Reliance to GPS

Yesterday, I worked for twenty long hours and felt like paper floating while driving my car to a point of nowhere. I felt so high and banged up from extreme fatigue and lack of sleep. I got lost from the driving which even prolonged my agony of going to bed early to catch up for my precious sleep.

Well, to cut to the chase here's the infamous story of my short adventure yesterday. It's kinda embarrassing but I have to share it because it can offer somebody a lesson especially those people who extremely rely on the benefits of a Global Positioning System (GPS).

I left school early yesterday to catch up for my cousin who apparently was waiting for me at his condominium in Long Beach because I needed to pick up some things that a friend from the Philippines had sent me through a relative that went back here after a long vacation.

I had worked a lot of hours yesterday thereby making me a little tired and groggy and numb. I drove my car as if I am floating like a paper on a weightless space. It was already rush hour afternoon after I left the office so I decided to make a short cut and tried to avoid using the congested freeways so I decided to use my ever relying GPS. It all turned out the device was not that reliable anymore.

At first the way to my cousin's condominium was just okay because the device had led me to it with some minor problems. Minor...... because it sometimes led me to the freeways which I particularly ignored or evaded that time because I know the area near his place a little bit so I just totally relied on my instincts and not heed the instructions of the little device.

I got there just on time and had picked-up the stuff. I only had a brief conversation with my cousin for he is in a hurry to leave because he has a dinner to catch with his close friends at work.

When I get back to the car I noticed that my gas was almost near empty so I decided to look for the nearest Shell station near his place. The reason I wanted a Shell station because that's always the usual gas I use for my car and I pay all my gas bills through that company. Kind of patronizing the product.

I punched the nearest station given to me by the GPS and had slowly drove my car to the gas station fearing that I will empty out the chamber if I drove for a little more distance. Since I don't know the area I totally relied my luck on that small rectangular device.

The station was almost 1.7 miles as instructed to me by the GPS so I thought it doesn't really took that much gas to drive to the place thereby emptying out my car's gas chamber. Well, you know what happened? The gas station turned out to be not Shell but instead another privately owned gas station.

May be it was a Shell station before but because of some reasons it was closed out and was bought by another local company it was not probably changed immediately from the GPS's list. That's why the machine had picked it up and deliberately provided me the wrong information. I have nothing to do that time but to go across the street and pumped gas to my car at a nearby Mobil Station because my car is dying out of gas already.

After I filled up the gas into my car I felt really hungry and tired so I decided to grab something to eat because my tummy was already hurting, gurgling, complaining, and bubbling from too much hunger. I haven't eaten any lunch during that day because of my compressed time at work in school so I decided to skip it and just planned to get a hearty dinner later on.

I decided to just grab a Chinese food that time so I picked-up the GPS again, looked for a nearby chinese resto, and punched Panda Express among the lists that it had given me since I know that restaurant well. But when I was driving to the address provided to me I had noticed that it just let me drove around the area and I couldn't even find or locate any Panda Express. Since I am not familiar with the area I decided to quit looking for that damn Panda Express.

So I ended up stopping at the nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken because I am already very very hungry and I just couldn't take the driving around with an empty and complaining stomach anymore. Good thing there's also a nearby Wells Fargo Bank near KFC so I passed by the bank first to deposit my paycheck and get some cash and then ate dinner at KFC after that.

After the dinner I decided to go home because I was already cranky and sleepy. It was already 5:30 pm and I am very very tired from being up for almost twenty hours. I grabbed the GPS again and entered home because I still don't know where I am at during that time so I relied on the help of the small device despite of the several fiasco it had put me on earlier.

When I got out of the KFC's parking lot the device somehow instructed me to make a left few meters from there but I probably missed it somehow so it recalculated another route for me until I ended up exiting at 710 Freeway two miles from there. When I got to Freeway 710 I was planning to look for an exit near Freeway 405 or 110 but I couldn't find any.

The traffic was already very congested and I am so tired now. So I decided to just stay put on Freeway 710 heading north since I know it will lead me to downtown Los Angeles. I know it was the long route but I have no choice but to take it in order to arrive home safely.

After several miles of driving, when I reached the junction of Freeway 710 and Interstate 5 going north the exit was even slow paced because of the dire traffic congestion. Well, it was very annoying and irritating sitting in my car tired, groggy, and sleepy but what could I do I have to face the music and be patient despite of the fatigue. It's that little machine's fault. Damn it!

Halfway between the Interstate 5 when it's about to converge into Freeway 101 north going downtown Los Angeles I made a calculated decision to just get out of the congested freeway traffic and instead took the side streets. At least it's the more prudent decision to make during that time. Well, it's not actually the right decision  but oh well what can I do it's rush hour and eventually I am heading home surely.

I took the Exit 4 towards downtown area which eventually converted into 3rd Street at the heart of the downtown. After passing the Tokyo Town and driving over two miles near Mid-Wilshire and Koreatown area I then made a right on Virgil Street and drove a little less than half mile and turned left on Melrose Avenue and drove another less than half mile and made a right on Western Avenue and finally made a left on the second light on Lemon Grove Avenue where my house is located. Finally, I arrived home after battling the harsh reality of the congested after office hours Los Angeles rush hour traffic.

It took me about two and half hours of slow and annoying driving from that KFC place in Long Beach where my cousin lives meandearing around the congested freeways and side streets of Los Angeles on a very packed and congested afternoon-after-office-hour rush traffic.

All I can say is that it was a total mess and that's because of my stupid dependence on the damn little device called Global Positioning System (GPS) made originally by Garmin Systems as what the brand says. It was really a fucked-up trip driving home considering that I was half awake and cranky driving on that very congested freeway on a very dark afternoon. It was very scary and good thing nothing had happened to me.

Well, nothing really had worked even though there is the GPS to navigate and help for me but in the end it's still your instincts and your knowledge to navigate and locate directions as well as your preparation for the trip and your presence of mind while driving that can lead you to your final destination.

Honestly, for me GPS doesn't even work. It just prolonged my agony and even wasted my money, gas, and time..... period! It really pissed me off it had to happen that way. Next time, I have to face the fact that I have to be prepared for every trip I will make in the future.

Being responsible and accountable to know your direction is the best way to get to your final destination. And it has to be always that way.