ton of money for extras you won't ever use or plug-ins that really won't do you any good.
Guidance happens (smoothly).
Gar-y, Gar-min. The first syllables rhymn (well, sorta - they are at least the same letters).
Jer-ry, Gar-min. No rhymning there.
See, there is a method to my madness (just barely).
Sorry about the gender issues, but we are all open-minded here aren't we?
Posted by: bogie | September 14, 2008 at 05:39 AM
I've thought about getting one of those, so I borrowed a friends it told me to turn right at one point that would have had me driving off a pier into the ocean. I've decided to forgo it for now. LOL
Posted by: heathen | September 15, 2008 at 11:41 AM