Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The Appeal of Geek-oh-caching

And, of course, you know I mean that in an honorable way, being the O.G. myself.

I am beginning to get an idea for why geocaching appeals to me. (Five finds under my belt, and I don't even have a GPS receiver yet, by the way . . . but I'm not bragging.)

It's been a while since I have made a top ten list . . . you'd have to catch my old blog on LiveJournal to see a few of those . . . so maybe I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

Top Ten Reasons Geocaching Appeals To Me:

10. There's the obvious geek factor. Gadgets, Internet, and figuring stuff out. Need I say more?

9. Getting outdoors. I want more of that in my life. Even if it means going out in the rain.

8. Exercise. Ever since I had my son, I have not been able to afford that special time and finance combination that Curves required of me. (The ONLY thing that has ever helped me get in shape and lose weight.)

7. Along the lines of exercise and fitness, I have not really told a lot of people about my cholesterol. Maybe that's because I want the medication to do the work for me, and I am overdue for a follow-up visit and the requisite blood tests. Geocaching's got to be good for my cholesterol (darn those low HDLs), as long as I don't eat TOO much pizza. I hear there's a lot of that where ever geocachers gather.

6. Ever since those days of playing "Indiana Jones and the Nature Trail" on the hillside at Wallington Park (NJ), I have always had a secret side of me that longed to don the fedora and whip. I'll go with my normal clothes, but I'll be wearing the Indy gear in my heart.

5. As I traipsed about in the rain the other day, in these lonely San Jose streets, I could not help but feel like a secret agent or master of espionage as I lurked about, watching cache spots, waiting for the muggles to move on so I could move in for the kill. I also kind of looked homeless. Negative appeal points for that. Forget I mentioned it.

4. It kind of bugs my husband.

3. It's something I can do with the kids. In fact, Alison has already accompanied me twice and Cameron once. A was with me when I logged my first find. She has since discovered that a kid she knows at school does it. So does the lady she helps out down the street. Apparently, these people are everywhere, posing as normal.

2. It's like this counter-culture . . . or would that be subculture . . . that you don't have to hurt anyone or break the law to join. I might even make a few friends, virtual or otherwise.

1. Okay, this would not be an education blog if I didn't tie it all in somehow. I can REALLY see doing this with kids from school. Middle schoolers, of course. And parent volunteers. What a great excuse . . . I mean REASON . . . to apply for technology funds. I think we would go with an after-school club at first, then maybe see about making it the 8th grade technology class curriculum, maybe at least for one trimester? Well, if we still have mixed classes of 7th and 8th graders in the future, that won't work. But we can think of something. Maybe a tie-in with P.E., since that is what the kids have the other three days of the week during the same period they have tech class. Anyway, it's math, science, history, and geography . . . plus P.E. of course, all rolled in to one fun sport. So I guess even the O.G. will be learning plenty.

And that's gotta be a good thing.

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