Garmin envy

I had a few moments of Garmin envy last weekend. First, walking Back Cove with a friend, we saw a gentleman abruptly hit the curb as he parked and shut off his Garmin. (This is not a rant about driving while Garmin-ing, but you know who you are. Stop.) We laughed, wondering if he'd just typed in "ocean" and ended up here...Oops. But seeing this guy in all his awkward destination-arrival glory, I really wanted one of my own - not for directional purposes, for shopping ones. I want to plug in "DVF wrap dress, on sale - go!" and have the Garmin-ette talk me there. This wouldn't simply be finding a Hallmark or other POI, I'm talking personal shopping-focused directionals. That's technology I can get behind.

But beyond the fantasy of a pocket personal shopper, the Garmin doesn't excite me. I mean, I can read a map, I can stop and ask for directions, and generally find my end point (occasionally by way of industrial park, but that's just part of the adventure), so I don't need one. But for things like yard-saling on the fly, it could be helpful. Sure, mapping out the best yard sale route is really part of the fun and I don't want to take that away, but my impromptu decision to just grab a PPH and go on Saturday left me without any strategy time and the aid of google maps. In the end, a phone call to loved ones with computer access helped me locate my destination, but it got me thinking about how best to optimize this year's yard sale season.

And since I'm a die-hard Gazetteer girl, the Garmin is out, but what about a yard sale phone tree? Before you competitive early birds object, I don't think such a tree would impinge on the integrity and adventure of the sales. This would just serve as some sort of alert to a particularly good sale, or a specific item you've been looking for -- or perhaps more importantly, when a sale has been too picked over to merit a stop. In a world full of texting and mobile uploads I'm sure it can be done. Then again, it may incite an Amazing Race-style battle for the goods. Which I could also get behind. Extreme yard-saling: When early birding's not enough. I love a challenge. Thoughts?