When Life Hands You Lemons, Hmm

Today was an interesting day, and, in my life, that could be almost anything.

(Oh, I want to mention before I even start that I am very far behind in reading and commenting – liking, at least) all the new posts from the last few days.  I will be catching up; don’t give up on me!)

As it turned out I was supposed to meet someone for lunch.  This young lady and her mother were supposed me meet me in a nearby town.  They are from the other side of the state were here to see a concert.

I realized on the way to the restaurant that  I hadn’t given them my cell number, but figured it would be okay.  When I got to the restaurant, the waitress seated me out in the sun  room area.  I had her move me when I realized that the young lady was in a wheel chair and would have a hard time getting into this room.

After the move, I settled in.  I was right on time.  I waited, ordered coffee and water, and read my Kindle.  After about 35 minutes,  I went ahead and ordered my lunch.  I ate the lunch and read again until I knew they couldn’t show up because of getting ready for the concert.

Let me say that I am not upset nor mad; just miffed at myself for not giving them a way to reach me if (when) things changed.  Regardless, my new attitude kicked in and I enjoyed the meal and the time to read.

Instead of going right home, I took the opportunity to play with my new toy.  I purchased a low-end GPS two days ago.  I bought it in the hopes that it could help me overcome both my anxiety about driving new places since my stroke, and I hoped it would help me if I got stuck out after dark.

Pretty much the same model I bought.

This little technological device is wonderful!  I set it for my daughter’s address (which I never seem to be able to find and there I was!  I followed the voice to her apartment, sat in my car, called her to come to the door so I could make sure it was the right one.

She helped me figure out how to put country addresses in (you know, the ones with the numbered roads for two directions?).  She also helped me figure out how to save  and delete favorites and I figured out how to rename them so I didn’t have to remember addresses.

I put in my home address and told it to guide me home.  It told me so much.  I would glance at it, but only for a split second at a time.  I mounted it right above the rear view mirror.  At a glance, it can tell you if you are on the highlighted road, how far until you turn and, at the current speed and allowing for other speed limits, what time you should arrive.  It told me when I turned on a road how far until the next turn, what the street would be, and which direction I would be turning.  It also aut0-adjusted if I missed a turn or it changed routes totally if I had to go too far out of the way.  It was extremely accurate.

All-in-all, I would say that it may be one of the top few best things I have ever bought myself.  By the time I did get home, I was well-versed in how it worked and knew how to program it.  It was less than $110 with tax and has a free-life membership to the maps; you can update them by plugging it in to your computer.  Finally, it works on my cigarette lighter (I don’t have a lighter, but the outlet is live).

I believe I feel much more confident about driving and may take a 1/2 day trip to somewhere new just to really test it out.  Maybe a short overnight trip.  We will see.  It would seem that my attitude in taking a bad situation and not allowing it to get to me made all the difference in how the day turned out.

For those of you who followed my blog the other day in which the person I was meeting for dinner had a stroke, she called and is home resting.  Thanks for your prayers.

Namaste,

Scott