The Sorcerer's Progress (Page 45 of 62)

I was hopimg jaundice would cover the color range.

The strength of the springy parts seems not to be standardized.

I tried a TomTom once and returned within the hour.  Neither TT nor Garmin is safe to use in a moving vehicle unless all you want it for is to tell you where to go.  If you want it for a quick-adjustable map, their different modes and different behaviors in the modes make them almost as bad as texting.

And I cringe when I see them in the middle of the windshield blocking a critical part of the driver's view.

I used a TomTom years ago and really liked it. When I moved back to Canada, I didn't have access to a computer and Staples was pushing Garmin, so I bought a decent-looking unit for $170 ($$). I was only planning to use its voice navigation to steer by, but the damned thing didn't speak much nor give nearly enough lead time before turns. I gave it to my brother to try and he punted it to his girlfriend after one roadtrip. It's on its way to becoming a doorstop.

My brother told me to use Google Maps on my phone, so I bought a battery upgrade kit for $80 ($) and replaced the old one. Made no difference at all. Battery life on the first-gen Moto G simply sucks. I use an old wi-fi only phone plan from my old US carrier, since it works here and only costs $10/mo. Without continuous data, I had to download the maps onto my phone. That's when I found out there's not enough storage on the phone. So much for that. If I upgrade the phone ($$$$), they charge more for the US plan ($$). And Canadian plans can best be described as $$$$$ (serious lack of free market here).

Next, I researched both GPS brands and found the TomTom GO 600 to be very highly rated, so I bought it for $300 ($$$$). It includes lane change guidance and warns you if you go over the posted speed limit (a must in a city filled with 24x7 30 km/h playground zones). After lots of trial and error, I finally got it installed on the far left of the dashboard, where it doesn't block my view. It remains to be seen how well the suction cup sticks to the mounting disk that you glue to the dashboard. That 3M glue is wicked! A better adapter and extra mounting disks for my next car ($BLING) run about $.

I wish I had bought the 5" model instead of the 6" as the latter is bulky when wrestling it out of the dash's corner. The unit is detailed enough that you can see entire stretches of major highways and exits on the screen well before you reach them (think Queens Long Island Expressway, but with fewer idiots). A quick glance at the screen and a few voice prompts ever km or so, and I'm all set. Now I'm ready to visit my doctor and grocery store 2 km away.

All total, about $600, which is a sizeable hunk of change. Still, the cost of a basic speeding ticket in a playground zone is about $300, not including the increase to your insurance rate. God forbid you lose your license in a city this sprawling. No Uber yet (soon), so taxis across town cost $$$$.

I got voice from Rogers and data from wind. Best of both worlds - great voice reception and unlimited data. Only drawback lugging around the extra device

You've read and reviewed all of NS, you'll be fine!

Hope you get well soon, but don't put yourself under too much unnecessary stress too soon! Although I can understand the urgency, your health is important!

The changes I worked out in the hospital and just after are in and working.  There's one bit of fine tuning to try.  I'm getting a brighter flash and probably better battery life.  I have a pageful of flash pulse data, to take again after the change.  And I want to try it with the lithium iron disulfide batteries Eveready sells.  Their discharge curve is high, flat, and sharp.  It will be an interesting, if pricey, test.

Then finish the last test article to test the final layout and begin drilling and cutting the case.

I took a closer look at the adapter from hell. Turns out it's the plastic casing near the tip of the adapter that's too thick. It's all scratched up from me fighting with it. TomTom said all of their adapters are the same size, so they wouldn't send me another type of adapter to try. I ordered a decent one from Amazon for $.

The unit continues to topple off the dash, so they're sending me a different kind of mount. They also sell a universal mount for $$, which will be my last attempt before I toss this on Kajiji (Canadian Craigslist) at a loss.

Okay, 200-odd words out there, a tease in a new chapter.

I shudder to think what the reviews will look like.  ((Wry grin with marmalade (NO Vegamite!) ))

Numbers. Chapters. Book name. Declare these, ya were!

Thanks. I can just see it dropping when my mother is driving the car. Squeal! Crunch! Maybe if I wet it every three months... And just to make the whole thing totally ridiculous, the device didn't recognize either of the playground zones in my neighborhood. That was the main reason I shelled out $$$$ for the damn thing in the first place. I may just sell it and be rid of it.

Yup, all updated. I'm waiting to hear back from the TomTom forum about why it doesn't recognize the playground zones. I think there's a way to tell it what the posted limit is, assuming the feature works at speeds that low.

Funny:-)  I've never had the courage of Janet, to write about blow-to-blow scenes with (R)omance. My characters are adults, and they do what adults do when they are interested in each other, but I'm not interested in someone handing me their copy and having them tell me how awesome it is, only to have them ask where I get my inspiration.

There isn't anything in Dictates at all. Well, except the scene where the group runs into two teens making out on a scavenged couch. That scene was all about using the line where the boy gets his hair tangled and then gets pulled away from the girl, complaining that, "Ow, that hurts!" and having Alda yell, "Try parenthood!" 

Too good of a line. I couldn't pass it up.

It's why I probably would have a difficult time writing Charm's story. Or Katerin's for that matter. Not that it couldn't happen, but soft porn is too tough to write.

I'm reading Name of the Wind, by Rothfuss as my latest project.

Question to throw out there. Who out there is reading something now and what is it? If nothing currently, then what was the last book you read and when?

I'll see about reading ConVent, New Jersey. I'm going to try to read a book a week from now on. It's time to remember how. I went cold-turkey on reading for pleasure when I started writing. Part of it was getting my Master's Degree, but part of it is that I didn't want to give up time that could be used for writing.