Florey, it has nothing to do with stylish or directness. As Puffy said, it's often not easy to convey in the title what a post is about. More than that, as others said, the posts very often wander from the original content intended, and we like it like that. Well, I think most of us do. There is a nice freedom here to let our minds wander where they will and express what any thread brings up even if not 'on topic'. It's really the heart of this place to me. These days there really aren't all that many posts to keep up with that I feel I miss many... eventually. If you find this hard to follow, just be glad you weren't here a decade ago when we were really prolific. Smiles. On the other hand, it's too bad you weren't. Relax, enjoy, read and post as you will.

I have the same problem with locating Grower's Pride (GP) branded fruit trees. There is no information on the packaging and I do not know if their variety identification is reliable. I also see apple trees identified as "Pink Lady" and I believe that variety is trademarked to prevent unauthorized (meaning without royalty payment) propagation. I am a grafter and the trees are cheap (as low as $7.50) in some wholesale outlets so I use these as rootstock at times. These trees come in blue packaging with the roots packed in sawdust and some soil. I find apples, pears, plums and figs and there may be others. There is no evidence of any state certification for nursery products of any kind. I purchased several apple trees this year and they have all had good root systems. I have purchased some in past years with minimal root systems. The trees are obviously grafted and I would like to ask GP what rootstock is used.

I just sprung for the top-line (Prestige) 3597 LMT/HD, my third Garmin. It's not exorbitantly expensive, about $275 from NewEgg. It's a substantial improvement over my old one, which was a higher-end unit from 2 years ago. The new one is the same size, 5" widescreen, though is much thinner and has a much higher resolution screen with a more responsive touch surface, as well as voice recognition I haven't tried out yet. It takes much less time to sniff out the needed satellites when starting a new drive. Like my old one, you get lifetime map updates and traffic service. Unlike the old one, the traffic service is HD digital and provides warnings much faster and more aquarately than the old system, which didn't caclulate slowdows on sidestreets caused by satnav receivers sending drivers onto those small roads, and often didn't pick up on traffic on side roads in the first place. The lane-assistance is excellent - it will open a second window showing which lanes you can be in at tricky interchanges, with spoken instructions like "stay in the 2nd or 3rd lane from the right". Turns are tied to obvious landmarks and traffic lights, not just street names (or worse) just distances. So it will say "turn right at the traffic light after the McDonalds" about ten seconds before your turn, not "turn right on McLadden Ave." which may or may not have an easy-to-find sign, or "turn right in 500 feet" which leaves you wondering which of two nearby entrances is 500 and not 400 or 600 feet away. If there's a particular neighborhood or area you never want to be routed through, you can set it to always avoid that area. It has a Bluetooth link that will tell your Apple or Android device where you were when the car was shut down, so if you forget where you park, you can find it on your phone or tablet; even an iPod Touch will work since you'll need only to dip into someplace with wi-fi to get a map back to where you parked, even though there was no wi-fi signal at the parking space. The Bluetooth can also be used for hands-free calling over the speaker. It's able to warn you of school zones and such, though I haven't figured out how to enable it yet, or maybe that's one of the extra-cost apps. It's not perfect - it still doesn't know the existence of a nearby road half a block from home and tries to route me way around it. It couldn't find the Costco I just went to or the street it's on (it's been there for two years). It also couldn't find the gym/pool I go to, perhaps because it recently changed its name, but neither the old or new name could be found. At least it knew the address. The internal voice isn't as human-sounding as it was on my previous satnav. The included, reusable mount sticks to windows but not the top of my dashboard, and any windshield attachment in my car blocks the forward view a bit. Despite these flaws, its strong points overwhelm them, and it's the best GPS navigator i've ever used, including those built into cars or phones. Finally, here's why I'm not using a smartphone for navigation: First off, most of our carriers charge for data usage. The GPS receiver doesn't use data itself, but tying it to where you are using Google Maps or Foursquare or whatever does, unless you run a usually 3rd-party app like Co-Pilot that downloads the entire area's maps onto your phone (which cuts into your phone's storage and adds complexity). The interface isn't as straightforward as on a good dedicated GPS. But mainly, I want to be able to use a smartphone as a *phone* when needed, sometimes passing it to a passenger for private conversation during a call. I don't want incoming and outgoing phone calls, or changing a musical selection, interfering with navigation. I want my maps and directions always to be there. This post was edited by lee676 on Sun, Mar 30, 14 at 11:13

You have quite an imagination, chas. Maybe 15 years ago, I was on a trip to a Southern city I'd never been to before. I flew in the night before and found my hotel with directions from the car rental company. I got up in the morning needing to drive about 10 miles to an appointment. I asked the woman at the hotel's front desk how to get to 3600 XYZ Street, she gave me directions. As I got off the freeway, I realized something was wrong, I was in a seedy neighborhood (abandoned buildings, those not abandoned had bars over doors and windows) although I WAS in the 3600 block of XYZ street. I cautiously found a payphone (yeah, that long ago), made a call, and was informed that I must have gone to 3600 EAST XYZ Street instead of 3600 West XYZ Street. I sheepishly arrived 20 minutes late to my meeting. I'll refrain from describing my personal emotions that morning. As for your various silly scenarios, wrong destination details will always take you to the wrong place, whether you're using technology or asking for directions in a gas station. I've learned to get accurate information and a cross street, it helps. Devices don't break so suddenly as you would like to suggest. You should be happy using whatever method works for you. Personally, I won't own a car without a GPS system, and I have a portable one to use when I travel and rent cars. I've been using them for >10 years, daily and in far-flung places, and none of the things you mention have ever happened to me. A few silly routings, of course, that's part of the fun. Have I gotten lost or failed to arrive where desired? Never.