Ghost Hunting with Geocachers

This past Saturday, we were invited to go ghost hunting as part of a group of Geocachers. A Geocaching friend, ‘QZ’, from outside Denver was making the less than 2 hour drive down to Colorado Springs for the weekend, and decided she wanted to check out the haunted tunnels she read about on Gold Camp Road in our area…

Jump to the full article at MadCacher’s Blog

Don’t misinterpret or misunderstand what happens this day. Traditionally, in ancient Israel, this was the big day for sacrifices – the Sabbath of Sabbaths. Yom Kippur is literally translated as the day of atonement. It was likely around this time, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur that Jesus gave His famous sermon on heavenly rewards and the famous “Lord’s Prayer” (noted in Matthew 6). This is the time of year when we are more united in spirit than any other, and people would want to know how to pray so it makes sense that prayer is on everyone’s mind.

Fasting is a central part of Yom Kippur. For about 25 hours no food or drink is taken – even water. Nothing in this world is to distract us from contemplating how each action and spoken word is a catalyst that sets a series of good or evil in motion and how God commands us to be aware. Even today some Jews will use this opportunity to bring attention to themselves rather than to God. They make a childish scene about how much pain they’re in (either from the fasting or how terrible they feel from some menial act).

This year, I choose to remember that this is God’s time we’re stepping into, and that there’s nothing we do – good or bad – hidden or in public – that escapes His eyes. In retrospect, this is very much the same purpose of the kippot (or yarmulke for my Yiddish friends). The small skull cap is worn to remind us that in the same way in which it rests upon our heads – whether we feel it or not, whether we see it or not – God is above us, watching what we do. It serves as a conscience booster to draw in us a desire to be better.

It’s more than a coincidence that Kippur and kippot look so much alike. Kippur is: כּפּוּר and kippah is: כּפּה – at the risk of over-interpreting the root, Kaph and Pey (כ and פ, respectively) together they could mean “completely redeem”, though I haven’t consulted a learned Rabbe on this matter. I do know, however, that Kippur has several meanings, one of which is frost – frost is a substance required for life (water) that covers everything white (Isaiah 1:18). Another meaning for Kippur is “freezing”, which might have some reference to how the records in the book of life are supposedly frozen on this day as the the book is closed and sealed.

One day out of the year to reflect on the consequences of our inappropriate behavior does not undo our wrongs. The scripture is even clear in Leviticus 16 that without blood there is no atonement. As a believer in the Messiah, I see a direct link between Yom Kippur, God’s righteousness, my wrongdoings, and the Blood needed to atone for them (Matthew 27:51 – Yom Kippur involved the room behind the veil of the temple). The fasting, praying and repenting are more than lip-service, but less than actual compensation for the affects of my sin. Nevertheless, there is a redemptive quality in solemn repentance. We recognize our need for God to show us the way to righteousness and to forgive us. Recognizing that we are made in the image of God, we also reflect on the need for us to forgive others and lead others towards the path of salvation. This is reflected in the book of Jonah, which is traditionally read on this day.

Although this day is filled with heaviness, the premise is to draw us towards the liberty and freedom of forgiveness, peace and love that only God can provide.

Gmar Chatimah Tova (May your name be written in the Book of Life)

For the past decade I’ve been responsible for cooking the Seder dinner. It’s gotten more elaborate over the years – particularly the desserts because we get invited over to a friends house for one of the Seder meals.

Last year I created rosewater meringues dipped in rum syrup. It was delicate, light, kosher and surprisingly good. This year I made two deserts. One to bring to our friends’ Seder and one for fun. The one to bring to their Seder is the famous François Payard’s Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies. To keep completely kosher, I had to grind my own sugar. Although the soft white powder looked good in the food processor when I was done … it was still very coarse. Other than that, the recipe was followed to a “T” (as in “Tanuch”) and came out very, very good. Our hostess will be pleased.

The second dessert I made didn’t turn out so well – Crème brûlée. The cream over-boiled, the custard didn’t set (even keeping it in the oven an extra 1/2 hour didn’t help), and because there was less custard (I lost about a cup of cream to it over-boiling), the sugar ratio was too high and made it too sweet. The ramekins were too small, so the extra 1/2 cup of cinnamon sugar spread amongst the 2-inch tops was too much and I didn’t have a torch.

