the opposite of 60

Well Iseek, the all wise guru of life and geocaching, set me straight on cutting angles. Like I mentioned I got D's in geometry. Anyway if I set the saw to 30º it is perfect. It makes perfect sense... I just needed the hint. Sometimes I just get stuck on one way of thinking and can't spot the obvious.

Poker table building 101

So last night I take a big step in getting my table done... I got out my grandpa Garner's old radial arm saw. This saw can be set at an angle so I can cut my oak boards. Well it will only cut up to 45º while I need 60º angles... I never bothered to look that hard. So now I am set back again. There is a chance that my grandpa Breedlove has a saw that can do the job... since he is in Highland House winning horses and such I don't think he'll be using his wood working tools any time soon. My uncle Randy has all of those things stored away so I'll need to ask him what he had. If I had the space I would have a little wood shop of my own... sadly I can't afford to buy a home or even rent a home with any space for such things. I still hope to get something done with my table this weekend.

Hurricanes suck

Well as I watch the news today I'm glad I'm not in New Orleans. My boss was just on vacation there and was able to get out in time. He had to convince his mother in law to go with them and then had to listen to her complain all the way to Houston. It was a pretty funny story as far as that part goes... I think I heard him mutter "I should have left her" under his breath. For those who didn't take the warning to leave or couldn't leave it doesn't look to be a good situation.

I'm done with house sitting for a while. Nice to be finished with that. Now I can get to work on my poker table again. Last night I did some pre sanding... mainly to test my new sander... it works nice. Tonight I have some more sanding to do... and then hopefully some cutting will get done. If I can get it cut and glued this week then I can do the finish over the long weekend.

geocoin sale

My geocoin sold last night for $47.50 exactly 38¢ less than the high set by a Georgia coin. I probably would have had the record but someone else put another geobash coin on eBay just a few hours before mine ended... pretty much that ended the bidding on mine. I was a little upset that someone didn't wait for mine to end to list another... especially since they used my picture! Oh well, thats the way things go. Since it did go so high and I made such a profit I sent him one of my personal coins as well.

House sitting

Well I've been house sitting for my uncle this weekend. Since he took his laptop his slow dialup internet was not available. However I found that in his living room you can steal a neighbors wireless connection. I was able to surf the web a little and log a couple of FTFs, but was not able to make blog updates. My PDA doesn't like the blog website for some reason. I'll have to find a solution for that before I go to Reno.

Anyway this weekend was Southern Oregon Pizza XXX. It was a fun time, and while I was there I hid a new cache Pizza XXX lives on.

Also this weekend I was FTF on two DrDan caches.

A Pop Up Cache For A Park
Soft-Q-Cache

Those were both fun and easy. Nice to get a few caches found. I had planned to go find caches after the pizza event, but it was too damn hot and I had other stuff to do. I went to Joanne's Fabric and bought some foam and vinyl for my poker table rail. It cost me a fortune, but I did buy a little extra just in case. I also thought one of their employees was very rude. I'll probable try to find a local source for future projects. I also bought myself a new sander. So my table is ending up costing a little more than expected simply because I needed some tools to do it right.

Another Friday

Another week has passed and not a cache has been found. My geocoin is up to $26 and will end on Sunday. That should be interesting.

This weekend I am house sitting for my uncle again... usually I have dial up internet on his laptop but this weekend he's taking it with him. I suppose I can live a day or two without a computer. I'll just have to prepare my GPS and such at home before I go to tomorrows pizza event. It will be fun to get out after a cache or two and have some pizza.

Also I'll go have a look for more poker table related items. My hope is to get it done by Labor Day... we'll see how it really goes. I still have a lot to do...

busy

Wow was yesterday a busy day... I visited every branch of the bank and probably didn't sit at my desk for 30 minutes total. Around 5:30 I was still in Cave Junction and still not done, but I left things like they were and called it a day, but a couple hours later I went back to the main branch to finish up some other items. So thats why my blog had no update.

