The week that is!

SAM & I went geocaching Sunday just to add two new caches nearby to our “completed” list. The first was on the south side of the lake we approached from the north – you can imagine the results as we had to re-trace our path a few times. We ended up going through Rome City, IN and smack dab in the middle of the decimated THE WAY COMMUNE of the 1980′s: we had been past the sprawling acreage on IND 9 before but not from the backside. The encounter prompted us to do a web search on “the way” cult: interesting reading. Anyway, I digress.

We ended up at a place I have been wanting to return to for many years – Gene Stratton-Porter estate. Some inspired person placed a cache on the property. While an easy cache it lead us to more literate adventures.

We then went to Stroh, IN for two reasons – one, the cache that was recently placed there and two, we were to meet MD for dinner at the Turkey Lake Tavern near Stroh. 1st, the cache is in an intimidating place, unusual for a cache, right in the yard of a house near the lake. I do not like going on private property but the cache instructions said it was ok so we went with some trepidation. The cache is near a monument dedicated to Safety At A —– Plant. 2nd, MD arrived ahead of us and was waiting. All of us partook in the “Fish Special” and very much enjoyed the conversation and camraderere. With the “Lakers” having disappeared for the season we could enjoy short lines and muted conversation in a nearly empty eating area – the bar was full however (remember, Sunday in Indiana).

Thus ends a few days at home and we look forward to the work that lays ahead.

OK, I lied and have some time.

A ;ittle bit late (well, actually a lot late). I drove straight through back to Indiana: I tried to stop and rest my eyes somewhare at a rest stop in southern KY. It is in my blood to power to the goal and this trip was no exception. The adrenelin just kept pumping until I reached southern Indiana (actually Jeffersonville – the home of my most favorite disrespected company) and the last 4 hours were pretty long.

In retrospect the same thing happened on the way down. So a savvy bit of advice for those with long wind, strong heart and a goal to acheive is to start like 3:30(military), yes folks this is 0330AM. Add 12 hours and you get 1530 – you are only 5 hours from the goal. What wimp cannot drive until 2030? At this time you are very close to the goal of arriving so do not wimp out now. But by now you hate me for leading you on – right? Guess what? You have already arrived and are reading this and saying he was correct! Sleep tight & enjoy your life. I have a lot to say but I will include it in the next blogline. (written some 10 days after arrival – due to terrible bad cold/flu that hit upon arrival.)

Back home again in Indiana

Sorry for the delay in blog land: somehow I ran out of steam and maybe a little inspiration. Well, actually it takes time and someone with time on their hands – both commodities I have had little of in the past week or so. I did take some great shots of the FL outback that I would like to share in due time.

However, I did promise some friends and relatives I would put this one on the site. DO NOT HIT THE HYPERLINK UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO DIGEST 12mb OF DOWNLOADING. Ok, you have been warned. The following is one of many bog holes traversed in the quest to cover every grid in Phase 5 of the Florida project – mind you folks this is serious stuff since you are miles from civilization and help if you get stuck. Anyway here is the video clip of the BOG!

Short and to the point.

Hi all you faithful readers! I will be on my way to Indiana Friday (today) and should arrive in the afternoon on Saturday. I intend to RON near Huntsville, AL and as soon as I awake, hit the road and this is a 10 hour journey. I have lots of exciting news and new footage plus some out back pictures. BFN.

Panama City 090603

Hi again, ya it tis I. The week was spent west of Tallahassee and finally a move to Panama City for the last two days of the week and the weekend (Tallahassee has FSU and that means weekends where there are absolutely no hotel vacancy in town). I started at Days Inn with a work colleague from another company. However, I found it too expensive and moved to Super 8 and saved $20/day. Well, it is not the Ritz but certainly adequate.

We were doing coverage and system tests all week. It works pretty good and will be even better with some tweaks. Part of the system is a simulcast and those systems require a bit more tweaking.

Today I went out to do some caching. I found three caches and all were pretty easy. The first was a virtual cache – St. Andrews Skirmish - where the location is the cache and there is nothing to find. The second was a park on the water in the older part of town in a small park and has a very nice entry avenue and a four head palm: this had a micro cache. The third one was more tricky but another caching group beat me to it by meer minutes – they are called “The Oddballs“. I took their picture by permission and they were great to talk with. They found it on their second try so I just signed the log and replaced it.

I might write more later but I have to go to the store and get breakfast items plus eat dinner. Besides the battery is only 29% and I need to get the charger from my rented SUV. Later Alligator.