If you read my blog or my board posts, you know I have this small "issue" with J Walkers boxes. They really challenge me for some reason, and at times I find myself talking to Trivia Daddy in the woods.
Like most mornings, I log onto AQ check the boards, new boxes, mail, etc.
AND THERE IT WAS - my Boxing of Age moment!
I got an email from Trivia Daddy, I was able to find a box he could not !
I know I sat here with a huge smile on my face.
I was never really sure when you in the eyes of other boxers would lose your "newbie" status, but to me that was my moment, maybe not to others, but to me that was my boxing of age moment !
thanks td
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Caught inky handed ....
The Troll and the "calf" were off to Clemson with tickets in hand for the baseball game, all dressed in orange, so much so they almost hurt your eyes looking at them. Last minute they invited me to "ride along" so I could box in Clemson while they went to the game, I was not ready, nor prepared (read no clues printed), and they really did not want to wait on me so I sent them along their way. With the house to myself and about 1,000 things to do, I made the decision to blow off all the things I should be doing and go run out for a few local boxes and enjoy the day by myself. It was such a beautiful day .....and I would just get a few and be back and do my chores.
Things were crowded, so I selected a unpopular trail that I knew would not have a mass of people around. I always find J Walkers' boxes rewarding as they normally are a challenge for me, don't know what it is, we just don't vibe the same I guess (and I mean this in a WONDERFUL way). I found 3 of the 4 I went in search of, which is GREAT, now it was not a 1,2,3 find, I retraced a lot of steps, read clues multiple times, talked to myself, etc. Now that I sit here writing this, I think back to the moments and yeah I know I am nuts, but I find myself standing there sometimes, clues in hand, and talking out loud to Trivia Daddy saying things like:
"OK Trivia Daddy, I am NOT GETTING THIS !"
"HELP ME HERE ..... what did you see that I am not seeing"
"OK I know how to use a compass and this is 310 degrees and NO BOX, Trivia Daddy, why are your boxes so hard for me !"
If anyone walked along the trail and saw this crazy person with a piece of paper in hand, searching for things under logs, and talking out loud to NO ONE, they would run to the nearest park employee and have someone come take me out of the woods! Like I said I love the challenge that I have with his boxes, and they are a great reward for me when I find them. SO like I said 3 out of the 4 is GREAT for me, and it was a beautiful day, quiet and peaceful (when I was not talking to trivia daddy that is ) and did not see another soul on the trail even though there were TONS of people in the park.
On my way out, as unbelievable as it was, the overlook was empty. I parked all the way at the end, facing the opposite direction of the view, and ran to grab the box. I was sitting in the car, stamping in, and a car drives past. It gets all the way past the overlook and stops and starts reversing. I watch it for a minute in my mirrors, then put my head back down to finish my stamping. I look in my mirror again and I notice a women walking up to my car.....
BUSTED ....
Caught inky handed ................
I yell out the window "Are you trying to spy on me ???"
It was Kya and Karver ..... :O)
No great adventure tales to tell of the day.... sorry ..... just a nice quiet day of boxing !
Things were crowded, so I selected a unpopular trail that I knew would not have a mass of people around. I always find J Walkers' boxes rewarding as they normally are a challenge for me, don't know what it is, we just don't vibe the same I guess (and I mean this in a WONDERFUL way). I found 3 of the 4 I went in search of, which is GREAT, now it was not a 1,2,3 find, I retraced a lot of steps, read clues multiple times, talked to myself, etc. Now that I sit here writing this, I think back to the moments and yeah I know I am nuts, but I find myself standing there sometimes, clues in hand, and talking out loud to Trivia Daddy saying things like:
"OK Trivia Daddy, I am NOT GETTING THIS !"
"HELP ME HERE ..... what did you see that I am not seeing"
"OK I know how to use a compass and this is 310 degrees and NO BOX, Trivia Daddy, why are your boxes so hard for me !"
If anyone walked along the trail and saw this crazy person with a piece of paper in hand, searching for things under logs, and talking out loud to NO ONE, they would run to the nearest park employee and have someone come take me out of the woods! Like I said I love the challenge that I have with his boxes, and they are a great reward for me when I find them. SO like I said 3 out of the 4 is GREAT for me, and it was a beautiful day, quiet and peaceful (when I was not talking to trivia daddy that is ) and did not see another soul on the trail even though there were TONS of people in the park.
