Saturday 4 October 2014

Please Help

Jason hates GPSs.  (GPSes?)  Jason hates them, whatever their plural is.  And I don't.

I love my GPS.  I use my GPS for small trips and long trips and trips anywhere I haven't been before and want some reasurrance.

Sure, I know they're not perfect.  I know they sometimes take weird routes.  I don't use them mindlessly, but I like them.  They feel like a little bit of a security blanket for me and I feel a lot safer using them than I did back in the day when I would print out maps from mapquest, or, before that, write out my directions I'd gotten from a map.  Imagine me, driving to a friend of a friend's house, piece of paper in hand, written directions telling me to go L on Drivemore Avenue and me having to keep my eyes on the road, in the dark and the rain while looking for stupid Drivemore Avenue and argh, now I'm in the wrong lane...so much more stress.

Jason, as I say, hates being in a vehicle that uses a GPS.  Of the (ugly) fights we've had when driving, I feel some of them could have been avoided had he just let me use my GPS and not been the side-seat driver navigator.

But, anyway, this is not to harp on the fact that Jason and I driving longer distances together has so far been pretty damn stressful for the two of us, it's to ask if anyone else has the issue Jason claims to have.

Because other than claiming that using a GPS turns a driver into an idiot (ie. will follow the GPS into a lake kind of thing, which... I'm smarter than your average bear thank you very much) Jason says that the machines do not work when he's around them.

Unfortunately, the first time we used a GPS together it had clearly not been properly updated to the new highway changes in Delta and so this was "proof" to him that GPSs are awful and evil and just frustrated me that he'd been proved right within two minutes of the darn thing being turned on.  Ugh.

So, here's where I need your help.  Do you, or anyone you know, have a problem where GPSs do not work when you're near them?

Anyone at all?

Because apparently he refuses to drive in his exes car if she's using a GPS and, well, I'd feel a whole lot happier if I could drive in my car with mine.

Sigh.

8 comments:

Elliott said...

I've had a few issues with the portable GPS that is a few years old. Mainly my own fault for being too cheap to buy the annual update.

My biggest issues with them have not been getting to the destination, but the route. One example...driving from the Atlanta airport to one of our offices I had never been to I found myself driving through the middle of a trailer park. Not the end of the world, but not super comfortable for Canadian from the sticks. The same GPS unit would send us down unmaintained roads...again, not the end of the world, but not really cool either.

The GPS in our Volkswagens seems much more logically and hasn't sent us down unmaintained roads.

Like you said, if you're a bit smart with the GPS and don't follow it blindly, I like them.

Chris said...

your car.. your rules...

Victoria said...

Yeah, that's only ever been my issue too Elliott... me not wanting to pay for the updates and then some wacky routes. (I would have died going through a trailer park for example) ;)

Chris... I maybe pulled the Dad route once and pulled over and said "you can get out and walk if you'd like"... d'oh!

Unknown said...

Your car - your prerogative. Period. If he can't desk, maybe a frank discussion on the boundaries/respect in your car. If he can't accept- no car rides. Life is way to short to unnecessarily subject yourself to that stress/anxiety. We teach ppl how to treat us. You deserve to get in your car & enjoy the time - with whatever mode of directions you choose. Good luck!

Unknown said...

Oh PS. Never really had an issue with a gps. Handy as anything. Love it :)

Jason Langlois said...

I love my GPS. Won't drive in Vancouver without it. I don't always take the route it suggests, but I love that it'll update and help me find my way back.

In Edmonton this summer, it was incredibly handy, as there were a bunch of roads shutdown around the Alberta Museum. After studying the GPS map for a bit, I was able to find a route and get there. No GPS, and I'd have given up and gone home.

I remember using mapbooks and printouts. Terrible, terrible, terrible stress and anxiety.

So thumbs up for GPS. And anyone who don't like em, well, they can just read a mapbook and keep quiet. Or something.

Dominic said...

GPS's have their issues - they don't work well around tall buildings, they need their maps to be kept up-to-date, etc.

But "They break when I'm near them"? Seriously? Bollocks.

If you have a smartphone, Google Maps is free & kept pretty much perpetually up-to-date - I tend to turn it on whenever I'm going far even when I know the route just for the traffic alerts.

And like most everyone else here, if somebody tried to tell me what to use/not use whilst I was driving, I'd invite them to STFU or get out of the car.

Victoria said...

Yes, we had a talk Sabrina ;) We shall see how it goes next time there's a big car ride... or if there is another big car ride lol

Totally stressful with those printouts and stuff Jason, it was! (Did I just accidentally sound like Yoda?)

I like Google maps quite a bit actually Dominic! I might give it a try on a more serious trip one of these days. Just need a phone charger cord thingamy ;)