The other day I was on my way to a dermatologist appointment downtown. Don’t worry, it was not anything major, just a little bump that needed taking care of. Anyway, even though I left in enough time to get there, I failed to make my appointment on time. Why, you might ask yourself? Well, I did not make it to the dermatologist on time because the only map I had in my Nova was for Wyoming! I know, can you believe it? Needless to say, by the time I found my doctor’s office, the appointed hour had come and gone.

Now some of you may have a new car with one of those fancy GPS navigation systems, but the old ’87 Nova doesn’t. And because maps are expensive, it was either fill up with gas or know where I’m going. It seemed like my world would have to get a bit smaller if I was to be an active participant. But then one of my co-workers at the grocery store told me how you could search for address on the Internet. “Hold on just a sec,” I told her. “You mean the Internet can do the same thing as a map?” She just shook her head and walked away, but I knew right then and there that my life just got easier. I mean, search for an address without a map? Wow, what has the world come to? Sure, we allegedly landed on the moon and invented laser discs, but the thought of being able to search for an address online was almost too much. But it wasn’t too awesome!

After my shift ended, I pushed the Nova to her limits and got back to my apartment in record time. There were so many places I wanted to go, but because I couldn’t search for the address, I thought I’d never get to see them. For the next eight hours, I searched for so many addresses it was like I was mapping the phonebook! I hope no one was trying to call me because unless someone’s figured a way to make a phone call through a computer, no one was getting through.

So, what addresses did I search for and how did I search for those addresses? Did you know there are lots of “virtual” maps on the World Wide Web? Google Maps, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps and MSN maps are just a few. Each allows you to search for addresses, businesses and towns. They even search for directions and give you the results so you can print them. Talk about convenient. I did a search of all my favorite places. I found the addresses of my favorite store on eBay® (it turns out they have a real store too) and also did a search for a few friends from high school. Did you know that there are even a few sites that allow you to search for more than addresses? I was even able to search for a former girlfriend. But the search came back with more than just her address. But, I didn’t want to pay to look at the information.

I always knew the World Wide Web was pretty sweet, but now that I know I can search for addresses, I think the Internet is the coolest thing since the invention of those cute Precious Moments figures.