Civilization and the GPS

Last Thursday, I left on aI s four-hour drive from central Germany to Leiden, Netherlands.  For six years now.....I've been a dedicated GPS guy.  I haven't been lost since 2008.  I've got a fairly new GPS.....eighteen months old.  When I bought it......it came with a update deal for one year.  So around December of last year.....I did the last big update of the system.

So I'm driving along about two-and-a-half hours into this trip.....when I start to look down at my amazing little gadget which is feeding me eight significant factors every second or two (location, speed, course direction, kilometers left, kilometers since start, the route ahead, etc).  There's something now occurring of a unique nature.....the red road ahead and land features are rapidly disappearing.....I've got about a kilometer in front of me with some road left, then NOTHING.

I'm kinda freaking.  Nothing.

Sure enough.....forty seconds pass and I'm in uncharted territory.  It makes no sense.  I've got full connectivity, full power, and a European map (not a Germany-only) map loaded.

I start to look at the autobahn area and note......it's all brand new.  New blacktop, new signs, new landscape, new trees planted, etc.  All of this....probably since January.

I figure maybe.....after five miles of this.....we will come to the old road area and it'll all come out great.

Well.....this took roughly twelve miles.....before suddenly terrain appeared and a road appeared on the GPS.  Data starts to flow.  My nerves start to return to normal.

You see.....I've been through a massive change in life.  For roughly fifty years of my life.....I readily accepted being lost on an occasional basis and it was just part of life.  With the GPS revolution.....I follow my status....my route.....my remaining time left....etc.  I know where I'm at.....throughout a four-hour trip to the Netherlands.  I can't imagine not having this capability at my disposal.

Returning from the Netherlands?  Well....it's safe to assume.....I didn't take the same route.

As for updating my GPS?  I'm agreeable to doing the update.....but the old side of me.....hating to spend money on things....is peeved. I will have to throw 40-odd Euro into some stupid GPS update, and I may have to do it yearly.