When it comes to parking, there are three options in NYC: paid garage, paid parking meter, or free "alternate side of the street parking."
New York City cleans one half of the streets on some days and the other half on other days. During street cleaning times, people must remove their cars from the side of the street that is being cleaned, but at all other times their cars can be parked there for free. (Unless there are other restrictions like school zones or loading zones etc.)
Street cleaning days and times vary from neighborhood to neighborhood and sometimes from block to block. Sometimes the rules and times even differ from one side of the street to the other (as I discovered the one and only time I was towed!) It's really important to read signs carefully and make sure you understand what the rules are for where you're parking otherwise you could be towed and ticketed (for about $200-ish) AND have a large impossible to remove sticker adhered to your window that says:
Photo from Starts And Fits
I got a new credit card in the mail today to replace the one that's about to expire. When I called in to activate it, a very nice woman who sounded like she was in India reading out of a manual, told me about a new program that my bank has added to this credit card to show its appreciation for its customers.
With this new program, for every $25,000 I spend on my credit card I will get a $25 check back! I started laughing and made her repeat that to make sure I'd heard her correctly. So she did -Then she started laughing!
I'd better get out there and start spending!
We all have them; days when you're too busy, days when you're not feeling well, days when you kind of have time but not quite enough to really start and finish something.
Then there are those days when you have the time, the house is quiet, you're feeling great, and by the end of the day you've made it through a whole bunch of stuff that's been staring at you for several weeks days moments (long moments!)
Man I love those days!
I have often referred to Fairway as "the happiest store on earth." Compared to grocery stores in suburbia it's probably not that big a deal, but where I live there are very few truly large grocery stores, so when Fairway first opened its 132nd street store, I thought I'd died and gone to grocery heaven. Every time I thought I was almost "out of store" there were MORE rooms and aisles! I bring people to this store all the time and they just about faint. It becomes their "Happy Place" too.
One of my favorite features of this store is "The Cold Room." It's an entire room that's been turned into a gigantic freezer. It's not a little room. It's a big room with lots and lots of aisles! All meat, poultry, fish, and dairy items are in there as well as essential staples like pre-made chocolate chip cookie dough. :) I don't know the exact temperature of The Cold Room but it's low enough that the store supplies jackets for customers to put on before they enter -even though it took them a while to actually tell us that that's what the jackets were for!
It all started when a bunch of coat racks showed up alongside a wall in the middle of the store one day, with what appeared to be a variety of old coats. In short, it looked like someone had raided the local Good Will. But why all those old coats were hanging there was a mystery. At one point I thought they might be personal coats belonging to store employees (because, you know, that makes perfect sense... that out in the middle of the store would be the place for employees to hang their coats, instead of someplace more private and secure in the back!)
It was at least another month before the random coats were replaced by brand new matching Fairway jackets, another few weeks after that before a cardboard sign was put up explaining what the jackets were for, and another month or two after that before a professionally made sign was finally put in place.
New people, in particular, rarely grasp the "take a jacket before you enter" concept. You can always tell who's never been to the store before because they're the ones huddled in the corners and turning blue. When I ski over to them with my sled dog team to give them a shot of brandy and tell them about the jackets that are hanging outside the door, the looks of gratitude in their faces make life worthwhile. I'm sure there are several first born children named after me by now.
Of course there will always be that small percentage of people who refuse to put on a jacket even though they know that's what they're there for. Some people think they're too cool to put on a jacket (no pun intended). Others get creeped out by the thought that hundreds of people may have worn that jacket before them. Me...? I don't have this problem. I put on the jacket. I don't care how many people have worn the darned thing before me! It's freaking COLD in there!
Once or twice I was in a hurry and thought "I'll just run in there quickly, grab what I want, and run back out. I don't need a jacket." -I learned my lesson. I always wear a jacket in The Cold Room now. And if no jackets are available, I will wait outside those swinging doors until someone returns and puts their jacket back!
The sled dogs and I are in no hurry.
Most people don't seem to like rainy or overcast days, but I do. I actually prefer them to sunny days most times. I don't want to get caught in the rain if it's freezing outside or if I'm on my way someplace where I won't be able to change into dry clothes at the end, but if I'm on my way home, I'm ok with getting wet (as long as I'm wearing more than a T-shirt!)
Every now and then there's a bunch of dark or rainy days in a row and people start talking about how depressed they feel or how stir crazy they're getting, but I don't ever feel that way from rainy or overcast days. I like them. And there's something immensely comforting to me about rain. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the ions in the air or something. Who knows. But on an overcast day I just feel better.
