You ever just sit there for a second after something like that and wonder if the universe is playing a prank on you? Same thing happened to me last month on I-5. Missed my exit cause I was messing with the radio, ended up on some back road through a neighborhood I didn't even know existed. The whole stretch was smooth sailing, no brake lights anywhere. Got home 15 minutes early and felt like I'd won some kind of lottery. Now I half hope I mess up more often, but that's probably just tempting fate.

Is it really about the machine or just that the old ones were built different back then?

Ha! Wait until you discover the silent study floor. That place has better focus than a monk on a retreat. Next thing you know you'll be bringing your own thermos and feeling like a regular.