Surprisingly, the top sugar melted perfectly in the oven at the high broiler setting. And other than it being to sweet, the flavor was spot-on. And they looked cool. At least they’re kosher. So I learned the following – watch your cream carefully … once it starts to boil, it can overflow or burn within seconds. I used 5 yolks … next time I’ll use 6 or 7 to help it set better. Some potato starch would have helped it to set, too. Finally, when adding the sugar on top, skip what the directions say and make the portions fit the ramekin size. A thin layer of sugar is better than a thick one.

It’s one of those things that when you tell someone you get one of two responses: “Yeah, Right!” or “Wow, Neat!”, though the first response is usually silently spoken behind a polite smile.

My grandpa would come home from work and try to describe what they were building and the details that went into it. Nobody at the time could understand what he was talking about “Your building a … castle? For real? You built a … tree? Why not just plant one?” He and Disney actually had a personal relationship as well. Disney would sit on one of the docks for lunch. None of the other construction workers felt comfortable enough, but my grandpa would sit right next to him and have lunch together talking about families and dreams.

Disneyland has far more educational value than half the school slums in our country, but you have to dig for it. Try reading a few books on how Disney performed his work before the next time you visit… or just to learn a few tips and pointers to improve your own personal business and achievements. Our family favorite is the “One-Up”.

When Disney walked into a room to see the story boards (a concept he invented and everyone uses today) he would listen to people’s ideas and envision something fantastic. When it came down to building the parts, whether it was a ride in an amusement park or a frame still for a movie, he would look at it and say to the engineers and artists … “That’s great. Now one-up it.” One-up means to overachieve… to excel.

When we build something we get stuck in the forest and can’t see it through the trees. When we step back we can see areas of improvement. “One-Up” means changing how we see things for a minute… to step out of our mind, or to step into a fresh mind depending on how you view it … and making the experience better.

With the common proverb (by Julius Caesar) that “experience is the greatest teacher”, it makes sense that walking through one of the greatest creations of the greatest teacher of details, magic and experience (speaking of Disneyland and Disney) would lend to teaching a thing or two.

Those with GPS receivers know the problems of their devices all too well.

It’s frustrating when your unit claims that you’re just a few feet from ground zero just to have the GPS suddenly jump and say you’re 20 feet away in the opposite direction… then you walk to the new coordinates to have it jump again saying your now 50 feet away in a different direction altogether.

This dance involves staring down at the GPS while blindly walking in circles that could include stepping into piles of excrement or into oncoming traffic. The problem could be blamed on signal echos or signal obstruction, both which make sense in areas with dense trees or tall buildings, but the root of the issue is too much dependence on the electronic device.

Such was my fate last weekend. It’s okay now … the gummy fecal canine deposits have been kicked, scraped and walked off … but as a result I’ve decided to review the rudimentary way I work the caches.

I know a couple of geocachers who worked almost solely off of printed maps. The maps had handwritten scribbles and notes to suppliment the printed Geocache codes and pins. We drove or walked about locating the next item on the list, but navigated solely off printed maps. This has me thinking about the printed map advantages:

1. Better planning
   By planning what you plan to do, you’ll be better prepared. Are there caches in the woods? Bring hiking gear. Are they in the city? Wear walking shoes.
2. Less chance of overzealous hunting
   Knowing that there are ten other caches on the map, hunters are less likely to spend an hour on one difficult to find cache.
3. More attention to the environment and surroundings
   Instead of going strictly off of coordinates, there was more observation work going on.
4. No accidental puzzle caches
   Some cache owners accidentally put the wrong category icon for the cache. Going off of the iPhone app, the result is spending time to get to a location then, after ten minutes of searching around, reading the details to find out it’s a puzzle cache. However, if you prepared the trip through a printed map, you don’t depend on instant information so you have to print all that information out at the time, meaning you likely noticed this snafu beforehand and either solve the puzzle before heading out, or don’t waste your time going to the original coordinates… either way makes a happier outing.

