Looking for Mr (Bob) Goodbar

Don't know how many times I have wandered around the centre of Linköping, looking for strange figures connected to Bubble Trouble and Urban Invasion. No Bob, Bud, or Alien invaders what I could see. But as time went by I started to see things, things I would have just missed before. Maybe Urban Fantasy is right? Maybe there is a parallell world just among us that we don't normally see, unless they want us to see it?

But I did not see what I wanted. I tried to phish for leads but the vision got no clearer. Finally I got the final clue that made me open my eyes and REALLY see. With an open mind you will see things you are not looking for.

Coming that far it was a piece of a cake to get the coordinates, or rather, the cold (-15) made me enter a shop to stand there and get some warmth.  There was a time that the winter did not bother me, but that was before geoCaching (which seems ages ago). And it's the cold that is really biting me. I do really understand those who move abroad during winter.

But eventually I headed to make the logging. The place was matching its attributes so stealth required me to spend some more time outside just waiting for an opportunity. I even run into another cacher (fayoh) who asked what I was doing there. "Geocaching.", I said, " Need to get my daily dose." "What!" He exclaimed. "In this cold?" He shaked his head and headed for the warmth.

At last I got a chance to check out point zero. Testing the alternative hiding spots I drew a blank, and the cold was really starting to get at me. These after-work is not like the after-skiis, sitting in a nice and warm Alp bar, drinking warm toddies. Instead, running around in -15 with not enough to warm yourself; although the hands is what takes most pain. 

So, eventually I gave up and got home. At home I started to make some Massaman Curry with Jasmin Rice. The recepie said to add some Piri Piri to taste if you wanted some spice. I had none so instead I had bought a Chili Mix from where I took a yellow short I did not know and started slicing. "Maybe I should remove the seeds?" I thought, and so I did, but first I wanted to try it to see if it was strong enough and just tasted a small piece. "Blimey that's hot!" I can still feel its sting several hours later. It seems it might have been a Scotch bonnet. So, just a half of that and no seeds.

After food it was time to ask the cache owner about the hiding spot. It seems I was at the right place, and located the hiding spot, but the physical cache had gone to the fjords... So, a new physical cache will be put up soon. But waiting for that I log this as solved and found. I can add my signature to the new log book eventually.

At last I have found this cache that has been bugging me for so long. But still 60+ in Linköping to go before all question marks has been changed into stars. Next stop will be to go alien hunting....

Solution to the battery problem

Yesterday I had made a plan; To solve my problem with the high battery consumption on my HTC Desire, let's get a backup phone. So I a visited the Net on Net store and bought a Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro (red of course...).  Maybe it's a bit luxurious to buy a second phone, but as my HTC has a hard time charging I need to send it to service for two weeks and I can't stand being smart phone less for two weeks... (Has it come to this? Dependent on being connected all the time? Yup!) Didn't get round to pack it up, though, as I spent the rest of the day with my girl friend and dog.

Today I had another plan; To go on a caching trip to eastern parts of Östergötland. Had to complete that all-counties series.  But I just had to fix this, and that, and install some programs on the new phone etc. So when it was time to go the time had passed... So I went Turfing a couple of hours instead. 

Someone had put a warming thing on the lion

Around 5 a clock the battery of the HTC run out... But the X10 could help out, maybe? Well, for c:geo, yes, but not for Turf which requires Android 2.x (and the Mini had 1.6). So I gave up for the day, I thought, and got on the bus. When I was close to home I just checked the e-mail on the X10; a new cache! The multi cache GN2NDEY Axel Brunskogs skapelser about an architect that has made some of the building in the "sten series". As it is a bit rare for new caches this time of the year (except for mine, that is) everybody will jump the gun, but this had not yet been taken. Hm... 

But not only the phones had low gas, myself as well after walking around the town for 3 hours, feeling a bit tired. So I got back home, upgraded the X10 to Android 2.1, and made some food; wooked Chicken, vegetables and rice, with some semi-dry Apple cider. At 8 pm I checked the cache again. Still not taken, but some problems with the final step it seems, so several of the FTF wannabees had failed to get it. Well, might as well go and have a look, while Turfing some more. 

LFC ladies practices for the CL game against Arsenal.. Notice the finger; one advantage of digital pictures is that you can discard failed photos. But I did not notice my finger..

During this Turf round I used the bike instead of going by foot. At one time here I managed to crash with the bike, and flew other the handlebar, and landed on the ground. Ouch! Had I had more speed I guess hospital would have been the next stop. And the helmet would not have helped here. Riding bikes during this time of year is to beg for trouble....

The Turf round eventually got me to the same parts as the Multi cache (Vasastaden), and I started to follow the steps. When I got to the penultima step the HTC d(r)ied again! I guess GPS + Spotify + c:geo + Turf is not a good combination :-) But now I could use the X10. Just had to configure that, install that, etc (as the phone is wiped when you upgrade its software.) Sigh... At least I discovered that ola&marie had updated the final step. Hm, maybe I will be first after all?

I steared towards the final spot. I had a good idea what the tall thing hinted at, and right I was. When I turned the last corner I saw a typical geoCaher: superchrist, so we joined forces and located the cache at last. So, a happy ending at last. If only I had found a FTF in January....

If I should say something of the X10 Mini Pro as a caching tool, I would say that it is too small. At times I feel that even the HTC screen is too small, and X10 has about the same size as a normal phone. The browser felt a bit slow; maybe it's the processor that is weak? But the keyboard makes it a good choice for logging in the field. The software included in the factory delivery was a bit crappish, but after upgrading it, and the OS to Android 2.1, I think it is OK.

So, what happended to the eastern trip?  Well, I will save it for another day. Maybe next weekend.

Surf & Turf

Turf in action

I mentioned geoCaching for a colleague at work yesterday. He had not heard about it but exclaimed "Oh, it's like Turf then?" I was lost. Turf? Had never heard about it. "Oh, that was voted as one of the best Android apps of last year." So, I had to try it out while I cached Andre4s first attempt to hide a cache (Kastanjebacken in Johannelund).



I had to try it out... The idea is that you download the Turf app to your Android phone, and start it. Then you can walk around and you'll see read areas on the map. When you enter such an area, and stay there for 30 seconds, you capture it. This will score some points. Also you get a small amount of points for keeping the area.

So, a multi-player GPS game, with some chat possibilities, more of a capture the flag type.

This is like live geoCaching of sorts, but more conflict oriented I would say. You capture your turfs and hope nobody else capture them in turn. If you do you can recepature them etc. Areas which often are conquered score more points per hour. Guess it can be a good idea to Turf late at nights....



Another of those games that get you moving outside. Comparing to geoCaching, not that that is much of a point, I would say that this is very suitable for quicker hit & run, while geoCaching is more visit new territories and spending more time outside.  So a good complement.



Turf started in summer 2010. The App is still beta, but it is free, so do try it.

Time for some weekend caching

As I sit here planing for a trip to place some more caches in my state series three new caches popped in, one of them 3 km from here!  I guess I should go out, now...  Have packed, and will head for Norrköping (and maybe Finspång, Söderköping and Valdemarsvik depending on the communications), but the 127 one in Norrköping I will probably not be even STF at.

Blue sky, sun shining, caching - what else could you ask for?  Well, maybe no snow or ice....