THE WALLABY TRACK WITH LIONEL MUSSELL
MURPHY AND
THE TOMTOM
AN UNCOOPERATIVE GPS LEFT
LIONEL FEELING SLIGHTLY… LOST.
Murphy loves interfering with technical things
and he's had fun with my two TomToms recently.
I was going to Rupanyup, Vic, to the Dirt Music
Festival to hear my friend, Lazo, perform with his
autoharp. I keyed Rupanyup into the GPS and it
showed that it was searching for a valid satellite
signal. It was still searching many kilometres
along the way.
Apparently on April 6 this year, many GPS
devices had been caught in a similar position, as
when we had the ‘Y2K’ millennium business when
computers changed from 1999 to 2000.
Something similar happens when some number
in the GPS reaches a point when it has to be reset,
and this involves connecting it to a computer and
downloading a fix. It also involves finding the
microscopic serial number hidden away under
the power plug!
I felt very smug having worked all that out and
the TomTom was working as it should. I wondered
what Murphy was quietly sniggering about but I
soon found out a couple of weeks later when I
needed to set the GPS in Yemmy to go to an ACC
state muster in Warnambool, Vic.
Yes – you guessed correctly – that GPS had the
same problem!
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I knew the way to Warrnambool – but finding
the caravan park was a bit of a challenge. Fixing
Yemmy’s GPS was easier as I done it to Getzie’s
before so I now believe I've got a few years of
functioning TomToms to come.
WAITING FOR DIESEL
There was another little trick Murphy played on
the way to Warrnambool. I was running a little
low on fuel so I decided to fill up in Dunkeld.
There was a chap with a big tank on a trailer at the
pump and he came over to apologise as he would
be a while filling the huge tank.
It was the only diesel pump and fuel was dispensed
by using a credit card machine – the reason the
customer couldn't stop halfway through his fill to
let me top-up.
I did get to Warrnambool in time for happy hour
and catching up with all my ACC friends.
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