CacheCrazy.Com

WELCOME TO THIRSTY THURSDAY!!!

A big congratulations go out to my daughter Kyo-Kat, aka Katy Alfred.




My daughter just graduated from Luzerne County Community College with her Associates of Applied Science in Computer Graphic Design. I am so proud of her.

Katy started her degree four years ago while still being homeschooled. That's right, she was attending college while still going to high school. This is called being dual-enrolled. She then graduated from high school in 2010 and started attending college full time.  She was able to attend college with two of her homeschool friends that are pictured here.

               Kyo-Kat, David, and Liz

Katy did all of this while also working at the Assisted Living Facility where I work. She had moved up from being a Server to being Head Waitress. This really made her dad quite proud. She has always been my little Princess and it was a pleasure to see her finally walk across the platform to receive her diploma after all of her hard work.

                  Katy receiving her diploma
After the ceremony we were able to go out and get some pictures with her friends and one of her professors.


              Eddie, Liz, Katy, and Carl.

               Katy and our little Simba kitten.

Please help me to congratulate my daughter Kyo-Kat for her accomplishments. Nice job Katy.

This is from Hedge's blog "Hedge's Ramblinz" posted on June 17th , 2008, enjoy!


I'm catching myself getting crotchety about caching. Maybe I'm a throwback to another caching day.


From QuestMaster, not me, but I cheer and cry with every line:


>> Geocaching just isn't what it used to be.
I remember when it was more about location, location, location and less about numbers, numbers, numbers.
I remember when it was more about going places and seeing things.
I remember when it was less about finding stuff and how many.
I remember when nobody cared about being first.
I remember when people hid caches one at a time.
I remember when there was less quantity and more quality.
I remember when geocaching was more hiking in the woods and less riding around in the car.
I remember when there were no micros and nobody hid caches in parking lots.
I remember when we didn't have to practice "stealth" or play the dodge the muggle game.
I remember when geocachers were more outdoorsy and less nerdy.
I remember when caches were caches (i.e. supposed to be found) instead of "evil" hides.
I remember when geocaching was run more like a hobby and less like a business.
I remember when there were fewer rules and a lot less politics.
I remember when nobody got banned for writing a silly poem.
I remember when geocaching was a lot more fun.


I don't have a long caching past, I ain't been around all that long. But I am the future of caching. I'm gonna do my part to win back the day one cache at a time.

Today marks the 500th post at CacheCrazy.Com and it's quite a big deal for me! When I started CacheCrazy I knew what I wanted it to be but needed help from others to make it happen. Today, I have realized my dream and I have had the good fortune to work with such a talented and fun team. We have had so many great articles to share with our readers and each other and we are going strong.


To all of the Admin Authors, Honorary Authors, guest blogger's, commenters and readers alike, I sincerely thank you! Without all of you CacheCrazy.Com would still just be an idea and not a reality (which would just drive me nuts). You have given it a life of it's own and I have done my best to build a sustainable network of talented people to keep it alive and well. 


From the bottom of my heart and from the top of the highest mountain I yell, "Thank you for being a part of the success that we all enjoy! CacheCrazy.Com is not MY blog, it's OUR blog and that's the way it's going to stay! FOREVER..............."

I'm all for getting out in the countryside and getting away from those magnetic nanos in towns and cities, well I look a right plonker walking around the town with Lady-Magpie's hat on, walking pole and rucksack on my back, it certainly turns heads. What I do enjoy is the cache that someone has really taken time thinking out with clever hides and then going about organising it.

So lets look at one great example that I have recently found. Not only did this give me a headache but resulted in me making several visits and finally a desperate phone-call to a caching colleague.


Now here we have what looks like a simple little bridge crossing a stream, it then goes over a stile before entering a field. I have  been to many such bridges with clues like "Don't let The Troll get you" or " Where else would you hide it". Simple answer - IT'S UNDER THE BRIDGE !!

Visit No. 1 - I resorted to the Clue "Look under and then look over". I took my mature, old rotund body as close to the stream as possible waiting for the loud splash as I fall in. Lowering my head I looking left and right to the underside ends of the bridge. Nothing at all, OK I better fumble around the vegetation around the ends of the bridge, first by the water hydrant sign (yellow H), and ended up sting my arms everywhere. Plan two was go over to the other end and climbed the stile, more fondling of vegetation followed where I ripped my arms to shreds this time with the hawthorn bushes. I'm not giving up I ranted under my breath, I will not be defeated I'm British, well until 20 minutes later I uttered my ladylike words "Sod it" and decided to go home just to tend to my wounds.