On our next outing we’ll try the other extreme and put away our GPS receivers, using a purely printed approach and report what happens. Stay tuned.

I’ve been looking for an app that allows me to capture the essence of wines that I’ve tasted, display the results of others for wines I haven’t tasted, view the label, the price and the wine maker’s description in a clean interface. Data input must be easy and, because of the nature of wine, must have access to an extensive database. I would also insist on the ability to back up the data.

In the journey to find such an application, I’ve come across a good number of wine apps. Indeed, there are over 100 free wine apps in the app store, though I haven’t tested nearly half of them. I thought it might be of interest to others, as well as a brief documentation for myself, to post the brief findings of wine apps that I’ve toyed with. This post is a work in progress and has incomplete data. It will be updated as time allows. One of the most disturbing lack of features is the ability to back up your database. Without that ability it’s impossible to reach a 5 star rating. Nobody wants to spend hours scanning labels, entering their taste experiences and typing in their inventory to get it erased.

With all that said, It’s worthwhile to notice that something is going on with our planet over the past couple of decades.

Most of the larger earthquakes as well as some interesting volcanic activity over the past few months have been occurring over an area of plate tectonic activity called the “Ring of Fire”.

Here’s a short list of some notable earthquakes so far this year.

2011-01-02 Chile Earthquake 7.1
2011-01-18 Pakistan Earthquake 7.2
2011-01-19 New Zealand 7.4
2011-02-04 Myanmar India 6.4
2011-02-21 Suez Canal 5.9
2011-02-22 Christchurch New Zealand 6.3
2011-02-25 Gulf Coast 5.7
2011-03-06 Volcano in Kilauea Hawaii erupts and creates a fissure in the crust
2011-03-06 Chile Earthquake 6.2
2011-03-06 South Sandwich Islands (Africa) 6.5
2011-03-10 Yunan China 5.4
2011-03-10 Volcano in Kilauea stops and drains, collapsing
2011-03-11 Japan 8.9

This has nothing to do with global warming or radio waves or martians. It’s interesting to note, however, that the number of earthquake occurrences and the number of large earthquake occurrences are increasing over these past 20 years compared with the twenty years before it. I don’t know if that means earthquakes have a snowball effect (implying they’ll only get worse without receding) or a cycle (implying the time frame of this cycle is beyond when we started recording earthquakes with precision equipment), but it looks that either way it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

It’s just a hunch, but looking at the record of recent earthquakes and magnitudes, I’d say either Saudi/Iraq or California are in for a hit in a couple of weeks.

As to the idea that our records of seismic activity has increased solely on the advancements of technology and science, these two following sites make a compelling argument that this idea needs to be scrutinized. The first one points out that records for major ‘quakes were fairly good from the 1880s onwards so anything in the 6.5~7.0 range and above would be detected and recordable. The second one makes a scientific case based on the data centered around 5.x magnitude earthquakes.

A couple of interesting sources on the matter:
Earthquake Frequency Trends
International Earthquake Frequency

First we prepare. It usually starts when I get up and my wife asks what I want to do today. I answer “Geocache” almost as instantly as a teen girl from the 80′s would say “Go to the Mall”. Then the scrambling begins.

Children and adults get dressed and help others get dressed, then eat breakfast.

I usually grab a flashlight, pocket knife, iPhone and wallet. Then we get our swag box. It’s a child’s toy fishing tackle box filled with trinkets we swap for those we like in caches we find. I usually stuff a few trinkets in my pockets because we inevitably come across a tough terrain where nobody wants to carry around a tackle box.

Usually without much planning we decide on an area of town to try as we gather in the family minivan. There are no printed maps. There are no goals other than finding a few caches with trinkets for the kids to trade and having fun. So the iPhone is pulled out since it’s our only GPS and we travel around to an area and start hunting for caches.

My ratio of finds, with or without my family, is about four out of five. When we hit those 80%, the kids are excited and having fun. Usually my wife or I find them first and we encourage the kids to look for signs… “do you see something that doesn’t look like it belongs?” we usually say. Then when the kids find it they’re cheering and shouting even if it’s a microcache. My wife and I feed off the energy and can’t help but smile. Some caches are cleverly hidden and disguised, but most are not. We then sign the log and leave talking about it, peaked enough by the excitement to motivate us to the next cache no matter how tired and hungry we are.

