Friday, May 17, 2013

On the Move

Just in time for summer travel...Google is improving it's maps and gas prices are moving up.  If you are under the false impression that one of those  things is good and the other is bad...you are sadly mistaken.  I for one, love the quirks of Google's map miscalculations.  A few years ago they did away with the directions that had us swimming from the U.S. to Europe.  That was a real step backward as far as reading Google maps for the sheer entertainment value. Who needs accuracy when you need some comedic relief during travel?

It may be hard to see...but Google wants us to swim 3,462 miles.


 But not all was lost because then they had us jet skiing. 



So last night after hearing that they are making more improvements I did another search to see how things are currently checking out.  I used Australia to Los Angeles as my query.





You have to admit though that those Googlites...err...Googlians...whatever they are...they still have their sense of humor by suggesting that if you want to go from Australia to L.A. that you would go via
Korea.  Really??? No one wants to go to Korea right now except Dennis Rodman and Psy.


Perhaps that is the scenic route? 


Since we are on the subject of traveling...


Were you aware that if you are a nasty, bad kind of traveler, you could have your shame flaunted on a Facebook page?

Started in January 2013, the Passenger Shaming Facebook page has uploaded user submitted photos of passengers acting badly, rudely or in a manner less than travel friendly. The page's author is Shawn Kathleen, who has been a flight attendant since 2010.  She started a blog called "Rants of a Sassy Stew" that same year.



Hey bra..it's lights out
When pigs fly
Perhaps Traveling By Car is Safer


A lucky McDonald’s employee was shocked to see her own stolen car pull up to the drive-thru window the very day it went missing.

Virginia Maiden’s Tuesday morning began on a sour note, as she woke up to find her 1995 Toyota 4-Runner had been stolen. The Kennewick, Washington woman reported the theft and told police she’d left it unlocked.

Fortunately for her, she managed to make it into work that day—at a McDonald’s, where she manned the drive-thru window.

Then something shocking happened. Maiden’s recently boosted ride pulled right up to the restaurant.



The  driver, Katherine York, was arrested before she left the parking lot and  charged with possession of a stolen vehicle according to KEPRTV.com. 

Police found stolen clothing with security tags attached in the vehicle as well.  York is being held without bail set.


Traveling by car may be the way to go but make sure it's YOUR car.




23 comments:

Wendy said...

Jet ski? And Goggle will tell me where to rent one for that one way trip. Right!
I could hardly believe it, but I check, and there it is. Which makes me feel ridiculously happy. Happy? Yes, because even while doing what must be a tedious job( making directions that everyone argues with), those Goggle workers found a way to humour. For once I must say- Way to go, Goggle!
Thanks for my smile today, Cheryl

Cheryl P. said...

I know what you mean...it's pretty funny. Totally cool that they put a little humor in there. You just have to know that they figure that any idiot wanting driving directions from Australia to LA can't be serious...or sane.


The first time I saw the "swim over the Pacific" it cracked me up.

Stephen Hayes said...

Actually, the last time I swam to Europe it seemed farther than 3463 miles.

Riot Kitty said...

Laughing my butt off about Google directions! It's kind of like on April Fool's Day, when Netflix posted categories of films such as, "Nicholas Cage losing it." Really.

lisleman said...

Didn't know you could recover stolen things at the Mickey D window. Mickey D's is great ever since they improved their coffee.
I checked out the pigs on a plane FB page. Disgusting. People are so rude and inconsiderate of people around them. I think flight attendants have a tough job.

lisleman said...

Just thought of something (ah that's a warning)

Google maps just told me it is 4.3 miles from Kansas City, MO to Kansas City, KS. via I-70. Not sure what it picks for a city's starting point.

Robyn Engel said...

I'm glad Google has a sense of humor, especially when it comes to traveling from Australia to LA. Why would anyone make that trip? I'm ready to go in the opposite direction, via sand, air, sea...whatever.


And what an idiot to go for some McD's fries in a stolen car. I'm assuming she wanted fries. Otherwise, she's even more stupid.


xoRobyn

AletaObrien said...

You had me laughing about the google traveling! OK, here's a story. My parents were traveling by car from New Orleans to Arizona to visit my mom's cousin. They used Google maps but where it reads it out or something like that. Similar to GPS, but not GPS. Anyway.... they are driving right along and... then it says "You have reached your destination." My Dad said, "LIKE HELL!" They were in a cemetery!! Yikes! (And it was nighttime, just to add to the freakiness)


OMG, about the pigs flying.... sad thing is that I've seen this happen when flying from Hawaii back home. Worse than a messy theater. EWWWW

Cheryl P. said...

The last time I swam 20 yards it felt farther...but I wasn't trying to get to Europe...just to the other side of the pool.

Cheryl P. said...

I am glad you found humor in this. I missed that April Fools Day "categorizing" on Netflix. That's funny. I can imagine there are some clever ways to categorize movies.

Cheryl P. said...

According to the article, she wanted ice cream. The girl that had her car stolen told her it would be a couple of minutes because something was wrong with the ice cream machine. Of course, that's when she called the cops.



Yeh, I looked at the pictures too. How can people be that insensitive??
I do think flight attendants have a tough job as probably a lot of others in the service industry. It irritated the crud out of me when I see people treating wait staff, or any service oriented worker badly. GGGRRRRR!

Cheryl P. said...

Maps must pick some random address in the middle of a city. There is no mileage from Kansas City, KS to Kansas City, MO. They would bump up to each other. State Line Rd. is KS on one side and Missouri on the other side.

Cheryl P. said...

On the outside chance someone does want to make the trip they will be taking 483 hours off their life if they follow the Google map.


She wanted ice cream according to the report. The worker that had her car stolen told her to wait a minute because the machine wasn't working. That's when she called the cops. Quick thinking on her part.



I probably would of been screaming obscenities at her while telling her she better give me my *&%#@& car back.

Cheryl P. said...

Google maps have been in the news from time to time for inaccuracies but supposedly that's suppose to be better with this newest version. That remains to be seen.


My husband had a similar incident as your parents. He plugged in the address to a hotel he had booked a room but when the map said he had reached his destination he was in the middle of nowhere. There was a farm there with buffalo. Seriously bison!!!



Don't you wonder if people are that sloppy at home? Maybe that's how they live as well. (let's hope not)

Jo-Anne said...

Thank you for making me laugh this afternoon, it felt good to have a laugh

Cheryl P. said...

Glad you found some humor. It's always a bit of a let down coming home from vacation, isn't it. Have a good weekend.

abeerfortheshower said...

Google used to be unable to find my house. Like, my entire neighborhood just didn't exist. Now they went and fixed that. I'm kinda disappointed. I liked the anonymity. Also, it was hilarious trying to see my friends find the place.

Cheryl P. said...

There seems to be more than a few mistakes in both Google maps and Garmin's GPS. I have people not being able to find my house as well depending on how long ago they updated their GPS. They would be able to find me on Google Earth or Google Street View. I guess most people aren't all that anonymous anymore. Heck, I look up our farm in another state every once and awhile to see how things are looking.

meleahrebeccah said...

I have so much to say about this post - except I can't stop staring at the photo of When Pigs Fly - because I am absolutely horrified.

Dexter Klemperer said...

You may have single-handedly reformed Google! Everytime I try that now, I get "could not calculate directions." And I thought I had a few hours of entertainment ahead of me. I hope you didn't get anyone fired.

Cheryl P. said...

I know they have been making some improvements on Google Maps but you can still find a few city to city routes that haven't been removed. For example: If you put Los Angeles, CA as the from and Brisbane, Australia as your "to". It will come up with a rather ridiculous route. On that one it puts you on a ship as well.



I think maybe Google needs everyone they can hire. They are going through Kansas City laying fiber optic for their new Internet service that is supposedly 100 times faster than what is now available. Austin, TX is supposed to be the next city to get it.

Cheryl P. said...

As you and I are both into "structure" and "neatness" ...we would probably be compelled to make people clean up after themselves if we were on the plane.

Good thing we weren't. It is probably frowned upon to bitch slap fellow passengers.

meleahrebeccah said...

HA! Probably!