Tuesday, June 16, 2009

I'm sorry, -70.1977536,41.7193985,0 is not an address"

Especially if you're fixin' to tear down my house:

A Georgia man is none too happy that his memory-filled family home, lovingly hand built "brick by brick" by Pop, is now a scene of rubble-strewn desolation after a demolition firm used a GPS to identify its victim and moved in for the kill.

Al Byrd of Sandy Springs got a bit of a shock earlier this month when someone called to let him know the Carroll County house was no more. Byrd had lived there with his nine brothers and sisters, and the house still contained precious heirlooms including "mom’s dining room set … her hutch with her dishes in there".

These Little House on the Prairie touches meant nothing to the Marietta wrecking outfit, apparently acting on the instructions of another unnamed Texas company, who flattened the building.

So what happened? Seems some Einstein gave a bulldozer operator GPS coordinates, rather than a street address. GPS coordinates were for house across the street of the intended Demolition Derby. Enthusiastic 'dozer man was a bit too eager to take the time and call for confirmation:
“I said, ‘What address did you have?’ and he said, ‘They sent me some GPS coordinates.’ I said, ‘Don’t you have an address?’ [and] he said, ‘Yes, my GPS coordinates led me right to this address here and this house was described.’”
Two words: Soylent.

Video here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ok, a GPS fix that tight should get someone onto the right tile in the kitchen. The question is, where did the fix come from? What reference was used to create it? If I get a fix using NAD 27 and you relate it back to the Earth using WGS 84 then there is an awfully good chance you'll be very precisely in the wrong place. Those fools should be sued, tarred, feathered and then flung out of town.

Jim