Lost

Not the television show. Maps are good, but only if you look at them. A GPS is good if you have one, and Google Maps is good if you believe it and can follow directions. Looking back at the route I took to get from Somersworth to Concord, it is easy to see where I went wrong.

I thought Concord was north. more north than it was. So I traveled west, then north and ended up way north of Concord. From Rochester I followed 202A into Strafford-lovely country, not many houses. I got concerned when I started going up a mountain and there were hills around me. Concord is flat. I thought to myself- if I am climbing, I am somehow going to have to get back down again-which could take awhile. So I'll take a left-head west-and cut through the hills.

I had my trusted Blackberry with Google Mobile Maps, and it is like a GPS. Open the app and it picks up your location-then you type in an end point and get directions. Except the street (.2 miles ahead on the left)it told me to take was nowhere to be found. That' s okay, I kept driving, knowing I had traveled further than two tenths of a mile. Should I take Bow Village Road? How about the next left? So up I continued to climb, taking the next left. I was confident my left hand turn would lead me to some main road,like route 202 or rout 4 or route 9.

A mile later I was travelling into a densley wooded area and the road turned to dirt. Hmmm....this is not a good sign. I was not immediately worried because I had a full tank of gas and I was very early, with plenty of time to get to my destination. My only fear was that after 10 minutes of driving, the road would turn out to be a dead end. But the road kept going, past fields, and trees, and farms. And the I came to a clearing and passed a large body of water on my left. Finally, the road came to an end and I needed to make a choice: left or right? I chose left-and continued winding and bumping my way along. The good news was I was no longer climbing. The bad news was I had no cell phone service. And my Google Maps changed my location, but I was so far away from Concord, I could not tell if the green blinking dot was actually moving north, south, east or west. I assumed southwest, so I kept driving.

When I came to a Boy Scout Reservation and saw cars parked I thought, "This is a good sign! Civilization!" I tried a shout out- like Cash Cab- to phone a friend for a landmark-but no service. So I kept driving. I passed another body of water on the right, and when I came to the next fork in the road, I went left again, and eventually (an hour and a half later) I found my way to route 4 in Northwood. I was quite satisfied with myself that I found my way out of the woods- although if i had been hiking, I would have been In serious trouble.

How could I have got so turned around? Looking back at Google Maps from my desktop the next day, it was easy to see where I went wrong. Be careful when you rely on GPS or Google Maps. It takes some common sense and a sense of where you are in the world to navigate shortcuts.

But as usual, I try to take the good with the bad-and I ended up seeing places I had never seen before. I am now familiar with a whole new tract of land between route 202A and Route 4. And the next time I think I know where I'm going, I will look at a map BEFORE I leave. I di dget lost a few times in DC, I just didn' t tell anybody. Darn.

Golfing in the Rain

Not Singing in the Rain. I bought rain gear...just to have in my bag, just in case. But I do not golf in the rain. I am a fair weather golfer-I have a hard enough time playing well in nice conditions, why would I want to battle the elements, too? Earlier this week I had a tee time with my husband and his friend. The day dawned-not bright and sunny, but overcast and a little muggy-but not rainy. I played well in Ladie's League Monday night, so I was pumped to play well.

No more tennis elbow in my left arm, I now have it in my right arm. But nothing a little ibuprofen and brace can't help. I was looking forward to walking 18 holes of golf for the first time in over a month.(It has rained 40 days and 40 nights since the end of May, here.)

The first few holes were passable-not great, but my chipping and putting looked fabulous! The first nine holes were relatively dry-n the air anyways. Of course int he fairway we were playing puddle golf-dunk and splash. But by the time we were on the 12th hole, we were playing in the rain. It was a light drizzle to start, and we actually thought it was mist coming in off the Bay as the tide rolled in. But mist turned to drizzle, and drizzle turned to a light, wind driven rain.

"I don't play golf in the rain" I said as we headed out toward the farthest point on the course. If we walk in now we have to walk past 5 holes- we might as well keep playing. So I golfed in the rain. Slippery, wet, puddly, leaky, soaking wet feet but not freezing cold, rain. I survived, and it was not all that bad. Of course I was glad when it was over, and my score was pretty bad, but as it turned out-it was actually my low score for the week.