My geocoin on eBay is up to $23.50... which isn't bad. It will end Sunday and that is when the bidding will probably pick up a little.

Recently I've been having a lot of problems with my jaw popping when I eat... and it is pretty painful... and for a fat guy to be in pain when he eats is not a good thing. I got to reading online and I think I have a magnesium deficiency. As silly as it sounds I found a lot of websites that said I need more magnesium in my diet and it also said to set up your computer workstations correctly so you had good posture... and my PC at home is not correct at all. So I guess I need to get in the habit of sitting straight, and I'm taking some magnesium suplements. Also I scheduled an appointment for a dentist but as a new patient I couldn't get in until October if it wasn't an emergency... I'm not paying extra just for him to tell me to take some magnesium.

My poker table has made very little progress... none actually... I bought a brand new and spendy holesaw to drill holes for my cup holders. This weekend I'll go buy the vinyl and padding for the rail... all I really need is some time and this weekend I agreed to stay at my uncles so I probably won't get anything done.

Geocaching? I remember when I use to go about every weekend... I ought to find a few in Medford on Saturday... that should be fun.

eBay

My geocoin auction is up to $11.02

I have several extra geocoins... at first I considered putting them in one lot, but I think they sell better individually. I don't want to list too many of them as that will cause market overload. Right now there are 14 listings on eBay if you search for "geocoin." I can use the extra money for my upcoming trip to Reno...

Next month I get to go to a Bank Technology Summit. I could care less about the conferense... I get 2 days off work to play in Reno! I've never been so it should be fun. I've even got a cache or two planned. I already booked my hotel for the conference days, but I am considering going a day earlier on the weekend... sadly the hotel I was staying at is full... so I'd have to stay at someplace different. I expect this to be a pretty expensive trip.

Big event

Looks like I missed a big event yesterday on the coast

Duck in for Pizza

A lot of cachers in attendance. Must have been fun. Yesterday was my mom's birthday so it didn't work out as a good time to go. I almost had her convinced though :) Instead we stayed around town.

I havn't found a cache for a while... and every time I find one I forget this travel bug I have. I've had the poor bug for a couple months it seems. I brought it with me today so I hope to drop it off someplace. It is small enough to fit in a micro container, but also small enough to forget.

My NWGB coin is up to $8.26... not bad so far.

Lazy weekend

Well this was kindof a lazy weekend for me. Saturday I went and looked at a lot more poker table stuff... but I didn't end up buying anything or doing any work on it. I decided it needed a padded rail despite the problems I might have getting it on there. I found my dad does have a saw that can cut those oak boards, but I need something to drill the 3.5" holes for the cup holders. I can order a holesaw on the internet... might be the best way to go. Next weekend I am house sitting for my uncle so I probably won't get any work done for another week.

Today I also listed a geocoin on eBay. There is a lot of controversy over selling geocoins on the internet. I guess they think selling them will make people more apt to take them from caches and sell them on eBay. There is a strong market for geocoins... and I own this one legit... so its mine to sell. I just thought I'd see how it does... this is a pretty rare geocoin I think it will do well.

Step 1, 2, and 3

Well I was going to take pictures documenting all of my steps to making a poker table... I have failed at that already. More or less I got more involed in building then in picture taking. I've completed the following steps

1. Cut Plywood
2. Glue on foam
3. Applied suited poker cloth

This is the completed playing surface



Now comes the hard part... cutting the oak boards to make a ring around the playing surface. Then I have to drill holes for cup holders, glue the boards in plce, sand, finish, apply clear coat, sand, apply clearcoat, sand, apply clearcoat, build a rail and attach the legs. No problem...

Friday!!!

Well this waymarking thing has already slowed down. On day one my blog had like 10 finds... day 2 it had one... day three, nothing. We'll see if someone logs it today.