(...And rain makes the flowers grow and cleans out pollen and breaks heat waves and all that stuff too!)
MEWhat's that on your keychain?HERWhat?METhat pink rubber thing.HEROh, they were giving these away at the hospital for free. It's one of those bracelets for breast cancer.MEIt doesn't say that.
(inspecting the bracelet)HERDoesn't say what?METhat it has anything to do with breast cancer.HERWhat does it say?METhe name of a lab. It's an advertisement for the name of the lab. There's nothing on here about fighting breast cancer.HERWell it was free. And it's pink.MEOh well you should definitely keep it then.
Do you ever stop to think about how convenient it is to have Taxis available to you, and what's really going on when you use one? I do (but this shouldn't surprise you by now!)
Basically, what happens, is that you need to get someplace and you need a ride. So you go out into the street and look for someone who can give you that ride, and when you find someone who's available you more or less say "Hey could you please do me a favor and give me a ride to this place? I'll pay you for it." and then the complete and total stranger whose car you've stopped says "Sure! Hop in!" Not only that, but you get really lucky, because the ride you get just happens to be from someone who knows where EVERYTHING is! Even when you may not be sure how to get to your destination! (What are the odds? ;) )
Then when you're done, do you know what that total stranger who gave you the ride does? They drive around the city looking for more people who might need a ride somewhere. Because that's just the kind of nice and helpful person he or she is.
How many other people do you think would happily give you a ride anyplace you asked, (paid or unpaid), any time, day or night, with absolutely no advanced notice, and no questions asked? How many people would say "Sure, I was just driving around looking to see if someone might need a ride somewhere anyway, so yeah, no problem. I'll take you."
I am really thankful for Taxis.
Photo courtesy of newoldthing
I am thankful I had a chance to walk through Central Park yesterday and see its beautiful fall foliage. I normally walk in a different park because it's a little closer to my home (not much but a little.)
I am also thankful that I managed to escape my friend's "tragically unsettling" experience ;) (See today's PSA for more info.)
I've always been amazed at the regenerative properties of the human body. Most people never give a second thought to scratches, cuts, bruises, or broken bones, because they expect them to heal 100%. And most of the time they do. Very often, many crippling and disfiguring injuries also mend completely, as if they'd never happened.
Think about it: What if your body didn't have the ability to heal? What if a broken bone, whether it was your leg or a finger, would always be broken? What if every cut or scratch you ever had, large or small, never healed (ok the bleeding could stop but beyond that I mean!) What if once you tore or pulled a muscle or ligament, that's how it was going to be forever?
We are all extremely lucky. Not just because our own bodies do this, but also because the bodies of people we love and care about often have this same amazing regenerative ability. It's true that not everything heals 100%, but many things do, and that's miraculous to me.
A scene from the comedy Death Becomes Her
where the characters learn that "immortality"
doesn't mean "can't sustain permanent injury."
First it was The Cows...
Between 1999 and 2000, over 500 cow statues started to randomly appear all over New York City. (See the Cow Parade website for more info.)
Photos courtesy of "The Gates @ Central Park"
In 2005, 7,500 bright orange "gates" lined 23 miles (36.8 km) of footpaths in Central Park. (More information on The Gates is available at NYC.Gov.)
Earlier this year there were the R2D2 Mailboxes...
Photo courtesy of wsh1266
And now, for the past month, our Taxis have looked like this:
Photo courtesy of kjgrow
Photo courtesy of melinni
Holidays were a difficult time for me growing up. I loved holidays and really got caught up in all the hype and magic of them, so not having a place to go or people to celebrate them with was always doubly hard when I was younger.
Eventually I did the whole "make your own holiday" thing and that worked well for a while. I was happy with that, as were the people I invited. But then there were a few years where it wasn't going to be possible for me to do that and it looked like I was going to have to resign myself to holidays alone again for a while.
Then one year, I was invited to three different places for Thanksgiving. THREE. But all the places I was invited to were over an hour away, and I wasn't going to be able to travel that far, so I had to decline them all. I remember thinking to myself, "Is this for real? After all those years of not having a place to spend Thanksgiving, did I really just get three different invitations from people and decline them all?" I remember shaking my head at the Universe (as I often do!) and saying "Thanks a lot!" ;)
Then I got an invitation from E. He and I were classmates. We were friendly and got along well, but outside of a group project we'd worked on we'd never met outside of class nor had any outside communication with each other. I was really surprised when I got his invitation. My first instinct was to say "no" for the same reasons I'd had to decline the other 3 invitations. But then I thought "Hmmm... let's ponder... If I took a taxi, it would take me 10 minutes and $10 to get from here to E's.... Oh my gosh.... I could do that!" So I gratefully accepted his invitation.
