2024-11-15 55 -3

Location

Near the main reception desk, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

Participants

George
Dan
Nitish
Martin

Plans

Make a 2 meter shift in my usual walking path between bus stop and office, grab screenshot and selfie, continue with day.

If any other geohashers want to meet up any time during working hours, let me know - the hashpoint is about a 3 minute walk from my desk.

Expedition

Certainly the easiest hash ever for me, and a clear qualifier for Easy Hash. Literally all I had to do was choose which of my three regular bus stops on campus to use when I arrived in the morning. The hashpoint was in the wide hallway just past the main reception desk at the university front door. I have posted a Geohashing.info map zoomed in to the campus, and marked up to show the positions of the bus stop, my regular walking route from there to office, the hashpoint, and a couple of other campus landmarks.

I think it only gets Honorable Mention for the Cubicle Hash achievement. While it was on the campus where I am working, and I could get to it from my office with an all-indoors walk, the walk is maybe 200 meters long and goes through several buildings connected with enclosed walkways. My read of the Cubicle Hash description is that it basically needs to be in your work area to qualify. If any of the people working at the reception desk were geohashers, they could get Cubicle Hash, though.

It was pretty close to the cafeteria (the square area opposite Lecture Theatre 4) where my group-mates and I usually eat lunch, so when we were done with lunch I got them to come over and do a group photo at the hashpoint. The GPS was a little iffy indoors, but it behaved better on this second visit, with the blue dot matching up well with where we were actually standing in the hallway, so that's the proof-shot I've posted.

What a hoot. I think you can imagine my response when I checked the coordinates at geohashing.info, and kept zooming in closer to find that the pin was right here.

As an extra bonus for the week, Randall Munroe is giving a talk in Edinburgh on Sunday, and Susanne and I have tickets...

Photos

gratuitous photo of Edinburgh Castle, taken at change-of-bus during morning commute
Geohashing.info map marked up to show normal walk from bus stop to office, and hashpoint
'Watt A Clever Cow' near bus stop
pensive James Watt in front of main door
view south back toward reception area and bus stop, from 2 m east of hashpoint
view north toward office from same spot
George, with dragalongs Dan, Nitish, and Martin, directly at hashpoint
Proof