Please help me find the beach
Deerfield Beach, FL, December 2008
I'll come right out with it: this picture sucks. Aside from the horrid lighting, the basic composition of a 4.3-inch GPS device isn't exactly the most compelling, unique or entertaining photographic choice. So what was I thinking when I took it? And why am I sharing it here?
I'm glad you asked.
Despite their somewhat cartoonish graphics, GPS devices often display neat things. I occasionally notice this out of the corner of my eye while I'm changing lanes in the middle of seven lanes of high-speed traffic, which explains why I don't whip out my DSLR to capture the moment. So I've started paying attention to the little wonder-screen when we're stopped. And this particular scene stood out for a few reasons:
- It reminds me of a moment when I was alone with my wife watching the waves roll in. It was one of those times we both cherish, and I wanted a somewhat different way to remember it.
- The little simulated car is HUGE. Seriously, look at that thing! Its width alone spans from the beach to A1A, which by my estimate is at least 2 city blocks. Everything's bigger in America, apparently.
- From the looks of things, I can park wherever I want. Gridlock? Not in this simulated world.
About this photo: I'm parked virtually in the drink. I know, it's a lame connection to this week's TP theme. Sorry.
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13 comments:
Yes, Carmi, I'd thought you made a strange choice, or that you'd "lost it" posting such a bland photo. But you flipped it masterfully, and wrote a little love note to the machines we share our moments with, and how intimate they can become despite their limitations. Aloha!
I never get silly. I'm *cough cough* deadly serious.
On another note, when are you next on radio in the UK?
Hey sweetie - thank you for the visit and the, as always, kind and thoughtful words. Always nice when Tanya spreads the luuuuuuuurve :-)
In Cornwall the mix of tangled country lanes and the largest satellite earth station in the world means satnavs struggle to keep a logical route.
While driving in a seafront carpark the satnav kept telling us to turn left - where there was a sheer drop into the sea....
And in the Eden Project the satnav got very confused in the carpark and kept barking
'turn right!'
'turn left!'
'turn right!'
'turn left!'
Funnily enough, you come to mind often too - usually when I see a nice view/image and think 'Carmi'll be disappointed I don't carry a camera...!' :-)
cq
Be kinda funny if there were little dolphins shown on the gps swimming and jumping there in the sea but maybe that would be a silly thing for them to add....
GPS...a new toy for boys! My husband loves it and even has a Jeep as the vehicle as that is what he drives. for a while he had a plane. I've found it interesting when we travel that these things are not always current. We were in Northern New Brunswick last summer on the highway and were suddenly told to drive to the highlighed route and the gps showed our jeep offroading. Apparently, the highway had been put in a few years back and the GPS only recognized the old one. Plus we laugh at the prononuciations...like expweeee...for expressway.
Off to Sarnia for the weekend to celebrate my sister-in-law's 50th so I'm sure even though we know the way like the back of our hand, he'll have the gps out...
I'm wondering how long it will be before my sister notices I've changed her satnav so the Arrow car icon is now a racing car icon :-)
Being silly with electronics - I get so frustrated with them sometimes that I'm tempted to drop-test them ... From an upstairs window :-) Latest for that is my old router, although it has survived for now (it's now out of circuit, so not much chance of that drop-test now)
In London, UK, I use the GPS for general guidance rather than the exact route. Its probably similar to the way London cabbies drive, where a zig or a zag is almost mandatory every 200 metres or so. Here for this precisely located visit via NetChick.
Parking? LOL .. but the Deerfield Beach beach .. bwahaaaa .. IN Season? Double Bwhahaaaaaaaa
Did I tell you I am going to be in Newport G the end of April.
I love the sentiment behind this post; to capture a special private moment.
I have recorded the voice of someone I love, using my mobile (cellular) phone, which I can listen to when he is not with me. I do not know if that can qualify for being silly with a portable electronic device.;)
I have a friend who used his Garmin (the watch/gps/heart rate monitor) for running and ran in a pattern to spell out words, which showed up on his maps when he was finished.
My brother once asked me to install Ozzy Osbourne's voice onto his Tom Tom satnav so he could annoy his inlaws all the way down to Devon! :D
O.K. Dude, here's what you do, You tape garbage bags all over your windows, and drive only using the G.P.S. display.
It helps if you smoke a big fat doobie before hand. ( It really, really helps.)
It's TOTALLY AWESOME !!
The Big Lebowski.
P.S. If you use the clear recycling bags, thats cheatin'
since you asked - i talk to my iPod regularly. I change my desktop image and screen saver several times each week to fit my mood. sometimes i leave messages for my co-workers as the marque screen saver. currently, my laptop advertises for www.bobthesquirrell.com
NetChick sent me.
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