Month: November 2024
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Found GC9DV65 GST 55 - Bridge
This checkin to GC9DV65 GST 55 - Bridge reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. QEF for my mum and I on our walk. Not well hidden - was visible from the path. Replaced as found. TFTC.
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Found GC9DV63 GST 54 - Train Signal
This checkin to GC9DV63 GST 54 - Train Signal reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. Found after a short search. We tried playing with the signal but it's rusted solid. SL, TFTC. Greetings from Oxfordshire and Lancashire, UK!
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Did not find GC9DV5M GST 53 - Newcastle West Station
This checkin to GC9DV5M GST 53 - Newcastle West Station reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. We were heading to the 2024-11-22 52 -8 geohashpoint as part of a geohashing holiday but floods breaking the banks of the River Arra blocked our way so we parked up in Newcastle West …
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Geohashing expedition 2024-11-23 52 -8
My mother and I's second attempt at a geohashing expedition in Ireland didn't go so well, being blocked by flooding that washed-out the roads between us and the hashpoint, so we did some geocaching and visited a museum instead.
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I'm on the map! No matter what else my mother and I achieve this week, my name will forever be recorded as the unlocker of the Loughrea graticule in Ireland: https://geohashing.site/geohashing/Ireland
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Abstract map of the Republic of Ireland, represented as coloured graticules (square degrees of latitude and longitude) and highlighted based on whether they have seen successful geohashing expeditions. The Dublin, Carlow and Waterford graticules were so-'unlocked' by 'JRK', and the Loughrea graticule was unlocked by Dan Q, which is further highlighted by a 'celebrating face' emoji.
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Found GC2BY40 Pallas Castle
This checkin to GC2BY40 Pallas Castle reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. My mother and I are visiting the area in search of virgin graticules for geohashing purposes. This morning we set out for the 2024-11-22 53 -8 geohashpoint and found it down in a disused pasture down in the …
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Geohashing expedition 2024-11-22 53 -8
On our first full day in Ireland, my mother and I found our way to a hashpoint in a virgin graticule, by stomping our way through an overgrown abandoned pasture.
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Off to Ireland to hunt for geohashpoints. Wish us luck!
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Dan and his mother standing in an Oxford street, carrying luggage.
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When my mother proposed that we take a holiday together somewhere, and that I could choose the destination, I started by looking at the Geohashing Expeditions Map.
Where, I wondered, could I find a cluster of mostly-land graticules ("square" degree of latitude and longitude) in which nobody had ever logged a successful expedition?
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Somewhat recognisable map of Western Europe, broken up into square degrees of latitude Ave longitude and colour coded based on the number of geohashing expeditions recorded for each. Four contiguous squares on the West coast of Ireland are marked and annotated by hand with the word 'Target!'
I've been geohashing for ten years now and I've never yet scored a "Graticule Unlocked" achievement for being the first to reach any hashpoint in a given graticule.
Over the next week, if the fluctuations of the Dow Jones and the variable Irish weather allow, I'll be changing that.
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Horse-Powered Locomotives
You probably know the story of George Stephenson's Rocket beating its competitors and going to to influence steam locomotive design for generations. But did you know that one of its competitors... was a horse in a carriage?
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On the way to school this morning, the 10-year-old lagged behind to build a small snowman.
On the way back, the dog saw the snowman, which wasn't there when she'd passed earlier. She wanted to make it clear that she Did. Not. Trust. it. She stood back and growled at it for a while, and then, eventually, was persuaded to come closer.
Leaning as far as her little legs could manage, she stretched to carefully sniff it while keeping her distance. She still wasn't entirely happy and ran most of the way to the end of the path to get away from the mysterious cold heap.
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A champagne-coloured French Bulldog wearing a teal jumper leans hard to sniff at (while avoiding getting too close to) a small snowman about the same size as her, on a footpath mostly covered with snow (except for a patch from which the snowman's materials were clearly extracted).
(This same dog earlier this year spent quarter of an hour barking at our wheelbarrow when, unusually, it was left in the middle of the lawn, rather than beside the shed. She doesn't like change!)
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Snuffles in the Snow. This morning's freak snowfall in Oxfordshire is a source of some confusion on this pupper's morning walk.
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A champagne coloured French Bulldog wearing a teal jumper stands at the edge of a snow-covered field.
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I was sceptical when the forecast said there'd be sleet and snow this morning, but sure enough, it's just barely beginning to settle on the skylight of my attic bathroom. 🫢
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Photo from the inside of a skylight, showing icy snow and a fallen brown leaf stuck to the other side. A reflection of a small bathroom sink can just be made out.
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US Constitution and Presidential Assassinations
A thought came to me this morning: if a US President-Elect dies before their inauguration, does their running mate automatically get the Presidency? Finding the answer led me through a warren of interconnected Constitutional Amendments.
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Found GC34G3G Coventry - Hertford Street
This checkin to GC34G3G Coventry - Hertford Street reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. The rest of the family and I are visiting for my youngest's birthday to do a handful of fun activities. Geocaching didn't make the list, but that wasn't gonna stop me finding this QEF while putting …