Good morning everyone. I'm back and so is fun facts. This week's fun fact is all about DNFs. How many have you logged so far? I have 189 logged DNFs to date. I have had redemption on some of those DNFs. Some have been archived since. I'm not quick to log a DNF. If it was a quick half-hearted search, then I won't log anything. If it's an honest search and I believe the cache is missing, then I'll log the DNF.
After my publicized meltdown/rant, my caching mojo went into the tank. What is a caching mojo? We know what caching is, but a caching mojo? I Googled mojo to see what definition came up. Mojo has a couple of meanings. Urban Dictionary says: mojo is a noun originally used to mean a magic charm or spell. It could also be an amulet, often in the form of a small bag containing magic items worn by adherents of hoodoo or voodoo. It could also mean a quality or some ability that brings good luck or helps you be good at something. It has also taken on an additional meaning of personal confidence and charisma with regards to sexual relationships. Disregarding that last bit about sex since that has nothing to do with geocaching, a caching mojo would be a self confidence. The ability to see how to solve that puzzle that everyone is stumped on. The ability to walk up to GZ and spot the cache without needing a GPSr or a phone app to tell them where they should be looking. This could draw some nasty glares if you were to come strutting in on a group of cachers, who have spent the last half hour searching for a cache, swagger on full display as you point out "oh, it's right there". That, to me is what a caching mojo would be.
As mentioned at the start, my caching mojo went into the tank. I lost any inspiration and motivation to do anything geocaching related after the incident and aftermath of last month. I've also been dealing with some personal stuff, which I won't be discussing. Add all that together and my focus isn't there. The personal confidence is gone. When you get into that mindset, it's difficult to see what you're looking for. I have done some caching since last month, doing a wee little bit on my own, but mostly with Hakliva and Auntie Mo. My confidence, my mojo hit rock bottom over the weekend when I had my boys. Saturday was a gloomy, rainy day. The grey sky was a perfect match for my mood. I had to make a quick trip to the store for a few groceries and opted to attempt a couple of caches. These turned out to be very quick finds. A fake bolt on a sign post and a container at the base of a light post.
That doesn't sound all that bad. It was on Sunday that I bottomed out. The same personal matter that I was dealing with while at the NDGCA Camping and Caching event in June came back at me again. After taking the boys home, I attempted to find two geocaches to bring my overall total for that day to eleven finds. I DNFd a puzzle final. Another DNF on a traditional. Surprisingly made a find at another traditional. That one took a bit longer than it should have to find. I did this as a thunder storm was just passing to the North of me. Plenty of lightning and it was getting dark out earlier than normal because of the storm. Tried my luck at one more by a hydro sub-station (while it's lightning out, real smart). No luck on that one. Defeated, I went home with just one find.
The following Tuesday, I was asked if I could drive my oldest to his karate class and bring him home. No problem. There was a geocache not far away that I haven't found yet. Normally I'm able to spot the "flat pack" or "slim jim" type containers if you want to call them a container. It's a baggie wrapped in tape stuck into a crack in a wooden pole. That particular evening, I needed my tweezers to locate where this flat pack was. I should have seen that one.
Next day I attempted another after work and after my walk in the park. I knew exactly where I was going, so I headed straight there and parked in the lot, close to GZ. I searched for about 10 minutes, wondering where on earth can this easy find be. It was called easy by many of the previous finders. It wasn't being easy for me. I was thinking of giving up when I finally got my hands on the container. What makes this really bad is it's easily visible from the driver seat of the car. I should have spotted this before getting out.
With a dark cloud over my head, I stopped at the store on the way home for some comfort food. Tostitos rounds with Tostitos medium cheese dip. I even bailed on a Manitoba Geocaching Association meeting that evening. I wasn't feeling up to it.
This dark cloud would follow me into the next day. Another personal matter arose after a thunderstorm rolled thru late the night before. I went about my day at work, did my walk around the park (I've been trying to be more active) and did some errands afterwards. Where I needed to go, there was a geocache hidden nearby. I had attempted that one during the summer with no luck. The container was missing, but has since been replaced. I was able to locate that one.
Now I'm home to deal with my newest issue, but I'm too exhausted to deal with this. This is the second time this summer I've had to deal with this problem. Contemplating going to bed, a couple of notifications for new caches pop up. First was a puzzle about superheros. This looks like a puzzle I might be able to solve when I feel like sitting down and working on it. The second was a traditional close to home. Why not? Out the door I go. This new cache is in a familiar park. Familiar because there was a cache hidden here before. It's already dark out, so I have my flashlight handy. After eliminating a couple of obvious hosts, I zoomed in on where the phone app was telling me I should be looking in the first place. It took a few minutes but I got my fingers on the container. Did I get the FTF? I wasn't going to celebrate until I saw a blank piece of paper inside the container. The log sheet was blank. Redemption for the past few days and not being able to focus.
