I had an ok weekend.
You know, in case you cared.

We set a new record in free happy hour pool time. Happy hour runs until 7:00, but they usually don't lock up the pool tables (ie, set them so that you have to pay to play) until around 8:00, or 8:30 if we get lucky. This past Friday night, they didn't bother to lock them up until after 9:30. It was great. Recently, Brown and I call it a night when we have to start paying for pool. I'm not sure how much more of her I would have been able to take if they didn't lock up the tables any later. ;)

I didn't do anything Saturday. Well, laundry. Yipee. But aside from that, I didn't accomplish anything. I didn't bother to learn more about Access, either. I'm not entirely sure why I even bothered waking up.

Sunday, I took another magical trip down to Connecticut, a state that does not have snow! I spent all day in Northwest Park hunting for stupid containers chock full of worthless trasures. I hiked just about every trail they had. I DNF'ed a few times, but walked away with eight. Among the more notable caches, I had to hike to one cache with my eyes closed, and I played tic-tac-toe (but not online) to find the correct coordinates of a cache. Fun times.

I don't know how many miles I hiked. A lot. Even though the terrain was mostly flat, I woke up this morning with sore legs and I was already looking forward to an after work nap.

Next weekend should take me a little closer to Keene. The snow is starting to recede in Massachusetts. Me > what Sean can ever hope to be

Found It! March 26 by Max Jerome (717 found)

I noticed this cache was active without [a find] late last night.

I told swhorfe about it when I got to work, and said we should go after work to go get it.

Instead of leaving at lunch to get a change of clothes, he left to try and ["first to find"] the cache (he keeps his GPS with him at all times :)).

He was back at work, 90 minutes later, looking like hell. Apparently, he decided to go hiking in his business casual attire, soaked his shoes, and slipped twice during his descent, scraping most of his right forearm and soaking his pants. That's karma for you. He got greedy. His desire to make me upset cost him some clothes and an hour of pay. Ha! Did I mention that he would have never known this cache existed if I didn't tell him about it?

I went after work in appropriate hiking attire. I followed swhorfe's footsteps in. The hike up the hill was a bit sketchy, but I found a way to [ground zero] unscathed. I found the cache fairly quickly. Judging by the footsteps, it looks like swhorfe must have passed right by it a couple times. Haha! I took the [geocoin] and left a few packs of post-it notes. I'm hoping swhorfe will take one (if he ever finds this cache) so he can write himself messages like, "stop being a jerk."

Getting down the hill was worse than getting up. Though I didn't slip and fall like my supposed geocaching sidekick, I probably would have gotten nicked up a little bit if I didn't have my long-sleeved hoodie on.

Had I headed straight back to work afterwards, it would have been a round trip of 60 minutes. That makes me better than swhorfe in every respect. ;)

TFTC!

Tuesday Funnies

Subject: lifeline

I was depressed last night so I called Lifeline.

Got a call center in Pakistan.

I told them I was suicidal.

They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.

Finally, some purpose.
I'm not a particularly ambitious person. That's not to say I'm lazy, but sometimes I could benefit with a fire under my ass to get the ball rolling. On the plus side, I don't stop until the task at hand is complete.

I figure with my lack of a counter-offer, I don't have a future in the department I've been a part of for the last three years. Sure, maybe I'd be qualified to take over another mid-management spot should one open up, but if they didn't even bother to work with me the first time, I have no reason to believe that the next time around will be any different. As such, I've decided to brush up on my database skills which haven't really seen any use since college. Every respectable company requires database technicians. I've had interviews at my current employer in the past where they considered that I'd be a great fit if I just wasn't so damn rusty in Access and some other things. I think it's about time I change that. And if such a position isn't available at my current employer, I can look elsewhere. I'm sure some companies based in Virginia could use me. :)

I borrowed an Access book from a coworker yesterday. I had half of the book completed today, 100% correct; no problems I couldn't handle. I rule. I'm hoping the second half of the book will prove to be more of a challenge. The book claims to bring me to an "expert level." I expect to have it done by the end of the coming week. I don't think it really touches on SQL, though. I'll probably peruse some of the other Access books this coworker has so I can further better myself. Then, I'm going to take what I've learned and see if I can automate parts of my job (ha!) and see if I can do something with all of Mom's spa business paperwork so she can ditch those hideous accordion files. She's been asking for something for eons. I should probably make her website look a little less "storefronty," too, while I'm at it.

