Tech maven that I am, my equipment is top of the line and state of the art, but my cheapo buddies usually buy, well, the cheap stuff. With that as the background, this is the story of four families in four SUVs setting out on a convoy. Destination: Mammoth, California. The five hour, 300-mile run through open road brings with it serious CHiP exposure. So I got prepared.
When we gathered at my house, the others saw me come out with my cool looking V1 case遊1 was recommended by a buddy in the LAPD預nd do the install in the windshield of my Escalade.
My buddies couldn’t hold back their sniggers. “Can you catch spaceships with that thing” they jabbed. “You’ll see,” I said, knowing I had air, land and sea superiority over their cheapo plastic detectors.
My wife, a Ms. Daisy driver, got the movie playing for the kids, threw her shades on, and cozied into her seat.
It’s really early in the morning, and the traffic is nil, so it’s safe to kick up the speed a bit. My pals are a little anxious about keeping up but they do. Half hour into the trip, coming over a small hill, V1 bleeps. The signal is strong and rising, so I ease back to the required number. My buddies make rude hand gestures in my mirror, but they slow, too. Around the bend and bam, the first CHiP, all tucked in behind a knoll. My turn to laugh now and I give the aforementioned gesture back to my buddies.
As we rolled into Mammoth nine bogies later, the score was still zero for the CHiPs and the ill-mannered gestures from my buddies had become upturned thumbs in my mirror. On the return, other driver joined the pack. When we stopped for gas, my buddies and three others also stopped. The only topic of conversation was the unerring accuracy of my little black box.
It was so cool, me standing in the middle of six guys hovering around my mobile unit to get a look at V1 and ask questions about it. And my wife got to gloat about how she got it for me for my birthday.
True believers now, my buddies all went out and purchased V1’s the next day. Now we all share our escape stories. Thank you Mike Valentine and the entire V1 team!
Jim Nikolopoulos
Granada Hills, CA