When was the last time you got lost? Was it an enjoyable experience or a stressful one?
Tell us all about it.
Bill and I finally purchased a GPS thing (a Global Positioning System) to help us find our way around the planet. Our youngest granddaughter named it “Lola.”
Although Bill is not likely to admit it, without Lola he is always lost. And I am not much help either.
We have been lost in the parking lot at Hershey Park trying to find our way out to the street. Once we could see our New Jersey hotel just across the highway – so near yet so far since we could not reach it. Another time we were lost on a toll road and it was a straight shot with well marked exits. We have been known to drive around in circles in our own downtown covered garages.
Bill and I are always remarkably lost.
But suddenly there was Lola.
She gave us new found confidence as she handily found the way out of parking lots!
Finally, I could relax, sit back, enjoy the scenery, even put the seat back and snooze.
There was absolute joy and trust in the mighty little GPS gadget. I just knew Bill was in good hands (well, not literally in good hands of course). He was technologically balanced and steering wheel focused at last.
Lola, oh Lola, was in charge and doing her thing navigating us through the twists and turns of all the unexplored streets and highways of America.
We pampered her too. She retained an honored place over the dashboard, was regularly updated, and was never lonely until………
Something happened.
Lola is now rebelling.
I think she finally figured out she is indispensable.
She may also be bored with people who can never find their way because she recently instructed us to turn onto a nonexistent access ramp! Imagine?
Of course we forgave her that one infraction.
Even so, trust is the basis of a GPS/Human Relationship and our faith in Lola was ever so slightly shaken.
Lola’s second murderous attempt was entirely unforgivable.
“Turn Left onto XYZ Street,” she said as we neared our destination (the train station in Charlottesville, VA). And yep, we turned. And no, she did not come back to say, “Recalculating!”
Lola sent us down a one way street going the wrong way!
Beeping and screaming and threatening gestures from oncoming traffic were the clues that something was wrong. Ignoring what Lola might say next we made a panicked “U” turn to get on the right track (thankfully not the train track).
Lola may be a secret serial killer!
Oh, I loved Lola so much before her homicidal tendencies that I was willing to include her in a polygamous marriage. She is still out there waiting for us to get back in the car. If I don’t count her maniacal streak I am grateful she still tries to help, but have concluded she is really the enemy in our midst.
I would rather be aimlessly wandering with Bill than going down one way streets the wrong way or turning onto nonexistent on-ramps with Lola.
And hard as it may be to believe, that is the true story of a modern GPS rebellion.
Wow – that’s scary. Years ago (with one of our earlier GPS things), “she” instructed us to TURN LEFT NOW! Oh, the street we wanted was indeed on the left….we just happened to be on top of an overpass, and the street she wanted us to be on was underneath! She evidently didn’t realize that turning left on that street wasn’t an option at that moment!
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Love this!!! Getting lost in Venice is lots of fun. I think Lola would get lost in Venice……..Maybe you should take her there? You could always misplace her? It is so easy to do in Venice…….
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You tell a funny tale, Dor, but you bring up a really serious problem: GPS dependency! I fear folks lose their common sense thinking skills by relying on technology so much. My husband loves his GPS, he even uses it in areas where we have lived for decades! I despise it! Give me a good ol’ map. Which leads me to another gripe, have you seen maps lately? Zero detail, why? Because everyone is using GPS, so maps are falling by the wayside!
Yikes, I’m on it tonight! 😉
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You may have had a criminal-type GPS Dianna! Imagine guiding you to turn left off of an overpass! 🙂
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I could accidentally throw her into one of the canals! 🙂
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I first had a paragraph in there about maps Eliza. At least we would stop and study and eventually find our way with them. So I agree with you. But a truly reliable GPS (a dream maybe?) would be wonderful.
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Yeah, no more wrong way down a one-way street – yikes! Murderous Lola needs an update, I think!
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I like when she tells us to go whatever direction on a particular street–if only we knew which street/how to get to it. I’m not sure it could get me out of a parking garage. Will have to try that. Glad you haven’t suffered bodily injury with your directions!
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I don’t know if your adventures with Lola are more funny or scary. Give me a map (a good one) any day.
