Dubious Quality

I leave location services on to make Google Maps accurate, which is a huge privacy no-no, but I don't care. I'm basically a boring person, except in my own head. If anyone wants to bore themselves to death by looking at the data from my timeline, good luck and godspeed.

What I didn't know until this afternoon is that Google has a timeline for me all the way back to 2013. 

I saw it for the first time today, and it was fun to see all the separate locations I've been in the last ten years. Then I clicked on one of the dots and it got even more interesting, because I could also see the route I took to that destination. I clicked on a dot near Eli's school and was treated to a trip I took to P. Terry's on a Friday afternoon in October 2013, which is where I'd hang out until a few minutes before school let out. I have incredibly fond memories of sitting in P. Terry's and designing Gridiron Solitaire, then picking up Eli and us going off do something fun together.

It was just dots connected by lines on my screen, but it hit me pretty hard. In a good way. 

I could see us drive up to Grand Rapids from Austin in June of 2016, tracing across the country like the curving of a bow. It was just Eli and me, because Gloria was staying behind for two weeks to finish up the house, and Eli had to be in Grand Rapids for a goalie camp. 12+ hours of driving both days, and we managed to turn it into an adventure, like we've always been able to do.

Orwellian? Absolutely. Also wonderful? Absolutely.