tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85047823293703957652024-03-13T02:44:24.578-05:00Geo RefBasically just a running commentary on the things i do the most... geocache and referee high school sports. Many times I cache on the way to or from a game.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-49774338141027146302011-07-01T21:57:00.001-05:002011-07-06T21:23:43.321-05:00Cache of the MonthLittle did I know, but recently my cache outside of Mellen "Mt. Whittlesey" (<a href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0f5eeb3a-2e18-4755-ad29-042efe655aa4">GC141TC</a>) was nominated and then chosen as the Northern region Cache of the Month in Wisconsin. Not something I was expecting given the cache has been out for a few years, but glad that it was honored. It was the first cache I placed back in 2007, and the location itself brings back lots of memories for me. In second grade we hiked up to the top for a field trip and that was the first time I experienced the view of Mellen and beyond. Later, it became one of my favorite training runs during the high school cross country season. It's 6 miles round trip and a vertical climb of 700 feet with most of that happening in the last mile. I loved exploring the ruins in the area while riding the ATV trails and discovering even more of the local history. Of all of the caches I have placed, this still remains my favorite.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/c43c5a6b-b4f5-4173-b07a-100f56f508c2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/c43c5a6b-b4f5-4173-b07a-100f56f508c2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-11212580983306153002011-06-30T21:19:00.000-05:002011-06-30T21:19:29.954-05:00northwoods caching... so much better.In the last week I've had a chance to do two full days of caching... One up north, one in Madison. I realize after caching up north how much I miss caching in Arizona (weird thought, but I'll explain in a bit).<br />
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The northwoods day of caching was not exactly the best weather. It was about 45 degrees and raining. Of course the target that day was over a mile into the woods with multiple stream crossings... basically no way of staying dry no matter how hard we tried. Overall it was still a great adventure with Hayward Cheesehead and krymdog. We hit GCNMJF - Lost Falls near Cornucopia and then six or seven around the area. Afterwards, I met up with CommanderUSN who happened to be in the neighborhood for work and did 10 more in the Hayward area. Overall a very successful day... great caches found, great area to cache in, and even the weather helped add to the adventure.<br />
Caching in northern Wisconsin reminds me of caching in Arizona. Where I first started caching, there were lots of caches spread out in the desert and a few in town that highlighted special spots in the city. Even the caches in the city were fun to do because they brought you to unique locations. The caches in the desert were an experience to do... never just a quick one without something special. Even in the desert you had great scenery, difficult terrain, or some other feature making it worthwhile.<br />
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Now caching the city has started to wear on me. I admit the first time through in Madison it was a lot of fun because it brought be to all parts of town and I hadn't been to many before. Now as I cache more and more in the area, I realize they just aren't nearly as fun. I'm spoiled from caching in AZ and NW WI and like the cache to mean something. I can handle a difficult container in a nondescript location because I realize it's more about the container in this instance, but throwing a cache in a spot just to place one there no longer motivates me to cache down here. Searching for a micro in a location that could have a 5-gallon pail without someone noticing it just isn't fun. Caches in drainage areas don't float my boat... neither does that random guardrail. I still hold out hope when I see a new cache, and there are some really good new ones, but it just feels that four out of five are just not worth the time and effort anymore.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-86691328802290072712011-04-18T22:23:00.000-05:002011-04-18T22:23:55.199-05:00a trip up northWasn't expecting to actually have a weekend off... since I haven't had a true Saturday and Sunday since last May. We decided to head north to visit my mom and grab a few caches. I was looking for a milestone cache along the trip as well. We went over to Ironwood, MI for some fresh pasties from one of the best bakeries in the north, then grabbed a few caches in the UP. Headed back across toward Ashland and decided to visit Potato River Falls<a class="CacheCodeLink" href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=acb0b87c-333c-44ac-852c-495597fdb745#"><span class="GCCode" id="ctl00_uxWaypointName"> (GC14AJF)</span></a> <span class="GCCode" id="ctl00_uxWaypointName">for #2600. The falls were roaring, but it was pretty cold with the 4 inches of snow that had fallen early Saturday morning. Seriously, it's past the halfway point of APRIL... shouldn't we be done with snow?</span><br />
