Hide In Plain Sight

Today I had to have our cat of 12 years euthanized. She’d been very sick, didn’t eat, vomited what she did, lost half her weight, and it was time. Nikki and I held her as the injection was administered. Sucks. The two FTFs I found earlier in the day seem a little insignificant. She was my snuggle buddy and I’ll miss her a lot. As a friend opined, Emma was a “fine feline”.

I love my birthday. Whenever I hear people complain about theirs, I always state, “Consider the alternative.” I’m 58 today and will become a grandfather later in the year. Gillian has already decided that the baby will call me “Poppy Cache”. Works for me. Sharon will be “Granny Thal” (her maiden name is Rosenthal, and her friends always called her “Thal”), and Nikki will be “Auntie Snook” (Don’t ask). Took the day off from work(!), met some friends for Dim Sum, did a little caching, and otherwise had a great day. And now for your listening pleasure… Birthday

Today would have been my father’s 85th birthday. Sadly he died in November 2002. When I first started geocaching I agonized over when & where to place my first cache. I bought the container I liked, and wanted to do something a little challenging but also close to home so I could maintain it easily. It wasn’t until July of ’08 that I figured out what to do and how to do it. Read the story of Alvinize (GC1E0QY). He would have loved geocaching. Happy Birthday, Dad.

One of the great things about living here is the proximity of wilderness. One such area is Tonto National Forrest. Today Gillian and I went up a wash through the Forrest that we’d been up quite some time ago to find a cache. This time there were four waiting to be found. While getting the last of the four, a fellow drove by and confirmed that the wash would ultimately lead us out to a paved road that leads to Bartlett Reservoir, one of the major reservoirs that supply water to the area. And yes, after driving about 8 more miles we made it back to civilization! A splendid time was had by all on this gorgeous day while the rest of the Midwest and East freezes!

Went out running some errands and picked up 7 including my 2nd FTF for 2010. The title is in reference to an article I read on a blog this morning about Venn Diagrams, and how difficult they are to create starting with the elusive n=7 minimum vertex Venn diagram

This was a cache about 2 miles from the house and I grabbed it on the way to work. It was in a park between two schools, and there were kids on the playground with their teacher. I had to walk by them looking “normal”. I succeeded as no one approached me, and I was able to snag the FTF without any hassle.

So I started the day with the idea of getting 10 for 2010. Once I reached ten I decided to go for eleven. “You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten.” Anyhow, while hunting for the 11th, I hear a voice yell out “Turn around and look up!” It was a guy stopped at a traffic light who happened to be a geocacher who found the one I was looking for! What are the odds?

UPDATE – I just received an email form the fellow who yelled out to me. He’s from Wisconsin and was in town visiting family. He had just left a McDonalds that was nearby and saw me starting my hunt.

Another year gone. Been a crazy one for us. Lost my job in Oct ’08, and got one in March. I hate it, but it’s a job. Sharon’s business is good, but we had a scare last week when she was admitted to the hospital with chest pains. She’s OK, but we were a little freaked out. Gillian is pregnant – due in August (Imagine me, a grandfather!), and Nikki graduated from ASU -now the challenge of finding a job. We adopted a dog – Fergie – and Emma, our 12 year old cat, torments her. I found almost a cache each day, and at this rate I should hit 1000 by the end of the year. So here’s to 2010 and wishing you a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

Out for a few on a grey, cool day. It’s amazing how many unfound caches there are in my area – over 120 within a 10 mile radius and over 500 within a 15 miles. I have my work cut out for me! Today’s finds were relatively easy and didn’t tax my “geomojo” too much except for this one – this was rather clever given that my GPS was telling me to go about 25 feet away from it’s location.

My mother is in town from FL for Nikki’s graduation and wanted to hunt for a few caches. Picked one up yesterday that I’d looked for a few times without success, and I walked right up to it. Today we went outside Fountain Hills on the road to Payson. Another gorgeous winter day in AZ as we found two while cruising around.