User:Monty
50 / m / 53,-1
My last expedition was:
2011-02-19 53 -1
My next expedition will be:
???
This Whole Page Is Going To Be Revamped (And Updated!)
But it'll have to wait until after 20110727's Birthday expedition. Still to be decided, this evening, but it'll be one of two multihashes:
Four Square
52 -1 In the grounds of a garden centre, near Norbury, Staffordshire
52 -0 A field near Alverton, Normanton, Nottinghamshire
53 -0 Possibly a churchyard, may be private property, Fangfoss, near Full Sutton, Yorkshire
53 -1 Moorland, somewhere near Beamsley Beacon, Langbar, North Yorkshire
Coast-to-coast
53 -2 A field, near Cockerham, Lancaster, Lancashire.
53 -1 Beamsley Beacon, as above
53 -0 Fangfoss, as above.
Maps need to be checked (for getting to the vicinity, final approach is a secondary concern), but the estimated road milages (for a home-to-home trip via the points in the listed orders) are 325 miles and 250 miles, respectively. Four in a day would be nice, and average out at less effort and time to get, but there's arguments for the three-in-a-row.
(The day's schedule precludes anything more complex.)
Me
Location
Born and bred well within the bounds of the Sheffield, UK graticule, but widely travelled throughout the UK, as well as some time abroad, so might be able to prove (or at least claim) a retrospective attendance in any number of other areas. My current home is about five miles from the centre of the area, but my workplace is actually within 0.025° of each axial mid-point.
Range
I'm vehicularly mobile, to the tune of one petrol engine and four road wheels, so that gives me a decent range if available time and the cost of fuel allows. And (although obviously cannot promise anything too far in advance) this gives me the ability to carry a conveniently nearby-based fellow seeker of the holy coordinates to just such a destination. I can, of course, also use a two-wheel vehicle powered by personal twin contra-reciprocating myofibrilic pistons (i.e. a bicycle) for not so distant/time-consuming destinations (although Sheffield's hills are a pain and I don't go out on the bike as much as I should), or of course employ shank's pony and council limousines (walking and public transport) for shorter or suitably-serviced but more distant destinations.
Schedule
At the moment, I keep myself busy mainly through choice and opportunity, so I may be able to up-sticks at a few hour's notice for a local or near-local meet that fits into the current commitments, and reserve time on some weekends to be there, but on others, during the year, I may have a prior engagement in the vicinity of the area near Doncaster, shortly after mid-day. It's not unreasonable to expect the occasional weekend spot to land over there (or near the mid-western edge of the Hull reticule, so I may keep an eye out for those opportunities. Although there are some biiiiig ditch-bound fields in that area, and less people to possibly hook up with, so without a GPS of my own it might not convenient, legal or just plain practical to claim too many of those. (At least the west and south-west of the Sheffield area has a lot of open-access patches and landmarks, even if the |terrain could have its own downsides.)
Ambitions
As I'm just starting off, I have no well-formed ambitions. I haven't even read enough of the wiki to know all the ins and outs of most of the Achievements, social norms, peer hierarchy, places to chatter. But maybe I'll soon get an idea, so I thought I better at least initialise() this section with some words that vaguely make sense. I suppose my first ambition is to get around to getting my own GPS capability. (But while I can do without, the cash I would have spent will always come in handy for other things I need, want, desire or would otherwise just waste money on.)
Myself
The Name
The name "Monty" was given me by some guys I work with, and just seemed appropriate to adopt for the occasion of my first meet, and so it is by this name that I shall be addressing you all. Pay attention at the back.
I have a number of distinct on-line presences across various other forums and similar, but tend to maintain an internal 'chinese wall' between each of these and my real life (and, by extension, between each other as well, but I'm most vehemently against sock-puppets, so you won't get that from me). Or I'm paranoid. The voices in my head are trying to tell me I'm sane. Do they know something I don't...?