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<span class="GCCode" id="ctl00_uxWaypointName">Anyway, headed back to Madison on Sunday, and stopped in Fifield for an FTF. Headed down the road hoping for a second, but saw fresh tracks in the snow. Wish I would have paid attention on the way up... both caches have been sitting out there waiting to be found for over a week. I could have doubled my total!</span>uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-38222167383398527242011-04-18T22:07:00.000-05:002011-04-18T22:07:16.432-05:00What a way to start the seasonI had my first varsity game of the spring soccer season last week, and ended up starting it off with a bang. I realize that you can't please both coaches all the time, and I never expect to... but sometimes you would hope that coaches handle all aspects of the game as well as others, especially the losing part.<br />
Game ends up tied at the end of regulation, so we go to overtime. A girl for the home team only 3 minutes into the first OT attempts to trap a ball off her chest, but hits it with her arm. Twice. I call the penalty kick right away, and the game winning goal is scored. As my assistant referees and I are signing the paperwork, the losing coach comes over and says to my AR "that was a really tough call with the sun in your eyes." I turned to her and immediately informed her it was my call, not his... and the sun was at my back. You know it's an obvious call when all three people at the scorers table see it and say it was a PK. <br />
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Maybe someday coaches will figure it out... and I say this as a former varsity coach.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-53179569379025019712010-07-14T15:53:00.000-05:002010-07-14T15:53:44.370-05:00power trail on the horizonsince I haven't had much time for caching lately, a lot of new caches have started to accumulate around me. There's enough in the area for two full days of caching, plus a bike trail with 50 or so caches that would add another day about 15 miles away. Hopefully tomorrow will be a full day of caching, and next week finishing anything I missed.<br />
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In two weeks I'm heading to an event in Oshkosh after the EAA Fly-In. Last time I was there was about 5 years ago, so it'll be cool to check it out again. Because of my work schedule I don't get to many events anymore, so it's nice to see a weeknight event. If you're going to be around for some caching before or after the event, let me know.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-1600466069940319632010-06-08T18:34:00.000-05:002010-06-08T18:34:28.198-05:00no new caching... but a new house!haven't had much of a chance in the last month for caching... in fact i've only found one cache since May 13th. we closed on the house May 25th, and have finally gotten everything nearly unpacked. only a few random boxes left, and then I can start working on some of the fun stuff. most of the garage is organized, just needs a few more toys. a few updates will be needed, but it'll be a fun ongoing project. we'll have pics up on facebook tomorrow most likely... just waiting for the weather to cooperate a bit more. so far, i've only been able to mow the front half of the lawn. the back will just have to wait until wednesday or thursday.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-69509051433589475882010-05-11T20:10:00.000-05:002010-05-11T20:10:38.855-05:00house time...A week from today we finally close on our new house. not sure how many days I'll be able to cache in the next month as we get everything moved over and done the way we want it. First step will be the kitchen... the wallpaper needs to go, and so does the paint on the cabinets. after that we have a few small things to take care of, but it's basically move-in ready.<br />
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last week caching was quite the adventure... Smashing Ground and I decided to do The Artful Dodger (GC585B) in Gov. Dodge State Park. to put it lightly, it did not end well. all total, it was 6.5 miles of up and down trails and a DNF. decided to come back another day to figure it out and went for a few other earthcaches in the park instead. <br />
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<span id="ctl00_Breadcrumbs"><span>This week I took the bike to Milton for the Whimsical Tails series before a soccer match. The trail was in really good shape, but nearly half of the caches were not. It was disappointing to see how many of them had fallen into disrepair or had disappeared completely.</span></span><br />
