Cardinal directions
Ah, Chuck! No wonder you’re still single! At least he’s correct about the cardinal directions, which is also not a given in his case.
But jokes aside: I wonder how mans ability to orient oneself will develop over time, now that everybody has a GPS device in their pocket. I, for one, used to resist the advent of nav devices in my car for the longest time, out of pure, (misplaced?) manly pride. Checking out a route and finding my way was always something I considered myself good at. But slowly but surely, I succumbed to technology. Nowadays, I turn on the map even for the most basic routes that I know by heart, simply because I want to avoid traffic jams.
I guess it’s like with most technology: It’s a blessing and a big advantage, as long as it works. I hope we will never have to take a step back though!
Stef
Agree re using Google Maps (or equivalent) even on trips you know well, just for that time it helps you dodge a traffic jam due accident, rush hour, etc.
I am a long retired Field Service Engineer, I originally had a whole back seat filled up with street maps. My “Patch” was the whole of the UK, with occasional trips overseas to Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany, even, twice Istanbul in Turkey. When my Trusty Garmin GPSMAP 196 had street mapping as an add-on, I embraced the technology, often just leaving the map on “North Up, just to give me an idea of where in a strange town and heavy traffic I was heading, and recycled all of my paper maps, as being just too much trouble. The advantage of the Garmin was that I could use it both in the air and on the ground at the touch of a couple of buttons. I have upgraded to a GPSMAP 496, and still find it invaluable. I would not want to go back to driving with a map in hand!
Air Stewardesses were much amused when I could tell them where we were, and at what speed and height we were travelling on the overseas trips if I had to fly.