Crazy For Roomba

Am I crazy? Those of you who already know me are presently screaming "YES!" but I ask again, am I crazy? Give me an answer based on my thoughts and actions regarding this LG gps unit.

Here's the nutshell: Today I won an LG LN730 Portable Navigator, and I don't want it.

Everybody wants a GPS right? So I'm slightly crazy already. Now here's the way tons crazier part: I want the prize my workplace is awarding next month, an iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner. Crazy, right? A guy wanting a vacuum over a GPS?

The problem with this prize is that I already have a totally dope GPS unit, which I also got for free nearly 2 years ago. Sure, the LG is pretty rad too, what with MP3 & WMA playback as well as a sweet Photo Viewer with the SD memory card slot.

So am I crazy? Wanting to pass up a GPS with those super-cool bonus features and likely having a faster processor than my Sony?

I am crazy: crazy brilliant! I can trade the GPS for the Roomba, because who wants a vacuum? Nobody! And who wants a GPS? Like, everybody! Even agoraphobics would find this particular GPS useful and fun.

With the Photo Viewer they can show their friends all the crazy things Zippur the cat licked from their bellybutton last weekend. And they can download all their favourite songs to it and rock out to Supertramp when they're layin' a coily. Rad!

Now, I don't really need all that. When it comes to photos and music, I'm older than Jesus. Photo albums and CDs are abundant at my house. But if my house were Roombafied, I'd never have to clean the floors. I could sit on the busted Ikea couch watching Robotech reruns all day, drinking Vodka tonics and dropping Cheeze-its and Melba Toast all over the floor while my lil Robovac hovers at my feet in suck mode.

Yes! It would be like having a robomaid, or a dog, or a 2-year-old son. I'd throw it food and it would just eat and wander aimlessly, occasionally bumping into things like the TV. Ah, I'm already in love with my imaginary Roomba. So, am I crazy or what?

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Update: GPS traded!

How To Change Maps On Sony GPS

As long as I've been using my Sony Nav-U GPS, I've discovered it to be both fun, and as annoying as a video-game deprived, snot-nosed kid in church with no kleenex and short sleeves.

The NV-U70 GPS unit is one of the smaller units on the market, memory-wise. It only has 1 gig of useable space. The problem with 1 gig is that the maps of Canada and the U.S.A. take up more than 1 gig.

To get around this problem, Sony included a DVD with various maps of North America. You can pic and choose, mix and match, which maps you want. I've never had to do this before, but since Suz and I are off to Florida tomorrow, we needed to add the southern states to our maps.

When I inserted the DVD-ROM, it installed in a few seconds. Easy. I selected "Map Manager" which lead me to a very simple map-selecting screen, which was perfect for me, being a dim-witted guy. All you need to know is where you are travelling, what it looks like on a map, and some simple math. All of which I was supposed to learn in grade 2.

The map options were:

• Full USA


• West USA


• East USA-A


• East USA-B


• Canada-A


• Canada-B


• Hawaii


• Puerto Rico


• Alaska

When I selected a particular map, the corresponding states/provinces were highlighted, and the size of the map, in MB, would appear in the bottom corner along with how much space, in MB, was left.

I deleted "Canada-A" which included about 50% of the U.S. and replaced it with "Canada-B" which only included the northernmost states. That freed up another 450 MB or so for another map. The second map I chose was "East USA-A" which included, as Homer would say, America's wang.

The next part was the hard part: Waiting. Waiting usually isn't very hard to do. But when you really want something and are forced to wait and wait for an unreasonable amount of time, it can get frustrating.

Ask any video-game deprived, snot-nosed kid sitting in church.

Get this. It took one and a half hours for the maps to be transferred to the Sony NAV-U. Wow. I could've watched an entire movie. Or written 90 high quality answers for Useless Advice From Useless Men. But instead I played Killer Instinct on my old SNES. It was time well-spent.

And now I'm going to spend some more time relaxing and having fun in Florida. See you all in some form or another when I get back next week.