GPS

It seemed like a nice birthday gift. I gave it to my husband early so he could play with his new Garman.

He selected the British English as the voice he would hear directing him to his destinations.

Unfortunately we were not going anywhere new and so my husband resorted to typing in the address of the church and on another day the address of our favorite breakfast place (see previous blog). Again unfortunately, we have several routes to both places and the Garman would often pipe up with 'recalculating' and direct us from whatever road we had turned on. One time, on a trip to the post office she kept repeating, "Make a U-turn as soon as legal." Jim shut her off.

The saddest thing about this gift was something I overheard my husband telling a friend, "I love this GPS. The voice is so polite. None of this, 'Why didn't you turn three miles back?' "
Ouch!

And yet all good things must come to an end and this morning when once again the Garman lady attempted to direct us a different way to a destination we knew like the back of our hand, Jim said, "There goes the British hag."

My daughter and I would like to propose that Garman create a 'wife' voice for their product. One where the wife can record, "You're way over the speed limit," "Whatever possessed you to take this route?," or "I would have told you if you'd have asked." But for now we'll stick to our polite, even-keeled British matron who is consistent and even-tempered, even in the face of cynicism and sarcasm and name-calling.

And that's what I think about it.