Calling in for directions

Yesterday, I was carless in Virginia. I had some minor work done on my car and had to go pick up the car after work. Getting from Reston down to Fairfax was not going to be easy. Using the WMATA website to get a suggested itinerary produced a route that involved getting on a bus, transferring to another, then to the Metro train, and back onto yet another bus.

Alternatively, I found a route which involved one bus, but a mile and half of walking on either end of the trip. Despite, sputtering rain, I chose this route.

Getting to the pickup was relatively easy. I am fairly familiar with the area, and despite misinterpreting the pickup location, I was able to, literally, flag down the bus and get on at a non-designated bus stop.

The trip got more interesting when I misjudged where to get off the bus. I got off way too early! Earlier, at work, I had used Google Maps to get a vague idea of how to get there from the bus stop at which I thought I was getting off. Now, I was nowhere near the stop and had to travel by memory. I could have asked someone, however, it was a) raining so there wouldn't be to many pedestrians, and b) the suburbs where no one walked anywhere anyway.

At this point, I had an idea. I called my brother and had him browse to Google Maps for me. After some explanation, I got him to find my location on the map/satellite hybrid feature. This, as it turns out was very useful. I had him find me a way that would not have been found by simply asking the website for directions. The engine that drives it is designed for cars. I had the ability to cut through woods, between building, etc. to make my journey shorter.

So while I had him on the phone, I had him searching for alternative routes, as I traveled. We cut through buildings, and around a construction site (that was a wooded area on the website).

In the end, I made it to my destination. I had my own Central Command Center. Anand's CentCom is located in Bridgewater, NJ!