Happy birthday, Sister. A meeting with the Bobs.
It's been quiet here the last few days. Something has been a-brewing.

A person in my department is leaving. Her last day is tomorrow. Her position is considered management. A sourcing coordinator role. It's similar to what I've been doing the last few years. Different scope, some reports to spin, but not much difference.

They offered me her position. I was their first choice! Pretty snazzy, eh? Just think of all of the perks of being salary instead of hourly! Imagine all of the doors that could open for me as a result of holding this position! The name recognition I could get! The exposure! Maybe even some power! The workload is greater than my current workload (go figure), but there's no doubt in my mind that I can handle the job and do very well at it.

I refused to take the job. It pays less that what my salary will be come May when I get my annual raise. Why would I take job that would double my workload and compensate me less than or equal to what I'm making? That's not a promotion, it's a lateral transfer.

Negotiating with my manager felt like a waste of time. All of his "good points" about me taking the job meant nothing to me. And all of my justifications for needing more money made no sense to him. I think he was taken aback when I only really focused on the fact that the position didn't pay. But last time I checked, I have to look out for myself first and money makes the world go 'round. I would have taken the job if they upped the pay a bit.

I didn't go into my talks with the utmost confidence; I knew what I wanted and I know I deserve it, but I've never been any good at selling myself. I have no persuasive skill. I know what the numbers look like, and it should have been clear to anyone seeing it what the end result should be. Hence why I shouldn't have to sell myself. But I guess that's not the case.

My actions speak louder than my words, which is probably why I was offered the job first to begin with. But if they knew of my actions, they should have known that I'm not just simply going to take it up the ass with whatever they offered me. They can spin the numbers any way they want and try to distract me with shiny objects, but I have an uncanny ability to cut through the bullshit and show the data the way it really is. I took calculus in high school, for Christ's sake.

I don't think my manager or my direct superior had a "Plan B" lined up; I guess he (they?) expected me to take the position eagerly. I wasn't sure if there would be talks with other management people where they'd try to meet my salary demands (did I mention that I never said how much more I wanted, just that I needed more if I was to take the job?), but it looks like they have opted to put someone else in my department in the role for a number of weeks as a "trial period," then they'll see if they should give this guy the job. Me? I wouldn't need a "trial period," but I guess this other guy needs the (lack of) money more than I do, so it's a win-win for both of us.

I was never given a counter offer.

About 24 hours passed between when they told me about the job and when I gave my decision. During most of that time, I was freaking out internally, never really sure which choice was the right choice. And after talking with people in my department, outside of my department, and outside of work, not one person thought it would be good for me take the position. I can take solace in that and learn from the experience.

Would have been awesome if I was still in Office Space mode like I was after my little trip. Tuesday Funnies

A man escapes from a prison where he's been locked up for 15 years. He breaks into a house to look for money and guns.

Inside, he finds a young couple in bed. He orders the guy out of bed and ties him to a chair. While tying the homeowner's wife to the bed, the convict gets on top of her, kisses her neck, then gets up and goes into the bathroom.

While he's in there, the husband whispers over to his wife, "Listen, this guy is an escaped convict. Look at his clothes! He's probably spent a lot of time in jail and hasn't seen a woman in years. I saw how he kissed your neck. If he wants sex, don't resist, don't complain... do whatever he tells you. Satisfy him no matter how much he nauseates you. This guy is obviously very dangerous. If he gets angry, he'll kill us both. Be strong, honey. I love you!"

His wife responds, "He wasn't kissing my neck. He was whispering in my ear. He told me that he's gay, thinks you're cute, and asked if we had any Vaseline. I told him it was in the bathroom. Be strong. I love you, too."