I actually started on my poker table as well. I got the top and bottom plywood cut. Right now I am really second guessing myself on the design... I think I might have to find a solution so I can add the padded rail. I guess first I have to do some other stuff. Today I'll glue on the foam that goes on the playing surface and then I'll cover it with the poker cloth. Once that part is done then I can start thinking about the race track and rail. I also need to go buy some more stuff. Mainly I need wood finish and some spay adhesive. I just hope it looks something like a table when I'm done.

Building time

I now have all of my poker table supplies in hand. I was able to dig out a sheet of plywood and now all I have to do is draw it out and cut it. I'm going to the fair again tonight so I will probably start tomorrow.

I've decided this whole waymarking.com thing is pretty silly... that was probably Jeremy's point all along. I'll keep up with the site's progress, but its hard for me to imagine it getting much better. Maybe as more is listed it will be more interesting... maybe.

waymarking.com

Hello to all my new visitors from waymarking.com!

Feel free to read all you like (or can stand) and please leave comments if you like.

For those who don't know me I have a pretty odd sense of humor... as you have probably noticed. I try to keep everything in my blog light hearted and never too serious. No one will confuse me as being Politically Correct... and I think that's a good thing (just a warning to those of you who are easily offended and have no sense of humor.)

Thanks again for visiting and come back soon if you like

The Solution

Jeremy has introduced his answer to locationless and virtual caches.

waymarking.com

This site is in its early stages of development and is currently open only to premium members. Your finds are seperate from GC.com... it is a game all its own. I think it is interesting but not sure how well I like it... seems like you can have infinate finds of infinate items. You can even log this website.

Gentlemen's Clubs have already been proposed as a category. While support is lacking I'm surprised there isn't more opposition... I'm trying my best to stir up the embers :) Of course I myself don't see anything wrong with the idea... its just a bunch of waypoints... and it looks like you can log about anything else. Do we really have to protect children from info they could get out of the phonebook?

Maybe next I'll propose brothels :) that should get some people worked up.

Sunburn

Well this weekend I managed just two caches. The Friday before I left I was able to grab a FTF on a new DrDan cache. And Yesterday I got a cache that has eluded me twice before.

Top This Cache #5, The last One, Very Berrie
South 97 cache

Like I said I searched for South 97 a couple of times the last being almost exactly a year ago. It was in a place I normally wouldn't want to reach into. My dog was dead set against even approaching the cache site... he didn't like it at all. Now there are places my dog doesn't like... that bridge in Fish Hatchery Park comes to mind, but thats not the same. At this spot he was fighting against his leash to avoid being anywhere near it. Usually I'd take that as a sign to leave... and I probably shouldn't have been reaching my hands in there... but I did and I logged it.

Other caches on my trip were the kind to be reached by water... unless you wanted a long hike. Silly me didn't put enough air in our boat and we had a hard time paddling... that and no sun block and I decided we needed to head back. I re sunburned myself, but not nearly as bad as last time. I would have walked in yesterday but you needed a damn NW forest pass... I bought one for the first time, but I wasn't going to buy another. I hate the idea that you need a pass... that portion they withhold from my paycheck should be enough.

TGIF

Well this week has been torture. As part of my job I am suppose to strictly adhear by the banks IT Policy... that policy has to meet federal regulations. So occasionally we have Regulators or Auditors to check up on how well we follow these policies. There are 3 kinds of audits... Federal, State, and Internal. This week was my turn to have an internal audit on just the IT department (which is pretty much just me.) Internal means we hire a third party company to come in and look at our practices. Since we hire them they are usually much nicer, but it is still un-nerving to have someone going through all the work you do looking for problems. My big problem is that the feds like to see documentation on everything... and I hate to document anything... in fact before any audit I usually have to fudge a few items :) Well anyway this has kept me pretty busy and I haven't really thought much about geocaching or poker tables even.