Ahem. :)
The Persona
No, not paranoid. Who said that? Shush. Anyway, I'm the sort of a low-key and/or calmly non-obsessive techno-geeky guy you'd expect to be in the mix for this neck of the woods. I can be observed to possess a mouth and a set of typing fingers that'll run off nineteen to the dozen on any subject that's found to be particularly interesting. Or even anything that I start to get interested in whilst in mid-explanation of something that started off simple. There's often a lot of wheat amongst the chaff, but I'd be the first to admit that the the difficult bit is in identifying it.
I like to think I'm friendly, easy-going, generally a good guy to know, but then very few people would say other about themselves, I suppose. And I'll have my off-days. I'm also not too brilliant at remembering names and faces, so it's quite possible I'll meet you a second, third or fourth time with the same vacant, friendly grin as the upon the first meeting, at least until you graduate to receiving a brief, puzzled "I know you, don't I?" expression, after which it might go either way. It's even possible I already know you by dint of contact while occupying one of the other aforementioned electronic alter-egos, some of which I've gone physically socialised with, and the same might well apply. This continuing possibility might be one of the underlying causes for my defaulting to the good-nature mode aimed at new acquaintances.
The Interests
For starters, the usual for denizens of this place, I'd say. Add to that taking pictures of clouds, buildings, landscapes or natural phenomena; largely exclude any pictures with people in it if it can be helped (including as small and insignificant specks below, in front of, upon or within all those aforementioned clouds, buildings landscapes and natural phenomena).
- Favourite language
- Perl, currently, amongst other near contenders (as far as human languages, I'm largely a monoglot. WYSIWYG)
- Favourite food
- arguably pasta (supermarket tortellini, in particular)
- Favourite past-time
- Listening to the radio. Radio 7 is a particular favourite.
- Most annoying past-time
- Conveying something 'interesting' to others via email, forums or the like. On occasion it is interesting to someone. Which makes it even more annoying to everyone else, I suspect.
And I
Achievements Gratefully Received and/or Proven To Others
So far, I have claimed or been credited/co-credited the following achievements from a total of Five (5) actual Geohashing attempts.
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amc, myka and Monty earned the Land geohash achievement
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- Total: 3 successful land expeditions out of 5 attempts. All the succesful ones on Thursdays!
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amc, myka and Monty earned the Ambassador achievement
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- NB: In reality, was all ready to bribe the landowner with iced doughnuts, but everything turned out Ok without much assistance from self
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Monty earned the No Batteries Geohash Achievement
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- 2011-01-27 53 -1 was a personal No Batteries, but this time was totally unaccompanied by GPS-wielders and using just map printouts.
- 2011-02-17 53 -1 used a compass as an angle measurer-to match against more distant map features.
- 2011-02-18 53 -1 although unable to get there, readily claimed as a No Batteries success.
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Monty earned the Prize poultry Consolation Prize
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Monty earned the "Father Time's Bitch" Consolation Prize
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- I forgo all other possible awards due on this day, due to the utter failure. I definitely plan to go back and retro this point into submission.
(The plan is to display a ribbon for the first examples of each only, unless otherwise noteworthy, improving-upon prior version or just added on in error. Co-claimants shall also be quoted where known.)
Achievements Averted
Speed racer achievement - First point of opportunity just too far off road, at a rolling bend where it wouldn't really have been safe.
Police_Geohash - No signs of authority when stepping onto University grounds.
Restricted_area_achievement - An expired pass was never even flashed.
No_Trespassing_Geohash - Signs to this effect only spotted after leaving Geohash, unchallenged.
Tron_achievement - Can't get from home and back without significantly retracing my home street. Only chance of getting this is by being based elsewhere temporarily.
Snowman_Geohash - Gosh darn it, but I never thought to make a snowman for a particularly snowy (and failed!) hash, until I spotted someone else's efforts long after I'd turned back.
Your Nominations
A place to provisionally put other suggestions of things I'd missed, not considered, wasn't sure about or plain couldn't/wouldn't be able to nominate oneself for. At least until I get around to working out a better (or new) sub-heading to add them into.
