Saturday, September 26, 2009

The GPS, The Oven and Me!


Last year for Christmas I had bought a navigation device for T. I have played with it more than he has. It knows the way to my office and back to the house quite well. It has an idea where Younger Daughter lives in a state just west of us. At least, it can get us in the general vicinity of her home! I had stuck the suction-cup holder to the windshield of my car and it stayed there for six months. I couldn't figure how to undo the suction. The little slider release worked just fine but the suction just wouldn't let go. I couldn't seem to find anything that would slide between the bottom of the mount and the window to break the vacuum The GPS device came and went as I moved in and out of the car but the holder stayed stuck in place. One afternoon, I left work and something was different about the car's interior. The suction cup finally came loose and the holder was on the floor. Oh, thank goodness! I don't know if I'll ever use it again. Next time, Velcro can hold the device in place on the dash. Or it can sit in my ashtray.


Now I really liked the little black GPS For Dummies that I purchased and I would transfer it from purse to purse. Then - one day without thinking, I set it on top of the toaster oven in the kitchen. Not directly on the top - it was sitting on two of the extra baking racks, but close enough to the surface that I shouldn't have left it there. Somehow, the oven got used later - with my poor little navigation device still sitting on top.


Long story short, it went for a 400 degree trip, until I spotted it and lifted it off. I didn't even try to turn it on (it was very warm!) but I put it on the edge of the kitchen hutch that holds my cookbooks. I let the GPS cool down much as you would a batch of toll-house cookies. And then I left it alone.


Today, Elder Daughter phoned to say that her hubby is taking a trip with a group of the Senior Adults he pastors at church. She wondered if he could borrow the GPS. Well. I guess so. He could borrow a rock from the garden, too. I was afraid it would navigate just as well as my little shake-and-bake device!


I scouted up the USB charger and took the GPS off the hutch. Plugging it in to the computer, I let it sit for a while to begin the process of bringing it back to life, if that was even possible. The red light came on. Aha, Watson! Some circuits may be working. Further pressing of the on/off switch brought up the familiar logo and then the opening screen. What do you know! GPS For Dummies is smart enough to survive a ride on a counter-top oven. I guess it will get the group to where they're going. I'm just hoping the little female voice that tells you where to turn will sound like it did before the oven mishap. Did you ever try to gargle while saying I-75?


4 comments:

Zeta said...

LOL. This was very entertaining. My GPS is a desperate phone call to Mark.

RANGER said...

My GPS used to be AAA. Now I don't know. We still haven't jumped in a GPS direction, yet. Maybe Consumer Reports?

ol Doc said...

Ya might want to check Consumer's Reports for a heat tolerance index on these things, as well as other features!

RANGER said...

Ya know, inside a locked car it gets pretty hot, too. Maybe a GPS is supposed to withstand toaster-oven-top-temps.