Visit No. 2 - I will not be defeated and reading other logs I knew it's still there, how are they finding it ? I began to realise this must be something special as the first 5 finds had award a favourite point, and comments like, "That's different", or "What a clever idea" had been log, what was I missing.

Again I pushed my head under the bridge but couldn't see anything again, both looking left and right. It can't be on top of the bridge because the clue said look under !! Another long search and I decided to phone a friend who I knew had found it (I know I shouldn't, but I am a lone caching pensioner. Would you believe it Sods Law took over and my mobile didn't have a signal in that area, good job I hadn't fallen in the brook then wasn't it. I therefore departed to find my car and drive to a village where there was a signal to make my desperate call to Sly2. Now we don't like to give too much help to each other so all she said was you need to get right down in the stream and stand on a stone to get a good view of the underside of the bridge.

Visit No. 3 - I returned to the flipping bridge and carefully climbed into the stream bed while standing on a stone to keep my feet above water, there was something there and how the hell hadn't I seen it. Well every time I had looked under the bridge, the top of my head was in line with it and every time I turned my head left and right I wouldn't have seen it.


Fixed to the underside were 2 clips that held this tool, was this the cache or not. I retrieved it and after examination I stood looking at the bridge to see what I could do with it. Now come on you readers, behave yourselves with your ideas and keep this clean. My brain went into overload as it suddenly came to me.

The metal end of the gadget was just smaller than the inside diameter of the handrail, I've always been someone who doesn't mind sticking things into dark orifices just to see what happens. I slowly slide the tool up until I felt a little click and when I pulled it out again there was a 35mm film canister with a magnet fixed to the bottom. The cache was found and with great satisfaction I signed the log, you then had to reverse the tool using the plastic end to push the cache back up the tube to it's hidding place.

Remembering to return the tool to the clips under the bridge I also decided to give it a favourite post, even though it had given me so much hassle.

What would you believe was the name of this cache - "Bridge or Poker", the name of two extremely hard card games and also reference to the actual bridge and the tool the owner had called  a poker. If you enjoyed this story I am soon going out for another known crafty cache, watch this space.


See this post on Heather's Blog, The Mad Geocaching Pensioner

Another quality post by Kim at Snug Harbor Bay

One of the best things about being self-employed is that I can pretty much schedule my own hours.  Plus, I work with my husband, so if I want to take a day off and play hookey, it's usually pretty easy to do unless the snow is flying.  Today is the last day of my sisters visit, so we took off to do a couple more caches since it was such a nice day.  The first one we did was called "Caching in on BMPs" and it was a 4 stage cache.  That mean we had to go to 4 different locations and find a cache container and figure out clues to the next stage.  This is part of the cache description from the cache page:

This geocache is sponsored by the Lake County, Illinois Stormwater Management Commission (SMC). The objective of this multi-cache is to find 4 different caches and learn about Best Management Practices (BMPs) along the way. Stormwater BMPs are acceptable practices designed to improve water quality by preventing or reducing stormwater runoff pollution, conserving water and recharging the aquifer.

We head out to stage one, which is at:
On our hike to the cache, we passed a few silo's and a cistern....


When we reached the cache site, this is what we found.  Can you guess where the cache was hidden?

If you guessed that it was hidden inside this birdhouse you were correct and you have what is known as "good geosense."

Inside the cache box was a clue and some co-ordinates for where we were to go next....
Stage 2 was at this little bridge over a creek and we had to locate the 2nd box with another set of clues...

Stage 3 was a hike thru the forest, a little over a mile round trip, where we had to go to this bridge and get some information off of the bridge tag...


Here is the cache at the final stage....After that we went to the Lake County Office and we each received this coin as a keepsake.
It was a really nice morning, the sun was shining and temperatures climbed up to about 50 degrees, so it was a great way to spend some time with my family.  The whole 4 stage cache only  took us about an hour and a half to do, we learned all about BMP's and we got a collectible coin on top of it!

A funny thing happened to me recently, while out geocaching.  I found the same cache container on two successive cache finds.  No, not just the same size container.  It was the EXACT container.  It was on two different days, in two different counties, in two different states.  Under normal circumstances, I'd think that was pretty cool.  Heck, even writing that opening sequence makes it sound pretty cool.

