Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Cache-cadian Rep

Well...I'm now the Cache-cadian Rep for this year. Don't know how that happened, lol! Anyway, I was asked by/and or had conversations with several people about the subject, and they brought out that no one was coming forward to do it. So I said I was concerned about doing it because of my illness, but that I would do it if no one else stepped up. I guess that was good enough, and I was promptly nominated. :-p I ran unopposed, and that was that!

Here's what I wrote in my bio on my profile on the WSGA site about this subject:

"My MIL and I have been quite active in our local caching community since we started caching in 2002. We co-hosted the first Geocaching Event in our area, GCG2NC, on June 1, 2003. It was such a cool experience, meeting other cachers in a larger setting. That was one of the first experiences that showed us what a social thing that Geocaching could be. In the years after that, Patudles and I became sort of unofficial representatives for our area, and co-hosted the majority of Events for the next several years, until our group became big enough to have other cachers in the area start helping. It has been so fun to see our small community grow into such a large, vibrant one! Thanks to everyone for all the time and effort that you've put into making our area shine!

So when I was asked to be the Cache-cadian Representative, it wasn't too far of a stretch to say yes. I was hesitant, because of my illness, and other Geocaching duties that I'm involved in, but I'm glad to help out in any way that I can. Thank you so much to everyone that has supported and encouraged me. (hugs)

If you are a part of our Cache-cadian area (roughly North Central Washington - Based in Wenatchee, and includes Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan, and parts of Kittitas and Grant Counties (Central WA North of I-90)), and would like to hold an Event or just help in any way that you can, please contact me! I would love to hear from you."

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I look forward to a great year for our area! I hope that I can attend all the meetings (except the campout, I'm sure), and that with all our great cachers, we can do a lot in this coming year.

During our most recent Event, I'll Be Home For Cachemas!, I had some interesting conversations with several different people. It seems that there is a need to hold another technology Event in our area. We had one a few years ago, and I would like to do one again. I'm thinking about maybe February or March, when people are really bored and there isn't much caching going on. We can learn about GSAK, Pocket Queries, and anything else people need help with. I just need to gather a few people who know what they're doing, make sure we can access the internet (I know my dad has internet, although I don't know if he'll be back from Arizona by then). I would also like a screen that we can hook a laptop up to so we can have a proper class, then perhaps some break-out groups.

I've had a couple people say that they would like to do an Event. I believe that The Navigatorz are still planning on doing a CITO? We can do another CITO as well. It works out if we do one on Make a Difference Day, in October, and one during Earth Day, in April. I think that g-people is a cacher who said they would like to do an Event, but I need to check up on that to make sure. My memory isn't the best, if I don't write it down soon enough. :-D

Well, there's some things already in the workds for this new year, I'm looking forward to it! Thanks again, everybody. :-)

Sunday, December 6, 2009

10 Balloonies



Oh, goodness, I think that I got a little too involved in the DARPA challenge today. :-D Well, I was alone most of the day, and it was a fun diversion.

Groundspeak decided to get Geocachers involved in the DARPA balloon contest. DARPA put up 10 red balloons randomly around the U.S. for one day, and the first person who could submit the location of all 10 balloons won $40,000. Groundspeak thought it would be a fun way to see if we could rally Geocachers around the country and find all the balloons. Groundspeak pledged to use the money, plus $10,000 of their own, to give to DonorsChoose.org. The money would go towards GPS equipment for schools.

I had a great time refreshing Groundspeak's balloon blog, and the forum thread, to see when new balloons popped up. They had a drawing of Signal on the blog, with 10 clear balloons. Every time a confirmed sighting came in, a balloon would be coloured red. I would get excited whenever balloons turned red. I am so easily amused. *rolls eyes*

In the end, MIT won. Groundspeak found 8 balloons, MIT found 10. They advertised that they would pay people something like $2,000 per balloon found. Groundspeak chose not to give incentives, like a free membership or something, because they wanted to win fair and square, without any bribing, which could potentially bite you in the end legally.

Although Groundspeak didn't win the contest, they decided to donate their $10,000 to DonorsChoose.org, anyway. Yay!

I'm proud of Groundspeak for organizing this at the last minute! It's amazing how many people got involved, with just a day or two warning! Our community of cachers is great, and I'm glad that I'm a part of such a large family. Thanks for yet another day of fun, even if I hardly had to leave my bedroom for it. :-p



Courtesy of holazola:



10 Balloonies Blog

Groundspeak Forum DARPA thread

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"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."