Trying to learn unfamiliar areas, part 3

I would consistently run into people in public, such as the mall, a sporting event, Wal-Mart, etc., who would say hello to me as if they'd known me all my life. Problem was, I couldn't remember their name for the life of me, so as they greeted me I'd quickly try to remember the address and work backward to their name, hoping to remember. Rarely did that work, although I could remember what their house or business looked like.

Many times when tracing box numbers along an unfamiliar rural route, I would follow the rural mail carrier's route, since they had originally assigned those numbers. I would search for an address only to arrive in a fork in the road or a 4-way stop. Now which way do I go! One of the best tricks is to get out of the delivery truck, and already knowing the tire print of the rural mail carrier (it's there every day at almost every box), and see which way the mail carrier went.

Never underestimate the amount of evidence that can be left on a dirt or desert road. Lots of crimes have been solved in the desert by a truck pulling off the road and into the desert to discard or bury a body. Paved roads give you nothing, unless it's a dirty tire track leading or leaving it.