2013-01-03 47 8

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Location

The Albisrieden district in Zurich.

Participants

Plans

Calamus

Have a walk through town, aiming to reach the point at ~~4pm~~ 5pm to adapt to Chris. ~~Try to make it a tron by going there via the Triemli and returning through the Sihlfeld.~~ Subsequently, have a beer in the Ey (whose one entrance doesn't allow for trons).

Chris_47_8

can't make it till 4pm, have to work. can make it by 5pm. i know its almost dark then, but there's no way to avoid that. -Chris

I adapt. I'm delighted to meet a new face. --Calamus 15:27, 2 January 2013 (EST)

Yay! :) See you there! -Chris

Expedition

Calamus

Contrary to the forecast, it was a sunny afternoon on 2012-01-02, and Calamus did what he often did on sunny afternoons. Sitting in the dark, constantly refreshing the recent changes page of the geohashing wiki. Of course, he could have been on an expedition to the wunderfully reachable hashpoint of his northern neighbour graticule. That is, if the lady who drove to Villingen-Schwenningen every day and had offered him a cheap ride hadn't suddenly decided to go on holiday.

And so it was the recent changes instead. Not much happened, until suddenly the user creation log updated. And the name of the new user made Calamus refresh the page again, in case there had been a transmission error. It ran Chris_47_8. A new hasher in his home graticule? Amazing!

When checking for the next day's coordinates, his heart skipped another beat. It was in the city of Zurich itself. In a mini-park next to a pub where Calamus had once spent a night (don't ask - no proof on file anyway). What for could he possibly have wished more?

On the day of the hash, Calamus went there by foot and was about twenty minutes early. Sitting on a bench and working, he suddenly got aware of a figure, trying to find a target on the ground using a smartphone. So this was it. This was the first alive geohasher he met without bringing him himself. It felt completely unreal.

The strange feeling subsided instantly when they introduced themselves to each other. Chris was a really cool guy, whom Calamus liked from the beginning. After finding the exact point, they posted a marker Chris had drawn to a lamppost.

With the hashpoint being right next to a pub, there was no question the they would have a drink. And as the pub offered pool facilities, Chris challenged Calamus to a game of billiard. Chris, while claiming hardly ever to have played the game, absolutely rocked the table, while the only balls Calamus was able to pocket (inadvertedly) either belonged to Chris or were the cue ball. After three games, all of which Chris easily won, they moved to the corner table closest to the hashpoint and chatted until it was evening. One of their main subjects was their respective research field (they turned out to work at the same university). And while Calamus wasn't completely sure he understood all of Chris's explanations, it sounded fascinating.

After some more exchange, they parted ways, not without promising each other another meetup, preferrably nearby a pub. And not just because Chris now owed Calamus a few beers.