You know how when you're driving in a car that has a GPS system, you are instructed by some seemingly random computer voice (typically a woman's voice) to "Turn left in 500 feet," or "In 1.5 miles, exit right." I recently discovered that you can record your own voice(s) to be uploaded to a Garmin nuvi GPS. I stumbled upon this on the Garmin website because the kids were begging me to upload some new "cars" for the onscreen display. (You can do that at the 'Garmin Garage.') They call it, 'Garmin Voice Studio', and it's a free downloadable application that turns your computer into a mini recording studio for articulating traffic commands.
So, this morning the kids and I huddled around the laptop, and everyone took turns recording the approximately 60 commands that make up all the words spoken on a Garmin GPS.
We had a blast doing this, and it got really funny when Emery (who went second) decided to make two very purposeful 'variations' in her recordings. First, she decided to record the words "stinky feet!" instead of "feet." Second, she substituted her own name for any reference to the word "miles" or "mile." This competitive gesture was not lost on her brother, Miles, who protested this was "not appropriate." Emery just smiled a little "I'm innocent ..." grin. Dad, the judge, let the modified voice commands stand as recorded.
So, when we ran errands this afternoon, we used Emery's voice heading to the store, and Miles' voice coming home. Here are the first things we heard the GPS say - in Emery's voice:
"Proceed 200 stinky feet to the highlighted route."
And then ...
"Travel 1.5 'Emerys' - and then turn right."
I started laughing so hard I had to pull the car over. I love Emery.
