Stan Olson’s Blog

I heard about this video podcast via TWiT the other day so of course I had to check it out. It’s called Tiki Bar TV and it’s basically about a 5 minute show with a couple of guys and an insanely attractive girl who make mixed drinks in their apartment. Now this doesn’t sound that exciting on the outside, especially if you don’t drink, but after watching a few episodes you’ll really enjoy the humor that occurs in the show. Check it out here:

http://www.tikibartv.com/

Enjoy!

I’ve been following the geocaching stuff for several years now, but have yet to go out and find a cache. (I have helped a coworker hide a cache though) At the beginning of the year, I purchased a bluetooth GPS for my Pocket PC along with a nifty geocaching program called BeeLineGPS. I was hoping to do some caching this spring or summer, but just never got around to it. In August I purchased a bicycle and decided I had to have a GPS for it, so I picked up a Garmin GPS60CSx. I could have gone the basic eTrex or other low-end GPS, but I really liked the features of the 60CSx. (the $50 rebate helped a tad too!) My vision was to actually ride the bike to local parks in the area and do a little geocaching, yet that never materialized.

So I had decided this morning that I was going to hit a local park to take some pictures of the pretty trees and leaves. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that they’d all blown away, so that kinda shot that idea down. Before I departed home, I had loaded up some area geocaches into the pocket pc and my GPS. I pulled up one out in the country (GCXFG7) and decided to go after it and see what happened. I parked the car and read the clue on the pocket pc and then went treking with the GPS60csx. About 5 minutes later I discovered this coffee can cache and opened it up. I didn’t have anything with me to leave nor did I have a pen, but luckily the log book inside had a pen attached to it so I was able to sign the log. I carefully repacked everything and sealed the coffee can back up, then took a moment to rejoice as I found my first geocache! I went back to the car and marked the cache as found and wrote a little note to remind myself to log it when I got back home.

I looked on the GPS and noticed another cache (GCGY51) about a mile up the road. Why not go after it while I’m here? I drove towards it and then parked where it told me to and got out looking for the cache. This one would prove much more difficult to find given the terrain of trees and thorny things. The clue stated that there was supposed to be a path to follow to get to the cache, but there was no path that I could find. I battled my way through the trees, twigs, and small hills. (some slightly muddy too) I kept glancing at the GPS and noticed I was getting closer, but I was really having issues with the terrain. What was left of the thorn branches kept grabbing my jacket and pants in some attempt to ‘protect’ the cache! ;) I battled on and shortly after saw the little tupperware container next to a tree. Hurray!!! :P Once again, TNLNSL. :) However I guess you could say I took home a few battle-wounds and thorns embedded in my pants.

So I have to say it was a great morning and I really enjoyed finding the 2 caches. I definitely would prefer caches like the ones I found out in the country rather than have to battle a local urban park. I felt like a kid on Christmas when finding the caches, it was very cool. It was nice to get some use out of my techy gadgets too. :) I took a few pictures while I was out there and hope to post them on here later on. (is it ok to post pictures of the cache and it’s location?) I just went ahead and signed up for a 1 year subscription, so now I’ll be able to enjoy geocaching even further. :) (I had signed up awhile back for a monthly subscription, but I’d rather just do a year so I don’t have to set aside $3/mo!)

Thanks to all for your wonderful stories which inspired me to get off my duff and go enjoy this wonderful hobby.

Ok, so why am I blogging about getting new windshield wipers? I’ve always used the ANCO brand wiper blades and replacements. I’ve never really been satisfied with them and they eventually start making noise and always smear and miss spots. I thought it was normal for wipers to do that until yesterday. After work I decided to swing by the local Autozone to check out their selection. I went in there actually looking for the triple blade wipers, but they didn’t carry those. The guy I spoke to recommended I try the Bosch blades that were about 2.5x more costly than the ANCO brand. I figured I’d try it and see what happened. So $40 later I was installing them on my car in the parking lot as it was raining. After I got them installed, I flipped them on and I was amazed. There was no noise, no streaking, no missed spots. Well worth the money, too bad I didn’t have them back in March. I guess they are the higher end wipers that Bosch makes, they’re in the Icon series of blades:

Bosch Icon