Preparations continue

Yesterday I mentioned that Faye and I were preparing for another cross country trip. How are we preparing you ask? Well, you didn't really ask, did you? But I intend to tell you anyway.

Remember that car I was drooling over a week ago? You don't? I do. It was a Lincoln MKZ. The smaller, slightly cheaper, version of the MKS. Well, the reason I drooled over it was the goodies that either come with it or are optional accessories. One of them, of course, was a built in navigation system. The other is a large built in hard drive that is usable by the sound system (what we used to call the "radio" back in the olden days) to which I would have access via a USB port. Well, as desirable as that hard drive is, our cars already play MP3 loaded CD's. And, as you ought to know, you can burn a couple hundred songs onto one CD if they are in MP3 format. So, basically, we are short the navigation system.

Let me explain about navigation systems and me... I prefer to just kind of find my way around. If I really think I will have difficulty, I will use Mapquest or Google Maps to locate the place and get directions. I have, on rare occasion, even asked the random stranger for directions. But, for the most part, I don't mind taking the scenic route... a euphemism for "I am lost!"

Still, the idea of a navigation system is intriguing. So, instead of purchasing a car with one, I figured it might be a little cheaper to just buy one of those small portable units. And so I did. Today. I tested it on the way home. I decided it couldn't send me the wrong way if I already knew the way home. Which I do. When sober. Which is most of the time these days... sigh... It worked. It even re-calculated (announcing that in a stern voice) when I made my usual turn instead of the one it "suggested". If you have one, you know they don't really suggest, they seem to order you around.

While I am typing this up, I am running the map update. I am told this could take hours. I wish it had told me that earlier because the battery is not fully charged, only half charged according to its battery display, and I do not have the AC adapter for the unit. I am now trembling in fear that it will die part way through and leave the unit in the dreaded paperweight mode.

I am not sure why I need this, I know the way to Biloxi, Las Vegas, and San Diego by heart. I have never once gotten lost on my way to those places. I only get lost when trying to find my way through major cities that I have never been to before. And I often muddle my way through the scenic route until I find myself near where I wanted to be anyway. But I have bought one and now I will use it. And likely become dependent upon it. Just as I now cannot do simple math without a calculator. Or spell words without a spell checker.

We always envisioned machines would take over and they would be large, menacing robots; Cylons perhaps. While we worried about the attack by some kind of Terminator units, the little ones have slipped in and have taken control of us. Can you imagine changing channels on the TV by walking up to it and turning a dial? Yeah, it started that long ago...