Cache | The Habitation of Justice

How geocaching made me fall in love with the city again.

Lincoln Adams | October 25, 2009 @ 8:25 pm

Today was probably the most fun day I’ve had in a while. I took an extended walk downtown, and armed with my iPod and my steely wits, I was ready to make a second go of geocaching.

I couldn’t locate the first cache on my list, but the second one proved to me why this would be a worthwhile hobby to pursue. It brought me to a little known deck 30 feet high that had a garden and a breathtaking view of the waters. On such a gorgeous day as this, it was truly a major treat for me. Had it not been for geocaching, I never would have discovered this little known spot. It really does provide a great way for me to see the world from a whole new perspective.

Even though my iPod started going boinky on me, I did manage to pinpoint the area where the cache would be, leading me to an inconspicuous looking park bench:

Hmmmmmmmm...

After feeling and groping around the area like a lonely old man at a brothel, my efforts at long last were finally rewarded:

Yes my friends, I am no longer a geocache weenie virgin.

I look around to make sure no one was watching, then pulled out the cache and opened it up. It contained a logbook signed by all the other cachers who had also found the box. No trinkets or coins to be had though, but I was happy enough just to FIND the flipping thing. :banana:

I signed my name as well and carefully out it back in its place, then went out onto the deck to a enjoy a splendid view of the city.

And the best thing about all this, was that I didn’t really feel lonely. One of the biggest reasons why I rarely go out these days was because I just can’t stand to watch the world as they walked around in pairs. It always brought me pain and the constant reminder that I was always alone. But I didn’t feel that today. Instead I felt… happy. I was so busy hunting down geocaches and enjoying a view of the city that I had forgotten all about my loneliness, and for the first time in a long while, I could actually enjoy being single again.

Up next for a fun day of cache hunting: Sleepy Hollow! I might be able to pull that off this weekend before I head off to Pennsylvania for a bluegrass show, and yes I realize that also happens to be the same weekend as Halloween, but I’m not worried. I’m much more manlier than Ichabod ever was anyway.

Unless we’re talking the Johnny Depp version, then we’re like, totally even.

Tags: cache, city, geocache, geocaching, ipod touch, loneliness, lonely, park, single
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log

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No More Upgrading! ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

Lincoln Adams | April 21, 2007 @ 11:55 pm

After years of computer use, you’d think I would have learned by now that it’s not always wise to upgrade to the latest and greatest software the minute it comes out. It’s just bad hoodoo, dude.

But of course the second Wordpress 2.1 had been released, I just HAD to download it and install it right away, thinking my blog would run twice as fast due to the much touted bugfixes and cleaner code 2.1 offered. I imagined angels singing and the sounds of songbirds chirping as visitors would come and gape in awe at the newfound speed and ease at which they would surf my newly upgraded website.

Nope. Instead, it broke a few of my plugins and then torpedoed my blog’s skin. I furiously deleted everything and uploaded my backup copy as soon as I could, then sat back with a tear in my eye as other bloggers happily went onto 2.1 nirvana.

But I noticed in the brief moment that I did manage to get 2.1 working, that my first reaction had been: “Gee, doesn’t seem to be any different from 2.0.” And now, right on the heels of 2.1’s release, the developers are planning to soon release 2.2. After looking at the features THAT release will offer, I realized it didn’t really offer anything that I didn’t already have with the plugins I was currently using now. So truthfully, other than updating Wordpress 2.0.X with security fixes, there really wasn’t a pressing need for me to upgrade. I also knew with each upgrade it would take days, weeks, months (and maybe never) for developers to update their plugins in order to ensure compatibility with the latest version of Wordpress.

So what’s the hurry really? My blog is working fine as it is, and besides it seems like every time I upgrade, some major component gets totally hosed, forcing me to downgrade once again. If it ain’t broke…

I’m sure eventually I’ll have to upgrade my blog some day, especially once the developers stop supporting security fixes for my now grandfathered version of Wordpress. But until that happens, I ain’t gonna do nuttin’. Nuttin’, you hear me? Nuttin’!!!

Instead, I cleaned up the backend by removing some useless or rarely used plugins, then installed and somehow managed to get WP-Cache working without a hitch. That should cache my main pages and hopefully speed up load time for visitors. Aren’t I thoughtful? My blog now seems to be running smoothly, all my plugins are functional, and I’m finally starting to enjoy blogging for real again. Life is good. :shades: