Signs of the times II: Requiem for Lola

A great tool, the GPS can help folks navigate their way through dangerous territory, finding streets, places of business, restaurants and gas stations when you feel lost and gone forever. In Muskoka it is a great tool. Roads, apparently going NE end up going NW. It can be confusing with Lake Muskoka in the centre and Bracebridge, Port Carling, Bala, Torrance, Gravenhurst surrounding it. You'll notice, those who know our region, that GPS & Google seems to feel that Southwood Rd. is a better route than Highway #169 from Gravenhurst up to Glen Orchard. They believed the GPS...

For those who travel, it can be a good thing, a GPS. But humankind has invented other tools, which utilised in conjunction with a GPS, make travel much better: snow tires, common sense, activated intuition, maps, emergency kits, a trusted co-pilot! (See a previous post:  Driving in Winter in Muskoka!)

Yes, there are issues with the GPS...

Following GPS device's directions strands couple for three days - The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2009

• Bound for Reno from the Pacific Northwest, grandparents follow alternate route that directs them to a snowy, remote part of Oregon. They are stranded sans snow tires, gas, food...

Their mistakes? We won't call them errors...because that would imply that they might learn from their mistakes... They didn't fill up with gas before they left, ignored the signs saying, 'This road is not maintained in Winter', refrained from using snow tires or bringing chains.
The article goes on to mention other horror stories...

• In June, 2009, an Atlanta man's three-bedroom home was mistakenly torn down by a demolition crew following GPS co-ordinates.
• A month later, a Swedish couple on holiday in Italy misspelled their destination on a rental car's GPS. They were hoping to visit the island of Capri, but arrived instead in the town of Carpi, 660 kilometres to the north.
• And in 2007, a British woman drove her $200,000 Mercedes into a river while following GPS directions to a christening. She was pulled from the car before it was swept away.

Signs are important in Muskoka, even if they appear a bit tipsy...I posted a previous 'SIGNS on the times article. They struck me as quite drunk, due to the snowplows that zoom merrily along in the dark at 4:00 a.m.! But heed them, nonetheless.

The first of the 12 steps is admitting you have a problem!

Rick, a family friend and regular solitary escapee to warmer climes in the south, wrote about their GPS event. Usually he travels alone, stopping in meeting up with friends in the US. This is their guest post...
Hi

For those of you who don't remember Lola, she was my trusted companion on many journeys over the last few years. Yes I admit she was a GPS machine but much more than that when you spend 10 days alone in a car driving to Arizona and back. She was always there with handy keep left directions, arrival times and turn right directions. Without her I never would have made it to Arizona, Florida and so many other places.

Sadly, on this trip Lola started acting strangely as we drove on the I 81.  Suddenly, and without reason, she kept asking us to leave the I 81 and take mysterious side roads . We were puzzled and luckily for me Sandy [Rick's newly retired wife!] was there to say ignore Lola. If I had been alone I would as always have simply gone on these new exciting roads because Lola was never wrong.

As we progressed we noticed other strange  occurrences, shutting down and saying there were no roads while we were still on the I 81 , losing the satellite repeatedly and then not accepting any new Touch screen commands. Something was definitely wrong and I of course, moved to panic mode. Sandy reassured me and reminded me that she could read a map and we would be ok . This helped but my concern for Lola remained.

Later we removed an extra memory card thinking this may be the problem. It was, and Lola seemed to be functioning again. A few hours later, new problems began.

Suddenly we were in Baltimore's suburbs in an area that did not look too safe. That was it. We turned around and Sandy took over. Lola was shut off for the rest of that day.

The next day we tried again but Lola completely broke down and could not function at all.  This was it Lola, 5 year old technology, was done.

On arrival in Florida, we purchased a new GPS. We have named it Glenda after the wicked witch of the North. She has an assertive, aggressive American tone. This new technology works better even diverts around traffic jams automatically, etc.

Alas it will not be the same. Me: a very directionally challenged individual alone all the way to Arizona, totally dependent on Lola in getting there and back safely. This cannot be replaced and all I have are those memories.

Now, thankfully, I have Sandy with me and am not such a hopelessly dependent GPS individual. If Lola cannot be saved she will rest on a basement shelf with a home made plaque testifying to her amazing service .

Rick