User:Michael5000

Bio

I am a 41 year old social worker living in the Portland, Oregon graticule. I began geohashing in October 2009, but I have been an arbitrary traveler for at least twenty years. I have an atlas of every road I've ever traveled and an extensive collection of U.S. Counties. My wife, Mrs.5000, sometimes gets dragged along, but then again sometimes she does the dragging.

I blog a little about my exploits in arbitrary travel, but also a lot about my exploits in arbitrary book-reading, arbitrary movie-watching, the arbitrary reading of Rennaissance drama and The Bible, at the following sites:

*The Life & Times of Michael5000

Thoughts on books I read, movies I watch, and music I listen to, weekly quizzes on Wednesday, maps, flags, boring postcards, quilts, county collection, and the Element of the Month!

*Michael Reads the Bible

In which I read a very strange, famous, and interesting book. Very slowly.

*Rennaissance Man

The Shakespeare Blog, in which I read a lot of very, very old plays. Very slowly.

Cinnamon Bear, my hashcot, is a 35 year old North American brown bear. He has many years of experience as a travel mascot. He has traveled in 44 U.S. states as well as England and Wales, and has been to Hadrian's Wall, the White House, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other well-known sites. He has been to the top of the highest mountain in New Jersey (with me) and to the tops of Oregon's Mt. Hood and Washington's Mt. Saint Helens (without me).

Cinnamon Bear has been along for Expeditions #2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 15, 16, & 18.

2010 Expeditions

18. 2010-05-22 45 -122 A Street on the suburban West Side.

Expedition Succeeded.

• First Expedition for Sarah.
• Declared "Anti-Ambassador Achievement."
• The Curse of Wednesday continues, with three Wednesday Expeditions all having failed.

17. 2010-05-05 45 -122 Kingsley D. Bundy City Park in Southeast Portland, with Sarah.

Expedition Thwarted -- Time, Access, and Hostile Native Issues.

• First Expedition for Sarah.
• Declared "Anti-Ambassador Achievement."
• The Curse of Wednesday continues, with three Wednesday Expeditions all having failed.

16. 2010-04-21 45 -122 At the edge of a quarry site north of Estacada.

Expedition Thwarted -- Technical Issues.

• First Expedition with GPS technology.
• First Expedition to fail due to GPS technology.
• Failed to stage first successful Wednesday Expedition.
• April 2010 is now 3rd most active hashing month to date.

Michael5000 earned the Blinded by Science Consolation Prize by failing to reach the (45, -122) geohash on 2010-04-21 due to problems with the coordinate format on a GPS unit.

15a. 2010-04-14 44 -123 Northeast of Monmouth (by proxy)

Expedition Succeeded

• First successful attempt (out of four) to conduct a Expedition by proxy.
• Second Expedition for Niece #1
• First successful Expedition for Niece #1

Michael5000 earned the Puppet Master Geohash achievement by manipulating someone to reach the (44, -123) geohash on 2010-04-14.

15. 2010-04-11 45 -122 South of Oregon City, with Mrs.5000 and Rebel.

Expedition Succeeded.

• First Expedition to require wading.
• First Expedition for Rebel.
• First Expedition joined by a randomly encountered friend.

14. 2010-04-01 45 -122 Powell Butte Nature Park.

Expedition Succeeded.

• First Expedition to require scaling a volcano.
• First Expedition in nearly two months.

13. 2010-02-04 45 -122 Across the street from the back of a Safeway in Milwaukie, with Mrs.5000.

Expedition Succeeded.

• First Clackamas County Expedition.
• First Expedition on a Thursday!

12. 2010-01-11 45 -122 On a residential street in Northeast Portland, with Mrs.5000.

Expedition Succeeded.

• Closest Expedition to home.
• Geohashing Synergy: Took Mrs.5000 out to dinner.
• Replaces Expedition 6 as Easiest Expedition Ever.

11. 2010-01-09 45 -122 On a dead-end road near Tualatin.

Expedition Succeeded.

• First 2010 Expedition.
• First Washington County Expedition.
• Attempt at Tron Achievement disqualified on technicality.
• Geohashing Synergy: Inspired visit to parents.

2009 (Expeditions #1-10)

10. 2009-12-27 42 -124 South of Humbug Mountain, Curry County, Oregon with Mrs.5000.

Expedition Succeeded.

• First documented Expedition and successful Expedition (for anyone) in the Brookings graticule.
• First Curry County Expedition.
• First Expedition requiring minor bushwhacking.
• December 2009 is the geohashingest month ever, with five expeditions.

9. 2009-12-25 43 -124 North of Myrtle Point, Oregon with Mrs.5000.

Expedition Failed -- Private Land, Impassable Gully.

• First documented Expedition (for anyone) in the Coos Bay graticule.
• First Coos County Expedition.
• First Expedition launched from an away-from-home base camp.
• Christmas Expedition!

Mrs.5000 earned the My kingdom for a boat consolation prize by being prevented from reaching the (43, -124) geohash on 2009-12-25 by an impassable and unforeseen little gully.

8. 2009-12-23 45 -122 Residential Area Southeast of Vancouver Lake

Expedition Failed -- Private Land.

• Earned No Trespassing Achievement!
• First, um, Wednesday Expedition!

