i 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, Vern's Treasure is well worth the time and effort (they're regularly on the LCG list for those that play).

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.

I 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.
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.