SPOT On!

In this post yesterday, I forgot to mention that while at Camping World, I purchased a SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker.

I had heard of these being used to find people in an emergency. In fact, it has a 911 button you can press, the result of which is that “in the event of a life-threatening situation, it sends your exact location (GPS Coordinate) and a distress signal to a GEOS 9-1-1 Emergency Call Center, which notifies the appropriate responders to come bail you out.”

What I didn’t realize when I bought it was that there were other functions:

1. The CHECK IN function “sends a text or an email and a link showing your exact location to let friends and family know you’re okay. Waypoints are stored so they can be reviewed later as well.”
2. The optional TRACK PROGRESS function allows friends and family to “track your progress in real time, complete with virtual views provided by Google Maps. All of your waypoints are stored so you can review your entire route at a later date.”
3. The ASK FOR HELP function, “in the event of a minor mishap, … sends a message and your location to request non-emergency help from friends or family.”

In addition to this blog, SPOT will help those who are interested to know where I am in terms of GPS coordinates and to be able to see exactly where I am or have just been using GOOGLE maps. I plan to do some exploring while I’m out and about and this will give me a back-up in case I get lost or hurt.

By the way, this uses satellite technology so it doesn’t rely on cell phone coverage or Wi-Fi. I just have to have a fairly clear view of the sky.

Unfortunately, because it took me almost 3 hours to set this up and test it, I never did get to my railings. Oh well, tomorrow is another day, but a day I plan on spending at some training sessions at Camping World:

• Which Satellite is Right for You? (at 10 am)
• Rubber Roof Renewal (12 pm)
• Tire Safety and Maintenance (2 pm)

It looks as if I’ll be tied up by this for the whole day and on Saturday, my friend Karen and I plan on going to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the day. Sounds like I’ll still be “railing” around next week, doesn’t it?

Until next time…