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12/21/2009 5:07:54 PM
Weekend Assignment: Lost!

Fresh (almost) daily from Julie Barrett

Do you often get lost, trying to get someplace new? Do you print out a map, or just wing it? And when you do have trouble finding your way, is it an annoyance or an adventure?

It would be very easy for me to get smug and say, "well, that's why I sprung for a phone with satellite navigation service!" It would be, except for something that happened a couple of weeks ago.

We were on our way out of Austin and Paul suggested we stop at (Large Chain Restaurant) for a meal before we hit the road. (Large Chain Restaurant shall hereafter be referred to as LCR. I've obscured the name because none of the blame should be laid at its doormat.) I fired up the phone, typed the name of LCR into the search function, and a list was duly returned. We had passed one a few minutes before, and the list showed another just 1.6 miles away. Yes, large chain restaurant is a large chain.

I pressed the button to tell the software to provide driving directions and a map and leaned back in the passenger seat. Take the next exit. And turn around. Perhaps the restaurant was just on the other side of the freeway after the next exit. We could do that. We took the exit, turned around, and were then instructed to go a couple of miles back the direction from whence we'd come. Excuse me?

Well, maybe I misread the address and selected the restaurant we'd passed a few minutes before. No worries, we'd eat there. Except the software told us to turn right and take a series of odd turns underneath the freeway to yet another road. At this point we were ready to ditch, but Paul decided he wanted to see where it took us. We ended up at a muffler shop. We looked at the sign. Was it A Name Similar To A Big Chain Restaurant Muffler Shop? No.

We turned around, got back on the freeway, and ended up at the location of the LCR we'd passed the first time.

I still don't know what happened. Did the software have a code phart? Was it taken over by a malicious alien presence? Or was I just too blond to read the directions properly? We got our meal in the end, and I guess that's what mattered.

Extra Credit: Is your town or city easy to get lost in?

Not if you stick on the main roads. Get off into the housing developments with the mazes of twisty little streets, all alike, and Ghu help you!

Filed under: Weekend Assignment
Filed under: Weekend Assignment            

Have your say
Gravatar Karen Funk Blocher said:
Ooh, spooky! Are you sure it's not part of Sontaran conspiracy?

Date: 12/21/2009 11:57:52 PM

 
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Julie Barrett is a freelance writer and photographer based in Plano, TX


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