On my way out, as unbelievable as it was, the overlook was empty. I parked all the way at the end, facing the opposite direction of the view, and ran to grab the box. I was sitting in the car, stamping in, and a car drives past. It gets all the way past the overlook and stops and starts reversing. I watch it for a minute in my mirrors, then put my head back down to finish my stamping. I look in my mirror again and I notice a women walking up to my car.....
BUSTED ....
Caught inky handed ................
I yell out the window "Are you trying to spy on me ???"
It was Kya and Karver ..... :O)
No great adventure tales to tell of the day.... sorry ..... just a nice quiet day of boxing !
Sunday, February 17, 2008
EWWWW Gross
This is too funny not to share.
Sean had already had his bath, and had his PJs on and his fleece robe. We were in the kitchen and he was allowed one cookie as a snack. He offered me one too, so I took it and, reverting back to childhood, I dunked it in my coffee. He looked at me weird and said, "EWWWWWW that is GROSS MOM!!!" I replied, "NO it isn't, you are Gross". So like two kids in a school yard we go back and forth, You are gross, I am not, you are gross .......
ALL while the Troll is watching the Daytona 500 !! About to kill the both of us !
I walked away laughing and said, "Well you have cooties!!!"
AND WHAT DID MY SON SAY ???????
"I do ???, where??" as he is looking around and feeling the collar of his robe and checking his pockets !!!!! "Mom did you cootie me ??? "
PRICELESS
What in the world have I done to my child ?
:O)
Sean had already had his bath, and had his PJs on and his fleece robe. We were in the kitchen and he was allowed one cookie as a snack. He offered me one too, so I took it and, reverting back to childhood, I dunked it in my coffee. He looked at me weird and said, "EWWWWWW that is GROSS MOM!!!" I replied, "NO it isn't, you are Gross". So like two kids in a school yard we go back and forth, You are gross, I am not, you are gross .......
ALL while the Troll is watching the Daytona 500 !! About to kill the both of us !
I walked away laughing and said, "Well you have cooties!!!"
AND WHAT DID MY SON SAY ???????
"I do ???, where??" as he is looking around and feeling the collar of his robe and checking his pockets !!!!! "Mom did you cootie me ??? "
PRICELESS
What in the world have I done to my child ?
:O)
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Letterboxing by proxy
I like puzzles, I am NOT great at puzzles, but I like them. Logic puzzles are my thing (imagine that, a programmer that likes logic puzzles), I can't do a crossword puzzle to save my life (heck I can't spell without my computer!), and when you smart folks start that taking in that code stuff (YES you know who you are !), forget it, I just ignore the posts because I just get frustrated.
Having the job that I have, and being on call 24x7/365, I spend a lot of time late at nite/early in the morning/or at any given moment, working and on conference calls. When you spend hours on conference calls, at times just waiting for "your turn" or monitoring or at times "just because" someone wants you on the call, you find things to occupy the time. These "things" have ranged from doodles, to games, to surfin, but now that I am a LB addict at times I carve, but most of the time I am on AQ just seeing what is going on. For those of you that don't lead this kinda life, you should understand that in the middle of the nite when the pager goes off, it is like turning on a light switch. I have to be AWAKE and ON MY GAME and 99% of the time, even if it takes me 5 minutes to fix something or answer a question, I am done for the nite as far as sleeping is concerned. If I go back to bed, there ususally is no sleep, your mind is awake and thoughts whirling, so you learn to just stay up.
About a month ago, I again, was awake most of the evening on a conference call. My work laptop in front of me and the phone on speaker/mute, and to my right is always my personal computer. So as I am working and waiting for them to "need" me, I was messing around on AQ. Looking for boxes that are in areas that I would like to visit, looking for interesting things out there, solving puzzles.
I remember the moment well, it was about 1:20 in the morning, and I did it, I solved a puzzle. The excitement was such a rush, I wanted to yell .... I DID IT OMG.... but couldn't because we live in a small old farmhouse that is a whole 1,000 square foot, and it is bad enough I am awake working at 1:20 am but if I woke Sean or the Troll up it would NOT be good. I wanted to tell someone, I wanted to get in the car and go get it right then and there (this was not possible... but), I just wanted it in my hands so bad, I could not contain myself. Yes this was at least a month ago.
