Interesting (re: stats)

Clearly I hadn’t looked at the html for the stats. I just went to look at my previous blog entry to compare my new stats to the old and it is automatically updated.

So, if anyone is curious to keep up to the week on my geocaching activities, you can always check back there.

(You’re only allowed to export the info used for this once a week. That means it is sometimes out dated, and that I have to stress over when is the best time to request it.)

Scots

I developed an interesting pastime this afternoon. Reading the Scots language wikipedia. It’s a bizarre experience. There is disagreement over whether it is a dialect of English or a mutually intelligible language of its own. Either way it’s fun to just hear the Scottish accent in my head as I read. According to one article I read in their wikipedia, it shares about 80-90 % with standard English. It just makes me laugh and is fascinating. So perhaps in the future, I’ll think twice about something being a misspelling. Also, it gives a bit of credence to the times I’ve seen subtitles for someone apparently speaking heavily accented English in Scotland.

Also, I think it gives an insight into other places with mutually intelligible languages.

I highly recommend a brief poke around the site.

Here’s a bit from Scots leid (language)

Up tae the 15t century Scottis (modren form Scots) wis the name o Gaelic the Celtic leid o the auncient Scots, inbrocht fae Ireland aboot 500 AD). Thaim that spaeks Scots cried Gaelic Erse (meanin Irish). The Gaelic o Scotland is nou maistlie cried Scots Gaelic an is yit spoken by some in the wastren Hielands an islands. For the maist pairt Scots comes fae the Northumbrian kin o Anglo-Saxon (Auld Inglis), tho wi influence fae Norse by the wey o the Vikings, Dutch an Laich Saxon throu troke wi, an incomers fae, the laich kintras, an Romance by the wey o kirk an legal Laitin, Anglo-Norman an syne Pairisian French acause o the Auld Alliance.

Oh, and here’s the English article on the language.

10.5

Today was a very exciting day, aside from that whole blistering hot thing. (Although I do have to say, if we have to put up with this miserableness, at least we got to break a record.) I went to REI to buy my first real quality hiking boots. I even had my feet measured to confirm my assumptions. Yes, my feet have grown. This in addition to realizing recently that I’m an inch taller than I knew myself to be… apparently I’m still a growing girl.

Yes, I’ve worn size 10 shoes for a long time, which is usually the largest size available in most styles. In the last couple years it’s been harder to find size 10 shoes that fit me. I often end up getting 10 wides to deal with this problem, even though my feet aren’t actually wide. You see, the geniuses in charge of making women’s shoes don’t believe in half sizes once you reach a certain hugeness, aka over 10. When I wore 9.5, those were somewhat hard to find. They’ve become increasingly common, it seems, in recent years. But now, even though 11 or 12 is already really hard to find, a 10.5 is nearly impossible. Don’t even think about an 11.5. It’s so bizarre. I know plenty of women with larger feet than me. How do you think you get to size 11 from 10? Do you just magically jump from one to the next?

I mentioned this to the sales person and just as I did as a kid, I got to have my feet measured in the little metal thing. Sure enough, 10.5. Sucks. BUT, the exciting part is, they actually had some! Two whole kinds that I could try on! She also brought out an 11 of one of them so I could compare. I was tempted by the extra room, but in the end I went with 10.5. I don’t even care that the only color they had was an ugly faded reddish orange version. The size 11 was a nice neutral color. Oh, well. They’re comfy, they fit, and they’re good.

It felt a little like when we used to go shopping for my brother Wade. It wasn’t about style, it was about availability. You just go in and say, “Do you have anything in size 14?” It makes the whole process a lot easier. I think he ended up topping out at size 15.

As a side note, that’s the first time I’ve ever been inside the REI flagship store. It’s frikkin’ huge! I also got a membership, which paid for itself already with the purchase of the shoes. That means I also got a free pass to climb the wall. Someday…

Currently 88 degrees inside my house. sigh.

So, I’m just loving flickr

Me and flickr go way back. All the way to June 13th, 2007. If you look through my photos though, it looks like we go back much further. Like back to October 2000. That’s a neat trick seeing as the site launched in Februart 2004. That same bit of magic is responsible for my free pro status, at least for 3 months. Woo-hoo!

I’ve been having so much fun with it. It’s been interesting to relive the experiences from past photos. It has rekindled my desire to return to Europe. It makes me want to take lots more pictures to stumble upon new favorites.

It’s so much fun to discover new love.

Because the world needs more of them

My very own selection of Kwik-E-Mart photos.

A bit of geocaching history

In keeping with my last entry, I just stumbled upon this bit of geocaching history. I had no idea there was video footage of such a monumental event. The first geocache was hidden on May 3, 2000, two days after selective availability was turned off, making this activity possible. At first it was called GPS stash hunt, and several variations before the term geocaching was coined. I’ve heard the description of the first hide and first finds and what was hidden, etc. Who knew that that first hider video taped it before he headed out to hide it? Cool. (He had the wrong date on the logbook. Heh.)

And now, there are almost half a million geocaches world wide. They are in nearly every country. There are almost 1000 within 10 miles of my home. Fascinating to see what it has become in such a short time.

Stats crazy

Stat Summary

Where I’ve Cached

Maps

Charts and Graphs