Well, there went the fun out of this trip.

[redneckgaijin]

Any of you who watch me regularly on Twitter will have seen a post from me today to the effect that I am now missing two things from my life: my GPS (which I'd come to hate) and all the glass from my driver's window (which, well, I was somewhat more attached to).

When I say "missing all the glass," this is of course a misnomer. Most of the glass was scattered in the driver's seat and floorboard, crackled, crumbly, and messy as hell. It took fifteen minutes to scrape the seat out enough to drive, then twenty more minutes to find a coin-op car wash to vacuum out most of the rest of it. I then got some strong but non-transparent plastic to keep the weather out of the car for the time being.

The one quote I've got for a replacement pane seems reasonable. However, I can't seem to get it done until Monday- which means I drive home with an open window. (Driving even a few miles with that plastic, at any speed, is annoying as hell, plus the tape doesn't hold.)

The busted window means I'll need to use a garage, with its marginally better security, instead of the surface lots I usually use. This time the thief just grabbed the satnav; next time they could take the whole car.

So, push out the begging bowl for the rest of this weekend, and make this a working weekend- no gaming or stuff after dealer room closes, just back to the hotel tomorrow night, as it ended up being tonight.

And then, once I get home, start shopping for a new, CHEAPER satnav. NOT another goddamn TomTom. I would also prefer not Garmin, based on some horror stories I've heard re: their customer service. I might settle for a pawn shop special, though. Who knows- maybe I'll end up buying the stolen one back...

Comments

[herlander_refugee]

Do you by chance own a smart phone? They have some decent apps for navigation and they cost as little as $10....we have had both Tomtom and Garmin and yes, hated the hell out of both by the end.

Everyone now simply uses the phones to navigate.

[redneckgaijin]

Touch screens and pads are not my friend- I had enough trouble with the GPS's touch pad- so I'm sticking with my dumb-phone-with-actual-buttons for as long as I can. Also, a smart phone large enough to be easily readable while driving wouldn't fit in a pocket.

[herlander_refugee]

Some of the programs have voice directions. I, too, hate touch screens.....but it seems there is only temporary escape.

[phecda]

Have a Garmin, but it appears to have gone foo. (something crunched the screen). It's out of warranty, so no fix, even tho the rest of it appears to be functional. Other than that, I've been pretty happy with it. Can't speak to customer service, as I've never engaged them.

I only have anecdotal experience with cell phone navigators -- While visiting friends in NC we were looking for a restaurant and had dueling iPhone and Android navigators in operation. IIRC the Android one was better, but I still would have rather had my Garmin.

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

My heart goes out to you - I know that sick feeling when you come out and find someone has smashed their way into your vehicle; Songbird and I had it last winter when we rented a car up north. If there is some way I can help, let me know.