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<span id="ctl00_Breadcrumbs"><span>hopefully tomorrow the rain will hold off... heading to Rockford, Il with Commander. He's looking for a big day, so hopefully we can hit close to 50.</span></span>uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-45329668333258648652010-04-24T21:32:00.000-05:002010-04-24T21:32:01.403-05:00First big numbers run in a while...last week Clayton (Smashing Ground) and I took our mountain bikes out to Waukesha for a trip along the bike trail. We ended up getting a lot more than we originally planned... the north trail netted us 70 caches. We ended up clearing the trail long before our time limit expired. Next week we'll attempt the south trail and finish the States series at the very least.<br />
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This week I finally got a chance to travel up to Mellen to do a bit of caching. Not so many finds, but lots of caches placed. Two are about to be published in Copper Falls State Park (GC277VP and GC277W3) as well as another FFR cache in the Chequamegon National Forest (GC279JC) and one in front of the DNR Service Center in Mellen (GC277VB). I have a few more on the agenda for placement, but it'll be a while before I get back up there.<br />
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Soccer season is also kicking in to full gear... a few games this week, and 4 games a week through May. now I just need the weather to cooperate.<br />
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tomorrow will be the first day caching in a few weeks... I'm heading out with Smashing Ground to do one of the bike trails near waukesha. we'll probably be making 2-3 more trips in the next month or so with our bikes just to see how many we can get.<br />
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also getting ready to hide a few more caches up north... they should be popping up in the next two weeks or so. now i just need to find a few more ammo boxes...uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-18448070950236554832010-03-28T20:26:00.000-05:002010-03-28T20:27:05.054-05:00a busy week...it's official... I started a new job on Monday... I'm on the sales floor at American TV in the Home Theater department at West Madison. the past week was spent doing initial training, which was a breeze. tomorrow will be a bit more involved, but still not that difficult. it'll be nice to finally have something full time again, although I'm sure I'll miss school. I will still have 3-4 nights a week when I can officiate, and my days off will be during the week, so I'll still have lots of time for caching.<br /><br /><br />yesterday I went down to Janesville with Kailey, commanderUSN, and grammyb to the Robert O Cook Arboretum for a geocaching event. walked the trails after the pancake breakfast and got a handful of caches. then headed home the long way to grab a few more. this will probably be the last event for me for quite a while due to the aforementioned work schedule, but it will be easier to have entire days dedicated to caching.<br /><br /><br />today, Kailey and I went on our semi-annual antiquing trip to the south. we grabbed a few caches along the way too. first we started west and went to Dodgeville, Mineral Point, and Darlington before heading to Monroe and Brodhead. It was historical caches day. we visited a virtual in Barneveld where the tornado went through, then Gov. Dodge's childhood homestead, Fort Defiance, Fort Hamilton, and then a virtual at Horseshoe (Bloody) Lake somewhere outside of Argyle. all total, Kailey grabbed 8 caches (I had already visited the two virtuals).uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-57160994288387542482010-03-28T20:01:00.000-05:002010-03-28T20:16:14.896-05:00it's Bristol, Baby!last weekend we took our second trip to Bristol, TN for the NASCAR race. along with us for the trip was my brother Eric (etmckay) and my friend Tammy (tc121). we grabbed a few caches in Indiana and one in Kentucky where Kailey (bme22) got her 400th find, and finally arrived in Bristol around 8 am Friday after driving through the night. Once we set up camp, we got about 3 hours of sleep before it was time to head out for some caches and other fun. we stopped for a few caches before making our way to mini golf, followed by dinner at Fatz Cafe. We grabbed s'more supplies and firewood to get us ready for the night.<br /><br />Saturday before the Nationwide race, we checked out all of the tents around the track filled with souvenirs, food, and freebies. got a few free hats and cinch bags, plus a few other items I can use to stock geocaches. the grandstands were only half full (180,000 max. cap.), but it was definitely a great race. immediately following, there was a legends race with 13 drivers from the 60's and 70's. last year they did a similar thing and it was pretty entertaining. this year, the drivers in the race were quite a bit older, so the race wasn't as exciting until about 4 laps left when one car hit the wall and started to slide down the track. the second driver couldn't slow down in time and T-boned the first car. one driver ended up with a broken arm, pelvis, and ankle, and both were taken to the hospital.