Google Maps

I've used Google Maps many times, typically for the same, easy purpose. But Wednesday, the tool was useful in a very new but important way.

I had an appointment to meet an HR gal at my new employer at 3 p.m. with some formal paperwork filled out and signed, etc.

I took the forms to work Wednesday morning, hoping to complete them on my lunch break, which, as usual, didn't really materialize. So I was a little rushed toward the end of my shift, and among the extensive background information I needed to provide was every address I've had in the last seven years.

I knew I'd lived on Everett Avenue in Louisville from 2001-02, and down the block on Grinstead Drive a few years later. A simple Google Maps search of either of those avenues yielded a map with street-level images I could rotate in any direction until I got to an approximate house number. Then, using my usually reliable recall skills, I remembered the exact address and finished the application.

If you're at home and time is not an issue, by all means, make a call or check an old bank statement. But if you're pressed for time like I was Wednesday, Google Maps is where it's at.