John Clear wrote:

On my long cross country (Aertz (Lafayette, IN) to Springfield, IL
to Lawerenceville, IN), on the Springfield to Lawerenceville leg,
I applied the magentic variation wrong.

I did my ASEL training out of San Antonio TX. During one of my long
cross-countries, I read my next heading from the wrong column, so I was
off course by the amount of the windage. I got to where the small town
of Three Rivers was, but it wasn't.

Now, I wasn't really lost. Honest! And I had a couple or three
methods of getting unlost pretty easily. One method I had never used
was talking to Center and asking for assistance. So I did that--just
for the practice, mind you. They didn't seem busy, so I called up with
a bit of levity (I think).

"Houston Center, Cessna 123. Student pilot. I'm looking for Three
Rivers. They moved it before I got here. Do you know which way it
went?"

I heard him chuckle, and I got my assistance.