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Oh come on Dor, where’s your sense of adventure? LOL!! 🙂
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She got us out of an open air parking lot – but so far we haven’t tried her in a covered parking garage. We keep trying to get along with her Patti, but any even minor bodily injury would signal the final resting place for Lola! 🙂
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Our adventures are definitely a mix with Lola, the GPS – mostly funny, sometimes scary so our confidence is a bit shaken. Glad you got the funny part. 🙂
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Cindy! Adventure in the cross hairs? Death defying directions? Coping with a gone-wild Operating System who has declared us the enemy? Would you like to adopt Lola? 🙂
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Some change can be good. I need to purchase a GPS, but I have been resisting the new century.
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No thanks, we have one of our own that takes us on questionable routes sometimes, but it has saved me more times than it has failed me :).
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A wise man indeed to resist the new century!
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Great story! We regularly use our GPS, but I miss old-fashioned maps.
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Ha! Nothing like a good hard copy map! Once we were trekking across OR to a friend’s house. We were supposed to be there for dinner, and “Mabel” took us the shortest route (kind of), but it was on 2 lane twisty countryside roads. It had pleasant views, but certainly not very efficient or time saving!
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Blahahaha! “Mable” sounds like another wayward wandering GPS! A scenic route wouldn’t be too bad Lilly, but who can take in the scenery driving down a one way street the wrong way? 🙂
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That is nuts!!! And you said you updated recent offerings. I would complain. You could have been killed!
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This is true Lilly. Never thought to complain though. We just have to be more on the alert and not follow along so blindly.
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Lola is a dangerous woman 🙂 I am glad I grew up in the days of no GPS – at least I can still read a map (and without turning it upside down :))
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We map readers are definitely ahead of the game… reading and writing are almost lost arts too. 🙂
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Oh what a good story – we haven’t been lost in a while, but did get lost on one of my business trips and it was one scary adventure. I get it about being scared, glad you guys recovered!
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Oh no, one way street going the wrong way! Time for Lola to retire. Love your story-telling style, my friend.
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As someone who has been lost everywhere, I can identify with your willingness to trust Lola. Your description of her murderous tendencies cracked me up. Time to put the genie back in the bottle and trust your instincts. 😉
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Good idea to retire Lola. Why didn’t I think of that. It seemed she was/is a permanent member of the family who just screwed up! 🙂
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You have a valid point there earthrider to push Lola back in the bottle! But it would be like putting an errant child there without trying to rehabilitate. 🙂
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After I stopped laughing out loud while reading this, I remembered that our GPS hasn’t been out of its in hubby’s car glove compartment for quite some time. Why? Not reliable at all. I think GPS really stands for “Gotta Provoke Someone.” Anyway, on our recent little vacation, hubby and I actually used — gasp! should I confess it?? — maps. Good ol’ bonafide paper maps and we found our way around just fine, although hubby has a good sense of direction and a knack for finding his way even if I’m panicking that we’re lost. 😉
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You are one of those rare people who can still use a map! I recently heard that it’s even hard to find logical maps anymore. They are being usurped by electronic gadgets. 😦
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Even with a GPS sytem, we still carry a map! On more than one occasion, the map has helped us get unlost after the GPS has got us lost.
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I know! Map reading is going to be a lost skill. I’ve always been the map reader in our family even when I was a young girl. Hubby’s good with maps and directions too, but he lets me be the navigator with my trusty map while he drives.
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And now my husband has taken up flying and we are relying on GPS for our very lives!!! Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!
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Maybe we should consider maps as “insurance policies” against GOS failures. 🙂 Good advice Margie.
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We could use you as Navigator! I assume the role but it makes me a nervous wreck!
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Yikes! No use taking maps along for in flight back-up right? But what fun to fly with your husband among the clouds. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Çanakkale Şehitlik Turu.
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[…] Mindful Digressions – Auto-pilot 86. Willow’s Corner – Lost is as lost does. 87. Virginia Views – A Global Positioning Rebellion 88. sawyer sundries – Postaday: Daily Prompt 89. My Other Blog – Wrong Turns 90. […]
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