It was one of the best things I ever did. I had the best time!
I didn't know any of his friends, which you'd think would have made things a bit more stressful, but it was entirely the opposite. Nobody knew me so I was taken at face value as just "me." Not me "the family member" or me "the professional" or me "the caretaker." There was no image I had to project, no role I had to fulfill, no expectations to live up to... I felt absolutely no pressure to be anything other than whoever and however I was in that moment. I could just be. It was like an amazing mental vacation. I laughed more that night than I had in about 2 or 3 years. We all laughed a lot. Laughing until your stomach really really hurts kind of laughter. It felt incredible.
I look forward to spending holidays with E and P every year now. Not just Thanksgiving, but sometimes Christmas, and Easter too. The food is great, their friends are fun, and my holidays are extremely blessed because of them. I am so lucky.
I've told them all this, but I don't think they really get it. I wish they did. Holidays with them are something I now look forward to all year round.
I was just sitting at my computer thinking "why am I so tired?"
Then I saw my earlier post from today.
I think it's time for Chinese food.
-Which I am not getting right now!
About 4 to 5 days a month, I wake up way too early and can't get back to sleep. It's annoying but it happens and I'm used to it.
But those nights when I fall asleep at a reasonable hour, sleep all the way through to the next morning and wake up well rested after 8-9 or more hours of sleep, with the kinds of dreams I could replay over and over and never tire of? Those are the best mornings in the world. And on those mornings, I always lie in bed for a few moments, taking it all in, and think "Wow... how cool was that!"
Whenever I sit here to write about what I'm thankful for, there are a lot of really "big" things that come up for me. But they're things I'm not comfortable writing about. Still, they are there. Sometimes the reason something is so appreciated is because the circumstances surrounding it were so intense; Random acts of kindness during tragedies, deaths, injuries, or traumatic events like 9/11...
It's not difficult for me to write about the good things that happened, nor is it difficult for me to acknowledge my gratitude. I've expressed my thanks to the people involved many times. What's difficult for me to write about are the contexts of those various events. -The background information about what was going on at those times that made those acts so appreciated.
So because it's very strange for me to write about a bunch of things I'm thankful for, and know that I'm not including some events that are very important or significant to me, this is my official acknowledgement of all those people and all those situations that I think about every time I sit down to write, and choose not to write about at this time.
I will always be thankful, and I will always remember. Because I have an insanely long memory, and I never forget.
I love the immense convenience of remote controls. For anything really. But I am particularly thankful for whoever decided to invent and release universal ones that take the place of 3 separate remotes or replace broken or missing TV remote controls altogether.
My favorite universal remote, for several years now, has been this one:
A phone conversation with a friend of mine.
HERI just got an email that really pissed me off.MEWhat was it?HERSome friend sending me information about what I need to eliminate in my life to cure cancer.MEAnd that made you feel like she was saying the cancer was your fault. I love people like that.HERIt also says chemo makes cancer worse and mutates cancer cells. So according to this I now have mutated mutated cells.MESo now it's not only your fault you got cancer but everything you've chosen to do to help yourself is also wrong. That's nice.
-Not everyone is pro-chemo. But you knew that.HERYeah but it still pisses me off. Plus according to this I'm supposed to be "starving my cancer cells" by avoiding certain foods on this list here and I should have never had surgery.MEIs this someone I've met?HERYeah. At my party.METhe young one?HERShe's not that young. She's your age. She just looks really young.MEReally? The one who looked like she was 12? She's my age?HERYup.MECool!
People are going to do stupid things. They don't know it's upsetting.
They don't know what to say to you. They want to help. They see something that says "cancer" and they think "Ooooh! Something I can do! I'll give this to 'so and so' and then I'll have done something helpful!" She cares about you. She wouldn't have sent you that if she didn't. She doesn't realize how stupid something like that can be.HERYeah and everybody reacts differently to different things.MEExactly. I have a friend who loves getting stuff like that.
Last year over the holidays, a cab driver was telling me about how his wife had died from cancer, and how he was now on a one-man crusade to tell everybody what to do to prevent this from happening to them. He had literature in his cab and everything. The solution according to him? Oxygen. He gave me a pamphlet and told me to make sure my friend E got this information.
