Not much to talk about tonight...

I just got done listing some Waymarks. I've slacked off about that lately it seems. I'm not sure if it's the nice weather or what, but I've just not felt like sitting down to research, type up, and post Waymarks the past couple of weeks. Regardless I posted 3 antique stores, an AM/FM Broadcast station, a courthouse, and 7 National Register of Historic Places places...one of those I've saved to submit later since I realized that the actual Register title included 3 buildings instead of just the one that I took pictures of, so I need to return to get a few more pictures. I still have about 10-15 National Register places in my backlog along with a ton of other stuff.

I was thinking about heading out to Mechanicsburg for the dedication of an Ohio Historic Marker there, but I didn't end up doing that. I really only wanted to go because I had looked very hard for it to Waymark it. It was listed on the remarkableohio.com site for a while, and it's dated 2006, but I found out that they never had a dedication ceremony, therefore it was never there until today. I knew where it should be, but I kept driving all around the town thinking that maybe the website had its location listed wrong (they've been known to do that) or something...I just never considered that it hadn't been erected yet. Oh well, I'll get out there one of these days to mark it. I am planning to go to another Marker dedication up in Marion next weekend. I grew up in Marion county and spent a lot of time in Marion, so its history is interesting to me. This particular marker is one recalling the history of a WWII German POW camp that was located where the present day Marion Industrial Depot is. You can read the marker's text here. It's pretty interesting stuff that most folks from the area aren't aware of, even though it's relatively recent history.

Something that this marker doesn't mention is some even more recent issues with the former POW camp. Near the eastern end of where that camp was, and where the Marion Engineer Depot was sits the former River Valley High school. Back in the late 1990's there was a link to leukemia cases and graduates of River Valley High School. It seems someone noticed they were developing the disease at a higher rate than other residents of Marion and Marion county. The school was closed and a new school was built a mile or two away. The EPA and various other organizations have been testing the air, soil, and everything else around there but releasing little information to the public (I need to check whether this is listed as a super fund site or not.....). One thing they did find was an area of the school yard where a rail line used to come into the POW camp. They found high levels of Arsenic in core samples taken there. It was later determined that the rail was used to import people into the camp. When they got off the trains they were sprayed right on the spot with a delousing agent. That agent contained Arsenic, and is what they were finding in the soil some 50 years later.

Vacation, and DSL problems fixed?

I was on vacation all of last week, so I had to rejoin the world of adult responsibility today. It's certainly not that I don't like my job, quite the contrary actually, it's just that it's always hard to get back in the the ol' routine even after only having been off for a week. During that week I didn't accomplish much. I didn't really go anywhere, or do anything special, but it was relaxing just the same. I was hoping to catch up on my Waymarking backlog, but that didn't happen. Partly due to me just finding other things to do, but mostly because I was still having DSL issues.

I think I've found a fix for my DSL issues through. I got tired of the constant disconnects, and not being able to connect wirelessly...I wasn't able to connect my IBM Laptop, my new Mac Book, or the WII, so I knew it had to be something with the modem. I didn't feel like dealing with tech support again, especially because I'm already way over on my cell minutes from talking to them (I don't own a home phone....I have the landline service only because I have to have it for the DSL, but I don't even have a phone to connect to it if I wanted to). I decided to do a Google search for my particular DSL modem/router, which was supplied by my service provider, and I ended up with tons of links to various message boards and blogs discussing that this modem is a dog, the provider knows it, but essentially refuses to do anything about it unless you threaten to cancel. There were also several mentions of various firmware upgrades available, but no links were provided in the first several mentions. I checked the modem's manufacturer site, and they don't support it since it was made specifically for this service provider. I then thought I would be smart and check my service provider's website, only it find it impossibly difficult to get any information beyond very basic information. Finally after more digging through the Google links I came across a posting which included a link to the firmware available from the service provider. I quickly downloaded and installed this, and I've had no problems since. I'm not getting dropped (well not as often at least...2-3 times every couple of days is far better and livable at least), all of my wireless devices connect flawlessly, and above all of that the connection is actually running much faster both on my main PC and all of my wireless devices, than it was before. I'm still pretty much in favor of dumping the DSL and picking up cable though...it's a slightly more pricey option, but at least I would use the cable TV occasionally, as compared to a phone line that I don't and can't use even if I wanted to. In terms of "value" cable is a better option.....I think.....

