My boy Hal
July 17, 2008As I’ve mentioned, Oz is a bit of a road savant. And not just in that he knows the routes of our local area well; he’s also better than I am at looking over a map and both internalizing the paths and converting them to actual directions, roads, and turns on the ground.
So we rely on him as a bit of a wetware-based GPS system. Let him look at the map of a new place, and then let him tell you where to turn and how to get places. And although he might very occasionally make a mistake, he’s way better than I am.
Every once in a while I think "no, that’s wrong, I think we need to go this way instead"; but 80-90% of the time he’s the one who’s right. So, on our recent vacation to Acadia National Park in Maine, he was totally useful. "How do we get to X, Oz?" "Where do I need to turn for Y?" I don’t even bother with the map.
And then, on the way home, he went Hal on us. We asked him to direct us home by a particular route. But after a while, we realized he was taking us another way. We said "No Oz, we want to go by route X". He replied "I’m sorry Dad, but I’m afraid I can’t do that." OK, not those exact words. But still.
By that time, we were far enough along his route that it would have been a big hassle to backtrack. So we let the autopilot continue. Result: 10 miles shaved off the return route.
I swear he was humming "Bicycle built for two" under his breath.
