Red Ring Tupperware Party, Autumnal Equinoctal Edition (24)

Tom Reichner wrote in post #17763310
That is particularly interesting to me, because friends of mine who go to Canada frequently for long-term photo trips have told me that Canada does not let aliens live there (permanently) or work there. My one buddy actually considered moving to Canada and getting a job there, but was told that he wouldn't be able to because Canadian immigration law does not allow it. I guess my friends heard some inaccurate information.

There are plenty of foreign workers here. You have to get a work permit to do so, for the most part. There are a few exceptions where you don't need a permit. Work permits have time limits and a fair bit of restrictions/qualifica​tions that go along with them.

Immigrating to Canada, and then working, is a different, and complicated, story.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/e​nglish/work/index.asp

Harm wrote in post #17763533
because he is a dirty old perv

Nah. I was just yankin' her chain. It really is just landscaping.

I love my car's nav system. Trying to navigate the freeways in Southern CA, or the streets in downtown San Diego, would suck without it.

LV Moose wrote in post #17764516
I love my car's nav system. Trying to navigate the freeways in Southern CA, or the streets in downtown San Diego, would suck without it.

I don't know how we ever got around before GPS. My Garmin has helped me from getting lost, steered me around bad traffic, and shortened trips many a time. Even around home I use it for traffic avoidance. Several times while commuting home it has suggested I get off of the highway and when returning home saw on the news that some big traffic accident had shut down the highway.

I use Waze (the app) - it is great, shows you positions of the police, incidents, your speed etc.

but it is used by so many people that it really fast being up to date, more so than something like google maps or sat nav. and it will tell me all the good shortcuts

I like using paper maps. Or plastic laminated ones. But mostly the book format ones.

I love GPS for finding my way around cities, especially on highways where you have to keep switching lanes and merging onto/off of different roads.

For going on a road trip, nothing beats a map for seeing where you are, where you want to go, and what's in between. Plan out the route, and then, if needed, use the GPS to keep you on track.

I'm with you, Mel. The GPS can certainly get you where you need to go. But I need to know where I am.

I'll still get maps when I'm going somewhere.

I find that the GPS is only relevant in the immediate. It will get you where you want to go, and will tell you what is immediately upcoming, but you don't know the route. On a map I can see if there's a city to avoid, small town to investigate, or other kind of place to either avoid or check out.

before any trip, i usually study the maps and surrounding areas so i know the general direction of where we are going.

so when we were in australia, no gps, no phone working (not paying astronomical data prices abroad), so I looked it all up, then noted a few key places.

no map, no idea of junction numbers etc. 12 hr drive, and we got to our destination without getting lost in the middle of nowhere, and where we were staying was on a farm, literally in the middle of the bush, as they call it.

without that style of studying the maps, i'd be as lost as any other schmuck...

I know plenty of folks who could study a map for days on end and still have no idea what was on it. I'm the opposite, I remember the layout quite easily, and am fully capable of relating the map image to actual roads.

When the girls and I went to Chicago I had no idea how bad they were with directions. I had looked at the city on Google Earth before we went. Found our hotel, House of Blues, Hard Rock Cafe, and the major tourist attractions. I just "toured" around, looking at street names, bridges, the river, etc. On our first day we went out walking. I wasn't leading at all, the one girl had been there before and took the lead. When we headed back towards the hotel to go for dinner I wasn't paying attention to where we were going, I was just enjoying the sights. Then all of a sudden the girls stopped and looked around. They had no idea where they were or how to get back to the hotel. No one had a map, and they didn't even know the street name that the hotel was on. I looked around, saw the sign for House of Blues across the river, and knew exactly where we were and how to get back to the hotel. They were pretty amazed that I knew that without even having a map. But I had the map in my head.
I grabbed a map at the hotel to carry with me the rest of the time, but for the most part I didn't need it. I'd look at where we were going, and that's all I needed. The other girls typically didn't know which way to turn when the walked out a door.

If I road trip with my niece and nephew, I hand them the map book and tell them to navigate. Elizabeth (7) struggles to keep up with our movements. She easily loses her place on the map and by the time she's found the road name, we're far past it. Austin (10) can not only keep up, but plan ahead and tell me what roads are coming up next. And which way to turn. He plots the course, usually taking the route with the most bridges possible, and I follow it.

Jill-of-all-Trades wrote in post #17765017
I like using paper maps. Or plastic laminated ones. But mostly the book format ones. ...

Paper maps?? How primitive. Actually my wife still prefers paper maps as well. I tease her about it all the time.

We still look at maps for an overall trip plan. But it sure is nice to be able to punch an address or Point Of Interest into the navigation system, and just follow the instructions as you drive. Much less stress then trying to follow a paper map on the fly, especially in congested areas with lots of turn-offs or road/freeway changes. Getting lost is a lot less frequent. And we're both able to enjoy the scenery more now.

For me, GPS maps and maps like Google and Mapquest are often useless.

The area where I live is quite rural. A lot of it is National Forest, then there are state-owned forests, the Indian reservation that is bigger than Yellowstone Park, and then finally the designated wilderness area (federal). Most of these areas have never been accurately entered into GPS systems, If you try to navigate your way around with a GPS it just doesn't work, because the data has never been entered, or it has never been entered accurately. You really HAVE to have a paper map, as there is no other kind of map that shows all of the roads and topographical features that one needs in order to get around properly.

Even the paper maps fail at times, because of all the road closures that the tribe, the state, and the feds conduct on their respective lands. You can buy a map that shows every single road (many of which are primitive one-lane dirt roads), but you cannot buy a map that shows you which roads are open to public travel and which have had their gates locked. Nor can you buy a map that shows you which roads are closed (gated and locked) seasonally, and on which date they are to be opened back up again.

I can see where GPS maps would be useful when you want to go somewhere on a paved road, or when you want to go to a place that has an actual street address, but for most of the places I like to go they are mostly worthless.

It has saved me many a time when running low on gas. Punch up nearest gas station and it gets you right there.

Jill-of-all-Trades wrote in post #17765017
I like using paper maps. Or plastic laminated ones. But mostly the book format ones.

I love GPS for finding my way around cities, especially on highways where you have to keep switching lanes and merging onto/off of different roads.

For going on a road trip, nothing beats a map for seeing where you are, where you want to go, and what's in between. Plan out the route, and then, if needed, use the GPS to keep you on track.

Jill-of-all-Trades wrote in post #17765053
I find that the GPS is only relevant in the immediate. It will get you where you want to go, and will tell you what is immediately upcoming, but you don't know the route. On a map I can see if there's a city to avoid, small town to investigate, or other kind of place to either avoid or check out.

My original Navy training was as a Quartermaster and I've loved maps and charts ever since. If I have to go someplace new in town, I'll look it up on Google maps first and then use my GPS to actually get me there. On a long trip I'll have paper road maps on hand, just to be on the safe side. I refuse to rely totally on GPS. What do you do when your batteries die?