The next time I saw E, I asked her if she wanted me to send her his info. She said yes. But I knew she probably would. That's how she is.HEROxygen.MEYes.HERSo that's the problem. I haven't been breathing enough all these years.MEAccording to the cab driver.HERDidn't Michael Jackson do that? Sit in an oxygen tent every day?MEProbably. And he doesn't have cancer, so there's your proof. Sitting in an oxygen tent cures cancer.
-And makes you white.HERI'm still really pissed off.MEI know. But she sent it to you because she cares. She thought she was doing something helpful.HERYeah, I know.
Look it even says "Make sure you send this letter to 20 people you really care about."MESee? You're "someone she really cares about." It didn't say send it to 20 people you really want to piss off!HERIt just makes me SO angry!MEI know.HERWhen my friend was going through chemo she'd get angry really easily. Once, a neighbor came by to see her and brought her soup, and her husband knew it would set her off so he told the neighbor she wasn't up to having any visitors that day. After the neighbor left, he told my friend about it and she blew up!MEAbout what? About him not letting her friend in?HERNo, about the soup! She hated being treated like a sick person. She yelled "Does she THINK I can't make SOUP??!!!"ME(At this point I burst out laughing for about five minutes!)
See, I would have brought YOU soup. Even though I didn't did I...? What did I bring you?
-I brought you ginger tea and Gatorade because you wouldn't drink your damn fluids.HERAnd ginger candy.MEAnd a sweatshirt.HEROh and popsicles. I have to get more of those. And the sorbet.METhank God I didn't know your friend. I probably would have brought her soup! That's still hysterical to me."Does she THINK I can't make SOUP??!!!"
But see? Everybody's different. You have to know the person you're trying to help. If M showed up at your door with a bowl of soup you would not be pissed off!HERHell no! I'd be like "Hello! Free food! Bring it on in!"(pause)I'm still reading this...
It says it's a study by John Hopkins. Like that's supposed to make this sound more impressive and "legit." How do I know that? And how do I even know which "John Hopkins?"MECould be John Hopkins the motorcycle guy...HEROr John Hopkins the dog walker...MEOr John Hopkins the butcher down the street...HERThere's so many things I'd have to get rid of if I followed everyone's advice about all the things I've done wrong, or am doing wrong, that supposedly cause cancer.MELots of people eat and do all those wrong things and they do not have cancer.
Sure, there are things everyone could do to live healthier lives but lots of people do all the "wrong things" and they're perfectly fine, so it's not as simple as that. You do what you can and what works for you.
And you do live an extremely healthy lifestyle. You always exercise, you're in great shape, you eat well, you've just switched to "non-hormone" milk...HERI'd have to move to Oregon and live on a farm or something to make all these people happy.MEYou'd have to move out of the city.HERI'd have to live on the moon.MEWell. Except that the moon has no oxygen.HER-And I need oxygen to cure the cancer.MERight. And stay white.HERYeah.MEI'll get you a tank.
Broccoli Soup
Ingredients:Put everything in a pot. Heat. When the cheese is melted and the vegetables are thawed, use a food processor or blender to blend everything until smooth. I use one of those Braun handheld wand mixer thingys and blend it right in the pot.
- One 16 oz (464 g) package of frozen broccoli
- One 10 oz (283 g) package of frozen spinach
- One quart (32 fluid oz / 946 mL) of vegetable stock
- 6 oz (170 g) of cheddar cheese
- Nutmeg to taste (Unless you're half asleep when you're making this one day and mistakenly add cinnamon instead -which surprisingly is also ok.)
For about a year now I've been very frustrated because I couldn't figure out what was going on with my StatCounter account.
One day I logged in and my "project"1 was gone. It just wasn't there. I hadn't logged into my StatCounter account for a while so I thought maybe I'd had more than one account and I'd just logged into the wrong one. -You've done that too. I know you have! Made an online account for something and then forgotten about it, or forgotten your user name or password, but having them emailed to you won't work because the account has your old defunct email address, so you just create a 2nd account instead of trying to salvage the first?
Well I thought maybe that's what had happened. I vaguely remembered creating more than one StatCounter account way back when. So I tried various combinations of user names that I usually use, paired with the various passwords that I usually use. No luck. I could only log into that one account (the one that was missing my project!) and nothing else would work.
I even went so far as to email StatCounter and say something to the effect of:
"Hey, this is my project number. You can see it's on my webpage at this address, and these are my new and old email addresses, and did I make another account with you or did you just lose my project? Because if you did, is there any way I can get it back? And if you didn't, can you give me a clue as to what the %$#@!? my other username and/or password might have been?"Oddly, I got no response.