Good story.
I went down to Connecticut early this morning.

I started my journey at the historic Newgate Prison.

It was closed, so I couldn't really do anything. Better luck in mid-May.

So I found ten caches instead. Some of them involved some decent hiking, and it winded me a little. I need to recondition myself. Virginia Beach has no concept of elevation change, so that trip didn't make me feel any more in shape than I have been the last few months. Though Connecticut isn't known for mountains or any sort of elevated terrain, today's trip should help ease me into things again.

You can cross CT off the list now.

There's still too much snow in NH for me to really do anything here. I wonder where next weekend will take me. I have a reason for my lack of updates.
I'm still cooped up indoors and I don't have another vacation in the works, so there hasn't been any worthwhile activity in my world.

Also, Heroes is trying to own me.

I've had the first couple discs for several months, and I just popped the first one in two days ago. I'm five episodes in now, and I had to borrow the remaining discs for season 1. I see this becoming a problem, as the show has only run a season-and-a-half before the writer's strike, so it's not going to take me long to zip through all of the episodes and be caught up with everyone else. Then comes the withdrawal pains.

It's definitely one of the better shows I've seen in a while. Most of what I used to watch when cable TV was an option has either gotten stale or I forget about because the seasons are so short and far between.

At least I have the first season of The Wire stewing on the back burner. Some people claim this show is better than The Sopranos (which I haven't seen), so we'll see how that works out for me. At least there are five seasons' worth of episodes to watch on that one. :) Happy Birthday, Vikki!
A little emo like last year, but hopefully things will be looking up.

Not sure why I'm writing this; she's yet another person who hasn't figured out that this site exists. I kinda like it that way, strangely. It's more rewarding to learn people found this on their own. Tuesday Funnies

A big old redneck walks into his local bar with a huge grin on his face.

" What are you so happy about?" asks the barman.

"Well, I'll tell you," he replies. "You know I live by the railroad tracks. Well, on my way home last night I noticed a young woman tied to the tracks, like in the movies. I, of course, went and cut her free and took her back to my place. Anyway to cut a long story short, I scored big time! We made love all night, all over the house. We did everything..."

"Fantastic!" exclaimed the barman. "You lucky slob. Was she pretty?"

"Dunno... never found her head..."

Full-time geocaching season is almost here!
I figure most of the snow should be gone by April 1, so I should put together a list of goals for me to achieve:

* Cache in Virginia, North Carolina, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York. Bonus points if I can cache in each of those states twice this year. I may have to, anyway, since I've decimiated a good chunk of NH and Mass. :)

* Double my finds in Vermont (from 20). It's not fair that I've found 35 in Virginia, 600 miles away from home, when I can be in Vermont in 20 minutes. To be fair, Vermont isn't exactly a hotbed of caching activity.

* Find a cache in every NH county. This is a very low priority goal (lots of driving), and unless I can secure some places I can sleep for free across the state, I'm not really going to put much effort in making this goal happen.

* Reach #1,000 lifetime. I really don't think I'm going to have to try to reach this number. It'll be cake. Less than 300 to go.

* Hide a few more caches. Let's aim for three!

* More peak bagging. Less numbers runs.

* See if I can sucker another person to picking up this hobby. I really would like a partner in crime -- swhorfe is barely available anymore -- and lucky for me, I know some curious people that want to see what it is I do with most of my weekends.

* Maintain my crown of having the most finds out of anyone living in Chesire County. The guy in second place isn't even close; no worries.

I'm thinking of visiting Connecticut this weekend, since most of the state is snow-free. Anyone want to go for a ride to the Newgate Prison and Copper Mine? That's where I'll be. Eon Blue Apocalypse

Jon: what up playa
Me: word up g
Jon: how was the beach?
Jon: http://www.bofe.org/overthinking.htm
Me: the fact that there's a place that nice, that warm, and that close.... and i'm living here in this cespool called new hampshire... well, it's bullshit
Jon: hahah
Jon: so when are you moving?
Me: not soon enough

"Hey Peter. What's happening?"
I wasn't a big fan of going back to work today, but I have to pay my bills somehow. I don't go for many dollars out in the prostitution ring, so I might as well buy some groceries to fill up various warehouses.