My poker table items were on back order but were shipped Wednesday. I figure I should get them next week. Then I can start the build... being that I have yet to start I had better not quote a timeline, but I know how fast I'd like it done.

Tonight I am heading up to Waldo Lake camping. I plan to do a cache or two as well depending on the weather. Will be nice to relax for a while.

More table making

So yesterday I bought some folding table legs. I also decided that the padded rail might just be too hard for me to do... I thought I had a perfect solution but the cup holders are in the way. I might still look into it, but if I can round off the edge of the oak boards it will be good enough. So anyway if I scrap the rail I have everything I need (at least on order)

Now I just need to start cutting... I think I can cut the plywood with a regular circular saw... all the oak boards will require something a little better. Lucky for me I work with a guy who has some better woodworking tools. My one big problem right now is that my dad has plenty of plywood, but it is buried... it will take some work to get it out of the shed. I can't wait to get it started... since I'm going camping this weekend I would guess that I won't get much done until next week. We'll see how long it takes for all my stuff to get here.

Poker Table

I've been looking around for a poker table... the ones I've found online are pretty expensive... ones I've seen for sale around here are pretty cheap. So I have decided to make my own table. Most tables are either large ovals (for 10 players) or octagonal (8 players)... a large oval table is much too large for myself so I decided to try an Octagon... I took some quick measurements and decided that 8 people at such a table would be pretty cramped... besides most of the time we play with 6. So I have decided to make a rare 6 sided table... only problem is that I was never very good at geometry... I got A's in Calculus, but I got a D in geometry. Anyway I now have in hand or on order

1 sheet 1/2" plywood
3 Oak boards for an outside edge (3/4"x6"x96")
4 feet suited poker cloth
4 feet backing foam
6 stainless steel cup holders

I still need some folding table legs, stain + finnish for the oak "race track", and foam with covering to make a padded rail. So now I only have one more problem... I have to put it all together... that requires some woodcutting... Sadly I don't have a table saw or anything accurate enough to cut all the pieces. Let alone I don't really have anyplace to work on it. Sometimes I ought to think my projects through a little better.

Geocachin'

Well yesterday I did make it to one cache, O' TO THE DUCK (BARNEY, MIKE, OR WHATEVER). I've been pretty busy here at work the last few days and didn't notice this one pop up. We still got there first as there is little competition since it was Kelly's cache.

I noticed this Georgia geocoin sold on eBay yestertday for $47.88. Quite a bit considering the coin was originally purchased for around $4. I've seen most geocoins on eBay sell for over $30 and the prices are rising. At those prices my collection is valued over $2000. I wonder if it would be against geocaching ethics to put my collection up for sale... $2500 takes all. Do you know what I could do with $2500? Me neither but I'm sure I could think up something.

:)

Well my sunburned knees are feeling a little better and its my birthday. The last couple of years I've gone out for at least one cache on my b-day... this year I have a few to choose from so I'll probably get out for a little while today.

Poker

Today I decided to invest in my poker game and I bought a handful of books to help.

Doyle Brunson's Super System: A Course in Power Poker
The Theory of Poker
Caro's Book of Poker Tells
Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments
Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play

There are a few other books I might have bought, but these 5 tended to rate pretty high and I think they'll teach me a lot.

As for geocaching nothing new is going on, but I do plan to do at least one cache tomorrow as long as my knees feel ok about it.

ouch!

So saturday night I got a call from a friend of mine inviting me to go rafting Sunday. So then Sunday I prepared to go rafting and was smart and put on some sunscreen... only one problem... I was wearing long shorts and didn't put any on my knees... of course sitting in the boat my knees were exposed... they got rather toasty. Today I could hardly walk... no amount of Aloe Vera could help. Well anyway my lesson is learned for this summer at least... more sunscreen! At least rafting was fun. I had only ever been down in a large raft, but this time I went in a single person boat... it was a lot of fun. I'll try it again when my knees recover.