If you've been reading this past week, you should now know all about Geocaching, Letterboxing, Maggie Smith's bench, and my Loch Ness Monster sighting. And with this information, my post from November 12th should now make perfect sense. (If you haven't read all those, feel free to go read them now. I'll wait.)
Ok, every one caught up? So, now that you know what I'm talking about, I'll finish the story.
As I said, I'd seen what I thought were cachers in the park a few days earlier. But I hadn't approached them because they looked like they were trying to be discrete. Plus, I wasn't completely sure that's what they were doing, though I was pretty sure. They were even carrying a Ziploc bag ;) But I didn't see them carrying a GPS. When I later discovered that they'd been searching for a Letterbox and not a Geocache, the lack of a GPS made sense -and also explained why there'd been no listing for it on the Geocaching website!
I returned a few days later with my stamp, book, and ink pad in hand; retrieved the Letterbox, stamped my book with its stamp and stamped the Letterbox's pad with my own stamp. The Letterbox's pad was so small that a gentleman walking his dog thought I was writing directly onto the palm of my hand and stopped to ask if I was writing crib notes ;)
This was actually my first Letterbox that wasn't a Geocache/Letterbox hybrid. I've never hunted for a pure Letterbox using only clues and a compass without any GPS info, but now that I've discovered that many are hidden close to my home, I may have to give some a try. I'll admit I'm a bit intimidated by this thought. The last time I looked at a set of Letterbox clues they were hard!
If you're in New York and would like to search for this Letterbox, I tracked down the corresponding clues for it online and they're quite easy. Nothing cryptic, and no puzzle solving or compass required! Just go to this page at letterboxing.org and click on the Letterbox called "Stumped."
I can't show you pictures of the Letterbox's exact location or its contents because that would be against the rules of the game, but this guy might tell you...
And yes, I "paid his toll."
For several years, I have wanted warm, comfortable, totally unsexy, "real" pajamas, but nothing I found was the right size, price, or style. So I basically slept in T-shirts and boxers or sweat pants. And that's fine. But I wanted real pajamas!
This year, I finally found some. Right size. Right price. -I bought five.
And they make me very happy :)
The other day, when I was walking in the park, I noticed what appeared to be a new park bench.
"Maggie Smith
Loved all animals,
especially the baby birds."
I'm guessing this was a Maggie Smith, and not the Maggie Smith. Still, it was very sweet. It's now one of my favorite spots in the park, and has made me think of a few relatives for whom I could have made similar benches. Maybe still will.
Letterboxing is a game that started in Europe in the 1850s. The earliest known USA Letterboxes date back to the 1980s/1990s.
How Does Letterboxing Work?
Letterboxing is similar to Geocaching. All over the world, people hide small containers (called Letterboxes) which contain a log book and a rubber stamp. But unlike Geocaching, which uses GPS coordinates to find a cache, with Letterboxing people follow cryptic clues to find the Letterbox. These clues often involve riddles, puzzles, descriptions of landmarks, and instructions to walk a certain number of paces in a given direction. Another difference between Letterboxing and Geocaching is that with Geocaching, people swap items, but with Letterboxing, people swap stamp impressions.
What Equipment Do I Need To Letterbox?
The first thing you'll need is a rubber stamp which will serve as your "signature stamp." Your stamp should be a picture of something that you feel represents you. It can be anything: An animal, a symbol, a fancy design... Purists carve their own stamps or commission them from companies so that each person's stamp is unique, but you can use one from a store if you'd like.
In addition to your personal stamp, you'll also need a set of clues, an ink pad, a pen, a blank book or pad to collect stamp impressions from your various finds, and sometimes you may need a compass.
What Do You Do Once You Find A Letterbox?
As with Geocaching, discretion is key. You must make sure that nobody sees you retrieving or replacing the Letterbox. When you find a Letterbox (and remember that Letterboxes only contain a stamp and a small pad or book, so the containers may be quite small.) have a seat with it somewhere nearby so as not to draw attention to its exact location.
Use the stamp from the Letterbox to stamp your personal book and use your pen to make a small notation in your book about that particular stamp (like the date, location, and any other notes you might want to jot down etc.) Next, use your own stamp to stamp the Letterbox's log book and write a small note identifying yourself and the date of your find. Then take a moment to look back through the log book and see the stamps from all the other eccentrics very nice people who've come before you.
When you're done, put the Letterbox (with its original stamp and log book) back where you found it. Remember, with Letterboxing you do not swap items. The only thing you're trading is stamp impressions. The Letterbox should be put back with its original stamp and book, and you should be leaving with the stamp and book you brought with you.
Are There Geocaches That Are Also Letterboxes?