I did get a lot of work done, and I was quite busy from the moment I sat down until I left. Though I was there physically, I definitely wasn't there mentally. I was still in Virginia. I didn't lack focus or anything, but I kinda had this Peter Gibbons from Office Space thing going for most of the day. Though I didn't do anything wrong nor was I slacking, buying groceries was not of the utmost important to me. Life is too short for me to worry about petty details like analyzing offers. :) I learned a couple things about myself during that trip, and I was still relishing in those moments. Any attempt to derail me wouldn't have gotten any reaction from me. I was having too much fun in my own little world. I'm debating on wearing jeans tomorrow and bringing in a screwgun and make some changes to my cubicle.

I got a little bit of a sunburn from my trip. A sunburn. In February. That's crazy talk. The top of my hands are red, as well as my neck and parts of my forehead that I didn't put sunscreen on. I look silly. But I don't care.

I did some cost of living analysis when I got home. Each calculator I found spat out a different result, but it seems it would cost about 4% more to live in Virginia Beach that it would in Keene. That's completely doable with the way I can manage money. I just gotta find a job that will pay me well enough to live and hire me without them ever seeing my face. Hmm. I know Hardee's is hiring... Epilogue
Caches found: 36 (14 + 12 + 9 + 1)
Golfing done: 2 buckets worth
Disc golfing done: none

Money spent on tolls: $47.45 (21.45 south, 26.00 north)
Money spent on lodging: $207.33
Money spent on food: about $20 (free breakfast, no lunch)
Money spent on gas: $122.16

Total mileage: Probably 1,400 miles (600 highway x 2 + probably 200 running around everywhere)

Favorite part: Never being bored. No snow. Lack of excessive traffic because it's not tourist season.
Worst part: Muggles ruining my cache attempts. Not being able to frolf. Taking a sneaker full of mud while looking for a cache.

Things I didn't expect: The amount of wind not just on the beach, but everywhere. Crappy internet service. "No swearing" signs.
Things I would have done differently: Packed chapstick.
Things I want to do next time: Probably the same stuff. Hopefully I can get some frolfing done next time. If I go with someone, I'd like to do some fancier dining and whatnot. Fast food is queer.

Place to find all of my pictures: click here
Place to find all of my videos: click here "15 minutes!"


And thus the saga came to end, when I had my car loaded up and checked out before 7 AM. It's a shame, really, as I could have easily spent another few days here before maybe not having something to do, but I know my people miss me terribly.

I stopped at the rest area on the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel and scoped out the pier for a few minutes, taking pictures and videos and logging a virtual at the same time. Though I wanted to learn more about its construction and whatnot, I did want to beat the traffic home. And it was very windy there, I couldn't hold on to my camera for more than five minutes before my hands became numb.

There's not much to say about the ride back up. I didn't have return directions, and thus pretty much followed my directions down backwards, hoping it would work out in the end. And it did for the most part, though I did botch up at three different points:

The first mistake was minutes into my trip. I was one street off to getting onto Shore Drive, which would lead me to the tunnel. Mistake corrected within a minute using someone's driveway.

Mistake #2 was working my way to the Delaware Memorial Bridge from Route 1. Instead of taking the highway route, I ended up taking a road that was shorter, but it was in the city and thus had traffic. No problem, really, though.

Mistake #3 occurred after taking the Tappan Zee Bridge, and I headed south on I-87 heading towards Yonkers instead of going north to get to I-95, which would bring me into Connecticut. The Tappan Zee was supposed to be my last toll, but when I had to cough up another dollar shortly thereafter, I knew some shit was up. I confirmed my error, asked for directions at a local gas station, then headed back up (having to cough up another dollar in tolls). That ate up about 15 or so minutes.