<br /><br />Sunday, we packed up before the race so that we could make a quick exit, then headed to the track. we stood behind the stage of RaceDay on SpeedTV and watched the show live. during commercial breaks, they would come back and throw hats and things to the crowd. we were in the perfect location, because each of us ended up with a hat, home depot hard hat, and various other things. after another great race, we caught the first shuttle we could back to the campsite and hit the road back to Wisconsin. we finally pulled in at 5am after another long night of driving. we would have stayed another day, but I had to get back in time for a new job.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-1836150001913802332010-03-04T19:20:00.000-06:002010-03-04T19:26:45.901-06:00I don't remember a caching day this bad...took the back roads up to WI Dells to do some shopping and caching... stopped at 4 different caches on the way up with ZERO finds due to the snow. two of them are likely missing though... but it was still frustrating starting a day like that. took way too long shopping, so i didn't get as many attempts on the way home, but did manage to find two.<br />the one good caching thing today was my pathtags finally arrived. they'll start appearing in caches tomorrow in Stoughton when I head out with the commander, plus a few new caches up north.<br /><br />the other good news is a new job starting in two weeks. it isn't in the teaching field, but it's full time, so I can't really complain. it'll still give me time to ref and cache, so it's worth it.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-24784376565754953682010-02-24T16:14:00.000-06:002010-02-24T16:56:39.263-06:00Event SeasonThe next month brings 3 events I'm attending. I'm finally going to an official WGA event on Saturday at the chili feed, then the Madison pizza meet and greet, and then a pancake feed outside of Janesville. what's going to be fun is that all 3 are going to be in different areas, so will have different geocachers at each of them. it's coming at a perfect time too, since basketball season is done at the end of this week. I have a few varsity games left and then get a month off before soccer gears up.<br /><br />the countdown is also on for the second trip to Bristol for the spring NASCAR race. we'll probably cache on the way down, and planning a quick side trip over to North Carolina to add another state to the list... last year was an awesome experience, and now we're even better prepared for it, so should be a great time.<br /><br />sadly, I didn't get the Board of Directors position in the WGA. wasn't really holding out too much hope though. not many people know me online since Madison cachers don't really frequent the website, and before my nomination I wasn't exactly a vocal member. Maybe in a few years with more appearances at the WGA events will help. oh well.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-21961381172784193922010-01-25T14:11:00.000-06:002010-01-25T14:20:15.716-06:00my first eventthis past Saturday, I hosted the Lonely Cache Game Event in Wisconsin Dells. Due to the spotty weather, I wasn't sure what the turnout would be, but ended up with nearly 40 people attending. the only downside was the lack of LCG participants that actually attended. only one other team from the top 10 made it to the event. even so, everything went smoothly. besides the coins and other prizes I brought, Team Deejay donated 10 more, plus MrRRKing donated quite a few ready-to-hide containers. we ended up with 32 door prizes for 23 teams, so everyone went home happy. Deejay also had a chance to distribute a few coins to the monthly winners who hadn't received them yet, and I mailed the remaining coins to the rest of the top 5.<br /><br />although I won't be playing nearly as much this year, I'm already looking forward to next year's event, although we'll see who steps up to host this time around.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-20768083485366082272010-01-15T21:45:00.000-06:002010-01-15T22:05:56.639-06:00#2000this past week i finally surpassed 2000 finds while on our honeymoon in Belize. it took quite a bit of planning for it to happen down there... throughout december i slowed down my finds so that i didn't get to close before the trip, but as i neared the departure date, i realized i probably wouldn't have a chance to find as many in Belize as i originally thought, so had to go out an extra day and find 10 more. it ended up working perfectly. we found a cache in Guatemala and then 7 in Belize. for number 2000 we rented a golf cart to explore the island, and we ended up on the very south end getting 7 caches along the way. i doubt i'll ever have another milestone cache like this regardless of number...uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-67084358933864413042009-12-28T19:53:00.000-06:002009-12-28T20:02:55.618-06:00Nearing 2kFor the last few months, I've had the goal of finding my 2000th cache on our honeymoon in Belize. I was making very good progress until the snow came, but then I got worried. however, in the last week I've had two good days despite having over a foot of snow