It wasn't.  Let me elaborate.

Allow me to submit, for your approval, the fake plastic rock geocache.  I'm sure at one point in time, this was the latest innovation in cool cache containers.  Many a log surely were written about how "I've never seen anything like this before, awesome job!  TNLNSLTFTCLMFAOLOLTTYL!"  This isn't a knock on the rock cache.  It's stood the test of time, and truth be told, it's still a cool cache container.  I have no problem coming across them from time to time.


The first fake rock cache find was in a park in New Jersey.  Ground zero was at the bottom of a slope, about 100 feet in the woods from an open trail.  There were quite a few potential hiding places, and judging from the ratings, I might have to climb the slope.  The hint for this cache wasn't of much use.  If you've ever read my theory on cache ratings, you'll understand why I thought this one might be a fake something-or-another.  The difficulty rating was a four.  The terrain rating (3) led me to believe I wasn't climbing a tree, and most likely wasn't climbing to the top of the slope.  I concentrated my search to the beaten paths on either side of the large rock face.  I had no luck with the right side of the rock face.  There were no nooks or crannies with obvious hiding spaces, nor was there anything out of the ordinary.  It was shortly after I focused my attention to the left side when I saw a couple baseball-sized stones sitting about eye-high.  Bingo!  One of the stones was our aforementioned fake rock geocache.  I found this to be a great hide.  There were dozens of potential hiding spots, yet the "rock" was sitting there, in plain sight.  A well placed 4/3 rating on this one, indeed!

Cool cache container...or torture device?

A few days later I hunt for another geocache, this time in Pennsylvania.  The ratings were a 3/2, I believe.  Having read both the description and hint prior to arriving, I had a gut feeling what I was getting myself into.  Upon arriving at ground zero, my first thought was "The cache owner should have just written 'Here's 1,000 rocks, find the fake one!;"  That's exactly what I was doing for a half of an hour-fishing for a fake rock amongst a bed of rocks.  I don't know what was more aggravating- the fact the cache was where it was, and what it was, or my stubbornness keeping me looking for a stupid piece of molded plastic for so long.

Semi-pot-kettle-black alert:  I own a cache hidden in a rock bed.  It's not a rock, though, and the rock it's under is marked.

As my fiance can attest to, I have a temper.  I was so worked up after finding that cache that I had to go find ANOTHER cache to restore my faith in cache hiders everywhere.  I'm not cache crazy, am I?

Here were two identical cache containers, yet the method in which they were hidden were completely different, and as such, had different difficulty ratings.  Perhaps I can't fault the cache owner of the second cache.  It was a truly evil hide, and I'm sure other cachers would not only spend more time searching, but feel differently about their search.  I found it to be a frustrating waste of time.

Have you ever come across anything similar, where like caches hidden in a different manner, made for unique caching experiences?

WELCOME TO THIRSTY THURSDAY!

Grab a cup of punch, sit back and help us celebrate our son's graduation.





Well he finally did it. Our son, Carl, aka Bigaljr1693, graduated from High School. Carl is our fourth graduate from our Home School (Alfred Academy). We are very proud of him for this accomplishment. It has not always been easy for him, but he succeeded.

I must say that a big thank you goes to my wife for her many years of dedication to our children in teaching them at home. Without her none of this would be possible. Okay, so I am the principal, but she has done 99% of the teaching.

                   She's not short; he's just tall

We were fortunate to be able to attend the Christian Homeschool Association of PA (CHAP) convention in Harrisburg where my son was able to participate with 14 other homeschool seniors in a graduation ceremony. Out of all 15 students he was one of them asked to give a speech and I must say he did very well.

         Carl was always a HEAD above the rest

               And you thought I was tall



We are thankful that God has allowed us to teach all of our kids at home and now we only have one more to go. Somehow I think the next four years are going to fly by. In September our son will be attending Word of Life Bible Institute in Schroon Lake, NY. Yes we are proud of him and his accomplishments.

WAY TO GO CARL!!!!! WE KNEW YOU COULD DO IT.
You're the best and I know God is not finished with you yet.

In the never ending quest to enjoy life to it's fullest, the theme is, "SAFETY FIRST". Today our new friend and safety adviser at CacheCrazy.Com, Johnnygeo tells us very clearly that, skirt lifting may be hazardous to your health! Let's all learn a little and play it safe! 
Disclaimer

Name: Johnnygeo

Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

I enjoy travel, cycling, trail running, Okinawan karate and Geocaching. 

