GPS

October 20, 2020

I have changed eye doctors since my last encounter with the dilation.  We had switched insurance and the old doctor did not accept any insurance.  Melissa liked her eye doctor, so I decided to go with hers.  They sent me a confirmation stating their new address.  Then the day before they sent a reminder restating their new address.  Melissa told me the best way to go, but I had already searched the directions on my phone.  I did not pay as much attention as I shood have.  I noticed my phone took me a different route, but it still said it was to the same address.  I was running late but pulled in a few minutes before the appointment.  That was when I discovered I had been directed to the old office location.  I called and got the right directions from a person.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S.-owned utility that provides users with positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. This system consists of three segments: the space segment, the control segment, and the user segment. The U.S. Air Force develops, maintains, and operates the space and control segments.  The space segment consists of 24 operating satellites that transmit one-way signals giving the current satellite position.  The control segment consists of world-wide monitor and control stations that maintain the satellites in their proper orbit.  The user segment is the equipment which received the signals from the satellites and calculates the three-dimensional position and time.  In this case it was my phone.

I have worked with maps and directions most of my life.  I came out of college with an archeology degree and finished up another in mining history while working for the state in Utah.  Both occupations relied heavily on maps to find and record the different types of sites.  This just added to the mapping, hiking, and cartography merit badges I got as a Boy Scout.  With the advent of GPS devices (particularly on your phone), maps are no longer as important to the public.  I still like maps because I have noticed my phone will occasionally send me in the wrong direction or I will not have cell service.  If I can pull out a map I can always find where I am going.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  Cell phones were first invented on April 3, 1973 and I gave up my landline in favor of a cell in the late 1990’s.  While both cell service and GPS tracking have greatly improved since then, there have still been problems.  I remember being directed to a friend’s address for the first time and when I arrived it was their back yard.  While I was close, the house sat on a 20’ cliff above me.   Technology is great when it works but it can be maddening when it does not.  We have several different vaccines currently being worked on.  They go through trials to ensure they are safe and effective.  When it comes to injecting a vaccine into your body, you do not want to be on the wrong side of a 20’ cliff.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.