Two more sun drenched rounds later, I have discovered I am auditorily distracted- and as soon as the sun came out, so did the lawnmowers and tractors-en masse. Tractor traffic everywhere-following me, cutting me off, distracting me-trying to mow and mow and mow while the sun is shining and the course is drying out.

So I will golf in the rain because it is quiet. And that golf umbrella I was looking at just a day earlier when I declared-"I don't golf in the rain!" Guess what- I'm buying it.

The rain has ended, vacation has begun, kind of...

I just returned from Washington, DC after attending a Technology in Education conference. It was a great time. I had the opportunity to meet people, network, and go exploring. The only thing I lost was myself-momentarily. I was surprisingly calm, unfrazzled, and relaxed. I made the conscious decision not to try to do everything and be everywhere. I gave myself permission to take time off, to clear my head, and to take risks. It was well worth it.

Here are some observations about the Capitol city itself, however, as compared to other places I've been.

The Cross Walk Game- alternating between pedestrian lights, walkers criss-cross their way throughout the city without missing a beat. Unlike New York, where people walk out into traffic, and different from NH where drivers are legally obliged to stop for pedestrians on the crosswalk-here in DC, you better get out of the way-especially for drivers turning right!

Power Dressing: Yep, I can never figure out why anyone would want to bring business suits and heels to a summer conference-but I was in the minority in my pedal pushers and cardigan. I guess the J Crew look is fine for the shore, but not for the power meeting. I will give a shout out for my birkies- I walked for miles without a foot ache or a back ache.

iphone Madness- I know it's very cool-but not everyone owns an iphone...yet. If it wasn't tied up with AT&T alot more people would have one..but it was annoying for technology presenters to make the assumption that we all had the toy. This conference was all about the iphone.

On Getting lost: 2 friends, 2 iphones, 2 friends lost-they used their app-they just couldn't read the map. iphone app vs. phone call or text or asking a stranger on the sidewalk?

Doubledecker Tour: A group of guy got on board and came up with a great idea! Serve beer! The tour guide recommended Georgetown, so they got off for a pint and caught the next tour bus that went by.

Record Number of Potties: Seriously-in preparation of July 4th? Or does the Mall always have hundreds of portable toilets lined up ready for action. I counted 2 sets of fifty. I could see several more. Yipes!

The year of the Tweet: It was all about twitter-I missed the tweet-ups where tweeters could meet each other face to face. I almost met a follower, but my tour was running late, so never happened. There were a die hard group of conference tweeters, and it was quite interesting to follow. 36 more followers during the conference...

Capitol Hill Luck: I met people I kind knew, before you knew it, we were off to Capitol Hill in a cab headed for the Library of Congress open house. There we met up with a couple of folks from Manitoba, and upon leaving (in the rain)we decided to grab a bite to eat. We wandered up the hill, and a lovely young teacher approached us and asked if we were looking for a place to eat! How fortuitous! We ended up at the Good Stuff Eatery where Michelle Obama likes her burger. What were the chances of us happening upon a personal restaurant guide on the streets of Capitol Hill at 9:00pm on a rainy Tuesday night!!

Presentation Supplies Needed: Kinkos across from the convention center was completely wiped out-my recommendation? Kinkos should stock up on presentation supplies whenever conferneces are scheduled. Who does the ordering there? You can't sell what you don't have. I woud have died for colored sticky tabs for my conference book.

Crackberry passes the test: I brought my laptop only to find that I, along with thousands of conference attendees could not connect due to a lack of IP addresses. So I ditched the laptop and used my Blackberry to connect, take notes, text and tweet. The only place it didn't work was the blogger's cafe in a world of Apple and iphones-could At & T have had something to do with that? I will continue to hold out for an iphone that does not come bundled with an AT & T contract...

So, Dc was a combination of Boston, Philly and NYC : Historical, metropolitan, multicultural, and artistic-and surprisingly inexpensive. I will go back again-but next time I will take the train and be sure to catch the Red Sox.