2008 Year End Geocaching Stats

 Geocaching  1 Response »
Dec 312008
 

Another year has come and gone. Was able to get in a little more geocaching this year than in years past. I have found 1901 caches since I started in June of 2002. This year is my record, finding 692 caches. Would have been fun to hit 700, but now I have a goal for next year.

It helped that I was able to attend cache machines (see note below) in January, March, and June. My 3 best days of caching (so far) were during these 3 cache machines. The Missoula Cache Machine pushed me to a new record of 200 caches in one month! Besides finding 91 caches on the day of the Missoula Cache Machine, I found 46 on the way there and 16 on the way home.

Other highlights of the year are adding Montana and Hawaii to the states I have cached. We were in on the Big Island of Hawaii for 4 days and spent most days driving around the island in a red mustang convertible and grabbed a couple caches each day. I also found my first British Columbia caches along the way home from the Missoula Cache Machine.

Cache Machines
Usually when a person goes geocaching it is either solo or with 1 or 2 other people. At a cache machine a large group, say 50 to 100 people, starts at daylight and attempts to find as many caches as possible before the end of the day (dark for some, bedtime for others). Even though 70 people may start out together, by the 3rd or 4th stop the group has dispersed as people make wrong turns, stop for coffee, skip a cache they had found previously, or just plain get lost, so that usually it is only 2 or 3 cars at a time pulling up to find any given cache.

With the group dispersed, if you do have problems finding a cache it is very likely someone else will pull up and double the manpower in the hunt. If you get behind, you will probably come upon a group hunting for a tough one, which you get to claim quicker. And if all else fails and you really fall behind, you can always skip ahead and rejoin a larger group. By the end of the day you have usually ended up caching with a dozen different groups, meeting a dozens of other cachers. I met up again with folks I had met 5 years ago at the first cache machine. And at the end of the day, there is a group dinner where you can swap stories and meet up again with the people you met during the day.

Any other Geocaching stories out there? Any other Tupperware Trophies? Continue reading »

Bad Economy = Uninsured Drivers = Protect Yourself

 Insurance  No Responses »
Dec 282008
 

--Photo: Photo by Hans van de Bruggen--

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that more and more drivers are letting their insurance lapse or reducing their coverage as the economy sours. As you are driving, what are the chances that the guy coming up behind you does not have insurance? By not having insurance he not only is putting himself at risk, he also may be putting you at risk. What can you do?

Insurance companies in Washington state, like most states, are required to offer uninsured motorist coverage. In some states the coverage is mandatory, Washington requires that the coverage be offered but allows the policy holder to reject the coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage protects those in the vehicle just like the the uninsured driver had coverage. If you or a family member is hurt in an accident, if they loose an arm or a leg, or worse, your uninsured motorist coverage will cover you. If you do not have uninsured motorist coverage, you only have yourself to blame.

Several hundred thousand drivers dropped their insurance in the past year as the jobless rate climbed, estimates a study to be released next month by the Insurance Research Council, an industry-funded group. Online agency Insurance.com says it also is seeing evidence recently of more uninsured motorists. It says that as many as 40% of callers following up on online applications had let their previous policies lapse, up from less than 10% a couple years ago.

If you do not have uninsured motorist coverage, talk to your agent.

Why Twitter? or better yet, What is Twitter?

 Twitter  No Responses »
Dec 272008
 

I have finally decided to take the plunge and join the social media revolution. My first step was to start a Twitter account. I learned that it was possible to send a text message to [TextMarks.com](http://textmarks.com] after finding a geocache which would not only create a field note at Geocaching.com to help me log it later, but could also be set up to send a Twitter message to my ‘friends’ letting them know I found it in real time.

This was kind of interesting. Although it became real apparent that I do not cache near as much as others. Jon Stanley, (aka Moun10Bike or @moun10bike on Twitter), a cacher I know who lives over in the Seattle area, has had this same set up going for a while, and for every cache I might log, he had 5+ showing up on my Twitter screen.

I had moved from Stage 1, Denial, to Stage 2, Presense, of what Rohit Bhargava (aka @rohitbhargava on Twitter) describes as The 5 Stages Of Twitter Acceptance. But was there any other reason to use Twitter?

Before starting my Twitter account, I could not figure out why anyone would want to broadcast their activities on the web. ‘Going to sleep now’, ‘Had toast for breakfast’, ‘Dragging myself to work’, etc. just was not something I was interested in doing or watching others do. Since I now had a presence on Twitter, I started adding to the people I was ‘following’ so I could see what Twitter had to offer. Also, I had a couple people follow me right away who were watching for local Twitter users and recognized me (thanks @JeremyAsmus and @CraigSutton).

Watching the activity on Twitter I saw that it was much more than just personal status messages. It is a way to share information. As one low on the totem pole, I will be on the receiving end of most of the information, but that is fine. As a matter of fact, it is great. Hopefully what I contribute to the Twitter community will be valuable to others as well. I have moved past stage 2 now but not sure where I am between 3 and 4.

--Photo: 5 Stages of Twitter Acceptance by Rohit Bhargava--

Now I find, when asked by a family member what Twitter is, I can not give them any kind of answer that would make them want to join Twitter. Maybe that should be one of the stages.

Stage 3.5 – You can explain to someone why you use Twitter and give a good case for why they should.

As I use Twitter more I will hopefully be able to give a better answer as to why I find it useful. Right now I am in the learning stage.

  • By listening to some of the top tech people I can stay on top of what is happening in tech.
  • By listening to some of the top bloggers I can find ways to improve my blog.
  • By listening to local Twitter users I can keep in touch with what is happening around town.
  • By listening to some Twitter news feeds I can keep up on the news during the day.
  • By posting to Twitter I hope to contribute to the conversation.

I have ended up with 2 accounts, the first one, @YeOleImposter, is where I keep all my personal updates, geocaching updates, and things I want to send to my facebook account. The second account, @GaryPaulson, is my ‘professional’ account’ which I use to post things related to my work (insurance) and my blog. I am not really sure I need 2 accounts but I did not feel comfortable posting personal stuff to the tech gurus of the world :)

I am interested in knowing if any of you are using Twitter? How do you find it useful?

Pedestrian Injuries in an Auto Accident

 Insurance  No Responses »
Dec 262008
 

--Photo: Car vs Pedestrian Accident--

It scares me as I watched people walk on the snow covered streets because the snow plows have covered the sidewalks with a foot or more of snow. What amazes me is that everyone I have seen doing this is on the wrong side of the street. Instead of facing traffic as they walk, they have their backs to the oncoming vehicles! Ignorance may be bliss, but I would like to have a fighting chance of jumping out of the way of a vehicle who did not clear his windows enough to see me.

In a pedestrian vs. vehicle accident, the police and lawyers are going to be the ones to determine fault. As pointed out recently at the InjuryBoard blog, Washington State pedestrians have some extra coverage that is not available in all states. If you are hit as a pedestrian, not only are you able to seek compensation from the vehicle owner’s liability policy, you also have access to the vehicle’s medical coverage.

If a driver has this coverage, not only does it cover the medical bills for anyone riding in the vehicle, it can be used by a pedestrian to pay for bills while they’re waiting for the case to settle. It essentially treats the pedestrian as an injured passenger in the car. Whatever medical coverage exists does not get subtracted from the driver’s liability coverage either. His insurance company may be entitled to take credit for whatever bills they paid at settlement time, but they don’t get to subtract it from coverage. Of course, accessing this coverage when you also have a claim against the same company for a liability settlement can create strange bedfellows. On the one hand, the liability adjustor has the right to do everything in his power to deny, defend or delay your claim. However, the medical coverage adjustor is supposed to treat you like any other passenger in the car, meaning fairly and honestly and is even required to keep any medical information they obtain on you confidential.

This can take the pressure off of settling a claim early just to pay bills and get you taken care of like you should be. As always, if you are involved in a serious accident you should seek legal advice.

Jabberwocky and the silliness of grandsons

 Humor, Podcasts  No Responses »
Dec 232008
 

Listen to: Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll at Classic Poetry Aloud

This morning I listened to the poem “Jaberwocky” on my mp3 player. It was deposited there by the Classic Poetry Aloud podcast. As I listened, I thought of Hans and Jaeger, my grandsons. Not only do they battle their own Jaberwocks, they are full of nonsense and silliness, just like this poem.

--Photo: The Jabberwock, as illustrated by John Tenniel.--



‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Wikipedia gives a glossary of some of the nonsense words used in the poem and useful if you want to know what a wabe is or how to pronounce words like gyre and slithy.

WSDOT on Twitter and Flickr!

 Washington State  No Responses »
Dec 222008
 

--Photo: WSDOT Photos--

It did not suprise me too much that WSDOT, the Washington State Department of Transportation, has a blog with links to their cameras and travel alerts. But I was amazed to find out that WSDOT has accounts on both Twitter and Flickr.

On Twitter they post the latest road conditions and even reply to questions posed to them directly via @wsdot. I saw someone’s comment, “if this is the beginning of Government 2.0 , then I’m ecstatic!”

During this latest snow storm it has been interesting to ‘watch’ road conditions go from bad to worse. Not sure how much coverage southeastern Washington will get, but probably our share, but that means not much since there is much more traffic on the west side and a little snow causes a lot more problems.

On Flickr they post photos from the webcams but more often they are just interesting shots. It is definitely worth checking out.

They even have a YouTube Channel but the videos are not updated as often and so far have not been that interesting.

Kids’ Christmas Program at Grace URC

 Family, Tri-Cities  No Responses »
Dec 222008
 

Had fun last night watching the Kids’ Christmas Program at church, Grace United Reformed Church. Of course having my two grandsons in the program made it that much more special. As with anything with young kids involved, it was watching all the antics that keep you chuckling.

Hats off to those involved with pulling this off. I think the term is “herding cats”.

Also have some snap shots up on Flickr

Marketing and the Church – Get Thee Behind Us

 Rant  No Responses »
Dec 212008
 

What happens when you let marketing experts into the church building? TheChurchCheck.com.

According to Mark Galli at Christianity Today, ChurchCheck will send “mystery worshipers” to assess the Sunday morning experience as a non-biased third party visitor.

Our team of savvy professionals can secretly worship at your church, analyze it in detail, and present you with a report detailing items that are lacking. With this report, you can make changes that boost your retention rate and make your church grow. Make the adjustments our team suggests and you’ll not only retain more of your first-time visitors, you’ll get them talking to their friends about you.

I believe Galli is correct in his assesment, “All in all, marketing resources like Church Check only exacerbate the fundamental and tragic lie that infects the hearts and minds of so many churches and “guests” today—that church is about us and our experience.”

HatTip: Challies.com for pointing us to ChurchCheck.

I-82 Rest Stop at Prosser Closed for Bomb Scare – Why??

 Rant, Tri-Cities  No Responses »
Dec 172008
 

Just read this story at the Tri-City Herald:

UPDATE: I-82 rest stop at Prosser reopened after package examined

PROSSER –

A suspicious package that prompted the closure of an rest stop just off Interstate 82 in Prosser has been examined and the rest area has been re-opened.

The rest area was closed for about 3 1/2 hours after state Department of Transportation workers found the package, officials said.

Washington State Patrol Sgt. Ed McAvoy said the workers found a plastic bag and thought something might have been inside the bag.

Troopers closed the rest area around 1 p.m., temporarily blocking both the entrance and exit driveways while a bomb squad from Walla Walla responded to inspect the package, said Mike Westbay, DOT spokesman.

Traffic on I-82 was not affected.

The rest area was re-opened at 4:30 p.m.

Are these bomb scares done just to give the bomb squads some practice? I mean a plastic bag is found at a Prosser rest stop and a bomb squad has to come from Walla Walla?
I could see if it was a bag hanging off the door knob of city hall. But are rest areas a high threat area? Have we just become paranoid?

Toys for Tots @ Toyota Tri-Cities

 Tri-Cities  No Responses »
Dec 022008
 

ToysForTots

While sitting at the Toyota Tri-Cities dealership waiting for the windscreen to be installed in my Solara convertible (it reduces the air turbulence by covering the back seats), I see they have quite a display set up for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program. Anyone who might be interested in giving a toy to a needy child should look into the program and consider bringing a toy to a local drop off location

Here is some information about the program from the website:

MISSION:
The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

GOAL:
The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.

OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of Toys for Tots are to help needy children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable natural resources – our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future.

ACTIVITIES:
The principal Toys for Tots activities which take place each year are the collection and distribution of toys in the communities in which a Marine Corps Reserve Unit is located and in communities without a Reserve Unit that has a Marine Corps League Detachment or group of men and women, generally veteran Marines, authorized by Marine Toys for Tots Foundation to conduct a local Toys for Tots campaign. Local Toys for Tots Campaign Coordinators conduct an array of activities throughout the year, which include golf tournaments, foot races, bicycle races and other purely voluntary events designed to increase interest in Toys for Tots, and concurrently generate toy and monetary donations.

Foldershare to become Windows Live Sync

 Windows Software, Windows Software Installed  No Responses »
Dec 022008
 

I just received an email that in December Microsoft is going to announce Windows Live Sync. Live Sync is an upgrade of Foldershare, or as they state in the email, “think of it as FolderShare 2.0.”

FolderShare keeps directories (folders) between two or more computers “sync’d up” over the internet. I have been using FolderShare for a number of months now to sync a couple of folders between my office desktop computer and my laptop (which is usually at home). Here are some of the folders I have sync’d up:

  • my docs folder – I work on something at home, when I get to the office the document is available.
  • my photos folder – I can take pictures off my camera at either location and they will be available at the other.
  • my geocaching database folder – I can work on the database at either location and not loose any data.

It does more than just sync folders. You can set up ‘shared libraries’ that are available (by invitation) to friends, co-workers, and family. You can access all your files on the remote computer, not just “shared” or “sync’d” files.

According to the email the new Live Sync is going to look familiar but will allow:

  • More folders and files—sync up to 20 folders with 20,000 files each.
  • Integration with Windows Live ID—no more extra sign-in stuff to remember.
  • Integration with the Recycle Bin—no more separate Trash folder to fiddle with.
  • Unicode support—sync files in other languages.

Check it out…