Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

Recently I experienced a technological fright fest. Leaving our condo, my friend and I each engaged our GPSs. Since we were in the same car, we planned on going to the same destination. We hit the main highway and his GPS said, “turn right” and mine said, “turn left”. Since he was driving, we turned right. My GPS said, ‘take a U turn at the first opportunity”. It proceeded to get worse. Enduring the conflicting driving instructions for a few minutes, the technologically distrustful wives entered the fray with the suggestion we look at a map, imagine that? A paper map is hardly a substitute for a technologically superior GPS or the savvy user thereof. Then, the technologically distrustful, wives suggested looking at the road signs. Gasp, that is for the gadget challenged unwashed masses use, not for the scientifically superior gadget freaks. If you are married you are able to predict the next sentence. While protecting our GPSs from the wrath of wives, we actually listened to the...

I still haven’t broken down and purchased a GPS. I have researched and studied them a great deal. I like the ones that say the street name. Instead of saying turn left in 200 yards, they say turn left on Jersey Drive in 200 yards. I feel more comfortable having the street confirmed. I also like the feature that tells you what lane to be in when making turns or taking exits. Think about the number of times you have been in a strange place and discover the 18 wheeler beside you blocked the sign that said exit on the left and now you have 5 lanes to cross to get you your exit and suddenly it is too late and you are in New Jersey and you really didn’t want to got to New Jersey and there is a toll to get back to Pennsylvania and why is it free to leave PA and go to Jersey but if you want to get back to PA from Jersey they charge you? (Yes it is run on but it most aptly describes the feeling of a moment) Traffic alerts are a cool feature too. I dread driving around Washington, D.C. Seems lik...

I was looking at portable GPS devices. Even though I don’t mind stopping for directions, it would be nice to have a clue where I am going. Now that I am retired I have anticipated a little more car travel. I did some research and after reading until my eyes bled, I decided to buy a cheap one and see how I liked it, then spring for a better one. Staples had a deal on their Omnitech GPS after rebates and other money games for $79.99. It has a 4.3” screen, text to speech and I figured with my $15.00 Staples cash would cost me an affordable $64.99 plus tax. I went in to Staples to see it and it was the only one on display not working. I asked the clerk and he said the screen was bad and I didn’t want it anyway, it was a piece of junk. He said he hated to sell them because he got so many back. I couldn’t decide whether to be grateful he saved me from a bad purchase or suspicious that he was trying to move me into a more expensive GPS. Since I now had a serious case of ambivalence, I didn’t ...