Keeping the Windmill Alive - Your last trip? - December 2012

Only went from the bedroom to the kitchen and now the computer. Didn't need the gps.

I updated my StreetPilot on CyberMonday (previous update was October 2010), and tested out new roads in my area (Montgomery County, MD) that now appear in the GPS, such as the ICC (MD-200) and Father Hurley Blvd.

but plan to update POIs for trip at the end of the year!

I know we had it, just can't remember where we went!

Went to Anaheim California to watch Drake University play in the DirecTV Classic and spent Thanksgiving with our grandchildren in LA.
The Garmin 1490 misbehaved several times such as showing us driving beside the interstate through the fields at 75mph and after setting a via point for a restaurant Garmin wanted us to take a scenic route back to the interstate instead of returning the way we came.

Didn't use this week.

Used mine for a trip to the North side of Chicago. I was amazed at the red light camera warnings block after block.

Went craft show exploring.

My great-grandson's 3rd bithday party today.

Only went local this week, but the GPS sure makes it nice in the truck when I'm sent to a place I've only been once, perhaps 6 months ago!

Used the TomTom app on my iPhone last Tuesday to find an address on NY's Long Island!

BTW...it worked pretty darn good!

ML

shop in Iowa City.

shop in Iowa City.

I went to Independence, MO

Mine was from bedroom to bathroom.. and THEN to the computer.

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Made a short trip south of Baltimore and back. Weather cooperated and the traffic was moderate. No issues encountered on the road or with the google nav app. Returned home safely, so all was well.

From Mesa to Phoneix

RT

No use this week

windmill

Have a great day

Dallas-Springfield, MO-Middle of nowhere south of St Louis-Canton, OH-Memphis, TN-Vicksburg, MS-Shreveport, LA-Dallas

Used the gps to find stores, restaurants, parks, relatives' homes, side trips. Had a great time!

Drove to Tenoroc Fish Management Area last weekend (28.107418,-81.864055) for a nice 6.5 mile hike. It was too late in the day, otherwise I would have also hiked the connecting trail to Saddle Creek Park (28.064194,-81.881543).

Florida court to hear two cases challenging the Red Light Camera System.

Somebody moved it and I can't find it! The 40LM is MIA and I suspect youngest daughter. The 750 is in Chicago with oldest. Guess I'll just have to rough it the next day or two

worked like a champ. Were in the Baltic States, and as usual, came through with flying colors!

Where it WAS nice and warm.

Arkansas

Me post. Windmill abide.

I have a 40LM that I used to find a client about an hour away. Man oh man do I need to update that thing. It showed me running through fields even though I was on the highway.

Spent 3 days in the land of Fruits & Nuts along with other flakes.

Going to the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, CA. Always a good time and nice to see the new stuff and custom bikes. Lots of new bikes to oogle. The Ducati fashion show is always a crack up (although it's not meant to be.)

University of Chicago ...kind of a ruff neighborhood you don't want to get lost.

this week.

Programmed in 5 houses that we will be looking at this weekend.

from northeastern CT and via southeastern NY

Skirting traffic going into SF for a holiday function.

Used the GPS (and custom POIs) heavily this weekend for some Christmas shopping.

Work and shopping was about the extent of the previous week. Winter has arrived!

The Bay Area?

I am shocked..

Too many trips to the mall this month!

Orange County. Irvine/Newport Beach. Had a conference at UC Irvine.

Used my GPS to get to Colorado from AZ, then went to Carlsbad Caverns, and White Sands National Park. Used it not only to get there but to go to different places to eat.

Just around town...

Got the Nuvi to take us to a wine tasting out in Lombard IL. Lots of Fun!!!

I transported a child to the hospital at U of I for her infusion treatment. I am the fifth alternate and today everyone else could not help out.

Just driving to and from the city this week for work and using the nuvi for traffic. 14-16 hour days straight through the weekend. 5 or 6 more days and this job will be done and then my nuvi can take me another route.

This spring I was running up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) delivering a pirate ship to a movie shoot. This schooner was just about as big as the ICW can carry, so it took a lot of concentration to keep the ship in the channel and not run aground. Since we were running 24/7 there were three pilots and we each ran 4 hour shifts. That allowed for a little R&R between shifts.

The best technique while running these kinds of commercial waterways is to follow the markers. The big boys do it and with their big propellers they keep the channel free of mud banks and other obstructions. So, all I really use the GPS for is to get a picture of what lies ahead, such as bends in the channel, intersections with rivers (where there might be heavy traffic) and other potential challenges.

It was change of watch and I was taking over from the owner. In this case the “pass-down” was just small talk because there wasn't a lot going on. We were, after all, just running the ditch, but this was really the first time that it had narrowed from open water to a narrow dredged channel.

It was just getting dark, and I was using the markers to keep in the channel, but the GPS was showing us going east of the ICW and into a spoil bank. The owner of the boat saw this and asked me about it. I told him that I follow the markers and not the GPS. His reply was, “just don't run us aground.”

The owner was still awake a couple of hours later, so I called him over to look at the chart again. At this point it showed us traveling along the road next to the ICW!

We had three GPS units on board and they all showed that we were about 800 – 1000 feet from the water. There was obviously a discrepancy between the chart datum and the GPS datum. The common thing that all the GPSs shared was the maps, so I have to assume that the maps had an error updating from NorthAmericanDatum=>WorldGeodeticSystem. The original surveys were NAD and GPS units (mostly) use WGS.

But the end of the watch was even stranger. Try to explain to someone that just woke up at midnight to take over the watch why we are running a 75 Ft Pirate Ship down a small roadway in the middle of nowhere!

“Why are we running down the middle of a road?”

“Don't worry about it. Just don't hit any oncoming cars!”

– –

Bud

For 2 days running around the state doing errands.

Testing out recently updated maps on SoCal freeways while on business trip.