CGP Grey is back after six months off to explain the interstate highway system to us. He pays out the plan of the grid as it was intended, which over time led to many oddities and exceptions.
This information will definitely separate the generations. We got to five minutes in before I learned something I didn't already know, because I learned to drive while the interstate was still being constructed, and I drove all over the country using maps, landmarks, and dead reckoning. I have a daughter who is 40 years younger. She also drives all over the country, using nothing but GPS, and will never consult a map, much less learn how to orient herself by knowledge about highway systems. (via Digg)
Ha! The first time I went to Savannah, my kid directed me from our motel to the school by GPS. We took a half dozen different roads and one interstate. After I dropped her off, I drove around to sightsee, and ran into our motel! It turns out that from one location to the other, there was only one turn. GPS is so concerned with the shortest or fastest route that it makes navigating way more difficult than it should be.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, I had close to the same experience in St. Paul.
One good solar flare and we'll need thousands of St Bernards and brandy.
ReplyDeleteI've heard some strange tales from people using waze on their phones. Going up alleys and through shopping centers but that may be the result of being clueless about orientation & direction. They just turn where they're told, even onto RR and trolley tracks.
Damn whippersnappers, stop driving on my lawn.
I'm going to invest in a brush company, all those Saint Bernards are going to need grooming.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine the puppies !!!
We'll need GPS to keep track of them all.
Ooh ..wait
Too bad he did not mention how to tell which direction you are heading without a compass, at night, or a very cloudy day.
ReplyDeleteThe Interstate number will tell you if you are going north or south (an odd number) or east or west (an even number).
Now, pay attention to the mile markers--if they are increasing, you are heading either north or east.
Also, exit numbers are typically the mile marker value. This means if you are heading west on I-70 and you are going to take exit 279 and see you are passing mile marker 200, you have 79 miles more to go on I-70.
By the way, the mile markers are state-specific, so on state borders, mile (high number) and mile 1 are close together.
If the mile markers increase as you head east, then mile marker 200 would mean you've already gone too far west. I'm mainly familiar with north-south markers.
ReplyDeleteThe mile markers do increase going east. I lived in Jackson, Tennessee at exit 79. Then moved to Knoxville, where I lived at exit 379.
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