September 2019 GoLI Member Spotlight Questionnaire
IslesPunkFan
1. What does your cacher name mean? It means I am an Islanders fan and enjoy punk music (Rancid, Dropkick Murphys).
2. When did you start caching and how did you find out about it? I registered on February 22, 2013. I’ve learned about it by seeing a geocaching photo on Flickr and decided to do some research.
3. Describe your first find. February 23, 2013, I went for my first find in North Woodmere Park. It was cold and wet, but that did not stop me. The cache was GC43NG5 (Lost My Balls). Found it rather quickly, being a small box on top of a wooden structure. Hardest part was getting to it. Glad there was a piece of cut wood nearby to stand on.
4. How many finds do you have? Currently, I have 5,134 finds.
a. Find count by type:
b. Traditional – 4009
c. Unknown/Mystery – 349
d. Event – 264
e. Lab – 143
f. Multi – 100
g. Wherigo – 64
h. Virtual – 59
i. Letterbox Hybrid – 53
j. Earthcache – 45
k. CITO – 31
l. Mega-Event – 12
m. Webcam – 4
n. Giga-Event - 1
o. Favorite find type? Depends on my mood. Sometimes it is a Virtual or Earthcache, when I want an education. Other times, it is a traditional that brings you to a special place.
p. Pick one favorite find. Difficult to pick just one. I can say Bridges & Arches of Central Park, RIP Good Friend!!!, Sight Unseen, The Spot, TIN MAN, Eternal Flame Falls Earthcache, or any of the VWTim’s caches, but I am going to say the Lost City of Machu Picchu (GC2FKA6). Why? It was the final cache of an epic day of caching with friends that started with the Manunka Chunk Tunnels (GC82B5) and ended with being in a swamp during a downpour going for that cache.
5. How many caches have you hidden? 107 – 84 hidden/hosted and 23 adopted
a. Hide count by type:
i. Traditional – 80
ii. Event – 11
iii. Mystery – 15
iv. Lab - 1
b. Favorite hide type? Much to the chagrin of others, I do enjoy making puzzles.
c. Pick one favorite cache that you’ve hidden, What a Sophie’s Choice type of question! Luckily, nothing bad happens if I pick wrong. As much as I love keeping my IPF40: NY Islanders (GC4P7T1) up to date, I would pick my IPF46: 10,000 Photographs (GC52FTQ).
6. Stats review -
a. How many state and country souvenirs? 17 states/provinces and 2 counties.
b. Fizzy – Completed 7/1/2017 (1589 days to complete)
c. Jasmer – 1 more month left (October 2000). A trip to Massachusetts is going to happen sometime in my future to compete it.
d. Streak? 123 days and so glad when I stopped it.
e. Slump? 8 days
f. FTFs? 44 of them. Don’t have an opportunity to go for them that often.
g. Best caching week? Weekend? 157 for both.
7. Do you trade SWAG? Any signature SWAG items? Sometimes I trade. Well, there is my popular NY Islander sticker, poker chips, and pathtags.
8. Like to move trackables? How many do you own? I move them when I can. 119 or so. I have a bunch that I keep at home and of those out there, most are missing.
9. Cache with GPS or Phone? iPhone using Cachly
10. Do you have any geocaching goals? None at the moment.
11. Do you cache with anyone? Most of the time. Usually go with Eyedoc, but also larger groups with punchappy, fatboysuede, PickleMule, ZeppelinDT, fyrefly_faerie,….
12. Tell a memorable caching story or two. Ok, to expand a little on the favorite geocache story. The day started out going for a cache after travelling in a muddy tunnel and ended up in what looks like a pre-historic area. Then we went for a series of caches in a swamp. There was a dry spell, so it was not that bad. Halfway, we get alerts to get out of low-lying areas. We of cause ignored them. Two more caches left to get to complete it, torrential rains start. We waited a little bit, but there was not slowing down. So, we went for it. At the final, our touchscreens would not work. The only GPS unit was not working. When asked which direction to go, we all pointed in different directions. Finally, when we got to the parking lot, we were greeted by a wild turkey mocking us.
13. Bucket list cache? Not planned for any time soon, but I so want to go for Beyond Top of the World (GC1YYCZ).
14. Besides geocaching, what else should we know about you? Despite eating out a lot, I can cook.
15. What do you want GoLI to work on? I have no idea. Surprise me. The Zip Code Bingo was a great activity. Ok, I do have an idea. Work on getting me better cards/zip codes next time.