on the ground in Janesville and Hudson. today, I went to Stillwater, MN for the day hoping to get 15 caches. the morning was pretty rough, with only two virtual finds in the first 2 hours and 4 dnfs. as I headed out of town and away from the bike paths the caches became much more winter friendly. I ended the day with 9 straight finds and a total of 20. now i have less than 30 to go for 2000. tomorrow will be spent in River Falls to get me close, then I'll wait for the trip. #2000 should happen either in the first few days when we go to the Mayan ruins at Tikal or on Ambergris Caye. There are a few FTF chances down there yet, but they'll have to stay that way through the new year. I guess i can hope...uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-8647929974285740342009-12-04T21:28:00.000-06:002009-12-04T21:44:39.462-06:00amazed at attitudesthis week i had a mystery cache published that may be difficult to say the least. GC21ARD is one that will require much more luck than anything else. however, shortly after it was published, i received an email from a cacher who said they were just going to ignore it, and asked if i was going to do anything for the local cachers that had already found all of the area caches. evidently they don't like it when they can't be first, or at least find it in a very short time after publishing. instead of being patient and maybe finding the key in a new cache that gets published, they would rather have me change the cache idea to make things easier for them. of course in the 2 days after this cache was published 4 more also popped up... obviously the key isn't in any of them (yet), but who says it wouldn't be by the time they got around to finding them?uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-49491916020856089412009-11-14T21:19:00.000-06:002009-11-14T21:35:12.579-06:00a new hideLast week i hid a nano cache on a cannon... kind of a spur of the moment thing. i saw a park in downtown Oregon that was being redone, and noticed that they cleaned up and remounted a howitzer on the end of it. there aren't a whole lot of caches in Oregon, so i decided to add one more. 6 straight official DNFs to start, and a few unofficial, and i guess i hid a pretty tough one. gave the hint as a note on the page and finally got two finds. it seems to still be eluding people. i feel kinda bad, but at the same time i don't... since i've searched high and low to find similar hides. i think i'm still going to do one on the tank back home in Mellen though. not going to be too many searchers for that one being in the northwoods.<br /><br />today was also my first traveling cache find. the commander has a traveling cache that's still going after 7 years and 56,000 miles. discovered a few coins inside... but there wasn't much room left to leave anything.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-30455743251732525212009-11-02T12:26:00.000-06:002009-11-02T13:07:07.351-06:00end of the fall soccer seasona funny video for you before you read...<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzqpgS8g_k0">Referees Deserve Respect</a><br /><br />I finally finished my last tournament of the season this weekend at Reddan. just in time too... my shoes are split near the sole from all the games I've done. counting high school and club matches since august (and one tournament in July), I've officiated 96 games. I've looked back to see how many more games I had to turn down due to being out of town or other non-soccer commitments, and my total would have been 112. that comes out to over a game a day from August through October, and even more considering I did no games on Wednesdays due to playing racquetball.<br /><br />It was a successful season for me though, besides regular season games and random club tournaments, I was chosen to officiate at the Girls State Cup this year, chosen to do the Midwest Regional League, and had a WIAA playoff game. Next year I will be upgrading another level, and was told at the State Cup they wanted me to upgrade to a State level referee by the end of the following season.<br /><br />now I have 3 weeks to rest up before basketball season starts up.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-58031309197214230692009-10-26T10:51:00.000-05:002009-10-26T11:01:08.698-05:0072 Counties<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEl0fr_HNo-X8Q9UMUE52ePBow3Dr6lkH69GBlG0YevPtUR3YVRW-wM5Q-g8rseuS3khrNWhROY5kGNrtn6SbUUU3sZQvPTwzaUqDARHF1qNYLIcIaf1zh0hKqyFtwcQEvKAxaIDmVhB-/s1600-h/countyfinds.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEl0fr_HNo-X8Q9UMUE52ePBow3Dr6lkH69GBlG0YevPtUR3YVRW-wM5Q-g8rseuS3khrNWhROY5kGNrtn6SbUUU3sZQvPTwzaUqDARHF1qNYLIcIaf1zh0hKqyFtwcQEvKAxaIDmVhB-/s320/countyfinds.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396939233763208146" border="0" /></a><br />this weekend i finally finished a caching goal i set when i moved back to wisconsin last august. i found a cache in oconto, marinette, and florence counties on saturday with bme22 to complete the entire state. the amazing part about the entire quest is that i only had 3 trips that were solely for the purpose of finding caches in new counties. i rerouted a few of my trips back to my parent's place in Mellen, but nothing that would ever inconvenience me by more than a couple of hours. i have to go to the final challenge cache in neilsville in 2 weeks on the way to hudson, and then it will be official.