Though my ride down took about 11 hours, I made it back in just under 10 hours. I could have done it in 9 1/2 if I didn't fuck up, which means I could have made it to work by the time people were getting out. That would have been kinda funny.

Gas was not as cheap in New Jersey as it was on Thursday: it went up to $2.989 a gallon.

I got a little depressed when I saw some snow just north of Hartford, CT. That trace of snow turned into several inches of cover halfway up I-91 in Massachusetts. Why did I come home?

For my trip, I made a CD full of mp3's; about 140 tracks, I believe. On my ride back up, I didn't hear the same track twice. In fact, I pulled into my parking lot when the last track was playing. Can't get much more perfect than that.

Got home. Unpacked some. Made some calls. Made dinner. Compressed videos. Checked my emails. Went to bed.

Can't wait to do it again some time.

---

Pictures:
* Just a rowboat near the tunnel pier
* One of the four islands that make up the tunnel
* One of many tankers in the bay
* Another tanker
* Tanker #3
* A sign of the Palisades Parkway in Jersey, for those of you who know the Jerky Boys skit

Videos:
* The pier at the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel Beachfront property


I figure I should spend at least a few hours on the beach, and today was the day I did that. There are plenty of caches along the oceanfront -- typically placed at monuments and other points of interest -- so I knew exactly where to go without having to open a brochure.

Once I got #700 under my belt, I took off for Bayville Park; they have a disc golf course there. The place was packed. They have a special lot just for disc golf parking, and all of the spots were filled. I never really had an opportunity to play, either. It seemed like there was a group of people at every other basket. And it looked like that most of the paths from the "launch area" to the basket were short and straight; nothing much in terms of doglegs or whatever. It didn't look to be that fun of a course. Though I was hoping to get some disc throwing happening on this trip, I was content with just going out and finding more caches instead. I'll try Bayville another time.

I was back in the hotel by 2:30. I wanted to see the beach at high tide (in order to finish logging an earthcache here), which was at 3:30. I spent that hour walking up and down the boardwalk (like this morning), and I picked up some souvenirs for some of my people suffering in Keene. Then, I did my thing with the high tide, took a pic of a dead seagull that washed up onto the shore, and headed back to Lynnhaven to get some more driving range action in. Woo.

I couldn't find a third unfamiliar food chain to eat at tonight. Almost went with IHOP just because I haven't been inside one in years. Was also hoping to find a Sonic's somewhere. Instead, I went back to Hardee's for some artery-clogging fun. Yum. Then back to the hotel.

In case you're wondering what I do about lunch, well, I pretty much skip it. When I go out geocaching, I usually just bring granola bars or whatever and just have that. I've been having a few handfuls of peanuts for lunch each day, and that's been good enough to get me through for the next few hours.

I took a vid of me giving a tour of my hotel room. Then, I pretty spent the rest of my day typing stuff and doing internet shenanigans in the lobby. The signal is perfect downstairs. Unfortunately, I can't find an outlet to plug swhorfe's laptop in, so I have to retire once the battery dies. Lame.

I gotta drive back to New Hampshire tomorrow morning. I don't really want to. I'm debating on just leaving everything I know behind and just moving down here. I tried to get a Sunday paper to look at what they had available for jobs and apartments, but the machine ate my money. At least I can read the Virginia Pilot online. Yay.

My lips are seriously chapped. They have been the last couple days. I blame the wind.

---

Pictures:
* Rudee Inlet. GPS shown in order to log the earthcache.
* A drainage pipe or something at Rudee Inlet. It doesn't look like it would work well. I don't know what's going on here.
* The left half of a Tomcats mural on Sixth Street
* The right half of a Tomcasts mural on Sixth Street
* The Virginia Beach Fishing Pier, a popular destination along the beach, is closed until April. This was all I could get. :(
* A "no swearing sign" along the boardwalk area. They will actually fine you for swearing! It's like in the movie Demolition Man! Way to impose on my first amendment rights!
* What the "no swearing" sign means. It's still fucking bullshit, cocksucker. I wonder how that law got passed. It's only along part of the boardwalk. I'm not sure if it applies to only the outdoors, or inside buildings, too. Yet the souvenir shops here sell shirts with profanity and risqué material written on them? I don't get it.
* Neptune, a popular point of interest along the boardwalk
* More of Neptune
* Another Neptune shot
* Neptune's plaque
* Tidewater Veterans Memorial in the park with the same name
* Another angle of the structure
* A nearby building that uses solar power?
* Dead seagull at high tide at Rudee Inlet. Pwned!
* A dolphin thing outside Schooner Inn

