Navigation system, where have you been all my life
When I took on my new job, it was immediately apparent that I would need to replace the truck I had sold when I was unemployed. I did a lot of research and narrowed it down to either a Nissan Frontier or a Ford Sport Trac. I went to several lots in the area, in addition to checking online for “deals”. When it came down to it, I couldn’t find anything that had all of the “options” that I wanted, in one readily available vehicle. I wasn’t exactly being picky, but since I covered a five county area for my job, I knew I’d be spending a lot of time in my truck.
The main features I was looking for were leg space for the driver, a full back seat for family times, electric windows, cruise control, electric mirrors, and an adjustable steering wheel. Most of the other things I like in a vehicle were pretty much standard, even if the salesman did make a big deal out of the automatic transmission, CD changer, and variable speed wipers.
When I started shopping, it was late in the year and the 2007′s still on the lots had been picked through pretty good. Either I didn’t like the color, the leather seats (I hate leather seats), one or more of my options was missing or I found some defect. It got to the point where I began to feel that I was doing it on purpose for financial reasons. It’s true, I was reluctant, I had just come off of a nine month layoff, which had followed an eight month layoff the year before, so financially, we were scraping bottom. On the other hand it would mean that my wife would be confined to the house since there is no mass transit system here, which is the reason I had bought her a vehicle in the first place. So having high hopes for the new job I took a leap of faith, I ordered a truck with everything I had wanted and more.
Again, because of the traveling I would be required to do, I was tinkering with the idea of getting a Tom-Tom navigation system. However, Ford was offering a deal on an electronics package which included a rear seat DVD (for when my grandson is with me), a six CD changer, a six-way adjustable electric drivers seat and a built in navigation system. So I ordered a brand new 2008 Ford Sport Trac.
I don’t know how I ever got along without a navigation system. I use it all the time when I’m on the road and even sometimes locally. My wife calls it “my girlfriend” because of the female electronic voice. Sometimes I’ll know a short cut that the nav system is unfamiliar with and my wife tells me my girlfriend is going to get mad just before the nav system tells me to “make a legal U-turn”.
The system has never let me down even though it sometimes tells me that “navigation is not available in this area”. It will still show me turns with yellow rather than white arrows, but won’t talk as with normal navigation. There are a lot of rural areas where I drive, what I sometimes refer to as the “boonies”. Even out there, my girlfriend is pretty good, although sometimes a little off. Once, the system told me “you have arrived at your destination” and there was nothing but farmland around me. I drove a couple more miles and there was the place I was looking for.
For the most part I love the navigation system and so does everyone who rides with me. I know I’ve convinced several people to get one in their next car or go to Best Buy to purchase one. If you’d like to know more about it, go to www.auto-nav.TellMeAboutThat.com and shop around for the latest and greatest in navigation technology. Enjoy the ride.
