Appalachian Trail Redux

March 15 arrived and our thoughts returned to Georgia, 2007 when we set out to hike the AT. We have been reading the journal of our travel, reminding ourselves of the experience. Last night we had a serious conversation about whether or not we should give it another try. We agreed that if we were to do it at this point, we would want to return to Georgia and start all over. We also agreed that it is impractical to even think about.

Today I am working on Lectures for a Doctoral class on relationships I will present in May. Jen has already left for her shift at the hospital. (It is 6:16 AM) Two years ago we were hiking out of Hiawassee, Georgia and crossed into North Carolina. We hiked 11.6 miles that day, almost all of it was uphill. Life is much different in 2009 than 2007.

Today I have to go to the gym to get an hour’s workout, then this afternoon I will walk 3-4 miles with Uma and the rest of the day will be spent sitting on my hinder. Then I was on my feet all day long with maybe an hour on my hinder all day. Then I was possessed with finding water, today I am stressed confining my liquid intake to water. Then I was satisfied with a tortilla spread with peanut butter and honey, today’s lunch will be significantly more complex I am sure. Then a cup of instant coffee hit the spot. Today I am about to have my third cup of brewed coffee from gourmet beans we purchase by mail. Then I was looking for places to put everything, my bag, my groceries for the week, my water bottle, the pump, etc. Today I am wondering where the best place to put the piano would be, and whether or not we can let Amy take the sofa that is in the basement den. Then I was wondering about the best way to put duct tape on my feet to avoid blisters. Today we are thinking of getting a new car before the tax credit runs out on hybrids. Then I was deciding which shirt combination would be the best to wear to combat the weather. Today I am wondering if the weather will return to warm enough to play golf on Thursday or Friday. Yes, life is different, but life is still life.

The tree is a trail landmark, about 100 yards after passing into North Carolina. My thoughts are with the fine folks who will be camping at Muskrat Creek Shelter, North Carolina tonight. There is a great campsite about 30 yards on up the trail from the turnoff to the shelter.

Customer Service that is really Service

Let me pause among all my criticisms for a moment of praise. I am quick to complain about poor customer service whenever it happens, like last week. . . oh wait, this is a praise blog. I want to tell you a good story about customer service.

I purchased a Magellan RoadMate 700 GPS back in 2006 when we were going to Baltimore to see our kids and our new grandson. I bought it used in an EBay auction. It worked flawlessly, but for a few Interstate exits that had been moved. One night in Nebraska we were looking for what the GPS said was a Golden Corral Steak House and turned out to be some kind of sleazy nightclub. So some of the data was a little out of date.

For 75 dollars I bought a software update and all new maps and points of interest. We were going to take another long drive, this time to Austin, Texas and decided it was time to get updated maps. Well, they came and after hooking the GPS to my computer I entered the cd rom and followed instructions. First, it erased all my old maps, then started loading the new ones. In the middle of the upload there was a file it could not copy. I called Tech Support and they suggested trying it on a computer with Windows XP Service Pack 2. My computers all have Service Pack 3. So I tried it on a Service Pack 2 computer and it failed in the same place. Now I have a GPS unit with no maps.

I called tech support back and gave them the news. They said it was probably a defect in the software on my gps unit put there when I tried installing with Service Pack 3. (Nowhere in the documentation was that fact mentioned.) It just said the installation was for Windows XP. But before I even had time to get my dander up and ready for an argument the agent said, “we don’t support the 700 anymore so if you will send us the 700 we will send you a new 800 to replace it.”

So there you go. For the price of a FedEx to Tennessee I will have a new Roadmate 800 GPS. Of course I don’t have it yet. Mine will not be delivered to them until this Wednesday. And the date for us to leave for Austin has come and gone leaving us GPS less. But we didn’t go anyway so no harm done.

I suspect that the next time I am thinking GPS, I will be thinking Magellan. That is pretty good customer service and they have one happy customer. If you are looking for a GPS unit for your car, may I suggest Magellan.