2 posts tagged “gps”

SC

Sitting in a hotel somewhere in Birmingham and have had an interesting couple of days.  Driving up to NC was a quick breeze-through, although I did have a tractor trailer blow a tire in front of me in South Carolina so that made for an adrenaline rush for a moment or two.  The trailer was in the right lane, while I was behind it in the middle lane, and there was this douchebag who decided he was going to pass me on the right, behind the trailer, and then scoot in front of me.  I feel bad calling them a douchebag since they got a windshield full of rubber and debris, but hey...at least it wasn't me. 

Got to J's around time expected, which was awesome because I had left an hour late (see my procrastination post), but had swollen feet to show for it.  I really need to make sure I stop and walk around more often. 

We ended up skipping Charlotte for the night since J's friend was still in DC, but we did stop so she could grab

Rte 49 through the Uwharries

So we got to roam around campus a little bit, and it seemed every piece of architecture was inspired by sexual organs.  I don't feel the need to explain, merely show. 

There were some pretty parts, too, and if you go there, you'll soon have buns of steel with all those stairs...

So we left Charlotte with the goal of making it through Atlanta before stopping for the evening.  Driving through northern Georgia was a treat, and the kudzu!  OMG!  It covered whole stands of trees, took over grassy areas, and turned whatever it covered into some kind of shape...bears, old men, clowns (we're imaginative, what can we say?).  J turned to me and said, "Who needs clouds?  We've got kudzu!"  We also had the most amazing sunset, but that might have been because of my sunglasses. 

Well, we got through it with no problems, and decided, as we were having dinner at a Sonic, that we would press on to Birmingham.  I didn't realize that we would be pasing right through Talladega and that there were so many mountains, or I would have waited to do the drive until morning so that we could see.  Oh, well.  It was midnight by the time we found a hotel after getting just a little turned around in Birmingham.  A piece of advice...there are very few hotels off of the interstate.  What's up with that?!  I actually had to turn around and go back through the city with my GPS to find a hotel in a place that looked like we'd survive the night :-) 

Here we are, though, bright and early...well, ok, it's 9:30, but we're off to go play!

I was just reading the March 2008 Ladies Home Journal (I’m behind and lame, what can I say) and there was an article in the My Life as a Mom section by Marion Winik called “Can You Hear Me Now?” about equipping teenage children with cell phones.  It really ticked me off, ot because she advocates cell phones for teens to make sure they are still alive, even if they sound like “zombies” on the phone, but because she simply accepted it as the new way when her son tells her there must be a “black hole” for service at the track or can’t tell you what address he’s at when he’s at a friend’s.  

How is this acceptable?  Tell your kid to tell you where he is, or you’ll take the phone away, or he’ll be grounded, or some other vile threat that will make him do what you want him to.  I understand that age 16 is the time when kids start to spread their wings, yada yada.  But this woman says that having cell phone GPS is like reading their diaries or (*gasp*) their blogs.  I about hit the roof.  When did teenagers get the right to privacy?  Kids who are assured complete privacy know that they can say one thing and do another.  I see it (and hear it) on a daily basis when school’s in session.  My students don’t seem to get that even if they are huddled in a circle that if they don’t speak quietly I can still hear them, so I get all the dirty little secrets that Mom and Dad don’t know about.  

From my kids, I expect it.  It’s obvious not many of them have anyone paying attention to them at all, let alone worrying about invading their privacy, so I don’t expect much there (talk about banging your head against a brick wall), but from a helicopter mom in LHJ who will probably be filling out her son’s job applications when he’s 30 and sitting next to him in the interview?  Plain stupidity.  Too many of these middle to upper-middle class kids find all kinds of trouble that Mom and Dad don’t have any ideas about until they have to bail their kids out of jail, and all because the parent accepted the explanation that “the track doesn’t have cell phone service.”  

Oh, yeah.  Read your kid’s damn blogs - they’re public to everyone else, why should they be private from you?  And know your kid well enough to know WHEN you NEED to read their diary.  Teachers have been taking the slack - “Why didn’t you notice that this kid said something dark in one assignment back in January in the midst of 160 other assignments?”  “Why didn’t you notice that this kid was cutting himself?”  “Why didn’t you tell someone that this kid did a project on a serial killer?”  Well, I ask - where was Mom and Dad and why don’t they know where their kid is?  

*stepping off the soapbox now*