You see, when the Troll woke up, I asked him about the place, he knew it ! You see he is in this area ALL the time. I asked him to take me, he said yeah sure I will take you there one day! I told him NO you don't seem to understand ......... this is NOT A SOMEDAY TYPE OF THING... I NEED THIS BOX. I WANT IT RIGHT NOW !!!!! He laughed at me like he normally does when it comes to letterboxing, so with my spirit crushed, I placed my notes and the solution on my desk, and forgot about it for the time being.
A few weeks ago, the Troll was in the area, I reminded him about the box, he said "HOLLY, I am not going to get that box, I have meetings and things to do, I am not letterboxing, I am WORKING!" Again my spirit was crushed and I looked at my notes and thought I really, really want this box !
Yesterday when I talked to the Troll and he told me what his plans were for his Wednesday, I brought up the box yet again, and grabbed for my notes. He said he would try to get it for me. OMG, you see the last couple of weeks have not been very good for me, and I could not believe he would even agree to try. I make him get a piece of paper and TOLD him to write the clues down. He told me that he did not think he would have a cell signal in the area so I made sure he knew EVERYTHING I knew, I made him read it back several times. I was quite excited, since like I said, I have not been in a good way the last 2 weeks, and this was something pretty important to me.
About 1:30, the phone rings and it is the Troll. He says, "OK I am here, but I can't find the *****!". I read him everything again, he says, "HOLLY, it is snowing here, the wind chill is about 5 below, I am freezing !" I reluctantly said, "OK, just forget it then", and hung up. My spirit yet again crushed, I look at my notes again, push them aside and go back to working.
The phone rings again, he says, "Tell this Park Ranger what I am looking for!", I totally panic, OMG I think, TROLL, you can't tell people what you are doing - HE KNOWS THIS ! HE KNOWS that he is not allowed to tell people what he is doing, OMG, I am totally panicing. This very nice park ranger, Dave gets on the phone. I explain what landmark the Troll is looking for. Dave says, "hummmmm, you have me stumped, not sure what you are talking about". I say, "OK, thanks." My spirit yet again crushed and my hands ready to WRAP AROUND THE TROLLS NECK ! He gets back on the phone...I say "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, you know you can't tell anyone what you are doing, are you CRAZY ?? ...... Just forget it, don't worry about it, forget about the box!" "OK he says, "they have no idea what you are talking about anyway Holly, they don't know where the *** ***** ***** is." I hang up, VERY DISAPPOINTED and totally in a panic! I could not believe it, if he messed up and told the rangers about the box and they got it and confiscated it, I would never be able to apologize enough. What was I thinking asking him to do this for me .......... sigh .........
The phone rings again. "the ******** is in my sight, it is still snowing, the wind is blowing and I AM FREEZING !", he says. OMG, my heart is racing again, I am excited, I am upset, I want that box, but I don't want any issues with park employees and boxes confiscated and being ostrisized from the letterboxing community because the Troll don't get it .......................... BUT I want that BOX! This is what I remember ....
TROLL :"ok, I am here, now what"
I tell him...
TROLL: "ok, yep found it, OK what next?"
I tell him..... my heart racing like I am there with him........
TROLL: "ok yeah now what?"
"Look UP!" I can hardly speak at this point, I am about to burst.
TROLL: "NOPE ......................"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOPE ???????????????? "
TROLL: "not here Holly................."
TROLL: "Wait a minute, let me look over here"
TROLL: "ok, wait, read it again ......"
"LOOK UP !!!!"
TROLL: "OK, HERE IT IS, I GOT IT !!!!!"
I am about to BUST A GUT and I YELL ...... "DO NOT LOSE THAT BOX ..... GUARD IT WITH YOUR LIFE, do not get into an accident, BE CAREFUL and BRING IT TO ME !!!!!!"
I hang up the phone, jump out of the chair, jump up and down like a crazy little kid, yelling YES, YES, YES !!!!!! It is now about 2:30. The Troll has actually been letterboxing for almost an hour in the snow, freezing. I can hardly believe it, not only that I solved the puzzle, that I was right and the box is mine, but that the TROLL actually got it for me !
