Maps are maddening.
Sure, they’re handy, even essential. But so many things about them can drive you nuts.
Folding, of course, is foremost.
And there’s the way they rip apart, especially at those worn-out creases.
Even locating the thing when you really need it is a huge pain. How many times have you futilely unloaded the entire contents of the glove compartment looking for one?
And don’t get me started on the uselessness of a sodden map twisting in the gale-force winds of a typical Chicago thunderstorm.
Then, along comes a product that resolves every one of those problems. Ahhhhhhhh.
Who wouldn’t be instantly taken with the “fabMAP” ($5.95, randmcnally.com)? Just read the packaging: “No Folding Required!” “Waterproof and tear-proof.”
Why didn’t we think of this? It’s small, made of microfiber, just a little bigger than a Kleenex.
No problem finding this map when you really need it. Just toss it in a pocket or purse and forget it until you get lost in any of 14 cities, from Honolulu to Washington, D.C.
But wait, there’s more. You can clean your glasses with it.
That’s right, a two-fer. It gets you around and helps you see clearly once you get there.
We’re not talking perfection here. The map of “Downtown Chicago” gives the location of virtually every tourist stop (and some tourist traps) from a Build-a-Bear Workshop to the Shedd Aquarium.
But there’s hardly anything labeled tourist-worthy south of Roosevelt Road. What about Glessner House Museum and the rest of the Prairie Avenue historic district? Why show the sanitized Billy Goat Tavern on Navy Pier but not the gritty, history-packed original on lower Michigan Avenue?
And the biggest oversight of all? There’s not a dot or a smudge to indicate the location of Chicago’s City Hall.
Let me save you the grief of wrestling with an ungainly map to find that storied spot: Go to the corner of Randolph and LaSalle Streets.
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— The oldest known maps date from 2300 B.C. and are engraved on Babylonian clay tablets.
— Scientists have developed a microfiber fabric that generates its own electricity, making enough current to recharge a cell phone or a small MP3 player.
Source: rain.org; reuters.com.
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Read senior correspondent Ellen Warren’s shopping adviser column every Thursday in the Tribune’s At Play section and join the conversation at chicagotribune.com/ellen shopellen@tribune.com
