2009-01-10 37 -122

On Bancroft Way in Berkeley, between California and Spaulding.

The Meetup

Eight intrepid explorers

The internet was here

Teleportation the old-fashioned way

On our way to the park we encountered a mildly strange sight (particularly mild for Berkeley)

Susan B. Anthony, the Colossus of Berkeley

"Once upon a time, eight intrepid explorers converged on a spot in the mysterious forest of the City of Berkeley..." ...or so David's opening round of Once Upon A Time began.

The eight intrepid explorers were (apologies for name misspellings):

Darcy
Ping
David
Indy
Megan
Pier
Jim
Martha

Darcy and Megan earned the Bicycle geohash achievement

by cycling to the (37, -122) geohash on 2009-01-10.

Although none of us had actually brought a GPS, several of us checked Google Maps on our phones and established that the white line visible in the satellite view was the white balustrade next to the steps:

After about half an hour noodling around the actual geohash, we left a piece of paper explaining that 37.865958 -122.279772 had been relocated to a park at California and Delaware (about six blocks/half a mile north). Since we left the paper anchored in the mouth of a trash can, we're hoping it did become rubbish after we left!

Eight Intrepid Explorers (minus the photographer)
Proof, picnic foods, (p)bicycles
So very serious, especially with that ukelele

At the park, we ate bread and cheese and apple (provided by Ping and David) and played a couple rounds of Once Upon A Time. Then the sun went down, and we went across the street to the house of Pier's friend who by sheer coincidence of the universe (or at least of the stock market) was hosting a board game afternoon.

Seven intrepid explorers (we lost one, possibly to an ogre from another kingdom) earned the Picnic achievement

by eating bread (from The Bread Workshop), swiss cheese, and apple at the (37, -122) geohash on 2009-01-10.

Planning Info

(Copied from the googlegroup)

Darcy says: I'll totally be at the Saturday SF/Berkeley spot!
Treiza says: Just joined, and I'll be there! and A friend of mine is having people over to play games just a few blocks away that day, actually. All xkcd-type folks... perhaps I'll try to drag a few along. We can adjourn there, if anyone else is interested.
Elizabeth says: Oh hey, I could stop by that one too. But not until 5:30 at the earliest (I'll be at work until 5:15).


Sat 10 Jan 2009 in San Francisco, California: 37.8659580, -122.2797711 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox