Friday after work I had a few hours to myself as SuperPizzaBoy was staying overnight with a friend and Sweetie and her Mom were attending a church function. I thought about going home and scrubbing the floors but decided against since I had already done that Wednesday and had worn the bristles on my scrub brush clear off and had not bought a new one yet.
So I did the next favorite activity, Geocaching. So I fired up my Garmin Nuvi 500 crossover GPS, specially made for geocaching, and guess what. I had been to Houston earlier this week and when I downloaded the Houston caches it deleted the Tulsa caches. Bummer!
So I fired up my Lowrance Ifinder H2O. Well, it was taking the evening off. It wouldn’t synch with the satellites. Double Bummer!
I realized that I had ventured out in the world with only one backup GPS. So now, what do I do? I guess I’ll go geocaching without a GPS and hope the Lowrance decides to sober up and play ball.
Off I went. I knew the general location of two caches close to downtown. First stop was the Meadow Gold sign on 11th street.
So I didn’t know exactly where the cache was but I knew it was in this general vicinity. So I started looking. Soon I had several helpers. They were all out of money. Some had had it stolen; a couple more needed money for a bus ticket to go see their sisters. One sister lives in Saint Louis, the other guy’s sister lives in Dallas. What is it about these guys and their sisters? It seems that there is an ongoing nationwide reunion of brothers going to see their sisters. I think there is an ad campaign in there somewhere. I think there is a social movement going on. JenX is supposed to keep me posted on stuff like this. Jen, what’s the deal? I need a report!
What these guys need is my Aunt Baloney. She’d get them squared away and each with a checklist in hand on how to find employment. They could go buy their own bus tickets. She’s organized! No more of this shuffling up and down the street panhandling, they would have some direction! Aunt B is great that way.
I finally found it. It was like a needle in a haystack.
Nice color huh? Purple is Sweetie’s favorite color. Do you think if I told her that there are purple geocaches that she would go along on my geocaching trips? Yep, fat chance. Hey, do you like my wedding ring? Yellow gold and white gold. I love it. I’ve had it for 20 years, I’m very proud of it.
I’m also proud, but not a billionth as much though, that I found a cache without a GPS. I’ve found a few before but not many. It makes me feel guilty. Why? Because the taxpayers of this country have financed billions of dollars of military satellites so that I can go find hidden stuff. So bypassing all that investment and finding a cache without it is not very respectful. My fellow Americans, I apologize. Really.
But hey, I’m fired up. Lets go find another one. Right nearby. It’s in the general vicinity of this.
I’m not sure what it is doing there. I think it might be some way for Brit Expats to teleport to and from Great Britain. Lots cheaper and faster than flying. Hmm, I bet that is how down on their luck Brit guys go visit their sisters. I bet that is why I’ve never had a Brit guy hit me up for money to go see their sisters. They can do it for free. Wow. Maybe Sarah can explain it to us one of these days.
Anyway, there is a cache in the general vicinity. Guess what, I found it! Didn’t have any helpers either. Here is a picture of it and my still non synched Lowrance I Finder H2O.
Oh no, as I look at the log I can see that I dated it 1/22/09. That makes the Generation Xers shake their head. I can just hear them thinking, “When is that Boomer loser going to step aside so I can get the cubicle with the river view?” Sorry dudes I can’t do it yet. If I do step aside, don’t be giving me the cold shoulder when I ask for bus money so I can go visit my sister in Colorado Springs. I mean, everybody else is visiting their sister, why can’t I?
Wow, I’m on a roll. Lets go find a third. So I went nearby to a little park commemorating Tulsa’s first post office. I got there and guess what? The GPS is synching!
So I started looking but the GPS unsynched before I could get a good fix. I think it is in one of the cedar trees nearby. Hunting a microcache in cedar trees when you are not sure if is there or not is pretty much a waste of time. So, time to call it quits.
Oh, I almost forgot, the Eight P’s of Geocaching and Life. Do you know what they are? Here it is!
Proper Preparation and Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
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I always enjoy your posts about geocaching. The old English telephone kiosk is really cool, beam me up!
Your eight P’s were Practically, Perfectly Presented.
Sunny 🙂
Well I am seriously impressed you found them sans GPS, I guess we need to try this too! Very entertaining post and as for the British phone box, if I told you I’d have to kill you! But the fact it’s so out of place should raise a question, as it did 😉
Nice alliteration, and a succinct sequence of the secrets of success.
Hope all panhandlers are permanently reunited with their sisters. I want to try teleporting in that red telephone booth.
Hi Yogi, Hope when you want to visit your sis, you have the bus money. If you manage to get there, I could give you a ticket back home…Really enjoyed your hunt and musings.
*big smile* you wore them clear off? dude, do you know how much bus tickets are to Colorado Springs? You could probably fly there for as much. 😉 I really don’t want the Boomers to retire. Xers will probably close shop at 3:30 and all the silents will complain that they can’t pay their water bill – b/c they can’t work a computer and still do it in person.
@Sunny – thanks for stopping by. I love your comments and blog both.
@Sarah – come on. Tell me I won’t tell anybody but closest dearest friends, honest.
@Janie – maybe you could help reunite some of this siblings on horseback? Especially in the winter. It’s a lot warmer down here than it is in Utah.
@Barb – you have a deal! Ok, anybody going help me get up there?
@Jen – yep I wore them bristles clear off earlier. I believe in elbow grease. Hmm, is there an opportunity to arbitrage an airline/bus differential like we do frac spreads in my business. Maybe some hedging. You and I could be the first to offer sophisticated financial products to men trying to go see their sisters. What do you think? With my ideas and your money we’ll dominate the market!
comment from Hubster – Very good Yogi, Here is another 8 Ps of geocaching. Poison Plants and prickly pear provide possible pain to a caching person.
That geo-caching sounds fun. I have an answer for your Brit telephone booth. I think it is a modern day Tardis. If you ever come across a man calling himself The Doctor and he tries to hit you up for money to go visit his sister, don’t believe him as he doesn’t have one, and he can get anywhere in that thing 😉
LOL! Loved the post Yogi and the comments.
When my kids are grown Geocaching is going to be my hobby!! It really does seem like fun. I mean, it’s more satisfying than fishing!
I had never heard of geocaching before! Not sure I’d be good at it given my very poor sense of direction… but it looks fun!
that meadow gold sign blew me away isnt that right by el rancho??? we just took a saturday drive over on 11th looking for nelsons and enjoying the day…perhaps we shoulda been geocaching!
What cool geocaches! I love it when geocaching takes us to interesting places. This looks like a treasure trove of great caches.