The Burgess sideroad is about a mile and a half long before it dead-ends at a turnaround the township has thoughtfully provided just past Hodkinson's place. There are a total of six dwellings along that stretch of road.
This afternoon a giant tractor-trailer from Bio-Ag of Michigan pulled up onto the Burgess sideroad and headed up the hill. I know for a fact that none of those six households have any need for a tractor-trailer load of fertilizer from Michigan.
It's another classic case of GPS addiction. Perfectly reasonable people realize that the turn they just made makes no sense, but their GPS told them to make it, so it must be the right thing to do.
It's not the first time I've run into folks who are lost on the Burgess sideroad. Early one morning about a year ago, while out walking, an elderly couple pulled over and asked me where the sheep farm was.
What sheep farm?
They even had a fire number for the non-existent sheep farm. And I'm sure it exists; just not here on this particular stretch of the Burgess sideroad.
But they didn't believe me. Had to drive to the end and see for themselves. Drove up and down the road a few times looking for the imaginary sheep farm.
The Bio-Ag rig must have been a good eighty feet long end-to-end. It's a testament to Buddy's driving skill that he got her turned around in that sixty-foot diameter turnaround.
But not every case of GPS dependency has such a happy ending.
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