Has it really been a year?

Wow, I've had this blog well over a year now and it has been a lot of fun and I'm working on blogging more when I can. I think I reach times were I'm just a bit to busy to write on some topics. I know I've had a few more ideas at times and just never got them out. But I was looking back and noticed that I've had this thing going for over a year now. Not that it is a great source of information and I don't think I have a huge following. Still I'm liking it and plan to keep it going. Maybe it will just be a mind dump for me or a platform to clear my head, what ever it is, I'll blog on just the same.

A year ago was the last day I had a Soda of any shape or form. Now that is really a mile stone for me. Sodas are really plain evil in a can or at a restaurant even worse. I can say that I can leave with out them and have not really missed them at all. It's tough to give up for the first few weeks and its not like I haven't gone days with out them before. But when I use to have them or drink around 3 or more large glasses in one sitting, while out to eat for dinner; you can see how fast they add up. They say if you give up 1 a day in a year you will have lost 10 pounds and I can say that is probably acurate. I'm not sure, but I think I'll keep them off my list of drinks awhile longer, its been so long already I could try and go for two years.

It's Geo-FEVR

So I'm sitting at work and I've heard my buddies talk about this before and think, its sounds cool. Then they talk about it again some more and I start asking questions this time. "This Geocaching is going on all over the place you say?" People equipped with a GPS device, go to a web site and find the location to a hidden Cache (Treasure) at remote location and then head out to discover what is inside.

"Yes! and they are all over and in every park near you.", is the reply that I get to my question. So I say, "No way, your joking". So we pull up Geocaching.Com and punch in the zip code and take a look at the map. My jaw drops as I see all the parks near my house have at least one ore more of these hidden treasures. I'm just in surprise to think that something like this is as big and wide spread.

So as you can see in a sample of what to find in DFW alone, this is a pretty huge activity taking place in our own backyards so to speak. If I went deeper into one of the cities more would pop up on the screen. Clearly enough treasure to keep the busiest of treasure hunters busy for many days to come. In fact people go on trips to places and search for treasures in other locations and this takes place on a global scale as well.

A little bit about the treasures and how it works. In most cases the items you find are tiny little trinkets and this is more of a trade for trade system. The idea is to have fun looking and trying to find these locations. Once you arrive you have to start searching and trying to find something that is hidden and looks like its part of the location. When you have found the hidden treasure, you sign a log in most cases and that is cool as well, to see how many people have come before you. Last you select a small trinket and leave a small trinket in its place for the next group of hunters.

Ok, I'm hooked at this point and decide to start researching what it takes to get started. My daughter is excited and wants to find treasure and my wife is even on board. We start to look at GPS units and want to start searching. My wife mentions to me about a low-tech version called Letterboxing and where people just leave directions to the location, this was for those who don't want to spend money on a GPS and is more in line with the days before GPS devices as well. Sure enough this has a huge following as well and we decide to give some of those a try, at least till we can get a GPS and really start hunting.

The idea with Letterboxing is you still search, but you keep a log book and bring a stamp & inkpad with you. At the treasure location you will find a log book and a stamp. You will make your entry and stamp the treasure log and then use the stamp at the location to stamp your book with your find. People carve their own stamps in a lot of cases. Its not as hi-tech as Geocaching, but some of these are hybrids and show up in both. The better the directions, the easier to find the location. Granted GPS will get you in most cases, with in 10 feet of your prize, but you still will need to look.

The last thing I came across is called Bookcrossing and this is where you Read a Book, Register on the Site, and then Release the book for others to find. Some of these items are turning up in the Geocache locations as well. You take the book, read it and then pass it on after logging its find on the site.

The best thing about the whole sport, is it gets you outside and you exercise your mind and body. Plus its fun seeing your little ones eyes light up as they find the treasure hidden out in the parks. You can spend as little or as much money as you want, but the rewards in the end, I don't think a value can be really set. Happy hunting if you decide to join in.

Team F.E.V.R.

Back in the USA

So my little brother and sister-in-law took a vacation to Europe. A great feet on his part to finally make a trip back to Europe. So for 17 days I've been house & dog sitting and could use a vacation myself.

Habit is formed around 3 weeks of repeating the same process over and over. I firmly believe this, since their return, I can't help but feel that I'm suppose to head over to his house to gather mail and take care of the dogs.

I was ready for them to return and started looking around at was to track the flight progress. I found a few sites that gave basic information and even found a decent site that showed a basic image of the planes location. I end up at a really cool site that took advantage of Google Earth and gave a some what detailed and 3-d view of the flight in from Paris to Chicago.

Its really nice to rotate and change the elevation and see the details as to elevation of the flight and speed of travel. Here you can see the plane making its way towards Chicago's International Airport. You can even get detailed information on other planes in the area as well.

I was lucky to view this for free online, it just so happened that the Chicago Airport tracking is free from the site I was visiting. They offer a service for all airports and flights for around $9.95 a month. The only thing is I can't see where I would need to pay for a service like this really. I suppose some business out there might have a need for information like this and I only found out the additional costs after trying to watch his flight from Chicago to DFW later that evening.

Here's a shot of the plane making a turn back towards the airport for final approach and landing. Was neat to tell my brother about how I watched all of this and the detail. He asked me if they made a turn or circle and I said they sure did. It was also cool to watch all the other planes line up for their turn at landing.

Here is a head on shot of the plane coming in for its landing. For some reason the site stopped updating on the landing and appeared to maintain a holding pattern. I later saw on the Airline site that the plane had made its landing. Oh well the end of watching flights with Google Earth, I suppose at some point I could decide and watch some other flights for the fun of it, if I get that bored I would say.

Here is a pretty cool view from above at the Chicago International airport. Its pretty cool to see some of the really detailed photos of some of the larger cities. I showed my daughter a really cool view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, thanks to Google Earth. I think some day I'll need to take her in person. Check out Google Earth sometime and then do a search on tracking flights with Google Earth.