S Keillan

Not to be too self-promoting, but I thought that some of you might want to check out my recent blog entry on Yahoo! 360°. http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-meJw8N46fq_UGdsdTti_?p=307

There are now four "geocaches" in Second Life, as described on the website slgeocaching.com. I use quotation marks as they aren't found by using the GPS. The general vicinity is given and one searches around that. Yes, it is not the same at going out into the fresh air and finding an actual physical geocache, but if the weather is horrible or something else prevents being out in the wild, this isn't a bad activity at all. At least the analogy is appropriate.

First-to-find, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. That is, it is however the person defines it, and people can have have differing opinions on who an FTF is, even among the first finders. A good example might be where three people with different accounts work together to locate the cache, which is being found for the first time. In general, one person will see the cache before the other two. Rightfully, that person is a first finder. One of that person's caching partners declares a co-FTF, while the other doesn't. In my opinion, all three are correct in their opinions. Still further, the cache owner might have his or her opinion! Even then, the waters become murky when one considers a multi-cache or a puzzle cache. Various stages of a multi might have different first finders. One person might solve a puzzle first, but another spots the cache first. Again, it all comes down to viewpoints. My usual paradigm is I count myself in a co-FTF situation when I list mine, meaning that I share the honours even if I spot it first. As a cache hider, I will also consider a group to be co-FTFs as well. I see it as a more honourable solution than what happened on a recent hide of mine, where there were reports of biting and other physical activity in an insane race to locate the cache. Probably the only real concern is if there is a first-finder prize. I suspect that is something that the group involved works out for themselves. Again, one's mileage may vary.

If you are referring to Tormented Ways in Wabash, Indiana, I have it on my watchlist, but haven't determined the coordinates yet. I'm suspect that several others are working on the puzzle at well.

Hi. Just posting a note that RPW and I have been planting a few new caches in the vicinity of Saturday's Greater Lafayette Pizza Gathering - The Return. For those who are into collecting counties, one of mine is in nearby Benton County, where there has been only one cache before (now archived). Hopefully they'll be approved in time for tomorrow's pocket queries. If not, we'll have the information available via other means.

I remember it shutting down I think a couple of times when I was there in the 90's. It is indeed a rare thing. It certainly is a poor omen for GEOCACHING in INDIANA.

Anyone going GEOCACHING in INDIANA today? I seriously doubt that I will even though I don't have to go into work today. Indeed, I'm not at work today due to a massive winter storm that's shut down the company for the first time in the six-plus years that I've been there. I would have to be totally crazy to go out in this weather. On the other hand, I did find a cache last Saturday in blistering wind and cold, so it's not impossible.

I might have been the one that started this whole thing on the various forums with an innocent question in another topic. For some time I've been watching what was going on, both before and after the cache was retracted. I now tend to favour the verdict that this is a series of unfortunate events that blew out of proportion. Mountain Climber, green gecko, and doobies all have my respect. It's unfortunate that it came to this abysmal conclusion. There are hurt feelings on several fronts. I read from green gecko's elog on his website that he harbours no ill feelings, but he must have some reason for preferring to have his caches remain archived. From my perspective as a puzzle cacher, I am rather saddened that this affair even occurred as there are puzzle caches that I'll no longer have a chance to search for. I respect and even understand GG's position as I might do the same under similar circumstances. I simply hope that this does not occur again and hope for the day that my precious emerges from his shadowy lair to confound us once again.

I am hosting an event out at France Park on Saturday Febuary 17th. It is listed as the Chilly- Chili Open (GCZP3Q). Take a look. Hope to see you there. Just as a blatent plug, two weeks after Team Shydog's event is our pizza gathering in West Lafayette, about an hour drive from Logansport. Check out our event page if you're interested in coming. We've had around 50 people the other two times that we held such a gathering, so there will likely be lots of faces to meet.

I don't know what's going on, but I would much rather have seen those caches get adopted out rather than being archived. The agony of trying to solve them needs to be kept alive! (And I mean that in a good way!) I was thinking that the two Earthcaches that GG archived could easily be revived. However, it might be a good idea to wait a bit before there is a rush to start adopting.

I know that we're all excited by the Colts' win, but I'm wondering what happened to Green Gecko. I just noticed that all of his caches are archived. Does anyone know what's going on?

I'll chime in on the Greater Lafayette Geocache. It's a cache that if you do it in a single day, I would be impressed. It's certainly doable, but it's a long trip to haul and not for the timid.

I've hesitated to say anything before, but now that RPW and CYBret have chimed in, but I too am in total agreement. I could have kept ownership of the cache, but I have washed my hands of it. My analogy would be like the Old Man on the Mountain, the one that's on the New Hampshire State Quarter. Despite their best efforts to keep it in place, it ultimately collapsed to rubble, and while the state could spend globs of money to erect a replica, it just wouldn't be the same. In any case, I can understand his reasoning. It's hard to let go of something that has that much history to it. I simply feel that it should be confined to history rather than have this undead impostor.

I was the first to send an R.S.V.P. See everyone there in May.

It seems that the Boilermaker Cache has risen from the dead. Deermark came up last weekend and performed some feat of arcane magicks and resurrected the cache from oblivion. As a result, I'm letting him adopt the cache as it's his opus at this point.

Thanks, SDT, for the accolades. Hopefully I'll get to put out some more ISQs in the near future if this cold weather ever gets warmer.

I'm certainly looking forward to them. Perhaps I need to get some more puzzle caches out.

I haven't been active on the forums in a while, generally returning from a caching malaise that had me mostly inactive for a few months. Anyway, my first post in a while brings some sad news. The Boilermaker Cache, the second oldest geocache in the state of Indiana, has been regretably archived. Given that its hiding spot was demolished some time last October, there's no way that a replacement cache could be put back into place, and no true nearby spots either. (It's open farmland for some distance.) I could have put out another cache several kilometres away, but it just wouldn't have been the same. The only thing that would have been preserved was the waypoint (GCB8). I've fixed up the cache page into something of a memorial to the historic cache. Feel free to visit and leave any memories or thoughts on the cache.

I'm thinking that if there is enough interest, perhaps a large lot could be purchased for distribution at the Fall Picnic. Wait a second, what do I mean by if?

To the contrary, there will be a vote on splitting shares at the next shareholders meeting. Companies in trouble don't have that luxury.

For those who are interested, I opened up a subscriber-only cache to everyone. It's my Rick, This One's For You puzzle cache, placed in honour of RPW, who still hasn't found it after six months. (I solved his cache in my honour in six hours. ) Who will be second-to-find, after Joypa that is?

I wish that Cyrillic characters were available, at least in the logs. There's a 5-star puzzle cache within a two-hour drive (Gorky Park) that I would love to post notes in Russian (translated via Babelfish). Also, I wanted to have a cache with micro written in Greek letters, but no such luck. Fortunately, the mu (micro symbol) is available and I have a cache that uses that.

My user name is my first and second names transliterated from the Zerubian language. (It's one that I am attempting to develop for creative excursions, such as science fiction, so it's not real...yet, but it might show up in a puzzle cache of mine. ) The more direct connection is that I was studying physical chemistry in graduate school, and one of the big equations in that field is S=k ln W. One year, I had a vanity plate, S K LN W, and given that my first name is Kelly and last name starts with W, a connection was made. The KLN part simply evolved into Keillan (KAY-lin), and the "S" gives it a more distinct feel. It could be more insane as I might have used my Zerubian third name, Ejyoszi (meaning Light of the Midnight Star).

Congratulations, oh conveyor of the Compass Rose.

Allow me to add my accolades.