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Short week
Jan. 2nd, 2009 11:10 pmLike having a weekend, then a one day work week, then another weekend. It's really weird. I felt like it was Monday all day, and almost forgot that it was Friday and I had to stay the extra 30 minutes to help lock up.
We addressed and stamped printed copies of Tess' Christmas letter, finally, so they will be mailed tomorrow to all our friends who don't read this stuff online.
The GPS I bought with my gift cash arrived today, even though FedEx still can't find it in their tracking database. Yep, the tracking number on the package matches the one I was given, so it isn't the shipper's fault. The delivery person also ignored the doorbell, signage, and drop box right at the driveway, and waded through snow, ice, and overgrown shrubbery to leave the parcel on the front deck that we don't use by a door that gets opened only two or three times a year. Fortunately we were watching for that. I don't know why they do that. Anyone with half a brain can see that no one ever uses that door.
As for the GPS itself, it's tiny. I mean, the display size is fine, the same as Gary's more or less, but the unit is half the size and weight of his. The menus are a little different and I'm going to have to study the manual, which is only in PDF on the computer and not in print, darn it. It works nicely though. Found![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
corelog's address for me, calculated the distance, and offered to navigate me there. I declined, politely. That's a little far to be driving at this time of year. Though the catalog description said US maps were included, evidently Canada is also in there. I didn't try Alaska or Hawaii, but will have to do so. If I asked it for driving instructions to Honolulu, what would it do?
Registering it with the manufacturer (a good idea, since they have anti-theft and recovery features that you can take advantage of if you registered) was a nuisance. You go to their website, fill out a form, and then it asks you to plug the GPS into a USB port. OK, but they didn't supply a cable. Fortunately, the cable for my MP3 player fits (also good because it will charge the internal battery from a USB port if plugged in.) Only at this point do they tell you that you must be using Internet Explorer on Windows 2000 or later. OK, move to Gary's machine that has XP. Get to the same spot. Now it says I have to download a plug-in so IE can find the GPS. OK, do that. Now you have to restart IE, which loses your place and your form data so you get to fill it all in yet another time. Now it finally finds the unit and registers it.
Fortunately, add-ons to the software and data do not require this procedure apparently. I'll bet a firmware update would, though. To add data or features, you just copy them into the correct folder on the GPS, which looks like a USB flash drive when plugged in. That works fine from Linux, already tested it.
They apparently have a freebie downloadable database of geocache locations, and it has a walking GPS mode that is supposed to work for locating them. Guess I'll have to try it, but not in this weather.
We addressed and stamped printed copies of Tess' Christmas letter, finally, so they will be mailed tomorrow to all our friends who don't read this stuff online.
The GPS I bought with my gift cash arrived today, even though FedEx still can't find it in their tracking database. Yep, the tracking number on the package matches the one I was given, so it isn't the shipper's fault. The delivery person also ignored the doorbell, signage, and drop box right at the driveway, and waded through snow, ice, and overgrown shrubbery to leave the parcel on the front deck that we don't use by a door that gets opened only two or three times a year. Fortunately we were watching for that. I don't know why they do that. Anyone with half a brain can see that no one ever uses that door.
As for the GPS itself, it's tiny. I mean, the display size is fine, the same as Gary's more or less, but the unit is half the size and weight of his. The menus are a little different and I'm going to have to study the manual, which is only in PDF on the computer and not in print, darn it. It works nicely though. Found
corelog's address for me, calculated the distance, and offered to navigate me there. I declined, politely. That's a little far to be driving at this time of year. Though the catalog description said US maps were included, evidently Canada is also in there. I didn't try Alaska or Hawaii, but will have to do so. If I asked it for driving instructions to Honolulu, what would it do?Registering it with the manufacturer (a good idea, since they have anti-theft and recovery features that you can take advantage of if you registered) was a nuisance. You go to their website, fill out a form, and then it asks you to plug the GPS into a USB port. OK, but they didn't supply a cable. Fortunately, the cable for my MP3 player fits (also good because it will charge the internal battery from a USB port if plugged in.) Only at this point do they tell you that you must be using Internet Explorer on Windows 2000 or later. OK, move to Gary's machine that has XP. Get to the same spot. Now it says I have to download a plug-in so IE can find the GPS. OK, do that. Now you have to restart IE, which loses your place and your form data so you get to fill it all in yet another time. Now it finally finds the unit and registers it.
Fortunately, add-ons to the software and data do not require this procedure apparently. I'll bet a firmware update would, though. To add data or features, you just copy them into the correct folder on the GPS, which looks like a USB flash drive when plugged in. That works fine from Linux, already tested it.
They apparently have a freebie downloadable database of geocache locations, and it has a walking GPS mode that is supposed to work for locating them. Guess I'll have to try it, but not in this weather.
