Early one wintry Christmas morning I ripped at the Christmas wrapping, desperate to discover what my mother had bought me that year. She had a knack for selecting the perfect gift, even if I'd no idea what I wanted that particular year, although admittedly this was an unusual occurrence. However, this Christmas was one such year so I was clueless as to what lay hidden beneath the brightly-coloured paper.
My heart sank as I realised it was the most pointless of gadgets, a sat nav system, or "sat-chav" as my peers sometimes dismissively referred to it. What a crazy present. I drove the same routes every day, knowing every nuance and kink in the road, never needing direction or guidance to find my way to work. So what was I going to use it for? This particular item was a Garmin Sat Nav, the Nuvi 1310 Widescreen Sat Nav. I remember mentally mocking the notion of widescreen, wondering if I could play DVDs through the useless device. I installed the device in my car to pacify my mother, and banished its existence from my head until I one day realised its worth. Stuck in traffic, I began fiddling with my latest toy, only to discover it could advise me of an alternative, traffic-free route. It even alerted me of impending speed cameras, even if they were mobile. When it began to give me lane guidance for upcoming junctions, I discovered a new-found love for my useless gadget.
When I came to seek a new job, the unit was invaluable, assisting me find locations that I would have been powerless to find had I had to rely on shakey Internet routes and an old-fashioned map. My most valuable of car accessories, the clever Nuvi 1310 even allows you to talk on your mobile hands-free, providing you have a Bluetooth capable phone. That added to the warning of upcoming speed cameras means I have little excuse for incurring costly points on my licence! Yet again, my mum had demonstrated her knack of finding the ideal gift!
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