Feeling Nuvi

Have you ever been cruising along on the freeway only to have those dreaded police lights show up in your rearview mirror? I can honestly say that I haven't had this experience (knock on wood!), but I did get to be a passenger for just such an occasion a couple weeks ago. I've gotten permission from the story's owner to post details here...now that our mom knows about it.

Rachel and I were headed back from our parents' house a couple days after Christmas. I was playing with my GPS and trying to get it configured and see how it worked. One of the cool things about it is that it will tell you how fast you're going. That's kind of neat (this is how I found out that my car speedometer isn't exactly correct...hmmm...), and I was reporting Rachel's speed to her every few minutes. She was a little bit of a lead foot that day, and it was mostly so we could beat the impending snow storm that was supposed to hit that afternoon.

Usually she and I have an agreement as shotgun rider we look out for cops for the driver. We were cruising at a little more than 80mph in the carpool lane, minding our own business, and probably going faster than the flow of traffic...ok, we were. I got caught up in my fascination with the GPS. I was distracted by changing the accent and putting in our home address. Next thing I knew, the words, "Oh crap...a cop..." escape Rachel's lips. I immediately set down the toy and started trying to settle her. I tried, "Maybe he's trying to pull over someone in front of you." The next few minutes were a blur as I tried to be reassuring and say, "He might just give you a warning." "Don't move while he's coming up to the car." "Just try to be apologetic..."

Well, my optimism didn't hold much water...luckily the cop was pretty nice, and as we're trying to explain our 'beating the storm' excuse, he tells Rachel he'll write the ticket for a few miles under what she was supposedly actually doing. I was really proud of Rachel's calmness. She didn't cry or fret. The most she said was, "I just can't afford this right now," with a little pouty lip.

So...I failed. Just as I was trying to help out my navigational skills with the new GPS, my lookout skills went up in smoke. What kind of sister leaves her sister to the sheriff wolves like that? She made sure to berate me for it, and I think I feel sufficiently ashamed and apologetic. I will make a better concerted effort to make myself useful in the passenger's seat in the future. Add that to the list of resolutions...

Also on the topic of the GPS, I love it. I can enter a restaurant name in, and it will find it, talk me there, and then tell me which side of the street it's on. If for nothing else, I love it for that. I was talking to a friend the other day about geocaching with it as well. I'll have to figure out some functionalities on it, but it could be a new adventure!