Lost in Lubbock

Being on the road all of the time means I rely on technology like GPS a lot more than the person who goes to the same location for work everyday. Yes, I am captain obvious... I know. Nonetheless, as most people who have a GPS device have likely realized, it does not always take you to where you want to go. I have learned a lot about how to get along with my GPS and not dissolve into angry shouting at it (him) constantly, though on a scale of peace and quiet to vividly loud, I'm sadly more likely to be yelling at "Tom Tom" than speaking to him in dulcet tones.

Yesterday morning was one of those days where I found myself calling my GPS mean names and shouting things like "Get your act together!" or "What do you mean this is a convention center! This is clearly a grocery store parking lot!!" This all happened because I was lost in the bustling metropolis that is Lubbock, TX. Having visited Lubbock once before, I know it is a typical college town with lots of restaurants and pedestrian zones and people biking or walking with iPods in and not paying much attention. I love college towns. But unfortunately, Lubbock is apparently doing some renovation and has relocated several of its major highways to just enough feet away from their original location that my GPS seemed to think I was off-roading or driving on top of water for most of my 9 mile drive from the airport to the conference center. Furthermore, that grocery store parking lot I mentioned is indeed where my GPS took me and proudly announced "You have reached your destination. The Overton Hotel and Conference Center is on your left." (Apparently in a giant field...)

Now of course, this is not the first time my Global Positioning System has led me astray. I have learned some of tricks to getting back on the right path. First, always bring printed directions- you never know when technology will fail you. Second, read the printed directions before you get in the rental car. That way if you start to head in an odd direction (like north instead of south) you know to pull over before you are hopelessly lost. Third, have a smart phone and keep it charged- between the GPS app on the smart phone and the maps app, you should be able to figure it out.

But Lubbock, you really got me, because all of these options failed me. The printed map also showed this hotel in the grassy lot across from the grocery store and my phone had the same result. Finally, I had to resort to READING the map on the phone instead of just letting it tell me what to do. When I actually looked at street names and read the numbers, I was at the right place in less than five minutes.

 I wonder what would have happened if I had read the map in the parking lot at the airport instead of just letting good old Tom Tom take me on my journey. Actually, I know what would have happened- I would have found the conference center very easily but I would have felt nervous and alert for the whole drive because I was in a new place and didn't really know where I was going. With the GPS, I feel secure...which of course is ridiculous! Because despite Tom Tom's in depth knowledge of all points in the United States- he doesn't actually know how to read a map.

Lesson learned? Of course not. I let Tom Tom take me to a beautiful collection of dumpsters this morning and heard him proudly tell me I'd arrived at Texas Southern University, which was around the corner....at least this time I knew the real location and could just laugh at him and keep driving.