The following customer letter was submitted through the Garmin® Web site.

Yesterday was the day of the big job interview — the position I have been waiting for my whole career, and I was as prepared as I would ever be. This interview was especially important since I have been out of work since January and the bills were beginning to pile up.

Getting dressed for the interview, I remembered the last thing the lady at the executive search agency said: "And be there on time. This guy is a stickler for timeliness!" With that in mind, I left my house about 30 minutes earlier than necessary. I was quite unsure of the directions I'd been given, and I had never been to Red Bank, New Jersey. Red Bank is about 30 miles from my home but only reachable by rural roads.

About 45 minutes into my journey, I realized that I was hopelessly lost. I was going through towns that I had never heard of, and the scenery was becoming more rural by the minute. Looking down at my watch, I saw that I had eaten up my half-hour time buffer. I had only about 25 minutes remaining, and I had no idea where I was. The directions I had received the night before were wrong! I picked up my cell phone to call the agency, and to my great disappointment (to say the least) I had forgotten to charge my battery, so my phone was dead!

Then I remembered the Garmin GPS III Plus that I had purchased the day before and left in the trunk. I pulled to the side of the road, unboxed the GPS, mounted it to my dash using the included Velcro™ strip, and hoped for the best. While the GPS was initializing, I began thumbing through the manual for a two-minute crash course in GPS navigation. I really figured that I would not be able to use a complex gadget such as this so quickly, but this was my last hope.

To my great surprise, in five minutes, I was able to acclimate myself to the map view and the 'GoTo' feature. I punched in Red Bank, NJ, at the prompt and an arrow pointed me in the direction that I should be going. I had been heading in the opposite direction! I quickly turned around and followed the arrow as it led me, twisting through country roads as the mile counter to the destination clicked off the miles. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, familiar roads began appearing on the map view screen, and I got oriented to where I should be going. Landmarks and roads began appearing exactly as outlined on the GPS. My blood pressure began to recede.

With a huge grin on my face, I turned into the office complex parking lot with five minutes to spare. Without the GPS III Plus, I would have still been driving around in the woods without a clue as to my location. The "Blair Witch Project" came to mind, and I thought to myself: "if those kids had brought along a Garmin GPS, they would have made it home with no problem!"

Today I received a phone call advising me that the position was mine! So, Garmin, on behalf of myself, my wife and our son, THANK YOU! I am buying another GPS for my wife's car tomorrow, and I have resolved NEVER to leave the house without it, and neither will my wife.

Mike T.

Note: We followed up with Mike and found out that he purchased another GPS III Plus for his wife. He claims that this has been a huge timesaver because he no longer needs to accompany his wife as navigator on her shopping trips. He uses MapSource® to create routes on the PC and download them to the III Plus. Mike loves his job as a senior IP network consultant, which will give him the opportunity for global travel. He was even offered a promotion once his six-month contract is finished.

Mike said: "All of this would not have been possible if I hadn't made it to the interview. Besides, the GPS III Plus simply looks great sitting on my dash, and I get a great deal of pointing and smiling as I drive down the road."

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