Videos:
* The Virginia Legends area isn't that impressive
* 12th and Boardwalk near the Virginia Legends display and the closed fishing pier
* Walking along the coastline near the fishing pier
* Neptune's Park, 31st and Boardwalk
* High tide at Rudee Inlet, 1st and Boardwalk. Includes surfers that don't do anything.
* A tour of my hotel room, with tips on how to kill yourself! Southern Comfort


The schedule I gave myself today allowed me to sleep in a bit. I probably could have slept in a lot, but I wanted to cash in on free breakfast. :) I find it hilarious that though I'm splurging somewhat on myself on this trip, I still try and save a couple senseless bucks where I can. Force of habit, I guess. I can manage my money like a champ.

Today was southside caching day. While the north end of Virginia Beach is very urban and commercial, the south end is quite rural. I figured Saturday would be a busy day for the beach and for shopping, so I decided to take a trip south.

Also, Virginia Beach borders North Carolina, and for no reason other than to say "Hey, I've cached in North Carolina," I fiddled around most of the Back Bay area before noon time.

Afterwards, I played in Munden Point for a few hours. It's a park that has little more than 36 baskets of disc golfing and a few caches strewn about. I walked the perimeter logging finds where I could, but it took me a very long time to find everything because of a heavy muggle presence. I planned to disc golf it out after I was done, but I wasn't happy with the number of finds I've had today. It was also an extremely windy day, and Munden Point is along the shore, so I'm sure I would have gotten pissed watching my discs soar into the open sea. Luckily, I've already determined that I will come back to Virginia Beach after this trip is over -- perhaps I will make it a yearly event -- and so I'll have another go at this another time.

I did do some ball golf, though. I bought a couple tokens to use the driving range at Lynnhaven Golf Park and I hit the driving range for about half an hour. I haven't handled my clubs in a long time, and I'm not good to begin with, but I had fun perfecting my drives a little bit. Sure, I can't drive the ball more than 100 or so yards with each swing, but I'm making contact consistently, and that's a good place to start. Woo. I'll use my other token some time tomorrow.

I went to Chick-Fil-A tonight. I didn't find them to be impressive. I will give them the award for most comfortable booth seats in a fast food chain, but KFC is superior in all other ways. The waffle fries were yummy, but they aren't potato wedges, are they?

I went back to the hotel afterwards. The comforter on my bed smells like strawberry lotion or something. I don't know. I accept it, and don't question it. Lucky for me, there are two beds per room. Maybe it's coincidence, but I seem to get a more stable connection if I surf the internet on the strawberry bed instead of using the table I've used the last couple nights. Hmm. Whatever.

I spent my night writing out most of these entries while watching The Matrix and Die Hard on the TV, two of my favorite movies. Oh, and securing more heroin, whores, and beer that I didn't get the night before. And searching out for a helpless homeless dude to strangle. No dice. Better luck tomorrow night.

---

Pictures:
* The harbor seal tank at the Virginia Aquarium. GPS shown in order to log the geocache.
* One of many harbor seals in the tank
* Harbor seal facts that you can't really read because I shrunk the pic too much. Eat me.
* Hugh Mongus stands outside the Ocean Breeze Waterpark
* Part of the waterpark
* Another Hugh Mongus shot
* Another part of the waterpark

Videos:
* The harbor seals in action
* The Back Bay area of North Carolina. More specifically, the Charles Kuralt Trail vista.