OK ...... now before anyone starts panicing thinking that I let the Troll remove a letterbox from a hiding spot and bring it home - THIS IS NOT THE CASE, this is one of those very special letterboxes that you are ALLOWED to take home with you ! Thus, why I could send him to get it for me, letterboxing by proxy.
He calls when he is warmed up safely back in his truck. I GRILL him about the park rangers and ensure that he has not told them too much. He said he would not have been able to do it without their help, because they really did not know the landmark that I gave him. I think in the end there were about 3 or 4 rangers that ended up putting their heads together and ultimately pointing him in the correct direction. So this was really a letterboxing by proxy quest. I promise to go with him one day to visit this place and touch the spot where the box was just to make it totally totally official.
I was out feeding hay to the horses when he pulled up. He got out the truck with a camo lock and lock and handed it to Sean. Sean brought it to me and said is this THE ***** ? I said it is a ***** but it is not that one this one belongs to ______________. (I will explain that story another day).
With huge smiles the two of us run in the house and unlock the box. Wonderful Quest, wonderful stamp, wonderful letterboxer !
THANKS
This was a lot of fun, it made my day a little brighter .......... I will take very good care of it while I have it and I hope the next person to grace this logbook has as great of an experience as I did !
Letterboxing by proxy .........
Having the job that I have, and being on call 24x7/365, I spend a lot of time late at nite/early in the morning/or at any given moment, working and on conference calls. When you spend hours on conference calls, at times just waiting for "your turn" or monitoring or at times "just because" someone wants you on the call, you find things to occupy the time. These "things" have ranged from doodles, to games, to surfin, but now that I am a LB addict at times I carve, but most of the time I am on AQ just seeing what is going on. For those of you that don't lead this kinda life, you should understand that in the middle of the nite when the pager goes off, it is like turning on a light switch. I have to be AWAKE and ON MY GAME and 99% of the time, even if it takes me 5 minutes to fix something or answer a question, I am done for the nite as far as sleeping is concerned. If I go back to bed, there ususally is no sleep, your mind is awake and thoughts whirling, so you learn to just stay up.
About a month ago, I again, was awake most of the evening on a conference call. My work laptop in front of me and the phone on speaker/mute, and to my right is always my personal computer. So as I am working and waiting for them to "need" me, I was messing around on AQ. Looking for boxes that are in areas that I would like to visit, looking for interesting things out there, solving puzzles.
I remember the moment well, it was about 1:20 in the morning, and I did it, I solved a puzzle. The excitement was such a rush, I wanted to yell .... I DID IT OMG.... but couldn't because we live in a small old farmhouse that is a whole 1,000 square foot, and it is bad enough I am awake working at 1:20 am but if I woke Sean or the Troll up it would NOT be good. I wanted to tell someone, I wanted to get in the car and go get it right then and there (this was not possible... but), I just wanted it in my hands so bad, I could not contain myself. Yes this was at least a month ago.
You see, when the Troll woke up, I asked him about the place, he knew it ! You see he is in this area ALL the time. I asked him to take me, he said yeah sure I will take you there one day! I told him NO you don't seem to understand ......... this is NOT A SOMEDAY TYPE OF THING... I NEED THIS BOX. I WANT IT RIGHT NOW !!!!! He laughed at me like he normally does when it comes to letterboxing, so with my spirit crushed, I placed my notes and the solution on my desk, and forgot about it for the time being.
A few weeks ago, the Troll was in the area, I reminded him about the box, he said "HOLLY, I am not going to get that box, I have meetings and things to do, I am not letterboxing, I am WORKING!" Again my spirit was crushed and I looked at my notes and thought I really, really want this box !
Yesterday when I talked to the Troll and he told me what his plans were for his Wednesday, I brought up the box yet again, and grabbed for my notes. He said he would try to get it for me. OMG, you see the last couple of weeks have not been very good for me, and I could not believe he would even agree to try. I make him get a piece of paper and TOLD him to write the clues down. He told me that he did not think he would have a cell signal in the area so I made sure he knew EVERYTHING I knew, I made him read it back several times. I was quite excited, since like I said, I have not been in a good way the last 2 weeks, and this was something pretty important to me.
