G.S.V.D.

What would you do to save the world? There are so many stories in print and film where someone or some organization saves the world. There are even examples that could be made in real life of people or organizations that have in fact saved the world; or are in the process of saving it even as we speak.

That’s what we are doing. On the surface of it; we are simply driving and mapping. So many images; panoramic images, 360 degree views of every place you can imagine. But it has become so much more. Different vehicles, and even wearable packs to take images. Even images contributed by individuals can and are used. For more than a decade the images have been compiled and more and more of the world has been recorded and is out there in the cloud for anyone to access. And if that is all you do, then it is great because these images help with things like navigation and curiosity and you can even work for the big G search engine. Honestly it isn’t great pay but it can be a cool side gig.

So as I asked before: what would you do to save the world?

Would you believe? Would you act? What if your belief and actions were incomprehensible to many? Let’s be honest. What if your belief and actions were incomprehensible to most?

Would you give up a year of your life; or possibly longer? To know that the world would be saved; not just a “safer” place, but actually saved. What if you received no praise or recognition for it: in fact to the world at large you would likely seem to be – in the most professional of psychological terms – Bat Shit Crazy!

The great thing about this is that it is just a story in an interesting online contest,so it’s not really real, is it?

The last 14 months of my life have been spent on the road capturing images and saving the world. 

You see the saving part is actually pretty easy. The more images there are of the world: and by this I mean of different locations on the earth, the less likely it is for the world to be destroyed. I don’t pretend to understand the mechanics of that last statement; but I know that the less of the world that is unseen, the better.

You see They are after everything. They do their best to undermine and cause death and destruction. They have been around since before man first knew fear. Most of the “Bad” things that have happened throughout forever can be attributed to Them.  It is actually funny how easy it is to stop Them. Simple knowledge is enough to thwart Them. If people can see the world, then They have no place to hide. So simple you see.

My part of saving the world started more than a year ago and it was just because I was randomly “right” . It turns out that phrase one in a million is actually quite an understatement for being “right” like I am. 

Since I am “right”, I drive a special vehicle for that super duper mapping – search engine related- service that anyone can and should use to see almost any corner of the globe. Certainly you can see just about any street on the planet. And there are actually other people who do what I do for the map service: but I am “right” and I am the only one who drives the “one” special vehicle.   

Drive, drive, drive and more drive. For the last 14 months I have been driving all around the globe capturing images that help save the world.

My favorite drive was the one i took Hawaii. You heard me right. You see the “one” vehicle that I drive is special and captures images in all kinds of environment; even underwater.

You know there have been others who have had their part in saving the world as I have over this past 14 months or so. You know some of them even though you don’t know that you know. 

What do you think Magellan was doing by travelling around the globe. He was gaining knowledge to be shared; and saving the world as well. Until relatively recently; Maps have actually been saving the world. That’s not something people know.

The knowledge and imagery of charts and maps have meant that They had fewer places to hide and wreak Their havoc.

You know the earliest known map was found in a little town called Sippar in the middle east. They call it the “Imago Mundi” and it was from 500 to 700 B.C. and shows that there was a special “one” back then helping to save the world. His or her name has been lost to history but this lets us know that They have been known of for quite a long time.

Like I said before: this is just a story and you don’t believe me; but you can see things as simply as going to your big G search engine and searching for “weird street view images”. Maybe; just maybe, you can catch an image of one of Them. Keep an eye out for images of what look like people but just are not. You will find images of people with extra limbs, or maybe with extremities that bend in ways that they shouldn’t be bending. You will know it when you see it. 

My driving time is over and I am not sure what comes next for me. One of the things I discovered is that I am going to get paid a ridiculous sum of money for my part in saving the world over the last 14 months. It was calculated as a small percentage of the number of views of every image in the street view; not just the ones that I had taken with my “special” vehicle. So that’s pretty cool.

I know I mentioned that I have been driving for the last 14 months; but I actually mean I have been driving for the last 14 months. I know you think you have been at your job for a certain amount of time and you know that you work a certain shift and have days off and vacation days, and the occasional sick day; but I have been “Driving” for the last 14 months. No breaks, no shifts, no sick days. It’s ok that you know it isn’t possible that I have been behind the wheel literally for the last 14 months with no break. And by no break I mean; no eating, sleeping, leaving the car, not even bathroom breaks. That’s just not possible and you “Know” that. But never the less; that has been my lot for the last 14 months.

Now I get to reintroduce myself to what used to be my life. I don’t know where to begin.

But at the beginning I asked: What would you do to save the world?

I have my answer