Street addresses, locations, and maps.

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I have been having a great deal of trouble lately making people understand how to find me at my new address. This has caused me to reflect on how the addresses are assigned in this locality. I have lived in a number of different states in the USA and have what appears to be a unique understanding of how addresses should be assigned compared to the way they do it in this small town. Most of the towns that I have lived in, whether large or small, had one way of listing addresses. This system worked because no matter to which town you traveled you could always find your way around by knowing a few simple rules. If you were standing on Main street the roads that crossed it were either north or south. So You would have a 100 N Elm Street and right across Main you would have a 100 S Elm street. Then you would count up until you got to the address you were looking for. All the even number addresses would be on one side of the street and the odd numbers on the other side. So this made finding an address simple. The one exception to this rule, I thought, was the city of New Orleans. Since it is built on a wheel, or circle, the formula doesn't quite work. But I did think it was the only exception. Now I see I was wrong. When we first moved to this small town I had to learn my way around by getting out and driving around and finding the places I needed for myself. If you asked anyone for directions they would tell you something like "that's behind Huddle House" or "You know where Aunt Mary lives, go past her house and turn right on the second street...." No! As a newcomer I didn't know Aunt Mary or where she lived so there was no way to find the second street past her house. I eventually found my way around on my own but little did I realize that I had also adapted to the locals way of giving directions. Did I mention that there weren't many street signs left standing where they belonged and even if they were there the locals only knew the name of the street they lived on. Now, I am in the unenviable position of having to give directions to a service that supplies transportation for medical visits to those who don't have transportation of their own. The service is provided by a contractor for the government and is based in a large city about five hours from here. They sub-contract the rides out to companies that have fleets of vehicles for this purpose. When I lived in my son's house it wasn't too difficult to make them understand where I was. His address would actually show up on the map. But when I moved in with my daughter it became extremely difficult. The address for this location doesn't show up on the map, and when I try to tell the people from the company in that large city how to find the driveway they can't seem to understand. The thing that really throws them for a loop is how my address is listed as Folkston when I tell them that I am North of Homeland. According to the map Folkston is South of Homeland. I explained to them that Homeland is almost completely surrounded by Folkston. What made it really confusing was when Homeland annexed the highway that ran North past Homeland but didn't annex any of the property on either side of the highway. Their only purpose was to bring the highway into the city limits so they could set up a speed trap. They didn't want to have to provide services to the property owners that bordered the highway, so that left us as still part of Folkston. The fact is there are a lot of what I have termed 'obscure addresses' in our area. I would not want to be an ambulance driver or mail carrier here. Only someone who has lived here all their lives can find these addresses. Anyway, it looks like my only options are to get a car of my own or move. I would really hate to move because being out here in this country setting is so peaceful, but getting myself a car would cost more than I have to spend. So, I'm not sure what I will have to do.