reyonthehill

This is not a paid advertisement, but it should be, since I am looking for sponsors.

If it weren't for the Tom-Tom portable navigation system in my car, I would not have made it to work today. And that is a fact. A big rig was overturned on the highway in front of me, and helicopters were flying in to help any victims. The roadway was filled with debris and all four lanes were closed indefinitely. The accident scene was still two miles or so ahead so I couldn't see anything; I learned what I could from the radio. The highway was a parking lot.

I turned on my Tom-Tom, and told the system to avoid a road-block three miles ahead on my current route. Tada; there was another way, although I may have been the only non-local to know about it. I reversed* up the next on-ramp (since the corresponding off-ramp was now behind me) and headed through city streets of an area I have only sped by on the interstate. I made my way back to the highway on the other side of the accident, and sailed smoothly into work (since traffic was much more light than usual), only 15 or 20 minutes behind schedule.

Thank you, Tom-Tom, you've earned your place in my glove compartment.

* By the way, shouldn't reversing be a mandatory driving skill? I was delayed a few minutes because the woman behind me (remember, we were in reverse) could not drive up the ramp in reverse. She kept turning her head each way, and stopping every few feet. Shouldn't this be a part of the driver's test? Drive in a straight line for 500 feet... in reverse. I was thinking about passing her, but with her head turning left-to-right and right-to-left, I decided it wasn't worth the risk.