Never trust a machine (especially after your husband has been messing with it)

We've been treated to yet another wet Sunday, but as it wasn't due to start raining in earnest until noon I decided to get the kids to the park for an hour or so this morning. As I was heading to the supermarket first, I thought it would be a good idea to test the SatNav that Doug bought me for my birthday; although I was pretty confident of the route from the supermarket to the park, it wouldn't hurt to have a second opinion and save any messing about.

Having left the supermarket, I drove down Green Lane to the roundabout, fully expecting the direction to be "take the third exit". Instead, what I got was "take the fifth exit". I was quite surprised about this, but wondered if it knew of a better route, so I took the fifth exit. It then proceeded to direct me in a bewildering maze of little streets until I was completely lost - the only thing I was fully confident of was that I was nowhere near the park.

I started wondering if I'd chosen a road of the same name but in a different part of York - after all, New Lane isn't going to be that uncommon a street name. But as far as I could tell, there was only one of the name in that part of town - the others were out in Huntington and to the north of York, and certainly not in the direction which I was being herded.

So I decided to rebel and when I got to the next recognisable road, I'd try and get myself back on track. Good idea, but the SatNav didn't like this one little bit. As I finally found myself by Askham Bar Tesco (right at the bottom of Acomb) and proceeded to take the Tadcaster Road back into town it started telling me to turn right, turn left, in fact take any other turning to get me off this main road.

And its then that I realised what had happened - a vague memory of Doug messing with it earlier in the week and announcing that he'd set it so not to suggest a route with any major roads in it. This was so that it didn't take me onto the A64 when I wasn't prepared for it (I hate and fear the A64 in equal measure). Unfortunately, for major road, read A road. No wonder it was having a hissy fit at me driving on the Tadcaster Road.

Anyway, I got us to the park. It only took us 40 minutes longer than it should have.........