TomTom or, the GPS Saga

Back while I was driving truck I got a GPS, and there-in lies a story.

I saved my pennies for over a month, and bought a Rand McNally TND 700. $500, but it was designed and programmed for truckers by the same people that write and publish the trucker maps and truck stop guides, and it was supposed to have the best info built in. Bridge heights were supposed to be considered, trip and route planning with single or a pair of drivers, fuel stops; all these were supposed to be included.

I had been using the GPS in my LG Rumor phone, but I was also very aware that it had no consideration for the size of vehicle I was driving. I was hoping for an easy way out.

After two very short trips, less than 150 miles total, I returned the TND 700 and got my money back. While my cell phone GPS had never steered me wrong, the TND consistently ran me the long way around, consistently led me off the truck routes. And I paid over $500 for this functionality! And I was only clearing $150 a week at the time!

But I still wanted a GPS. The screen on my LG Rumor is too small to see, and it can be used as either a phone OR a GPS, but not both at the same time, which is rather inconvenient. So, I started looking.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend 2010 I spent the night in a WalMart parking lot. I went in the store and picked up some groceries. On Black Friday, this WalMart had the TomTom Ease for $50 or $60 (don't remember now). I figured that was worth a try.

The Ease did me pretty good. I never did quite trust it, and always did my trip and route planning and used the TomTom to help keep me on route and schedule, mostly using it for daily running. I would pick a landmark a few hours ahead and route the TomTom to it so I would know time to my next stop. Worked well. I did rely on it exclusively for one trip that I took in which I was short on time, and didn't do any backup. When it said I had reached my destination in the middle of nowhere I called the customer and asked for directions and told them where I was. The first question I was asked was "Are you using a TomTom?" seems that TomTom users always had this problem.

I've been using it since for navigation learning my way around the Puget Sound. It seems as though any secondary (or lesser) roads that are less than 5 years old it knows nothing about, otherwise pretty accurate and the ETA has always been within a few minutes. And since the vehicle I'm driving has a flaky speedometer (always reads high, between 15% and 50% high!) I've been using it as my speedometer.

But last night when I hit the power switch for the trip home nothing happened. It had been working OK just a couple of hours earlier. Even after charging all last night nothing happened when I hit the power switch.

I need to check the battery voltage, and I might pop the cover off and glance inside for obvious problems. But I'm going to miss it.

Mustang by firelight

Car Show

Found time to get to the car show for a couple of hours, was otherwise kept busy moving and repairing stuff.  I didn't get many photos, but here are a few.

1968 Fairlane GT

The wheels on the 68 Fairlane were cool looking, they have a gold tint over the chrome.

There were several AMX's around.

A nice Falcon

I've always preferred the Ranchero over the El Camino, must be because I'm a Ford person.

Wish the rattler in this photo had turned out better.

Mustang Shelby GT

A Twin Turbo Big Block Chevelle

Nice wagon

Almost forgot this Dodge truck I saw in the WalMart parking lot.  Hard to see in the photo, but the cab has been extended and a third door added on the passenger side.  It also has a 5th wheel hitch in the bed.  Very nice paint and detailing.

DQ Cruise 7/9

Stormy rainy weather kept most people and cars away from the Cruise last night. There were three other regular cars besides mine plus a handful of new ones I hadn't seen before. Several owners were there without their cars; and I heard that the Itasca County contingent that raced at Brainerd last weekend had mixed results, with most of them being eliminated in the very early rounds but with a handful going all the way and a couple even winning class.

This is a 1970 Fairlane 500, the last year of the Fairlane. This is original, kinda rough but still going and definitely restorable.

DQ Cruise Night

Well, it was another beautiful evening for the DQ Cruise. The Race Cars were on their way to Brainerd, so it was a different crowd this time around. We had 3 other Mustangs than mine show up, a pretty red one that I believe was a '66, a black 67 numbers correct driven up from the Twin Cities, the yellow '93, and my 2006. The Blue Roush Stage 3 drove thru very early in the evening but didn't stay, darn it.

The Pinto guy brought two, a hatchback and a wagon. There was a 73 Vega Kammback that had a 350 V8 with Monza running gear and drive train, very correct and very fast (dynoed at 350 HP). And a smattering of other cars. Enjoy the photos!

