I have never been a good navigator. I imagine that even inherently bad navigators can improve, with focused effort. On the other hand, without focused effort, even your tiny latent abilities will wither. Amnon, on the other hand, is a superb navigator, with excellent memory for directions to places he has been, and an excellent sense for places he has not. As often occurs in marriages...you complement each others' skills and weaknesses. And so my already weak navigation has gone entirely to rest.
Fast forward to now...where I am navigating on my own in northern California. With considerable help from iPhone apps like Waze. OK, full disclosure, with pathological dependence on apps like Waze.
This afternoon, I got into the car with the goal of picking up some food supplies and stopping somewhere for dinner. To my horror, the internet was not accessible...through iPhone OR iPad...(My theory: There was a One Direction concert at Levi Stadium, 3 blocks from the apartment...and I think that volume of usage brought down the cellular network.)
It occurred to me that I had no idea where to go once I drove out of the apartment complex. I went back upstairs, to refer to a paper map. (I don't want to sound too much like a millennial...but paper maps are SO limiting, for the navigationally-impaired! I will inevitably make a wrong turn at some point, and then need to refer again to the map for "repair"...which you can't do while driving...)
There was an old TV commercial to discourage smoking...It showed a woman that woke up wanting a cigarette, and becoming progressively more frantic when she couldn't find one. It concluded with the woman saying, "That's when I knew I was addicted." This was my "ah ha" moment for iPhone or GPS addiction, too.
I don't know if I can fully wean myself, but it is time to start taking random drives around town, and developing a sense of what-is-where. Maybe even learning to distinguish north from south...
Fast forward to now...where I am navigating on my own in northern California. With considerable help from iPhone apps like Waze. OK, full disclosure, with pathological dependence on apps like Waze.
This afternoon, I got into the car with the goal of picking up some food supplies and stopping somewhere for dinner. To my horror, the internet was not accessible...through iPhone OR iPad...(My theory: There was a One Direction concert at Levi Stadium, 3 blocks from the apartment...and I think that volume of usage brought down the cellular network.)
It occurred to me that I had no idea where to go once I drove out of the apartment complex. I went back upstairs, to refer to a paper map. (I don't want to sound too much like a millennial...but paper maps are SO limiting, for the navigationally-impaired! I will inevitably make a wrong turn at some point, and then need to refer again to the map for "repair"...which you can't do while driving...)
There was an old TV commercial to discourage smoking...It showed a woman that woke up wanting a cigarette, and becoming progressively more frantic when she couldn't find one. It concluded with the woman saying, "That's when I knew I was addicted." This was my "ah ha" moment for iPhone or GPS addiction, too.
I don't know if I can fully wean myself, but it is time to start taking random drives around town, and developing a sense of what-is-where. Maybe even learning to distinguish north from south...
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