<br /><br /><br />next on the list is to attempt to black out the entire D/T grid. i looked at it for the first time a few weeks ago and noticed i only have 13 empty squares, so off to a good start. i probably won't attempt the delorme challenge, even though i already have 60 pages done (out of 84), again, without even trying.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-12027675418103302112009-10-21T22:26:00.000-05:002009-10-21T22:48:08.786-05:00i love puzzles...when i clear them off my list. eliminated another one this morning that has been bothering me since last august. the cache came from an amazing puzzle, where one location provided coordinates for 4 locations based on how you looked at it. i don't want to give it away, but if anyone ever wants a killer puzzle with some decent hikes, <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=7315a326-f94e-44c9-94dc-e93e8a045acc">Vern's Treasure</a> is well worth the time and effort (they're regularly on the LCG list for those that play).<br /><br />in other random news, i managed to split my racquetball matches tonight. the first match started off well enough, but just couldn't finish it off. second one almost went too well. in the first game, i beat him 15-0. i've never done that in a league before. i got to 13 and started feeling bad and tried to give him a few easy shots, but he still blew them. it wasn't much better the second game either. what really made it so bad is that i played both games with a broken racket. i've also decided that since i'm actually dedicating significant time and effort to this a full year later, i'm actually going to invest in more than just a bottom dollar racket. i took a few swings with a new racket someone had recently purchased and was shocked at the difference. i guess it is true... you get what you pay for.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-20888846337514430212009-10-20T21:51:00.000-05:002009-10-20T21:59:45.756-05:00I hate puzzles...until they're off my "to solve/find" list. then they're great. at one point earlier this summer, 13 of the 20 closest caches to me were puzzles. now it's down to 3. hopefully by the end of the month it's down to zero. i'm not very good at puzzles, which is why i usually just hand the laptop to bme22 and have her solve them for me, or at the very least give me a nudge. i too care of two caches today that have been bugging me since earlier this summer. one because it was missing even though i had the solve, but the other was just sheer frustration. i had the first step done, but like usual with puzzles, just psyched myself out. i could have spent a few hours going through the combinations, but just never had the motivation. i found out a few days ago another cacher had solved it after i had given him the first set of numbers, so relief set in.<br />thanks to the replacement container and the solve for the other cache, i set out with smashing ground (clayton) and rcflyer2242 (dave) to eliminate both of them, and maybe grab a few easier ones after. both took longer than expected for the hunt (and drive) so i didn't have time for more, but it felt really good to get them done. now i just need to sit down and not psyche myself out of the next nearest cache, which is of course a puzzle.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-2471553218610495412009-10-16T21:35:00.000-05:002009-10-20T22:01:00.815-05:00another caching milestonehalf day at school today, plus payday... so took advantage and headed to the very southeastern part of the state to pick up some caches with the commander. we found 20 on the day, plus i hit #1800, and found caches in 3 new counties. only 3 left before i will have found a cache in all 72 in the state. this will hopefully get done next weekend when Kailey and I go visit Daryl and the girls in GB.<br /><br />tomorrow's going to be a long day... 4 MRL games, but more money, too.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504782329370395765.post-79192306895281943272009-10-12T17:15:00.000-05:002009-10-12T21:53:05.794-05:00so i made a kid cry yesterday...definitely not intentional, but still kinda funny. i was officiating at a soccer tournament in town all weekend, and was centering a U13 championship game. his team is already losing 1-0 thanks to a handball in the box in the first half. he runs over a kid to get the ball, so i blow my whistle for the foul. he gets really mad, and grabs the ball and spikes it, so i ring him up with a yellow card. then the tears came. the rest of the game, he's almost crying every time i call a foul on his team.<br />a really cold weekend, but a moneymaker... $325 for two days work.uws22http://www.blogger.com/profile/01592521504189282577noreply@blogger.com0