But to bring my frustration levels back up it seems that I may have a corrupt memory stick. I just installed 2 1gb sticks in the PC about a month ago, to upgrade from the 128mb, and 512mb sticks I was running. Suddenly I was getting various BSOD errors randomly, and I couldn't find any rhyme or reason...sometimes it did it when I was asleep. I first suspected something with my video card since I am having other obvious issues with it...and because it would often throw up the BSOD when I was watching videos on YouTube. I started reading about it, and found the errors I was getting are typically attributed to either bad memory, or lack of power being supplied. I know for a fact that I don't have enough power running through this (I have a 200w supply, and the video card requires at least 250w by itself....in addition I'm running dual hard-drives, a CD burner, DVD rom drive, an IEEE 1394 card, plus I have just able every USB port filled most times (webcam, G15 keyboard, mouse, printer, sometimes a headset, sometimes the GPS, sometimes my memory card reader, and sometimes a flash drive) but I figured that for the time being it was easier to switch back to my old memory for a test. Everything is working fine since I've done that. I'm probably going to test each of the 1gb sticks to see if either is usable. On top of that I am also planning to get a new power supply as well, to hopefully end the other issues I've having specific to the video card. Who knows maybe after getting a new power supply I won't have any issues with either of the 1gb sticks.....I don't count on it, but stranger things have happened.

While I'm talking about computers.....I'm still liking the Mac Book, although I'm a little frustrated with it since I'm not used to it. I've been using Win based machines since I was probably about 12 years old, and DOS before that, so I've had about 17 years of "training" on Windows. Since I don't know anything about OS X it seems to me that I'm not able to do anything except play on the internet and look at pictures. That's only due to my lack of knowledge of the system. I was even posting some Waymarks from it last night and I couldn't figure out how to actually edit photos...I could only look at them...although I figured out how to get the file info so I knew which pic I wanted to post in a given Waymark. I just need to give it more time...plus I tend to be stubborn and don't read manuals and such until I'm about ready to chuck things in the trash, so it just adds to my frustration, and then makes it worse when I finally read up on something and realize how simple the procedure really is, and that I was making it 100's of times harder than it had to be. It's a stupid trait that I recognize in myself, but yet I still do nothing to correct it....hmmmmm.

Macbook

I just received the Macbook that I ordered late last week. Dewgrl and I ran a few errands today, and I was worried that the FedEx guy was going to show up while we were gone, but he actually pulled up about 30 seconds after we got home.

So far I've set it up, and I'm currently downloading the various updates for it. I picked this up mainly because my current laptop doesn't work that well, and my PC isn't exactly portable, so I needed something new for the college courses I'm going to be starting in May.

I've never owned or even worked on a Mac of any sort. Even though I've only been on here for about a 1/2 hour (long enough to boot up, start the updates, figure out what program gets me on the net, and download Firefox), I'm really liking the OSx, the speed, and ease of use. The display is physically smaller than the WinXP laptop I have, and I was concerned about that, however that doesn't seem to be any issue. The graphics are nice and clear on this MacBook.

For what it's worth it is a MacBook, not MacBook Pro. I opted to grab a refurbished one instead of one brand new. It still carries the same warranty and everything, so I'm not concerned about it. It has a 13.3" glossy screen, 120gb hard drive, 1gb ram, and the "superdrive" or whatever that reads and writes CDs and DVDs.

I still have a lot of stuff to learn and figure out on here, and I won't have much time for that today, but like I said I do like very much what I see so far. I am still concerned about compatibility with the programs and games I frequently use on my PC and WinXP based laptop, so we'll see how that all works out for me.

This past weekend

I finally got out on my little trip that I discussed earlier. The primary goal was to visit the Serpent Mound outside of Peebles, Ohio, mainly to log it for the New World Ancient Evidence, and the Impact Crater categories. I think that it's a great, local, example to put into each of those categories. Even though there are plenty of closer mounds I could log for the New World category, I really wanted to get the Serpent Mound listed. The Serpent Mound though ends up fitting into many catergories. At that park alone, I got the two mentioned above, a Lookout tower, an Official Local Tourism Attraction, a Scenic Overlook, an Ohio Historic Marker, and still to list are a History Museum, a Long Distance Hiking Trail, and a Scenic Hike.

