The Buckets by Greg Cravens for January 07, 2019

That would be me too, Frank. Not that I’m proud of it, but I’m not going to be ashamed of it either.

I also like printed maps. They don’t disappear on you when you lose your cell signal.

I like physical maps spread out in front of you like a giant book. Good ones, like those produced by the USGS, have so much information on them.

That’s the United States Geological Survey, a US government agency that is surely affected by the federal gov’t. shutdown. These include the people who measure, record, track, and analyze all seismic records globally, as part of the effort to learn more about and predict earthquakes. The purpose is inclusive of scientific, humanitarian, and utilitarian reasons. It is the same for the National Weather Service, which tracks and predicts significant weather events like hurricanes, typhoons, & volcanic eruptions, and warns people about them, but also produces the local forecasts for literally everywhere in the USA. This is only a tiny, less than 1% of what is lost when Uncle Sam closes up shop. The public needs to understand what is affected that specifically affects them and that is on the chopping block as I type. Call whoever you think is responsible for the shutdown and tell them to stop it.

Old fart stay with old ways…

I always say I hate technology, but I really just hate technology that is hard to use or doesn’t do what I want it to do ( so, most technology)

We did use the GPS on my wifes’ phone to find my brothers’ new place at Christmas and I do have to admit I was pleased with how well it worked

It is bit disturbing to have tech know exactly where I am, could be one of the reasons I don’t want to have a phone of my own anymore

Yep! And GPS is great for routing you to a dirt road and insisting you’ve reached your destination…of solid walls of fencing to protect the crops inside. And telling you the restaurant is in the middle of an exceedingly posh, gated community. Oh, hey, let’s not forget taking you in a complete circle around to your destination, making your trip longer and you late for the appt, for no reason you can find, AKA, accidents, trafficking, road construction…Sure, GPS is great!!!

Using an app to get to my house, you’ll most likely end up three miles south of me on a dirt road. The road there is blocked by a gate, and it is a twenty mile backtrack to be able to approach from another direction.

Having it printed is quite a bit safer (and more legal in a lot of places) than using a phone while driving.

Map apps are good for getting around traffic slowdowns, unless everyone is using the same app!

I really like using Waze (mostly). I find that by using the speaker instead of relying on just the visual iPhone map, I can concentrate on keeping my internal map updated.

How about just asking Siri for directions?

I offered my parents a smartphone for old people. It has simplified apps, big icons, AND a VPN so now I can access their phones and correct their errors or just make it work. This has made my life so much simpler. It also has an alarm they can use if they have an accident, it will call the designated rescuers automatically.

Tell grandpa to just take his phone with him and listen to it. That’s a lot safer than trying to read the map printout.

Those who can’t hear the GPS print it out and memorize before they go and take the print out just in case.