GPS
OK, I’m giving GPS another chance. I got one for the truck and it’s been pretty useful, but at the same time I’m surprised how inaccurate it can be.
The first day I got it we had to deliver a horse we sold to the new owner in Clatskanie. For those of you that don’t realize, Clatskanie is like Astoria; it’s everywhere. Think of it, Astoria is Most of the Lewis and Clark Valley, Youngs River Valley, all of the city and then out to Westport. Clatskanie goes all the way from Westport to Vernonia and over to Longview, so there is a lot of opportunity to get lost.
Thankfully the GPS maiden voyage in the dark took us to the exact address. Had I just used directions I probably would have been lost due to missing road signs. Oddly there was a problem on the way home. It did navigate us on the exact route to get back home, but the GPS coordinates puts my home address two houses to the North. It’s off by 500 feet. It also doesn’t recognize the names of a lot of roads.
Another funny thing is when you go past where it tells you to turn. It has a snotty voice that comes up to tell you that you blew it and it is recalculating your route. The voice was so snotty I changed it to a voice with an Aussie accent. This voice was even snottier than the American accented voice. I now have it set on the British accent which for now seems much more civilized.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 4:00 AM
9 Comments:
Oh, we LOVE our Garmin. We've learned to stick it in the trunk of the motorcycle when we're joy-riding, because when we're ready for a picnic, it shows us all the nearby parks, then takes us to the one of our choice. We named ours "Joanie" after a lady Cliff used to work with who was all business. I've learned to turn her off before we pull off at a gas station: I hate hearing "recalculating, recalculating".
Change it to Canadian accent, dork!
I think I'd like to get one with Jack Nicholson's voice. That would be cool and creepy all at the same time. "Hey numbnuts! You missed the damn turn. Now I gotta figure it out all over again!" Hee hee hee!
Donna, the British voice is much less pissy. Try her out if your unit supports it.
Auntie, I'd love to get one with a Canadian accent. "Recalculating eh?"
Darev, he's way over-played and I'm sick of him. Now if they had the voice of the Hal 9000, that would be creepy, "Recalculating, Dave. I'm disappointed that you didn't follow my instructions..."
HAL 9000 would be cool too. How about Tim Curry? Or Edward G. Robinson? Peter Lorre?
James Earl Jones
He used to do Verizon 411. I loved to call for a number...
The voice IS snotty and so we heckle it. But I LOVE my GPS, especially now that I have to get to know Portland. Yikes! Makes me feel loads better.
For every GPS I have ever bought, one of the first things I do is change the voice settings to a British accent. You can't beat that accent when it comes to directions.
Mo3, Can't heckle the Brits. They sound so proper.
Jo, I'd like to hire a Brit to set up my voicemail.
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