Now I feel pumped and motivated to write something. Instead of going to bed so I can get up and go to work the next morning, I'm sitting at my laptop, pounding out a new blog. This particular blog in fact. Hopefully my mojo is back. I put it to the test the next day. After my daily walk in the park after work, I stop on my way home to get a find for the day. This one is amongst some trees in a park. As I entered the treed area, I wondered where I will start my search. So many options here. A look to the left and I spotted something that could be what I'm looking for. I was right. My caching mojo appears to be back (knock on wood).
That's what has been happening with me over the past couple of weeks. Hopefully I'm out of my slump. Only time will tell. Until next time, be safe, enjoy, peace out, and most importantly, have fun.
After my publicized meltdown/rant, my caching mojo went into the tank. What is a caching mojo? We know what caching is, but a caching mojo? I Googled mojo to see what definition came up. Mojo has a couple of meanings. Urban Dictionary says: mojo is a noun originally used to mean a magic charm or spell. It could also be an amulet, often in the form of a small bag containing magic items worn by adherents of hoodoo or voodoo. It could also mean a quality or some ability that brings good luck or helps you be good at something. It has also taken on an additional meaning of personal confidence and charisma with regards to sexual relationships. Disregarding that last bit about sex since that has nothing to do with geocaching, a caching mojo would be a self confidence. The ability to see how to solve that puzzle that everyone is stumped on. The ability to walk up to GZ and spot the cache without needing a GPSr or a phone app to tell them where they should be looking. This could draw some nasty glares if you were to come strutting in on a group of cachers, who have spent the last half hour searching for a cache, swagger on full display as you point out "oh, it's right there". That, to me is what a caching mojo would be.
As mentioned at the start, my caching mojo went into the tank. I lost any inspiration and motivation to do anything geocaching related after the incident and aftermath of last month. I've also been dealing with some personal stuff, which I won't be discussing. Add all that together and my focus isn't there. The personal confidence is gone. When you get into that mindset, it's difficult to see what you're looking for. I have done some caching since last month, doing a wee little bit on my own, but mostly with Hakliva and Auntie Mo. My confidence, my mojo hit rock bottom over the weekend when I had my boys. Saturday was a gloomy, rainy day. The grey sky was a perfect match for my mood. I had to make a quick trip to the store for a few groceries and opted to attempt a couple of caches. These turned out to be very quick finds. A fake bolt on a sign post and a container at the base of a light post.
That doesn't sound all that bad. It was on Sunday that I bottomed out. The same personal matter that I was dealing with while at the NDGCA Camping and Caching event in June came back at me again. After taking the boys home, I attempted to find two geocaches to bring my overall total for that day to eleven finds. I DNFd a puzzle final. Another DNF on a traditional. Surprisingly made a find at another traditional. That one took a bit longer than it should have to find. I did this as a thunder storm was just passing to the North of me. Plenty of lightning and it was getting dark out earlier than normal because of the storm. Tried my luck at one more by a hydro sub-station (while it's lightning out, real smart). No luck on that one. Defeated, I went home with just one find.
The following Tuesday, I was asked if I could drive my oldest to his karate class and bring him home. No problem. There was a geocache not far away that I haven't found yet. Normally I'm able to spot the "flat pack" or "slim jim" type containers if you want to call them a container. It's a baggie wrapped in tape stuck into a crack in a wooden pole. That particular evening, I needed my tweezers to locate where this flat pack was. I should have seen that one.
Next day I attempted another after work and after my walk in the park. I knew exactly where I was going, so I headed straight there and parked in the lot, close to GZ. I searched for about 10 minutes, wondering where on earth can this easy find be. It was called easy by many of the previous finders. It wasn't being easy for me. I was thinking of giving up when I finally got my hands on the container. What makes this really bad is it's easily visible from the driver seat of the car. I should have spotted this before getting out.
This dark cloud would follow me into the next day. Another personal matter arose after a thunderstorm rolled thru late the night before. I went about my day at work, did my walk around the park (I've been trying to be more active) and did some errands afterwards. Where I needed to go, there was a geocache hidden nearby. I had attempted that one during the summer with no luck. The container was missing, but has since been replaced. I was able to locate that one.
Now I'm home to deal with my newest issue, but I'm too exhausted to deal with this. This is the second time this summer I've had to deal with this problem. Contemplating going to bed, a couple of notifications for new caches pop up. First was a puzzle about superheros. This looks like a puzzle I might be able to solve when I feel like sitting down and working on it. The second was a traditional close to home. Why not? Out the door I go. This new cache is in a familiar park. Familiar because there was a cache hidden here before. It's already dark out, so I have my flashlight handy. After eliminating a couple of obvious hosts, I zoomed in on where the phone app was telling me I should be looking in the first place. It took a few minutes but I got my fingers on the container. Did I get the FTF? I wasn't going to celebrate until I saw a blank piece of paper inside the container. The log sheet was blank. Redemption for the past few days and not being able to focus.
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