About 1:30, the phone rings and it is the Troll. He says, "OK I am here, but I can't find the *****!". I read him everything again, he says, "HOLLY, it is snowing here, the wind chill is about 5 below, I am freezing !" I reluctantly said, "OK, just forget it then", and hung up. My spirit yet again crushed, I look at my notes again, push them aside and go back to working.
The phone rings again, he says, "Tell this Park Ranger what I am looking for!", I totally panic, OMG I think, TROLL, you can't tell people what you are doing - HE KNOWS THIS ! HE KNOWS that he is not allowed to tell people what he is doing, OMG, I am totally panicing. This very nice park ranger, Dave gets on the phone. I explain what landmark the Troll is looking for. Dave says, "hummmmm, you have me stumped, not sure what you are talking about". I say, "OK, thanks." My spirit yet again crushed and my hands ready to WRAP AROUND THE TROLLS NECK ! He gets back on the phone...I say "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, you know you can't tell anyone what you are doing, are you CRAZY ?? ...... Just forget it, don't worry about it, forget about the box!" "OK he says, "they have no idea what you are talking about anyway Holly, they don't know where the *** ***** ***** is." I hang up, VERY DISAPPOINTED and totally in a panic! I could not believe it, if he messed up and told the rangers about the box and they got it and confiscated it, I would never be able to apologize enough. What was I thinking asking him to do this for me .......... sigh .........
The phone rings again. "the ******** is in my sight, it is still snowing, the wind is blowing and I AM FREEZING !", he says. OMG, my heart is racing again, I am excited, I am upset, I want that box, but I don't want any issues with park employees and boxes confiscated and being ostrisized from the letterboxing community because the Troll don't get it .......................... BUT I want that BOX! This is what I remember ....
TROLL :"ok, I am here, now what"
I tell him...
TROLL: "ok, yep found it, OK what next?"
I tell him..... my heart racing like I am there with him........
TROLL: "ok yeah now what?"
"Look UP!" I can hardly speak at this point, I am about to burst.
TROLL: "NOPE ......................"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOPE ???????????????? "
TROLL: "not here Holly................."
TROLL: "Wait a minute, let me look over here"
TROLL: "ok, wait, read it again ......"
"LOOK UP !!!!"
TROLL: "OK, HERE IT IS, I GOT IT !!!!!"
I am about to BUST A GUT and I YELL ...... "DO NOT LOSE THAT BOX ..... GUARD IT WITH YOUR LIFE, do not get into an accident, BE CAREFUL and BRING IT TO ME !!!!!!"
I hang up the phone, jump out of the chair, jump up and down like a crazy little kid, yelling YES, YES, YES !!!!!! It is now about 2:30. The Troll has actually been letterboxing for almost an hour in the snow, freezing. I can hardly believe it, not only that I solved the puzzle, that I was right and the box is mine, but that the TROLL actually got it for me !
OK ...... now before anyone starts panicing thinking that I let the Troll remove a letterbox from a hiding spot and bring it home - THIS IS NOT THE CASE, this is one of those very special letterboxes that you are ALLOWED to take home with you ! Thus, why I could send him to get it for me, letterboxing by proxy.
He calls when he is warmed up safely back in his truck. I GRILL him about the park rangers and ensure that he has not told them too much. He said he would not have been able to do it without their help, because they really did not know the landmark that I gave him. I think in the end there were about 3 or 4 rangers that ended up putting their heads together and ultimately pointing him in the correct direction. So this was really a letterboxing by proxy quest. I promise to go with him one day to visit this place and touch the spot where the box was just to make it totally totally official.
I was out feeding hay to the horses when he pulled up. He got out the truck with a camo lock and lock and handed it to Sean. Sean brought it to me and said is this THE ***** ? I said it is a ***** but it is not that one this one belongs to ______________. (I will explain that story another day).
With huge smiles the two of us run in the house and unlock the box. Wonderful Quest, wonderful stamp, wonderful letterboxer !
THANKS
This was a lot of fun, it made my day a little brighter .......... I will take very good care of it while I have it and I hope the next person to grace this logbook has as great of an experience as I did !
Letterboxing by proxy .........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