Michael5000 earned the No trespassing consolation prize by almost reaching the (45, -122) geohash on 2009-12-23.

7. 2009-12-21 45 -122 Gillihan Road, Sauvie Island.

Expedition Succeeded

• First successful night Expedition.
• First Expedition completed without stopping.

Michael5000 earned the Speed racer achievement

by passing through the (45, -122) geohash on 2009-12-21 at a high rate of acceleration.

6. 2009-12-06 45 -122 Sunset High School baseball diamond, Portland.

Expedition Succeeded

• First Oregon-side Expedition in the Portland, Oregon graticule.
• Easiest Expedition ever.

5. 2009-11-28 45 -122 On Logging Roads north of the East Fork Lewis River in Southwest Washington.

Expedition Succeeded.

• First series of Expeditions on consecutive days.
• First Expedition requiring moderate physical exertion.

4. 2009-11-27 47 -122 East of Everett, Washington, with Mrs.5000 and Niece #1.

Expedition Failed -- difficult slope, thick vegetation, darkness.

• My first night Expedition.
• My first Expedition in a graticule not contiguous to Portland.
• Niece #1's first Expedition.
• My first failed Expedition.

3. 2009-11-13 45 -122 To the eastern fringe of The 'Couv.

Expedition Succeeded.

• My first lunch-break Expedition.

2. 2009-11-08 45 -122 To Vancouver Lake.

Expedition Succeeded.

• My first Expedition in Portland, Oregon graticule.
• My first Expedition outside of Oregon.
• My first Expedition in Washington.
• Cinnamon Bear's first Expedition.

1. 2009-10-31 44 -123 To South Salem with Mrs.5000.

Expedition Succeeded.

michael5000 earned the Land geohash achievement by reaching the (44, -123) geohash on 2009-10-31.

michael5000 earned the Drag-along achievement by dragging Mrs.5000 to the (44, -123) geohash on 2009-10-31.

michael5000 earned the No Batteries Geohash Achievement by reaching the (44, -123) geohash on 2009-10-31.

Pointless Statistics!

Total Expeditions: 18

Successful Expeditions: 13 (72%)

By State and County

Oregon: 13 (10-3)

• Multnomah: 6 (5-1)
• Clackamas: 3 (2-1)
• Marion: 1 (1-0)
• Curry: 1 (1-0)
• Washington: 1 (1-0)
• Coos: 1 (0-1)

Washington: 5 (3-2)

• Clark: 4 (3-1)
• King: 1 (0-1)

By Graticule

Portland, Oregon: 14 (11-3)

McMinnville, Oregon: 1 (1-0)

Brookings, Oregon: 1 (1-0)

Coos Bay, Oregon: 1 (0-1)

Seattle, Washington: 1 (0-1)

By Month

Dec 2009: 5 (3-2)

Nov 2009: 4 (3-1)

April 2010: 3 (2-1)

Jan 2010: 2 (2-0)

May 2010: 2 (1-1)

Oct 2009: 1 (1-0)

Feb 2010: 1 (1-0)

By Day of the Week!

Monday: 2 (2-0)

Tuesday: 0

Wednesday: 3 (0-3)

Thursday: 2 (2-0)

Friday: 3 (2-1)

Saturday: 5 (4-1)

Sunday: 3 (3-0)

By Terrain Type

• These can be hard to categorize...

Edge-of-Town Residential/Mixed Use: 6 (4-2)

• on or next to road: 1
• on or next to golf course: 1

Farmland/Pasture: 3 (2-1)

• on or next to road: 1

In-Town Residential: 4 (4-0)

• on or next to road: 4

Forest: 2 (2-0)

• on or next to logging road: 1

In-Town Public Access: 3 (2-1)

• School Grounds: 1
• Park: 1-1

Other Hijinx

2010-04-19 -- Alerted Huntsville, Alabama friends of the location of a highly extremely hashpoint. Result: Friends proved insufficiently motivated to travel to hashpoint. Also, alerted Niece #3 of a hashpoint near her home. Result: Disappointed by eighth-grade niece's lack of initiative in not securing rowboat for what would after all would have been a relatively short row into Puget Sound.

2010-04-19 -- Fell on face while walking around staring into screen of first GPS Unit. Screen of GPS Unit suffered minor crack. Pride scuffed.

2010-04-18 -- Purchased first GPS Unit.

2010-04-11 -- Suggested simplification of the Water Geohash achievement.

2010-02-01 -- Made another attempt to score the Puppet Master Geohash achievement using cousin. Result: Failed due to repeated recalcitrance of cousin.

2009-12-11 -- Seeing a highly accessible hash not far from a cousin's home, made another attempt to score the Puppet Master Geohash achievement. Result: Failed due to recalcitrance of cousin.

2009-11-10 -- Finished entering graticules for Oregon page.

2009-11-05 -- Noting that an accessible hash is two miles from my eldest niece's college campus, sent detailed if gnomic instructions in an attempt to score the Puppet Master Geohash achievement. Result: Failed due to recalcitrance of niece..

2009-11-03 -- Laboriously created Oregon page, and links to it on individual graticule pages, out of a sudden compulsion to know which graticules are still available for the Virgin Graticule Achievement.