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With out these there would be pretty much nothing 6
- Thread starter dicer
- Start date
Er, GPS and wives.
So last week I was in Denmark and she got ambitious.
Outbound journey 40minutes, homeward bound 2 hours and 30minutes.
Why?
Because, for the first time in her life, she starts looking at road signs and seeing one she didn't like, she turned off.
"Recalculating" and "Turn around" messages fell on deaf ears as she drove in any direction but the right one and she finally persuaded some woman in a car park to lead her out of a one way system (in some town she has never been to before) and point her in the right direction.
Now, you may well ask, what is the point of a GPS if you don't do what it says?
When my wife is passenger in a car her self assumed responsibilities are: climate control, media control and talking.
What she never does is pay attention to the road, directions or anything external (unless we go past a shoe shop). So I could be taking emergency evasive action avoiding jack-knifing lorries or whatever and she will say, all cross like, "Are you listening to me?" ("No." is apparently the wrong answer so even in the midst of a 4 wheel slide one must remember to say "Mm hmm. Yes dear." and nod occasionally)
So, on a route we have driven together for 4 years she is completely surprised by what the signs say and on her own with satnav she gets lost.
If I comment on her navigational skills I get the usual "I've driven all over the world without a problem."
Yes, that's true, she has driven all the way from Berlin to Tehran, from Berlin to Rhodos and she has even taken her car to India. (Not a good idea, she overtook a bus in her VW Thing, encouraged by the bus drivers hand signals and woke up in hospital.)
Well, all I can say is that you have to hand it to the German Automobile club and their route planners.
Maybe they use hypnosis on their female clients?
Maybe they impregnate the route plan with memory RNA, or just possibly, the Germans have discovered how to make women follow instructions?
But GPS is still one of those "without these we'd be nothing" things.
JMW
So last week I was in Denmark and she got ambitious.
Outbound journey 40minutes, homeward bound 2 hours and 30minutes.
Why?
Because, for the first time in her life, she starts looking at road signs and seeing one she didn't like, she turned off.
"Recalculating" and "Turn around" messages fell on deaf ears as she drove in any direction but the right one and she finally persuaded some woman in a car park to lead her out of a one way system (in some town she has never been to before) and point her in the right direction.
Now, you may well ask, what is the point of a GPS if you don't do what it says?
When my wife is passenger in a car her self assumed responsibilities are: climate control, media control and talking.
What she never does is pay attention to the road, directions or anything external (unless we go past a shoe shop). So I could be taking emergency evasive action avoiding jack-knifing lorries or whatever and she will say, all cross like, "Are you listening to me?" ("No." is apparently the wrong answer so even in the midst of a 4 wheel slide one must remember to say "Mm hmm. Yes dear." and nod occasionally)
So, on a route we have driven together for 4 years she is completely surprised by what the signs say and on her own with satnav she gets lost.
If I comment on her navigational skills I get the usual "I've driven all over the world without a problem."
Yes, that's true, she has driven all the way from Berlin to Tehran, from Berlin to Rhodos and she has even taken her car to India. (Not a good idea, she overtook a bus in her VW Thing, encouraged by the bus drivers hand signals and woke up in hospital.)
Well, all I can say is that you have to hand it to the German Automobile club and their route planners.
Maybe they use hypnosis on their female clients?
Maybe they impregnate the route plan with memory RNA, or just possibly, the Germans have discovered how to make women follow instructions?
But GPS is still one of those "without these we'd be nothing" things.
JMW
SomptingGuy
Automotive
To the OP, via a tortuous route: Maps!
I can read them all night like books. I hate GPS and other systems that describe the journey in terms of turnings and your current position rather than being able to look down from above.
I've heard that map vs journey-recipe is a brain-type thing.
- Steve
I can read them all night like books. I hate GPS and other systems that describe the journey in terms of turnings and your current position rather than being able to look down from above.
I've heard that map vs journey-recipe is a brain-type thing.
- Steve
Star to SOmpting guy.
Yes, Maps but also, Google Earth.
I just wish with Google earth they would let you browse back in time as far as the photos go.
I also wish they had decent resolution over Scotland, France and a few other countries. Maybe this is a regional thing? Because I'm Uk is that why Scotland is seen through a fog at high res?
Next step is to take Google Earth and airbrush out recent developments and to try and recreate relative man made intrusions at each dateline. Then select zoom or flight simulator!
Interesting to see that Google earth has allowed biologists to discover an unexplored forest in Africa where they discovered many new species ( and that Egyptologists, working with the earliest B&W sat photos (from before there was too much development and pollution locally) were able to discover the location of the forts along the original coastline at the time of Rameses ( just as archaeologists benefited by studying Luftwaffe reconnaissance photos of the UK (plus they became much used in rights-of-way disputes).
Of course, from maps you get to place names and place name history. That bring you not just maps, but books. My wife has made me clear out a few box loads but I still have a couple of thousands, book shops are to me what shoe shops are to the wife except books are cheaper and don't involve so many assistants having to receive treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.
So, I'll expand the list to GPS, Maps, Google Earth and books.
But,
"The Map is not the territory." (Alfred Korzybski)
JMW
Yes, Maps but also, Google Earth.
I just wish with Google earth they would let you browse back in time as far as the photos go.
I also wish they had decent resolution over Scotland, France and a few other countries. Maybe this is a regional thing? Because I'm Uk is that why Scotland is seen through a fog at high res?
Next step is to take Google Earth and airbrush out recent developments and to try and recreate relative man made intrusions at each dateline. Then select zoom or flight simulator!
Interesting to see that Google earth has allowed biologists to discover an unexplored forest in Africa where they discovered many new species ( and that Egyptologists, working with the earliest B&W sat photos (from before there was too much development and pollution locally) were able to discover the location of the forts along the original coastline at the time of Rameses ( just as archaeologists benefited by studying Luftwaffe reconnaissance photos of the UK (plus they became much used in rights-of-way disputes).
Of course, from maps you get to place names and place name history. That bring you not just maps, but books. My wife has made me clear out a few box loads but I still have a couple of thousands, book shops are to me what shoe shops are to the wife except books are cheaper and don't involve so many assistants having to receive treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.
So, I'll expand the list to GPS, Maps, Google Earth and books.
But,
"The Map is not the territory." (Alfred Korzybski)
JMW
jmw, that's just cause that's how Scotland is;-).
As to the shoes thing, for the most part my ball and chains shoes are cheaper than my books, with the odd exception.
Of course, she must have had close to a 100 new pairs of new shoes in the time I've known here while I've had maybe 5 books I really wanted.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:
As to the shoes thing, for the most part my ball and chains shoes are cheaper than my books, with the odd exception.
Of course, she must have had close to a 100 new pairs of new shoes in the time I've known here while I've had maybe 5 books I really wanted.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:
The great thing about books is you can read them again and again...
JMW
JMW
Not being Imelda though she gets to wear the shoes more than once, mostly.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:
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