I had once visited the Serpent Mound before with my family when I was a little kid, but I didn't really remember much about it. I do remember, even though I was probably too young to really appreciate it, that I was impressed by its size. Even now probably some 20 years later I was still impressed by it. Going down I was worried it would be a bit of a disappointment. Kind of like how your elementary school seemed huge as a kid, but if you ever go back you realize how small it really is. But that wasn't the case, and I'm planning to head back down there this summer to spend a little more time. This past Sunday was cold with a biting wind and impending rain/snow, so I didn't make a full day of it. I just visited the museum, walked around the mound and took pictures, looked at some of the other burial mounds in the area, and grabbed a Geocache, there placed by the Ohio Historical Society. That ended up being my 1300th find, so I'm glad that it was an interesting area. The hide wasn't particularly hard, nor was it an epic hike or anything, but I like it for the area that it's in.

In addition to all of that on the way down we spied several Waymarkable locations so we made sure to stop on the way back up. In the small town of Hillsboro, which is the county seat of Highland county, Ohio, there were tons of stuff to find and part of the reason we want to make a return trip to the area. Some of the more interesting things we found were an Ohio Bicentennial Bell, which is now listed in the Bells category along with three other interesting bells. In front of the Highland County Historical Society building was the largest bell I've ever seen. I noticed that the casting marks on it indicated that it was made in that same town. Behind the same building was a bell that was stamped "USS Hawaii, 1945" and another bell stamped "U.S. Coast Guard Cutter "Northwind" 1943". Not knowing the history of the town though, I was confused as to why these were sitting there until I got home and started researching. It turns out that the C.S. Bell Company was a very famous bell manufacturer in its day. They produced many bells for schools, farms, churches, and missions....including one that was listed among the "Bells That Changed The World" used on Molokai Island by Dr. Damien to call the stricken lepers to worship. They also produced thousands of bells for the U.S. Navy, many of which were used on ships as Invasion Bells during the storming of Normandy. The large bell in front was the largest bell ever made by the C.S. Bell Company, and even though I don't have 100% information I'm assuming the USS Hawaii bell and the Northwind bell were both made for those ships. I've also found that town of Hillsboro has an annual "Festival of Bells", and this year should be especially interesting as the town celebrates its Bicentennial. So that's another reason that we want to head back down there this summer.

Other than that there were many other waymarks in Hillsboro. We got a few of them, but decided just to wait to do a more extensive tour later. Up the road a little way is another small town of Leesburg which we pretty much entirely waymarked. The only exception was 2 independent pizza shops. I didn't want to mark them without having actually visited and tried their food.

On the way home we stopped for dinner in Grove City (a southern suburb of Columbus) then headed into downtown Columbus so I could mark a Cityscape that I've been wanting to mark for a while. It turned out really well as the downtown area was deserted at 10pm on a Sunday night, and because of the wind there was little smog which helped my pictures come out very clear. This was also pretty much my first endeavor in photographing a skyline at night, so given that I felt the pictures came out rather well.

In all I ended up with 59 waypoints in my GPS, one of which was just updated coords to a cache that was a little off. The rest were Waymarks, some of which can be cross posted, so it turned out to be a much more productive day than I was expecting. Even with all that Waymarking, we found time to grab 4 other caches in addition to the one at the Serpent Mound for me, and 5 for Dewgrl. There was one in downtown Columbus that I had found previously but she hadn't.

Easter Sunday Waymarking

This past weekend was a busy one. Saturday was filled with Easter dinner with my family, and then a trip to Nationwide arena to watch the Columbus Blue Jackets lose their final game of the season. In spite of their loss, it was a really good game, except for the officiating, and I'm excited about the Jackets possibilities for next year.

