Cheating at the GeoRace???

I have been reading the logs for the 1st Annual Jackson Area GeoRace/Challenge by Bluff Boys (GC1TQBG) and it appears everyone had a good time. Prontopup of GOWT posted one of his photoblogs of the event on the GOWT forums that described some details of the event.

Something that struck me as odd after reading the accounts of the event:

Apparently yogi of Team Usual Suspects got a traffic ticket and was fined $575 dollars. His team subsequently came in second place in the georace.

The description text of the event states that all road and traffic rules apply and a violation may result in elimination.

Why wasn't Team Usual Suspects disqualified? Is it because they are all members of JAG? Is it because yogi is quite possibly a geocache reviewer for Tennessee? If a GOWT team had gotten the ticket, would they have been disqualified? Hmmm.....

I found the funny

Behold, the power of the world wide web.

Sometimes I discover priceless trinkets of humor out there, but don't mention them because they tend to disappear after I find them. This blog, however, was just too funny.

Here is a quote from an August 30th posting:

"The most popular coin of the day was Curt's iPhone. This is a very humorous tale in and of itself. Maybe I will blog about it one day, but for those on the "inside" we know the story and the giggles at the mention of the coin are enough for now."

The true "inside" to that story was that I placed this coin in a cache relatively near her, posted a picture of the coin on this blog, a link to the cache I placed it in, and a comment about how I didn't want it to fall into JAG hands. Three days after I made the post, jimmylogan and bashful from JAG swooped in and grabbed it. What a shock. In reality, my only concern about the coin was that it got logged out of the cache properly and moved on.

More humor from March 24, 2009:

I am thankful for a God like that. I am also thankful for our JAG Family. JAG's members are just like any other close friend or family member. You may go days, weeks, even months without seeing each other, but the minute you reunite, you pick right back up where you left off. We have some great people in our group. However, on more than one occasion we have been referred to by some as "a group of misfits and malcontents."

Looks like they still enjoy my blog. Chances are I'm the only one that refers to them as "misfits and malcontents". No one else cares about these losers as long as they put out caches.

Another quote from March 24, 2009:

First I must say that the "established order" from whence we came at that time, was anything but orderly. However, the misfit may be somewhat of an adequate term. True, we did not fit in with the environment/circumstances, but I don't think it was because we lacked the ability to adjust it was more a case of that we had too much integrity to "sell out/adjust."

The former group may be doing well and may be back on track. I have no knowledge of the group, nor do I have a desire to attain such information. I am most happy with my "misfit" friends. I fit right in with them. If honest, genuine people are what is considered to be a misfit, I am honored to be included in that number.

Bashful made a post on this "former group"'s website today. Apparently she changed her mind about "desiring to attain such information".

Update: September 8, 2009:
I see that Titansfan has some kind words for me:

"The 'resident stalker" aka 40-year virgin, ninny and crooked eyes messiah, found your blog. Don't let him get to you."

Wow. I'm in good company, though. It seems he doesn't have much respect for the President of the United States - his Commander-in-Chief - either.

Here is an example of someone using my friend jbgreer's blog as a way to visit mine.

I wonder who this might be... Perhaps a stalker. ;-) Whoever it is, enjoy the blog.

One last note about Titansfan: He used to spy on JAG for me and now apparently he spies on me for JAG. How funny.

More Park and Grabs...

I went to visit my brother on Sunday, so I took the opportunity to grab a few caches almong the way.

I headed east to Cordova and picked up Cordova Pony Express by Berlan Eligab (GC1J4F5) and The Train has left the Station by Berlan Eligab (GC1J4EZ). Both places have had caches near before so it was pretty much revisiting familiar sights...

The toughest PnG of the day was MMEW #6 Half Blood Prince by sskaysee (GC149RZ) only because it is in an area that appears to be quite popular with Bartlett teenagers.


My final stop was Blue Star Memorial by Kicker (GC1T71Z). Quick find, nice little bridge near the memorial plaque.

The best thing about the day was the weather...

Oregon Forest Fire Lookout Challenge

I ran across this link via the Groundspeak forums: Oregon Forest Fire Lookout Challenge by WR7X (GC15CVW). After looking at my Oregon finds, I saw that I had a few of the caches involved in the challenge.

Basically, Oregon is divided up into 8 regions. You have to find a minimum of four lookout tower caches in each region and a minimum of 50 lookout tower caches to be able to go after the final.

On this map, circles represent former lookout sites.

I have met the requirements for region 8 and am halfway there for region 7. Since I don't usually travel to the other regions, it could be a long while before I complete the challenge. As for the extra 18 caches (above the 32 required in 8 regions), I will probably be able to get most of those in regions 7 and 8. It also looks like if I stayed in Bend, OR for a couple of days, I could knock out most of the caches/regions I need.

GeoRacing

August 29 looks like a good day to stay out of the Jackson area. The Bluff Boys have created another georace, which by definition, encourages individuals to violate traffic laws in order to be the first to find a bunch of caches. Speaking of which... the geocaching.com guidelines still have this phrase in it's description/definition of events:

"In addition, an event cache should not be set up for the sole purpose of drawing together cachers for an organized hunt of another cache or caches."

This text from the cache event page technically fulfills one definition of organized:

"Each stop will contain a cache (regular size or micro) with info for the next stop."

The fact that the teams are partially formed on the event log page fulfills another definition of organized.

Of course, I already know that the volunteer reviewers pick and choose what portions of the "guidelines" to enforce.

Update: 8/30/2009 - I see that Titansfan showed up to add another "5/5 where he didn't have to do anything but show up" to his list. Bravo.

Caching around Osceola, AR - 8/2/2009

Being the hottest time of the summer (or thereabout), I don't like to go on long geocaching expeditions. However, I still had a geocoin from my Oregon trip to deposit somewhere and after hanging onto it for three weeks decided to put it back out. But where did I want to put it?


I don't like to move coins because I am always worried that they will get muggled after I place them. I didn't want to put it out in Memphis because too many of the recent converts to GOWT don't seem to have the necessary caching ethics instilled to ensure the coin keeps moving. I also wasn't looking forward to a JAG cacher picking it up. For these reasons, I decided to pick a spot in Arkansas to leave it.

I got up early Sunday morning, but ended up leaving late on my trip up towards Blytheville, AR. Most of the caches on my target list were in small towns around Osceola, but since I had a secondary goal of finding cache number 2700, I included Blytheville on my list of hunt spots.

My first stop was Gizmo's Birthday hide by Bulldog Duo (GC1R0TX). This was in a nice out-of-the-way cemetery that also had a nice memorial to war veterans. Since the cache was big enough to hold trackables, I left the coin here.

My next stop was Hampson State Park. This park has three caches in it that are all a short walk from the parking lot. Here is where the fun started... I failed on my initial attempt at Hampson Archeological Museum ParkCache by Arkansas State Parks (GC1CFDK) - the mosquitoes here were killers! I then went over to give Hampson State Park by LuckyoneinAR and Gabby01 (GCWW16) a shot and somehow managed to cut my finger on some glass. At first, I thought it was minor, but then it began to bleed a lot. I went back to my car to get my first aid kit and discovered I left it at home. I also left my paper towels at home, so there was little I could do to stop the bleeding and clean up the cut. I left blood everywhere - on the side of my car, in the parking lot, on my backpack, it even dripped on and soaked through my shoe.

No worries, though - I eventually got the bleeding stopped and did manage to find History Dwells Inside by kjw0169 (GC1AKYE) before heading off in search of medical supplies.

I found a few other caches - meeting my secondary goal of 2700 finds -before heading into Blytheville to the Wal-Mart pharmacy.

Once I got cleaned up, I hunted a few more caches in Blytheville before heading home.

Update: 8/11/2009 - It looks like it only took six days for someone from JAG to swoop in and take the coin. How did they know it was there? Hmmmm... ;-)

Southern Kudzu

I had planned a short caching trip today; intending to drop off a neat geocoin I picked up in Nebraska. With a 50% chance of rain, though, I bet on the rain and decided to try again Sunday.

I went in to work, and after goofing around a bit, decided to hunt Southern Kudzu by Smart Alice (GC1TFEQ). It was less than a half of a mile away so I walked over. I had plotted the coordinates earlier and saw they led to a parking lot next to Kudzu's Restaurant. Reading the cache logs and the inevitable spoilers made this a quick find and within 10 minutes, I was back at work. Interestingly, I had taken my new blue eTrex Legend with me and it spent most of the trip trying to lock on to satellites.