User:Thepiguy

About me

Greetings to my fellow geohashers, both near and far! I'm currently a UBC physics and computer science student living in Richmond and will bike/bus to the ends of the earth for that perfect hash point!

I don't get to nearly as many locations as I'd like to, but I'm going to try and get out more! I just bought a brand new Devinci hybrid bike and I'm willing to bike any distance to get an awesome bicycle geohash!

I may also be heading to Germany for a co-op job in May of 2009, which should make for some exciting trans-continental geohashing.

One quick note about my user name, if one were to add in the spaces it would be The Pi Guy. As in that mystical mathematical constant, and having nothing to do with the animal commonly known as bacon. If we ever meet at a geohash, ask me how I got the name Pi; it's a good 30 seconds worth of entertainment.

36 / m / 49,-123

Upcoming Schedule

Weekly schedule: I'm in class 5 days a week, but on Tuesday and Thursday I don't start until past noon. I'll be able to grab anything in the Vancouver graticule that doesn't require a ferry on my "way" to UBC. If it's something particularly epic, I might consider skipping class (first year computer science? Pffft.)

• September 20, 21: Nothing planned for the weekend yet. The weathers been good so we'll see how far I get. I'd like to try a nice bike ride into the Surrey or Bellingham squares.

• September 27, 28: I'm volunteering at a scout camp on the sunshine coast. That being said, if the hash is also on the sunshine coast, I may sneak out in the morning and leave a note for my superior... "Gone geohashing. Kthnxbai."

• October 4, 5: I may be going on a bike trip with my father and uncle. We wont be covering too much ground (we'll be taking some logging roads up by Saltery bay up in 49 -124) so the chances of running into a hash are extremely limited.

• October 18, 19: Me and srs0 are attending a Physics conference in Toronto. I will do anything short of missing my own presentation to get a Toronto geohash.

Geohashes

My current count is 10 successful geohashes in 4 different graticules, including 3 Saturday meetups. (Posted most recent first)

2008-09-11 49 -123 Another urban geohash in sunny Vancouver!

2008-09-07 49 -123 A simple mid-morning Vancouver hash.

2008-09-01 49 -124 I went 237km by bike and 4km by kayak for a beautiful water geohahs!

2008-08-19 49 -123 Four in a row! I biked out to north east Richmond on my "way" to work.

2008-08-18 49 -123 For my third geohash in three days; I dragged a few friends out in the dark!

2008-08-17 49 -123 A mid-morning adventure through Vancouver.

2008-08-16 48 -123 An epic bike ride with a great view!

2008-08-09 49 -123 Transit geohash, all by my self, in the rain. =(

2008-07-19 49 -123 Ended up biking 109km and still has a great day!

2008-06-18 49 -123 Bike geohash, and an accidental geohash!

2008-05-31 49 -122 First Saturday Geohash meetup!

2008-05-27 49 -123 First Geohash! Land Geohash achieved!

Other Geohashers Met

In order of first encounter:

• srs0. A fellow UBC student, we're in the same program, take all the same classes, and worked at the same co-op job. We spend... far to much time together. He's working at the computer next to me even as I type this.

• Some guy in his car at the 2008-05-31 geohash in Surrey. We never even got his name! Do you know who he is?

• Warren at the 2008-05-31 geohash in Surrey. He came all the way from Bellingham!

I haven't yet, but I'm sure I'll run into Robyn at some point too!

Achievements Earned

It's pretty obvious, but I'm sort of really obsessing about my achievements. I don't care how non-notable it is: if there's a ribbon, it's goin' up!

thepiguy earned the First Sip GeoSquishy Achievement by enjoying a slushy carbonated beverage at the (49, -123) geohash on 2008-09-07.

thepiguy achieved level 3 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement by visiting coordinates in Vancouver, British Columbia and 3 of the surrounding graticules.

thepiguy earned the Water geohash achievement by reaching the (49, -124) geohash on 2008-09-01 by kayak.

thepiguy earned the Consecutive geohash achievement by reaching 4 consecutive hash points starting on 2008-08-16.

thepiguy earned the Drag-along achievement by dragging Lauren, Taryn and Josh to the (49, -123) geohash on 2008-08-18.

thepiguy achieved level 2 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement by visiting coordinates in Vancouver, British Columbia and 2 of the surrounding graticules.

thepiguy earned the GeoTrash Geohash Achievement by cleaning up the (48, -123) geohash on 2008-08-16.

thepiguy earned the No trespassing consolation prize by almost reaching the (48, -123) geohash on 2008-08-16.

thepiguy earned the Public transport geohash achievement by reaching the (49, -123) geohash on 2008-08-09 via 410 Railway and 404 Ladner buses.

thepiguy has visited an Easy Geohash by reaching the (49, -123) geohash on 2008-06-18 without really trying.

thepiguy earned the Bicycle geohash achievement by cycling to the (49, -123) geohash on 2008-06-18.

thepiguy earned the Meet-up achievement by meeting Warren at the (49, -122) geohash on 2008-05-31.

thepiguy achieved level 1 of the Minesweeper Geohash achievement by visiting coordinates in Vancouver, British Columbia and 1 of the surrounding graticules.

thepiguy earned the Regional geohashing achievement by reaching a hash point in all possible GVRD graticules.

thepiguy earned the Land geohash achievement by reaching the (49, -123) geohash on 2008-05-27.

Geohashing Check Lists

Items in bold are things I have forgotten at one point or another.

The very basics

• Keys
• Wallet
• Phone
• iPod (for those solo-hashes)
• Coat (So I don't have to sit in the cold)

The geohashing basics

• GPS (with coordinates!)
• Camera
• Google map of area
• Geohashing signs
• xkcd shirt
• Nibs (Gotta' love Nibs!)
• Extra batteries for the electronics
• Sidewalk chalk (For when I don't have a sign)

For any bicycle geohashes

• Bike (!)
• Helmet
• Gloves
• Sun glasses (more for bugs than for sun)
• Bike lock (with keys)
• Bike repair kit
• Bike lights and reflectors (never know how long a geohash might take)
• Lots of water
• Extra snacks/lunch

Picture Gallery

I was flipping through my pictures, and thought it might be neat to create of few collections of pictures from multiple expeditions. The result (or lack there off) can be found here!