Sunday I had planned to take that super secret trip, but didn't due to the cold and snow. We decided to stay closer to home. We headed out to nearby Marysville, Ohio to grab some lunch, and got a few waymarks while we were out there. Those marks include a couple parks, several playgrounds, a few basketball courts, an old church, a water tower, several payphones, a couple ghost signs, a steakhouse (which we didn't know existed before this), an airport, a couple welcome signs, an independent doughnut shop, a couple independent pizza joints, a relocated structure (I need more info on this one, it's still on steel beams and has stacks of wood under it, so it's obvious that it was moved or is being moved...I just don't know anything about it) and even though I don't like the "corporate" waymarks so much we did get a McD's, BK, Subway, Wal-mart, Dollar Store, Starbucks, and a Dairy Queen. There is still much more to be found in Marysville, but we're going to wait until it gets a little warmer so we can walk around and enjoy it more.

After leaving Marysville I decided there were a few more places I wanted to stop on the way home...sort of. We ran by Mill Creek Golf Course which is where 2003 British Open Champion Ben Curtis grew up playing golf, so I got that listed under the golf courses category. We also got a boat ramp, fishing hole, and even though I didn't think about it at the time a river/stream confluence. I'm going to need better pics for the confluence though. We also got a couple of truss bridges, benchmarks, another old church, and a train bridge.

All in all it was a good waymarking day aside from the cold and snow, and the change of plans from our original intentions.

I was hoping to get more caught up on my backlog this evening, however I'm having difficulties with my DSL disconnecting every 5 minutes again. I should call the tech folks, but from all the previous times I know I'm going to get the run around and I really don't feel like dealing with it tonight. Usually I get disconnected for a couple minutes and then it'll reconnect. So I call as soon as I get disconnected and by the time I'm through the IVR it's reconnected. At that point they always tell me that since my internet is connected and working that I'm obviously not having problems so there was no need to call (This is almost verbatim from 2 of the 6 people I talked to 2 weeks ago when I was having the trouble). They will eventually see that I'm calling in every 10 minutes, since they always want me to call back when I get disconnected. Finally they tell me they put in a trouble ticket and I'll get a call back in 24-48 hours, but I never get a call back. It usually does start working again for a week or two through so I've never bothered to call to find out if my supposed trouble ticket was actually resolved or if it was just a coincidence. I really just need to cancel this service and get something else at this point.

At least I've learned to copy and paste any info I've typed up on my waymarks before I go to the next page. I've lost a lot of typing on some of them in the past.

More Waymarking

Since last I wrote I've been trying to catch up my backlog. I've finally convinced myself that I'll never be completely caught up, so I'm not trying to rush any of them. I tend to enjoy more historical locations since I always learn something about my little town, and I can show others some of the lesser known history of the area. Even though Delaware is a small town of about 25,000 people there is great history here. From the Scioto Trail which the Native Americans used to travel from hunting grounds in present day Kentucky, to Lake Erie, the early settlements of Ohio, Presidential history, clear up to present day, I think Delaware and the surrounding areas have a lot to be proud of. With this, it sometimes takes a decent amount of time at the library, or separating fact from fiction on the net. A great example of this is the Perkins Observatory which I listed in the Astronomical Observatories category, and the Weird Story Locations. I still need to get it listed under the U.S. Register of Historic Places, but I've not gotten around to that yet. I spent about nearly 2 hours researching it, and typing everything up, even though I'm reasonably familiar with its history, having visited there in the past, and using it for a locationless cache back when they were around. I'm hoping to get up to the Delaware Historical Society soon to get some information about several Waymarks I've been sitting on for a while.

I also managed to get out on Tuesday to enjoy the 80° weather we had....had being the operative word....it was about 35° yesterday, and 30° today with snow all day long...and dragged Dewgrl along as well to grab a few waymarks between dinner and a few errands. I think she just humors me in my Waymarking endeavors, but she does like to find bells, so I try to make sure a few of those get thrown in when we're out. On Tuesday I grabbed a used bookstore which is also a used video-game store, a ghost ad, bicycle shop, independent coffee shop, antique store, 3 bells, 2 playgrounds, a community park, a pier, 4 Weird Story locations (one of them being Perkins Observatory, which as I mentioned can be cross posted in Observatories, and U.S. Register), an outdoor basketball court, another used video-game store, and I also grabbed a few additional required pics for a couple of Neon Light locations, more required pics for a couple antique shops, as well as some coords that I needed.