When we hit upon that 20% that is usually not found, I search it out hard. If I’m with others (namely children), they find their patience pushed to the limit while I stumble through juniper bushes (I hate juniper bushes – nasty bushessessess), wade through mud and get my face poked by tree branches. If someone posted a note or comment that the cache was easy to find that only adds to everyone’s frustration and my deliberation of dragging them through the junipers (nasty busshessessess), mud and trees with me.

It’s usually at this point that I realize it’s past noon, the family is tired, hungry and irritated and I reluctantly herd them home, leaving the DNF behind.

We log our finds and non-finds (DNFs) along the way. Sometimes if the network is sketchy we keep them in queue and sync up our logs when we get into a location with WiFi. On that note, we’re pretty good about logging DNFs. It’s embarrassing at times, but on that same 80/20 rule, 20% of our DNFs occur because the cache was removed (taken/destroyed/muggled/etc) and our part in logging the DNF helps the cache owner make that determination.

Only once were we the first to find a cache and it was our youngest, the four-year-old, who pointed out where it was. Finding a cache for the first time is like exploring through virgin territory. You don’t know what you’ll find there but you know it will be great. Nicer swag, bragging rights, but more importantly, an unadulterated theme that the cache owner wanted to present. Some caches are filled with theme based swag. Over time that personality becomes erased with the homogenization of cachers’ individual interests as they trade swag.

Eventually only the happier memories remain. I spent time with my kids. They learned something new. My wife and I had some bonding time. But late at night … in the buzzing stillness that sometimes tickles the mind and keeps me awake … that DNF in the junipers continues to haunt me back to restless sleep.

In a strange way this echos for me as well. I say “strange” because the posts epitomize womanhood, yet I’m a man.

There were long nights that felt like those that fall on the arctic where I would hover over the crib to soothe the baby, swaying like a drunk man from the lack of sleep. From her post I remember the same sand burnt eyes, the same smells and how that baby smell is like no other. I even recall the same confidence and fear that somehow intermingle at that time in life.

There was a tenderness both in me and in others that eroded over time. People seemed kinder and gentler then, and even euphonised their snide and hurtful remarks about our already large family (if you call two children a large family) if not withheld them altogether.

A little older, there’s already a longing for those times. I play with thoughts and memories like a young boy’s wish to travel back in time or to another world altogether, but unlike that boy I know each moment is different and there’s no return. My children are a little older now, so there’s still some magic left in my house, but at my age – at their ages – the end of that tunnel is blinding; it strikes me with a disquieted remorse that only comes out in deep quivering sighs.

As a man there’s supposed to be a hardened-steel strength that masks these emotions in some supernatural science-fiction Spock-like manner… but it still shows. Our wrinkled and melancholy eyes from the years of laughter and tears betray us to those who look deeply. Other men, thinking they were wild and free, were blindly shackled to a hard loneliness that comes from being childless, or shirking their children, and hardens even more with age until all that’s left is bitterness or, if they’re fortunate enough to possess a kind heart, remorse.

“Live Faithfully, Fight Bravely…”

“Be Faithful, Be Pure…”

“He who serves … [their country] … serves God.”

“[To] my magnificent youngsters! Are there any finer ones in the world? Look at these young men and boys! What material! With them, I can make a new world. This is the heroic stage of youth. Out of it will come the creative man…”

“…youth must be slender and supple, fast as a greyhound, tough as leather, and hard as Krupp steel. He must learn to do without, to endure criticism and injustice, to be reliable, discreet, decent, and loyal.”

What happened to faithfulness, bravery, purity, grace, dependability, responsibility and loyalty? They should certainly be taught, but parents are mistaken if they think the school, typical Sunday school or material synagogue/schule takes this effort. Let me shed some light to the aforementioned quotes by filling in their ellipses.

“Live Faithfully, Fight Bravely, and Die Laughing! We were born to die for Germany!”

“Be Faithful, Be Pure, Be German!”

“He who serves Adolf Hitler, the Führer, serves Germany, and whoever serves Germany, serves God.”

