Garmin Scare

I’ve had my Garmin 301 for over six years. I’ve been married to it longer than I’ve been married to J-A (well, she gave it to me, so it’s not cheating). You can imagine, then, the flood of emotion I had today when I tried to plug it in to recharge it and nothing happened. Normally a message flashes on the screen and bounces all around: Charging in Progress. This time: blankness – the void.

Oh god.

I instantly jumped to the worst conclusion – the Garmin’s tiny USB port was forever compromised, severed so that power could never again ignite its tiny little heart. How would I talk to the angelic satellites above who so generously bestow the divine wisdom of pace and distance? I imagined life without running data – it was grey, bleak.


I googled the problem. Not much doing. Everyone was talking about software and uploading and such – what did I care about that? One guy said spray the darn thing with WD-40 to remove the corrosion caused by salty sweat. I was about to do that when I figured I’d try one last thing – using a different cord, the one that attaches the wee USB port on the Garmin to the big USB port on my computer.

Ah, it was a miracle. The message appeared: Charing in Progress, bouncing off the sides of the tiny screen. It was the cord that plugs into the wall that failed, not my little wrist prophet. Can you imagine my joy? Are there words...?

I don’t care what the “purists” say – I like my Garmin. It’s logged a lot of mileage – been through a lot of weather with me. I know it won’t live forever – but I’m glad it’s going to live another day!