My personal blog
7/19/14
Is my cup starting to runneth
over? At times I think so and yet I eagerly refill it as soon as even the
slightest hint of rim appears. This is no mere 3 oz. Dixie cup, either.
My cup here would be more of the 52 oz. “bubba mug”
variety. I’ve never been one to be satisfied with a sampler size of anything,
especially when it comes to having fun. I’m referring to, of course, the way I
choose to spend my “spare” time.
Hobbies….we all have ‘em, right?
Some of us are content with one or two, while others, like me, aren’t satisfied
unless every spare minute of every day could be taken up with something. The
immediate reference that comes to my mind is Chet
Morton, friend of the Hardy Boys. Life is full of irony and at times I’m
astounded by how much life and art are so closely intertwined.
Chet has been described as a
freckle-faced, rotund lad that loves to eat. Generally, each new Hardy Boys
mystery will have Chet taking on a new hobby. I’m surprised my middle name is
Charles instead of Chet. Then again, a friend of mine from my college days,
John Myers, said I’d make the perfect Hobbit. I beg to differ, though, in that
I can’t be the perfect hobbit. I
don’t care for mushrooms nor do I smoke. Other than that, though….
As usual, I digress, but no
surprise there, right?
Let’s take a look at what I’ve
done in the past, and see what I’m up to now. In college, the same John who
deemed me Hobbit worthy introduced me to Dungeons
and Dragons. Up to that point, I had only heard about it, but never played
it. I was reluctant to play, though, as I wasn’t one of “those weird, oddball
types” that I heard made the vast majority of players. Hey, these were some of
my friends, and they were cool! Recently I read the book Of
Dice and Men, which is a history of the game. I recommend it to anyone
curious about “those weird, oddball types,” as I think you’ll find that that’s
really not the case, at least any more. I haven’t played since college, but I
think I see a bit of rim forming on my bubba mug. Any unemployed dungeon
masters out there?
What else have I spent lots of
time and money doing since D&D? I’ve had fun skydiving, playing golf and
managing stage productions at a local theatre. Please, don’t bother asking the
standard question: “Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane?”
The short answer to that is “There’s no such thing as a perfectly good airplane.” Seriously. Take a look at most jump
planes and you’ll probably agree. Those who saw my car when I was skydiving and
playing golf regularly were often amused to see two decals on my back
window….one for the US Parachute Association and one for the US Golf
Association. I bet my previous
blog about my “schizo” music makes much
more sense now, doesn’t it? Would it surprise you to know what I’m listening to
right now as I write this blog? Probably not.
Technology’s rapid advance not only
creates new jobs, increases productivity and generally enhances life, it also
creates new ways to have fun. Two items, the GPS receiver and the “smartphone”
demonstrate what I’m referring to. Once Selective Availability
was discontinued in 2000, civilian GPS units now had the ability to locate its
position within a circle of about 9 feet….anywhere on the planet. This created
many opportunities for entrepreneurs to take advantage of such accuracy. Enter geocaching. I first discovered geocaching
while looking online for accessories for my first GPS unit, a Magellan
GPS 315 (now considered obsolete). Geocaching is essentially a worldwide
“treasure hunt.” I don’t know the original source of this, but my favorite
description of geocaching is “utilizing billion dollar US government satellite
technology to find Tupperware hidden in the woods.” I created my geocaching
profile in May of 2003 with the name “Lefty Writer” (sound familiar?). Compared
to many other cachers, I don’t have near the number of cache finds as they do,
but both Cindy and I have fun. We’ve found caches in 14 states and 8 countries.
One of the first things I do when we book a cruise is to search for caches near
the cruise terminal. Admittedly, we don’t cache as much as when we first
started, but we still enjoy the occasional foray into the woods, parks or urban
jungle.
I don’t know that I would call
cruising a hobby as much as I just call it “vacation.” It’s a good way to get
us to some really awesome dive spots in the Caribbean. Now that there are scuba
caches, we can combine two hobbies. My first scuba cache find was at Mammoth Lake in Clute. What a cool
overlap, huh? Caching and diving. Hold that thought, though, as I think you’ll
see there’s gonna be even more overlapping.
Nowadays, it’s hard to find a cell
phone that isn’t a “smartphone.” Yes, there are some basic cell phones still
available, but one really has to look for it. Smartphone technology has evolved
by leaps and bounds in a short time. I can only imagine what will be available
in 5 years. For now, though, I have everything I need with my phone, including
GPS navigation. I still take my standalone GPS receiver with me when traveling
or caching, though. Yes, even this device, a Garmin
eTrex Vista HCx has been discontinued by the manufacturer. I now use this
more to generate a track log of our trip and download it to Google Earth.
Who isn’t tired of
hearing/seeing/reading: “There’s an app for that.” in our everyday lives? I’m
not against useful or fun apps, not at all…..just that goofy phrase. In July of
2011, a game called Munzee was
created. Munzee is very similar to geocaching, but instead of an actual
container to find, one looks for a specific sticker with a QR code on it. The player then
scans this code with their phone to claim the find. I created an account
shortly after the game went live and to date have found exactly ONE Munzee.
Yes, you read that correctly…..one. Oftentimes a Munzee is very close to a
geocache, so those who enjoy these types of games can do both at once. I don’t
know why I never really got into Munzee, but my account is still active and I
may start doing more of this. You’ll see why shortly.
Late last year a new smartphone
based game was released called Ingress. Leave it to me
to only discover this game in the last week….seven months later! Actually, my
sister Victoria found out about it from her co-workers and let me know about
it. This game has an extensive science fiction back story and is location based
like geocaching and Munzee. Of course I had to create an account (Join the
resistance!) and start playing, right? Just as with geocaching, I now look on a
map to see where “portals” are as I plan a cruise or a trip to the local
library or grocery store.
What I noticed when checking out
the various game maps is the incredible overlap between them all. My local
library has all three in close proximity. I’ve noticed several other locations
where all three games have their own destination in the same place.
The only downside to the Munzee
and Ingress games is that being smartphone based, it will limit my game playing to the US. I
don’t want to pay international roaming and data charges looking for Munzees or
portals in Caribbean ports. I can download caches to my GPS receiver and log my
finds when I get back, but can’t really do this with the other games. I guess
I’ll just have to be satisfied with diving and caching then. Wow, how will I
cope?
Until next time……
carpe cerevisi
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