“I begin with the young. We older ones are used up. We are rotten to the marrow. We are cowardly and sentimental. We are bearing the burden of a humiliating past, and have in our blood the dull recollection of serfdom and servility. But my magnificent youngsters! Are there any finer ones in the world? Look at these young men and boys! What material! With them, I can make a new world. This is the heroic stage of youth. Out of it will come the creative man, the man-god.”

“The German youth must be slender and supple, fast as a greyhound, tough as leather, and hard as Krupp steel. He must learn to do without, to endure criticism and injustice, to be reliable, discreet, decent, and loyal.”

Oops! Doesn’t sound so Utopian, anymore, now that we know the source of the statements.

Hitler certainly had a masterful influence over people. He convinced them through his charisma, education, grace, talent and diplomacy to unite and wreak havoc on the world, not excluding attempted genocide. Many politicians looked to him, his influence and his failures as examples of how to control the masses. People were dazzled and blinded by the hateful intent and destructive force this leader was spewing… not least of them were teachers.

So what makes teachers, or anyone for that matter, think they are impervious to the same forces taking power in America and across other world power governments today? All adults from the past three generations have been raised and educated in such a way that it systematically strips our independence and self-sufficiency, making us dependent on the government. Furthermore, it’s been done in a way that, for the most part, we don’t know what we’re missing.

Education – TRUE education – isn’t about reading or writing or arithmetic. Those aren’t goals. Those are tools and we should think of them as such. True education is about exploring, experimenting on our own, making mistakes and learning from them. It’s about acknowledging the individuality of people, respecting them and respectfully disagreeing with eloquence. It’s about mastering graceful behavior on our own bodies as an outward expression that we are elite creatures by creation and can master other things as well. It’s about knowing your ground, debating civilly, and assisting others gallantly. It’s about becoming the best person you can be.

The government thinks the best you can be, in the government’s system’s point of view, is a resource … a tool. If the government needs more waiters and waitresses in the future, guess what kind of education you’re children are going to be given. I heard of an interesting society – another experimental system – that molded the western culture. But this system had real education as its underpinnings. They would drop the names of all civilians in a bowl and have lottery-esque drawings for careers. This was not a lottery of children to determine what career to train them for, as the Soviet Union’s communistic government donned out, but a lottery of adults. It was expected of all adults to be completely capable and self sufficient of any task that if the city needed a new army captain or master chef any adult had already risen to that capability and only needed to exercise it. This was ancient Greece.

Hitler, as much a beast as he was, was right about the power of government managed education. If you send your child to Caeser, Kaiser, or der Führer… don’t be surprised when they come home as Romans, Germans or Nazis. Start by being surprised at what the leaders are saying.

Look through history at all the greatest inventors … even at the wealthiest people today … they either didn’t finish public school or they didn’t go to public school at all. Schooling does not equate to education. It is mostly for government indoctrination. Teachers have been used as pawns and most don’t recognize it. The same could be said for any American (or anyone raised under a Prussian-inspired school system).

What should you do to break away from this indoctrination? Put yourself through the type of elite schooling that our politicians and other powerful world leaders receive:

Hone your skills and learn skills that really matter:

• Educate yourself by reading classic literature, philosophy, poetry.
• Exercise yourself through puzzles.
• Expand what you’ve learned through practicing debate, reason and logic.
• Execute your skills by critical examination of the media (they’re mostly wrong … and on purpose, too) and by listening carefully to what world leaders are saying.
• Know what makes people tick.
  • For those who want to learn, show them the way.
  • For those who don’t want to learn, know how to control/seduce/entice their desires to direct them to do justice and righteousness.
  • You’ll find more people want to learn as the unrest continues.

Prepare for the worst, but work for the best:

• Just like the boy scout motto.
• Prepare your hearts – Master your world view. Get right with God
• Prepare your mind – learn survival skills … at least learn to milk a cow
• Prepare your pantry – store food for yourself and others
• Prepare your arsenal – get ready to hunt for and defend your family
• Prepare your finances – save and invest in hard goods and precious metals

Start now. Time is running out. If you have these skills then you can question the world around you to recognize the signs. The red stallion is ready.