Last weekend, my mother came up for a visit. But instead of our usual Black Friday mania, she announced that she wanted to buy me one of my holiday presents early since it was on sale for a limited time at one of the local big-box electronics retailers.
I was thrilled when she took me to the GPS navigation aisle. Although I have been living in NoVA (that’s Northern Virginia to you outsiders) for a few months now, I have barely visited the neighboring McMansion towns, let alone taken a trip into D.C.
You see, I’ve got a terrible sense of direction. Absolutely horrid. After all these months, I only know one way to get to work, and that’s courtesy Google Maps. (Although I did manage to find the local ‘premium’ outlet mall within a few weeks of moving, which I attribute to some sort of gay genetic survival instinct.)
It’s only been one week, but I’m in love with my GPS. Specifically, it’s a Garmin StreetPilot c550, and it’s got a lot of nifty features that I could really care less about, like MP3 playback and optional traffic reporting.
What I love is that this baby knows how to get me ANYWHERE. For many businesses, I don’t even need to know the street address, just the name of the business. Or if I’m feeling peckish, I can just hit the “Restaurants” button, and instantly I’m presented with a listing of nearby eateries. In just one short week, I’ve become ten times more geographically adventurous! (The only thing my GPS lacks is gaydar— it’d be nice if it could present me with a list of local single boys, but I’m sure that’s in the works for 2008.)
So why didn’t I buy a GPS before this? I’m ashamed to say that I was almost completely ignorant of GPS technology. I knew, for instance, that you could get instant directions to addresses, but I had no idea that these devices came pre-programmed with millions of local attractions and “points of interest.” Also, I was convinced that there was some sort of monthly or set-up free. But nope, it works straight out of the box.
Gentle readers, if you’re behind the times like me, I cannot recommend this device enough. It’s a minor life-changer.
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