Thursday, January 20, 2011

finding my way

So, Silver Fox recently posted a big link-fest on field geology and one link she mentioned was my "gear" tag, which has been somewhat neglected over the last year. So here's an update on the GPS...

The traffic-sensing function on my GPS is fantastic. In this winter of ridiculous snow and terrible road conditions in east coast big cities, I've used the GPS to thread my way right through areas I would otherwise detour around.

This confounds some of my technology-adverse coworkers. "You just follow the GPS anywhere?" asked one. Yes, yes I do. Because the GPS tells me the fastest route, which is usually a route that is at least passable. If the GPS thinks that it will take me four hours to drive what should be 20 minutes, then maybe I take a nap and try the drive later.

I used to work with someone who used paper maps exclusively - an entire desk drawer filled with a huge stack of the free road maps you pick up at rest stop welcome areas. He always insisted that I take his (utterly outdated) maps.

I do have a road atlas buried in the trunk of my car for emergencies, but now the GPS is my guide...for both finding new field sites and to find new shortcuts in my own backyard.

1 comment:

Silver Fox said...

I've never tried a GPS for directions, but have found that Google Maps will often lead to dead ends in cities. And of course, that's always in cities where I really need good directions!