Macronencer/Journal/2020/03

I've decided to start doing this journal again, mainly because there are often interesting items that are meaningful only in the context of geohashing, and I don't want to keep boring my Twitter followers with esoteric jargon. For example, there's an amazing situation this weekend, which I think should be called a "Geohashing Syzygy", where three points are in a neat line. This one has a very high longitude fraction, so the results are interesting. Around the Greenwich meridian they make for hash points that are really far apart (in this case, about 120km I think):

At the same time, at 180 degrees of longitude the syzygy produces five points that could all be reached in three days, while travelling less than 50km. That is, assuming you can traverse that sort of terrain in straight lines, which seems doubtful:

The reason there are five points has to do with the 30W Time Zone Rule. If you're new to geohashing, you should read that page, as it's quite important.

That's all for today. This journal will probably be sparse and sporadic, but I feel better, knowing it's here.

March 15 Sun

I've just stumbled upon this old report of mine from 2009, which talks about my quest to find a Buddhist monastery near Petersfield after doing a geohash. I'd remembered trying to find the monastery, but the fact that it had been on a geohashing trip had somehow been erased from my memory. It's a wonderfully passionate account, full of the spirit of adventure. I hope to get more hashes like that one in the future! Of course, in 2009 we didn't have so many helpful resources like Google Streetview, which might explain why I got a little lost looking for the place. I still want to visit, one of these weekends...

March 16 Mon

I awoke this morning and noticed that the NYSE opens at 1330 instead of 1430. Of course! It's the "magic window"! That wonderful few weeks in which the USA has put its clocks forward but we haven't yet. During this time, I can check the hash points for the next day before 2pm, which means it's officially still lunch time at work. Haha!

March 17 Tue

In an ironic twist, whether it's lunch time at work no longer matters, since I am, as of today, working from home. Most people at my office have done the same thing, due to the virus pandemic. The local writers' group of which I'm treasurer has also had to suspend all meetings until further notice. We were considering it already, but the arts centre where we meet closed its doors until further notice, forcing our hand.

We're living in strange times. But geohashing is still one of the safer ways to spend your time! I mean, yes, there are the raptors and gators, of course... but the Great Outdoors is largely virus-free. Go to it!

March 18 Wed

Well, the DJIA spewed forth a hash point that looked as if it might be possible for me tomorrow on the way back from the funeral...

...but then I had a closer look.

Needless to say, my stupidity radius drops to zero when military-scale weaponry is deployed nearby.

March 20 Fri

Today I had a successful multihash, which I'll be writing up later. On the second hash, I made an xkcd marker from pebbles, and I just started wondering how long it would remain there undisturbed. Then it occurred to me to wonder about other markers I've left in the past, and perhaps other people's too. It might be fun to find some old reports on the site, revisit the hash points, and see whether any of the markers have survived. Definitely something that could be done on a "down day", I think, when there are no good hashes to explore!

March 24 Tue

I've decided to severely restrict the distance I'm willing to travel to hash point for the duration of the pandemic lockdown in the UK, which began today. Of course, I suspected that the first one that came up in my graticule would be both easy to access and too far to drive to. At first, I thought I was right. I looked so longingly at this! But then I found out that it's on private property, which really surprised me. A building that size, on the sea front of a popular seaside town, is usually public. So it would probably be a No Trespassing consolation prize. At least I don't have to feel cheated :)