Yes! Some Geocaches are also Letterboxes. If a Geocache is also a Letterbox, it will say so in the description so you know to bring along your stamp, ink pad, and book. For Geocache/Letterbox hybrids the rules for trading stamp impressions are the same, but the clues to find it will include GPS coordinates.
Where Can Clues To Letterboxes Be Found?
Traditionally, clues to Letterboxes were passed amongst other Letterboxers in a kind of "secret society" manner. Nowadays there are publications listing the various locations of Letterboxes in Europe, and of course there's now also the Internet.
Unlike Geocaching, there is no worldwide Letterboxing website, but a good place to start is Letterboxing North America. Their site is pretty comprehensive and can give you a good overview of Letterboxing. If you don't live in North America, read their site anyway (and be sure to check their Map Page for some International listings.) When you're finished try Google for additional Letterbox locations.
...because lemme tell ya, having officially reached the "halfway point" today, I can absolutely guarantee you that without NaBloPoMo there is no freaking way I would have been posting EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past 2 weeks!
For over 10 years, I have had one piece of exercise equipment in my home, and I actually use it. I am thankful for my mini trampoline because with it, on days that I can't get outside to exercise due to the weather or the time of day (or lack of clean clothes...), I can still get a workout that has the same aerobic benefits and caloric burn as walking or jogging (depending on the exercise intensity).
Geocaching is a game that started in the USA in the year 2000. It's very similar to Letterboxing, except that GPS coordinates are used instead of hints, and real objects are swapped instead of stamp impressions. I've been Geocaching since 2002 and it's one of my favorite things to do outdoors.
Yeah But What Is It?
It's a sport, it's a game, it's how geeks experience nature :) It's a treasure hunt that's taking place all over the world. Even where you live! -And you probably didn't even know it.
Here's How Geocaching Works:
All over the world, people have hidden "caches." A cache is basically a small collection of objects, usually small inexpensive things like keychains, refrigerator magnets, or small toys. These are usually hidden in small waterproof containers like Tupperware, or small plastic Ziploc bags. Once a cache has been hidden, its coordinates (latitude and longitude) are uploaded to the Geocaching website.
Later, another individual (let's say YOU) logs onto the Geocaching website and types in their postal code or city and country. When they do so, a list of caches in their area pops up on the screen with coordinates and occasionally some additional clues. You copy down all the relevant information, grab your GPS unit and go!
What's A "GPS Unit?"
GPS stands for "Global Positioning System." You've probably heard about them being used in cars to help people navigate to where they're going, but there are also smaller handheld versions that hikers use. That's the kind you'll need. You can pick up a small GPS unit for $100 or so and even cheaper if you find a used one. There are also modules that snap onto Palm Pilots and convert them into GPS units. That's what I use.
Once you have your GPS unit in hand, you type in the coordinates for the cache you're seeking, your GPS unit makese a few calculations, then it shows you how far you are from the cache. It will also display an arrow indicating which direction you need to walk to get closer. As you walk, the GPS unit will continuously update this information. Just walk in the direction of the arrow and make sure your distance from the cache keeps decreasing (if it's increasing you're walking the wrong way!)
Here's the thing though... your GPS unit will get you close, VERY close, but will rarely lead you to the exact spot. When you're really close, the unit's readings will often start jumping around a lot. At that point you're probably within 10 to 20 feet of the cache location. 10-20 feet in all directions can be a lot of ground to cover when you're looking for a small container. And many of them are very well hidden! They have to be so that Non-Geocachers (Sometimes called "Muggles") won't stumble across them by accident. It takes me anywhere from about 5 minutes to one hour to find a cache once I reach the correct location. Once in a rare while, I won't be able to find it at all.
About "Reaching The Correct Location..."
Reaching the correct location is not always as easy as it may seem. To get to the cache coordinates, you'll probably be led on some interesting walks and discover nature paths you never even knew existed. Sometimes mountain climbing skills are in order. Once I needed a boat. Generally the cache description page will give you an idea of how easy or difficult it should be to reach the cache location and will let you know if you'll need any special skills or equipment. Most are quite easy though. Well.... easy to get to, but maybe not always so easy to find once you're there!
What Do You Do Once You Find The Cache?
First make sure nobody else is around. This all has to be done without Non-Cachers seeing what you're doing. Then, when nobody's looking, take the cache container a bit away from where you found it, so as not to give away its location, and have a seat. Open the cache and take a look at what's inside. Next, take one of the objects to keep for yourself, and swap in one of your own (-another magnet, keychain, action figure...). Then sign the "log book" that's usually enclosed in the container and take a moment to read the entries of all the other geeks very nice people that came before you. Then, when nobody's looking, put everything back exactly the way you found it. Then go home, log onto the Geocaching website and say "I FOUND IT!" :) and go look for more!
