I’m preparing for my trip back to my hometown this weekend for the wedding of one of my old friends. I will be meeting up with another good friend of mine and I was checking out my trusting google maps to refresh myself on how to get to his place. I never thought it could happen, but after being gone for ~7+ years, I actually have forgotten most of the roads. I found myself checking out the location of the post office, the high school, the movie theater…and somehow, I wound up hovering over my old house of 18 years. 
It’s almost a ’stalker-ish’ sensation you get when you know a property so well that is no long your own. “There the tree I used to love climbing. Oh! They put in a pool and and built a bigger back porch. I wonder if the backyard has flooded yet? …Ha! I used to actually sit on the roof in that spot. That’s where Snowy is buried. Hmm…I wonder what they are having for dinner??…….”
OH WAIT!!…I didn’t really think that last one! But it felt stalker enough for it to be plausible, right?
I guess that silly cliché is true…you can’t go home again. But thanks to google, you can check in from time to time and make sure they are taking care of the lawn properly!
The effect is even more intense with Google Street View. Here is my childhood home:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=6689+heathrow+lane,+stone+mountain+ga+30087&sll=33.776017,-84.120415&sspn=0.006243,0.009398&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=33.784623,-84.114944&spn=0.003121,0.006781&t=h&z=18&cbll=33.783058,-84.115187&panoid=_hZYevKUeu99ZzclzXun8Q&cbp=2,165.36103428220187,,0,5
Parents put in a pool huh…perhaps they’re making the home more grandkid friendly.
Actually, the reason I was commenting was to draw attention to the noticeable drop-off in the frequency of blog posts. And no; wedding plans, summer trips, work, global warming ..are not acceptable excuses for the drop-off.
Vijay: Yeah, I sincerely apologize. I will try to be better with the blogging…no excuses!
And as a clarification, my parents no longer live there. The people that bought the house put in the pool…so I’m really a stalker. I have no idea who lives there!! haha
Kerrmudgeon: HAHA! Pretty creepy! You are more that welcome in my stalker clan. We will be stealthy and have code names…..Muah-ha-ha! Anyway, is google actually having invasion of privacy issue with street view? I’m thinking they are…should be interesting if it sticks around.