I work for a large power utility company as a Health & Safety Professional, "The Safety Guy". I graduated at the University of Alberta in Occupational Health & Safety in 2008. 

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been on a health kick.  I decided to lose weight, in anticipation of our upcoming vacation and wedding in Myrtle Beach.  A month in, I'm down about twelve pounds, and, overall, I'm satisfied with my progress.   I've been tempted to eat foods I'm trying to avoid, but my will power has been strong.  Also, I've found time to work in regular two to three miles walks.  My strategy there is to exercise on days I know I'll be eating more.

I'm also on a hunt for new low-calorie, good tasting meals.  I save my cooking experiments for Fridays, as I'm the only one in the house, and therefore the only one who suffers if my cooking goes awry.  Last week I stumbled upon a recipe which turned out really well.  By well I mean I didn't burn the house down.

Chicken with Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce

Prep Time-20 minutes
Ready In- 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 small (4 oz.) boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (10 ounce) tub Philadelphia Tomato Basil Cooking Creme Cream Cheese Product
2 tablespoons water


Directions

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat.  Add chicken; cook 6 to 7 minutes on each side or until done (170 degrees F).  Transfer to plate; cover to keep warm.
2. Add garlic to skillet; cook and stir 1 minute.  Add Cooking Creme and water; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through.
3. Spoon sauce over chicken.

Minced Garlic.

Don't forget to trim the fat!

Great with a side of fresh cut beans.

Cream cheese wedges.

The finished product!

WELCOME TO THIRSTY THURSDAY!!

Grab a cup of coffee, or tea, sit back and listen carefully.



With the onset of warmer weather there are some critters that are beginning to come out and about. Of these critters there are a few that are in need of some respect. The first of these critters is the Northern Copperhead.



The Northern Copperhead is one of three poisonous rattlesnakes of PA. It is also PA's most abundant rattlesnake.  They range in size from 24 inches to 36 inches. Here is some interesting reading on them.


Factors That Limit the Northern Copperhead in Northern Pennsylvania
By: Philip Dunning

Introduction:
The Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen) is a medium sized stout bodied snake in the family Viperidae, subfamily Crotalinae, which is the same subfamily as the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). The dorsal surface has 12-21 reddish brown hourglass bands which narrow at the midline of the back and widen towards the ventral scales. The background color is paler than the crossbands and ranges from brown to pink.



Neonate northern copperheads have a yellow to yellowish green tail used for caudal luring; this coloration darkens with growth (Gloyd and Conant 1990). Preferred habitat for the northern copperhead is open rocky slopes on the south side of steep inclines (Reinert 1984). They can also be found on wooded hillsides with some open rock and summering in valleys and rocky meadows or powerlines. The annual activity cycle extends from late April through October.

The copperhead has a large range within Pennsylvania. They can be found in scattered populations throughout much of the lower two-thirds of the state. They are not found in the northern tier counties.


Range

A total of 34 copperheads were observed at field sites during this study. Most copperheads were seen in June or July, with a noticeable decline in August and September. Snakes were seen most frequently under partly cloudy conditions. A total of
16 snakes were caught and processed. Females (N=9) were captured more frequently than males (N=7). Males were larger than females in length, weight, and tail length. All copperheads were found on south/southeast facing slopes. Elevations that copperheads were found ranged from 600-1200 feet, with most being seen from 900-1000 feet. The “ideal” condition, which is the averages of all data gathered, that copperheads were observed would be June 21st, at about 2:08 PM. The average temperature would be 26.2 degrees Celsius, and the weather would be partly cloudy. This “ideal” situation was used to rank each outing and rank each site based on standard deviations away from this
average.  Once sites were weighted based on this model, the carbon county sites were ranked highest, with the northern sites of wyoming and pike counties being ranked the lowest.

Bibliography:
Brattstrom, B.H. 1965. Body Temperature of Reptiles. The American Midland Naturalist, 73 (2): 376-422.
Gloyd, H.K., and R. Conant. 1990. Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex. The Society for the Study of Amphibian and Reptiles, Oxford, Ohio.
Reinert, H.K. 1984a. Habitat separation between sympatric snake populations. Ecology 65: 478-486.




If your out caching, or hiking, please beware that this snake could be out there too. Show them some respect and never try to handle them or disturb them in any way. You can read about my other adventures in Red Next To Yellow.  Be Safe everyone.