Geocaching is fun, and it's a really a great way to get outdoors and discover new and beautiful places. I know... You're thinking there's nothing like that where YOU live right? You're wrong! There are caches near you. Don't believe me? Take a look!
The Groundspeak Geocaching Logo is a registered trademark of Groundspeak, Inc.
Used with permission.
I am thankful for animals. All kinds. When I was growing up, I used to love animals more than people. Sometimes I still do.
(Please note that all photographs below are from various sources on the web. See the links below each photo to go to the originals.)
As I was walking along the river yesterday, I saw a small curved neck and head sticking out of the water in the distance. I looked away for a moment, and when I looked back it was gone. Completely gone! Nothing perched on the rocks, nothing flying away, no ripples in the water showing where it had gone. Nothing. It had disappeared.
I'd thought it might have been a bird, but where had it gone? Plus, what was odd about this "supposed bird" was that I hadn't actually seen its body. Just a long curved neck sticking out of the water. So then I thought maybe it had been a snake. Except that I'd never seen a snake stick that far out of the water and curve that way.
"Another Cormorant was swimming around the lagoon doing a Loch Ness monster impersonation."
"...when I first caught sight of a cormorant I wondered if it might not have some connection to the Loch Ness monster since it rides so low in the water that all you usually can see is its head and neck sticking up."
"If cormorants were just a little bit larger, watery legends like the Loch Ness Monster would be easy to explain... The double-crested cormorants ... have an unmistakable serpentine quality as they weave between the waves in their never ending search for food. With a snake-like neck, a fierce, toothy face, and a body that remains largely submerged beneath the surface, a giant-sized cormorant could easily inspire the type of stories that keep landlubbers and children away from the water's edge."
"The Cormorant is interesting to watch because it swims with its body partially submerged and its head and neck held above the water. When swimming it resembles a miniature Loch Ness Monster."
"looking at this, i think the loch ness monster is a giant cormorant :) "
"...a cormorant circles the dock, eyeballing the fish in the buckets and swimming low in the water with a sinister profile of a little Loch Ness Monster."
Ok, so first of all I went out to do laundry and go to the bank, but the bank was closed. So I decided to go on my walk because the other day I swore I saw cachers but they were trying to be discrete so I didn't bother them, so I'd gone home and was going to leave them a message except I couldn't find a cache listing so I'd planned to go back and see which one it was, because I know all the caches in that park, and so I went back today but there were muggles in the area, so I sat down on Maggie Smith for a while and then this squirrel came up to me because apparently if you're going to sit on Maggie Smith you need to pay a toll, and I explained to him that I hadn't realized this and therefore had nothing for him (because I knew Maggie Smith liked baby birds but no one said anything about squirrels) but he didn't seem to understand this and sat right next to me waiting, and I showed him both sides of my hands to see if that would help (because I figured that was the universal language for "I have no food!"), but by now there was no one around so I went back to where I expected to find the cache and ANOTHER squirrel came up to me (because apparently you have to pay a toll there too!) and I found the cache and went back to sit on Maggie Smith, accompanied by the troll under the bridge squirrel, and it was a letterbox! But I didn't bring my stamp, so I put everything back, said goodbye to the squirrels and proceeded on my walk where I saw the Loch Ness Monster and...
What? Did I lose some of you? Yeah... maybe some background information? Ok... I'll write about that in the next few days and I promise you when I'm done everything will be 100% perfectly clear. But I can't do that right now because I have to go switch loads and buy some nuts.
(No I'm not on drugs! :p)
----------------- Follow-Up Posts -----------------
Loch Ness Monster
What Is Geocaching?
What Is Letterboxing?
Maggie Smith's Bench
Caching, Maggie Smith, And The Loch Ness Monster:
The Conclusion
I love water. -And not just because I'm thankful for it ;) I love looking out over an ocean or a river or a lake or a pond. I don't necessarily want to go in the water. I just want to stare at it. Nothing else fills me with as much calmness and awe.
I used to be envious of people who lived on the East Side, because they could walk along the East River any time they wanted. It's true I lived near the Hudson River but there was no way to get to and walk alongside of that. -Or so I thought.
I always thought there was the city, then Riverside Park, then the highway, then a steep drop off, and then the river! I didn't know there was anything on the other side of the highway that was pedestrian friendly -not to mention a way to even safely get across the highway!
