[gps-talkusers] Situation 8, forcing the BN to avoid a road closure

  • From: Michael May <MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 22:14:59 -0800

Situation 8
We are driving to a Society for the Blind Christmas function at the 
Sacramento Yacht Club. It is very foggy and there is lots of traffic. I am 
in charge of directions with my BrailleNote GPS route guiding us along.

The tension in the car is palpable as we creep across a bridge over the 
Sacramento River. The BN reports 2.1 miles to our destination. I can't wait 
for a warm fire and glass of wine.

We arrive at an intersection where the BN instructs us to continue straight 
but flashing lights and police cars across the road force us to turn right. 
It turns out that a gas main ruptured and the route we needed was 
completely blocked.

Question 8
What now? We are in a completely unfamiliar area, it is residential and 
there is nobody to ask directions of. We are already very late. How do I 
get us to the event  and keep my hide intact at the same time?

Answer8
My wife wanted me to call the Yacht Club, which I of course did. I told the 
bar tender where we were and she gave me very complicated directions for 
two possible alternate routes and at the same time, my wife is talking to 
me. I hang up, more confused than ever.

I told her to pull over and take a deep breath while I find us a route. I 
went into Explore mode and reversed the route so I can understand the route 
coming from the destination toward me. This gave me a chance to see each of 
the cross streets that might provide an alternate access and which might 
clarify what the bar tender told me.

I found another road that intersected Highway 80 and set it as my 
destination. I then calculated a route from where we were to this interim 
destination. While we were driving there, I then calculated a second route 
from the freeway intersection to the Yacht Club. In other words, I picked 
an interim point that created a triangle around the road closure. This 
means of using two routes to complete an entire trip is a good strategy for 
forcing the BN to route you the way you want to go rather than the way it 
tells you to go.

My wife was about ready to tell me where to go as well.  It turns out that 
everyone was delayed by the road closure so relatively speaking, we weren't 
late. It was wonderful to step out of the car and fog into the embrace of 
the holiday cheer, great folks and good food. Thank goodness the return 
trip home was uneventful. I am also grateful for the fact that I could be 
the navigator. I don't know quite what we would have done if I didn't have 
my GPS and ingenuity.

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