A tiny bit of trivia here. Early Pinto and Vega front bumpers look very much the same. The easiest way to tell them apart is that the bolts on the outside right and left of the bumper are in different locations: the Vega bolts are in the front of the bumper, while the Pinto has the bolts on the side. There are other major differences, but this is the easiest to spot and can easily be seen in a photo.

Collage

I'm sitting in the parking lot of the Public Library waiting for dark, then I can go find a quiet place to park for the night.  All around GR are T-Storms.

Can hear the thunder from the one just to the southwest.  Think that one will miss us, but who knows what else might pop up?  Had a pretty good one last night, for a few moments I was wishing I had a houseboat instead of a Mustang.

So, I'm sitting here, reflecting over the past week.

Last nights DQ Cruise was pretty quiet.  T-Storms were in the forecast, so a lot of cars and people stayed home.  There were a couple of highlights though.

This 1969 Mustang is for sale, less than 200 miles on a new 351W crate motor.  Absolutely a gorgeous car.

And my 2006 Mustang

There were several Street/Strip cars that showed up, the blue Charger, the blue S-10, the yellow SS.  They are all getting ready to go racing at Brainerd over the 4th of July weekend.  And I found out something.  On many Wednesday nights you can race your street car at Brainerd.  cost is just $20.  Requires that the car be street legal and that you wear a Snell approved helmet.  You can run as many times as you want from 5 PM until dark for the $20.  I think I'm going to go.  I've wanted to know what this car and I can do, and this is the proper venue to explore that.  I'm hoping I can afford to go July 1st.

This time of being by myself has given me lots of opportunity to explore my psyche.  I haven't learned much yet, except that the peace and quiet are restful to a point but I miss some excitement in my life.  And that "restful" does not equate to getting enough rest; I'm exhausted all the time.  But I must do what I must do.

I was working on the podiatrists laptop this week, and took the opportunity to ask him about my feet.  I've been trying to do a bit of walking, but the foot and ankle and leg pain are just killing me.  And I LIKE to walk.  I've walked at least 10 miles in the last 5 days.

To make a long story short, I made an appointment to see the podiatrist.  My feet show definite signs of a problem, and he knows he can help me surmount the problem.  Isn't for a couple of weeks though.  Basically, my feet have lost their "spring", so the muscles, joints, and tendons of my ankles and legs are getting all the shock.  And adding padding (which is what I've been doing) isn't going to help.

T-Storms are moving, think I will also. Buenos Noches.

Bemidji Car Show

In mid-June the Bemidji Senior Center has a Pancake Feed and Car Show.  They use the Wells-Fargo Parking Lot across the street for the car show.  A lot of area residents use the parking lot for their own purposes, but it worked out.  Pretty good T-Storm last night and some heavy rain showers this morning kept most folks away.

Friday night after arriving in Bemidji from GR I stopped at a car wash and washed and waxed the Mustang.  She's looking better than she has for several weeks.  Still need to get the stains out of the back seats and need to do something about all the paint nicks, chips, and scratches.  Every time I wax I notice more places that need repair.

1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser next to my 2006 Mustang GT

'57 Merc, 06 Stang, 29 Model T

Pink Jeep, Pink T-Shirt in background is driver.

T-Bird and Charger R/T

Charger R/T

Check out the spoked wheels

Jon, Phillip, Patty, Evan

DQ Cruise

It's really fun having a decent car to take to the DQ Cruise Night. Now if I can just remember to take some pics of my own car that would be nice. Tomorrow, Saturday, there is a car show I'm attending in Bemidji; hopefully I will remember to get a couple of pics there.

There have been several other Mustangs at the Cruise night. Last week there were three Mustangs that were not here last night, plus the 4 that were here last night. I mentioned to a couple of the other Mustang drivers that we should have a "Mustang Parking " area; we've been spread out across the parking lot and I think it might be fun to have them all together. We'll see what happens next week, this is all very informal anyways.

In the meantime, here are a few of the other vehicles that have been at DQ the last couple of cruise nights.

Shelby GT in foreground, my Mustang GT in Background.

Pearl Flames on a 56 Chevy

I have the same wheels in storage for my GT, minus the center caps.

It's good to see an Old School Rodder.

I think the decal would be out of place on my car, but I like it anyways. Wonder if I can get a flaming horse skull for mine?

Looks like a genny Roush Stage 3 Mustang. How cool!