(After yesterday's "thankful" post, I realized that I really needed to split that into 2 posts. So today "just the iPod part" :) )
I never would have thought of myself as an "iPod type." I'm not a music junkie and I don't have bazillions of songs on my iPod. In fact I can go for weeks at a time without listening to any music at all. I was perfectly happy with my cassette players. But a few years ago I specifically needed an MP3 player for something (which is another story) so I bought my first iPod. Then once I had it, I used it just because "it was there."
It's not significantly different from using a cassette or CD player except that with those you have to carry the extra music with you as well. With an MP3 player, you just have one unit, and all your music is already with you. There's nothing extra to carry, and of course the player itself is smaller.
Since the iPod was small enough to have in my bag all the time, I started noticing that it came in really handy:
I found two on my keyboard, then found another just now. Obviously I must be rubbing my eyes this morning, but still... three eyelashes? It's like they're all jumping ship!
I always wish on eyelashes and blow them away. I'm not sure where or when I learned to do that. Heck I'll wish on anything... stars, dandelions, birthday candles...
My first and often only wish is always for my friends. The ones that are no longer here. I know people have lots of varying ideas about what happens after death. I'm honestly unsure. Maybe after people die they're at peace. Maybe there's nothingness. Maybe something else happens. I don't know. What I do know is that I'm not 100% sure where and how they are now. So my first and often only wish is always for them. For them to be happy, and peaceful, to feel safe, and to be free of pain. Once in a while (like when two more eyelashes fall out!) I may add a wish for myself, but that's pretty rare. There's just absolutely nothing else in the world that is as important to me than knowing that the people I love are safe and all right. In this life or in any other.
A few months ago, my iPod stopped working for no particular reason. One day I plugged it in to charge, and moments later I was greeted by the sad iPod icon
As I listen to the wind and street noises outside, I'm very aware that I'm inside and not out there -and that I have an inside that is mine to be in. I often look around and think about how incredibly blessed I am to have my own space with my own stuff in it, arranged where and how I want it. (-No "grown ups" or parents or "whoever" telling me what I can and can't do or where I can and can't put things! ;) )
I have my own little section of the world. It's small but it's mine. And it has heat and plumbing and air conditioning and food... and my bed where I lay my head down every night to dream. Barring any natural disasters or acts of war, it's a safe and comfortable place for me and anyone I love to come visit or stay. I don't own my own place. I rent. But right now, I have a home. And a home is a really great thing to have.
Ok, yet another template update. Yes I know... except for the green header boxes on the right, for most of you this looks almost identical to the template I had up this morning. But for anyone with an antiquated browser, this should look a lot better.The text in the blog title may still show a gray box around it for people using IE versions older than version 7. I'll try to implement a workaround for this when I have access to a windows version of IE (hopefully soon.)
[Edit: This should be fixed now.]
So now that I've done this... thoughts? Too bright or busy? Hard to use in some way? Or is it working and looking ok to you? (If you hate something, now is your big chance to tell me! Lol!) Seriously, if the new template is causing problems for anyone I'd like to know. I don't want people leaving because they're having trouble viewing this blog. So please do speak up and let me know what you think.
Thanks! :)
Ok, well it appears that this blog template is not "playing nice" with Internet Explorer.
Here's how this blog is supposed to look.
I'm modifying some template settings. If you see things moving around and changing colors it's not you! It's probably just me playing in the background :) (and if something looks really wonky on your end, please let me know in the comments!)
It's amazing to me that I have access to buildings FILLED with a huge variety of foods, and that for a price I can choose whatever I want and take it home with me any time I want. It's such an amazing commodity.
I'm not talking about having the money to buy food. That's something different. I'm talking about the availability of it. Everything that's involved in making it available and accessible, from the farmers, to the boats, planes, and trucks that ship it, to the stocking...
I know this may not seem like a big deal to some, but TRUST me... when you live in a large city where stores are generally small, crowded, and overpriced, a trip to a large discount warehouse like Costco is like a trip to Mecca.
It's a religious experience complete with miracles, false idols, communion (ok samples), and happy travelers from far off places who occasionally break into spontaneous singing and dancing in the aisles.
But in order to get to Mecca Costco you need a car and an offering, secret handshake membership card. T has both. And she's picking me up in an hour. :)
Without my eyesight it would be so much harder to write, to draw, to see the smiles that melt my heart in the eyes of children and the people I love, and to see bugs in my food.
Last night, as I trolled through looked through profile pictures on NaBloPoMo to try to get some inspiration for mine, I came across this one by andi and thought "Hey! I want one like that!"
