GPS Failure in Malta
After the glorious success that involved my GPS keeping me from getting off the bus far too early, I was all too ready to rely on its advice in finding the physical location of the radiology lab where I was to get my chest x-ray. I had seen a map on a phone and knew that the Nissan dealership was my next landmark. Seeing no dealership, I decided to follow the death arrow* down and around and away from my final destination.
Even though I had the feeling that it was leading me astray, I followed that arrow into an alley, up some stairs and to a financial institution with a bunch of people who looked like they may or may not have been from the university. Once I realized that it was a financial institution, I decided to quickly walk away since I had left the name and address of the place where I was supposed to be going back at my room. (Another idiosyncrasy that I know Glen would have called me on.) There was no way for me to ask where the place was, even though it is actually named “The Radiology Clinic,” because I had no idea what it was called. I could have asked where a couple of streets were, but I chalked the misdirection to the fact that sometimes, the satellites need to catch up to the GPS.
Coming down the hill from the financial institution, I met a couple of women that I have been seeing everywhere in the university. I am pretty sure that they are not stalking me, but we have run into each other enough that it seems like they may be.
Either way, I was happy to see them as I threw out my arms in greeting and said, “You must be looking for the same place that I am looking for. Are you going to get your chest x-rayed?” Then I made a motion that indicated chest x-ray and would probably be considered inappropriate in just about any other context.
They gave me a funny look and one said, “No. We are looking for the supermarket.”
“Oh. All right then.” I was a little embarrassed.
“Besides, we’re going to use the recommended place.”
“Yeah. That’s where I am going.”
Another puzzled look. “That’s not anywhere near here. I think it’s in another district.”
What? Am I playing the Hunger Games? What district is it in, and what will I have to do to survive? “Well, okay then. Thanks. Good luck finding the supermarket.” And may the odds be ever in your favor.
Only mildly daunted, I continued my quest to find this clinic. My GPS was pointing in another direction, and I figured that I was ready for a walk anyway. Crossing roads and going down seemingly endless unmarked streets, I finally ran across a sign that was the name of one of the roads near the clinic. HA!
But rather than follow that road, I decided to cross perpendicular to it because, you know, death arrow. Fortunately, I found Triq Principessa Margaret, which formed the second side of the street triangle that I needed. Unfortunately, my GPS kept pointing down the street and when I got to the dead end, I had to find another way to go.
So down I went to the harbor with a beautiful view of the Il-Mosta Dome, and no camera because, much like the phone I used to have, my GPS unit should not be used for taking pictures. Still, I was no closer to my destination. I double checked my coordinates, and they had somehow morphed into the false ones. I found the correct coordinates still in the GPS and reset the waypoint so as to point toward the clinic again.
I finally arrived on the correct street, went passed the clinic and then turned around when I decided to ask if it was indeed the clinic before following the death arrow anymore.
When I returned home and told Tim about my adventures, he says to me. “That makes sense. You have a GPS that likes to play games. It doesn’t want to do anything useful. It wants to play games.”
*The death arrow is the arrow on the compass on the GPS that indicates which direction you should walk. However, the compass does not necessarily point to the physical direction you should go. For example, the compass may point to the north indicator while also pointing to the right, which may actually be the westerly direction. Those using a GPS who have not realized that it was not pointing in the physical direction but rather in the cardinal direction have ended up in some pretty crazy places.
Also, the arrow is called the “death arrow” because some geocachers will follow the arrow to the exclusion of all common sense and everything around them (much like texters). In Alaska, this has led to at least one run in with a bear that ended peacefully. It has also led to turning the wrong way on a one way street and various forms of almost falling off of cliffs. This is the long version of saying that people should pay attention to their physical world first and their digital world second.
Even though I had the feeling that it was leading me astray, I followed that arrow into an alley, up some stairs and to a financial institution with a bunch of people who looked like they may or may not have been from the university. Once I realized that it was a financial institution, I decided to quickly walk away since I had left the name and address of the place where I was supposed to be going back at my room. (Another idiosyncrasy that I know Glen would have called me on.) There was no way for me to ask where the place was, even though it is actually named “The Radiology Clinic,” because I had no idea what it was called. I could have asked where a couple of streets were, but I chalked the misdirection to the fact that sometimes, the satellites need to catch up to the GPS.
Coming down the hill from the financial institution, I met a couple of women that I have been seeing everywhere in the university. I am pretty sure that they are not stalking me, but we have run into each other enough that it seems like they may be.
Either way, I was happy to see them as I threw out my arms in greeting and said, “You must be looking for the same place that I am looking for. Are you going to get your chest x-rayed?” Then I made a motion that indicated chest x-ray and would probably be considered inappropriate in just about any other context.
They gave me a funny look and one said, “No. We are looking for the supermarket.”
“Oh. All right then.” I was a little embarrassed.
“Besides, we’re going to use the recommended place.”
“Yeah. That’s where I am going.”
Another puzzled look. “That’s not anywhere near here. I think it’s in another district.”
What? Am I playing the Hunger Games? What district is it in, and what will I have to do to survive? “Well, okay then. Thanks. Good luck finding the supermarket.” And may the odds be ever in your favor.
Only mildly daunted, I continued my quest to find this clinic. My GPS was pointing in another direction, and I figured that I was ready for a walk anyway. Crossing roads and going down seemingly endless unmarked streets, I finally ran across a sign that was the name of one of the roads near the clinic. HA!
But rather than follow that road, I decided to cross perpendicular to it because, you know, death arrow. Fortunately, I found Triq Principessa Margaret, which formed the second side of the street triangle that I needed. Unfortunately, my GPS kept pointing down the street and when I got to the dead end, I had to find another way to go.
So down I went to the harbor with a beautiful view of the Il-Mosta Dome, and no camera because, much like the phone I used to have, my GPS unit should not be used for taking pictures. Still, I was no closer to my destination. I double checked my coordinates, and they had somehow morphed into the false ones. I found the correct coordinates still in the GPS and reset the waypoint so as to point toward the clinic again.
I finally arrived on the correct street, went passed the clinic and then turned around when I decided to ask if it was indeed the clinic before following the death arrow anymore.
When I returned home and told Tim about my adventures, he says to me. “That makes sense. You have a GPS that likes to play games. It doesn’t want to do anything useful. It wants to play games.”
*The death arrow is the arrow on the compass on the GPS that indicates which direction you should walk. However, the compass does not necessarily point to the physical direction you should go. For example, the compass may point to the north indicator while also pointing to the right, which may actually be the westerly direction. Those using a GPS who have not realized that it was not pointing in the physical direction but rather in the cardinal direction have ended up in some pretty crazy places.
Also, the arrow is called the “death arrow” because some geocachers will follow the arrow to the exclusion of all common sense and everything around them (much like texters). In Alaska, this has led to at least one run in with a bear that ended peacefully. It has also led to turning the wrong way on a one way street and various forms of almost falling off of cliffs. This is the long version of saying that people should pay attention to their physical world first and their digital world second.