Technology has its place

It seems most men love to ponder over maps and road atlas , much to the bewilderment of the fairer sex. "You're sat there reading a map !"
North is at the top South the bottom and it doesn't matter what direction you are going in the male brain adjusts . But some folk do need to turn maps in the direction of travel . About 20 years ago , it may still be in print , a book of road maps was published with south at the top !
Now to view these maps was really unsettling , there is Birmingham North west of me . A trip to Ambleside in the lakes meant driving due south - aaaaah my brain could not comprehend it

 

I only listen to it. Wife holds the phone and the phone just talks as and when it needs to. Very rarely, I'll be unsure about an instruction. I'll then ask wife to make a judgement and she'll then look at the map on screen and guide me. If we get it wrong, sat nav simply reroutes to get us back on track.

 

They have crazy rules though don't they. I think when planning an official diversion, the route has to be on the same class of road as the works are on, or a class up. So for example if an A road is closed but you can get round via a B road, the diversion can't use the B road, so has to reroute via A roads or motorways.

Satnav has the opposite problem. Sometimes it will try to take you down tracks too narrow for a reasonably sized car to fit down, just because it's more direct.

The trick is, whether you're following a diversion or satnav or a map, common sense must be applied. Sadly that's the bit that some people overlook.

 

Doesn't everyone? I used to have enormous fun in a Mini, wrestling with our big fold-out map of France to get it the 'right' way up

 

I remember those! Mrs Scrungee would do that and almost entirely block out my view through the windscreen, especially when she'd push the opened out map in front of me.

 

When Mr "M"'s mother died we had to go up North to sort things out. One morning, we had to pick up his niece who lived somewhere we had never been to before so he decided to use his phone GPS. The very first instruction stated: "Head North ... " we were already *in* the North! Now, call me picky but, if you are in a car, on a road you do not know, in an area you have never been to before and ... you have NO COMPASS ... what use is that instruction!? He nearly had a fit with that one until I looked out the window, traced the sun (even though it was cloudy) and then worked out where "North" was

I would much rather use maps.

 

If you look at trees you will find them with more leaves on one side, the north side

 

Easiest way to identify which direction you're heading in an urban environment is to look at the indigenous wildlife.

What you'll find is that the further north you get, the more sparse the clothing gets. If you get as far north as Newcastle it is common to see the local fauna donning nothing more than a t shirt and jeans for the males, and something resembling a negligee on the females. Whereas heading south, the wildlife tend to be attired in thick, warm garments.