I've also posted an antique store, an outdoor warning siren, a public library, the above mentioned basketball court, the above mentioned Weird Story Location, and the above mentioned pier. I also posted the above mentioned observatory, bicycle shop, and combo used book/used game store, but those have not yet been approved.

I also posted an Underground Railroad site which got denied due to my own lack of attention. Along with the pictures I took of the location, I also posted a few historical pics of some the people mentioned in its history. I copied the images from the Ohio Historical Society's website a while back and intended to get permission to use them. It was one of the later marks I posted last night, so I forgot that I hadn't yet asked for permission to use them. Thankfully the approver was more attentive than I was and denied the listing. I sent an email to one of the contacts at the OHS last night, and received a response today. It turns out that they typically charge fees to use images from their site, however, since I've worked with them in gathering pictures and information of many Ohio Historical Markers (which I've been Waymarking as well as providing the info/pics to the OHS) they were kind enough to waive the charges for me. I just need to send in a form and then I'll be set to go. So for now this Waymark is going to sit inactive and unapproved until I get the formalities out of the way.

In addition, The Blue Quasar gave me a little bit of a laugh last night as the approver for my public library. In the approver notes s/he said "You didn't have to remove the bricks and stick that cement block in then chisel the word library.. a picture of the sign would be enough... A for effort though." Maybe it's not so obvious in the smaller picture uploaded to Waymarking, but in the high-res original I have it clearly shows that the "library" sign is cast iron. So I didn't chisel anything, all I had to do was get the sign cast and then bolt it into the brick when nobody was looking....like I would have the time for all the chiseling. Ahh, the lengths we'll go to in order to ensure our Waymarks get approved. :)

Speaking of approvals, I had my outdoor basketball court approved by bootron who mentioned reading this blog from time to time. So, many thanks for the approval, and thanks for stopping by bootron!

Well I guess that's about it for now. I don't have any real plans for any Waymarking soon, but who knows what will happen. This coming Sunday I may be visiting a great place a couple hours away that'll net me a few interesting waymarks, but it all depends on whether it's open, being that it'll be Easter Sunday. I'm not going to tell you where it is just for the fun of building suspense. Additionally, even though some may not see Waymarking as being as adventurous as Geocaching, I'm considering filming some of my Waymarking trips and posting them over on YouTube, partly to spread the word about Waymarking, but mostly just because it'll be fun for me.

A history lesson from Ebay?

Who knew that you could learn about local history on Ebay? This evening I sat down with the intention of posting a few waymarks. I got one listed in the National Register; The Palace Theater, in Marion, Ohio, which is currently pending approval. I started thinking about the Picture Perfect Postcards category and thought I would run a quick search on Ebay to see what vintage postcards there are for Delaware, and the surrounding areas. That way I can avoid any copyright issues by not "borrowing" pictures off the net. So I punch "Delaware, Ohio" into the Ebay search and see something about a camera, called a Ciro 35, in the results. Upon clicking on it the description reads that this camera was made during the 40's and 50's here in Delaware. I had never known that cameras were ever made in this little town. Upon further research I find the company started in Detroit, moved here to Delaware for a few years, and then was bought-out and moved to Rochester, NY.

The first camera I came across on Ebay was not working, but I refined my search and found another one that is supposed to be in perfect working order. Having an interest in photography, vintage/antique cameras, and local history....I just had to have it. The working camera had a BIN on it, so I took care of that right away, and also placed a bid on the non-working one. I don't have any vintage cameras yet, so these are perfect to start my collection. I'm looking forward to getting it (or them if I win the 2nd one) to use them, and get to know a little more about the cameras.

I did manage to snag a few old postcards to use for the Waymarking category, and they will also make nice collectibles. Sticking with my joy of history, I always like to look at old photographs and postcards that show how things used to be.

Completely off topic, I wonder why the "exhausted" smiley face guy is crying? I clicked on it by accident when picking my "mood." When I'm exhausted, I'm just tired....not sad and crying...odd.