Geocaching: Fall 2021

After not geocaching in August and September, I found 12 caches in October and 24 in November, for a pretty busy fall.

On October 3, I found a single challenge cache. On the 8th, I found my first Adventure Lab (and a bonus cache) along with 6 challenge caches. I had avoided adventure labs for a while because they count as a "find" but not a "cache," which is confusing. But I might want to do one with the boys at some point, so I thought I'd see what was going on. Two of the challenge caches were new difficulty terrain combos (D/T #47 and #48). Another challenge cache was the first cache I found placed in October 2018 (Month 224).

On the 11th, I decided to push towards my long-standing goal of finding caches in all 24 Maryland counties. I headed for the lower Eastern Shore and found one cache in each of the counties there (Counties 159-162). Two of them were from new months, May 2005 and July 2009 (Months 225 and 226). That left three Maryland counties.

In early November, an excursion to Delaware allowed me to get the 22nd Maryland County, Dorchester (County 163), as well as New Castle County (County 164) in Delaware. I now have 2 out of 3 Delaware counties, which makes me regret the hole the missing one forms in my map. It's about 90 minutes each way from work to fill that in.

On the 7th, I headed out in Northern Virginia specifically looking for unfound months. I found six of them (Months 227-232) and a challenge cache.

I found one more cache on the 12th, and then on the 13th, I headed for West Virginia, mostly with the aim of finishing the 77 Degrees West challenge (I have now found one starting W77 00, one starting W77 01, etc.). That day, I also found my first cache in Berkeley County (County 165).

On the 20th and 21st, I went caching in Pennsylvania. Somehow, I was right near an unfound cache, so I grabbed FTF #25, and my first in Pennsylvania. All in all, I found caches in five new counties (Counties 166-170). The FTF was actually placed on October 31, so I got October 2021 as Month 233.

Finally, I found four caches on Thanksgiving, including one placed in September 2021 (Month 234).

Geocaching: Summer 2021

I only found five caches this summer, so this should be a short post.

In early June,  I was unusually in Burke, Virginia, so I found a cache in a shopping center there.

In late June, for Father's Day, we went on an excursion to a nearby cache. Jack asked me if it was the largest cache I had ever seen. I checked my records, and it was! We released the Twinnin' and Winnin' trackable, which someone picked up in mid-August. This was also my first find placed in November 2020 (Month 223).

On a trip to Fredericksburg, I nabbed three more, including one in King George County (County 158). It's the 63rd county to connect to my biggest county component. I picked up Minutes 33 and 34 for the North 38 Degree Challenge. I don't know that I'm going to be able to get to the Sacramento area any time soon, so no hurry picking up the other 26 minutes for the challenge cache.

And...that's it. I was busy doing other stuff for most of the summer.

Scotland's UEFA Coefficient: My Work Here Is Done

I have stopped updating the saga of Scotland's UEFA coefficient on this blog. 

I started blogging on the subject six years ago, when Scotland was ranked 23rd in Europe. I started tracking their progress more closely five years ago, when they had dropped to 25th.

Well, they enter this year's tournaments in 9th place, and there's an entire Twitter account devoted to following the ups and downs of the coefficient.

I was more interested in tracking the rise to respectability than I am in tracking a fall, a stable situation, or clawing out a few more places in the rankings. And fortunately, I can read other people's work on that now.

So I will sit back and read about today's draws without worrying how to turn them into a blog post.

Geocaching: Spring 2021

I found 53 geocaches this season. Travel always helps raise my numbers, and I had quite the road trip in May. Although I had to concentrate on getting where I was going on time, I did target specific caches to help me reach milestones.

Before all that, on March 5th, I drove out the Eastern Shore of Maryland to get my first coronavirus vaccine shot. To celebrate, I found my 600th cache in my 116th county (Caroline County). 

There was a geocaching trackable on the latest Mars rover. I was able to find that by looking at some NASA photos and get Souvenir 78

On March 31st, I found two caches in Loudoun County, Virginia, while waiting for some food to be ready.

Then, on April 2nd, it was back to the Eastern Shore for my second shot. My celebration was more extensive this time. First, I hopped across the border to Delaware for my 21st state, my 117th county (Kent County), and my 79th souvenir (Delaware). Then, on my way back, I found caches in Talbot and Queen Anne's Counties (118th and 119th county). That also gave me Minutes 4 and 9 for the West 76 Degree Longitude Challenge, bringing me to 34 out of 60 minutes.

At this point, I became interested in a new metric, that of "connected counties". I.e., how many counties have you found in a group where you can travel from county to county without passing through unfound counties?

You can see that April 2nd put me at 42 counties, whereas before that, I had 38, because even though I found Caroline County in March, it was not connected yet. Looking back to March, I found four counties in a day, which connected to six more in the southwest, so I had only been at 28 connected counties then.

May 3rd was the first day of my cross-country drive. I found seven caches in Virginia and Tennessee. I started down I-81. My last trip down I-81 three years ago left some gaps in the counties (and county-equivalents), since I did not have time to make that many stops. This time I had time to stop in Botetourt County, Roanoke City, Roanoke County and Montgomery County (Counties 120-123). That gives me 36 of Virginia's 133 counties.

Once in Tennessee, I really wanted to pick up Sullivan County, where the cache I found at the Tennessee Welcome Center turned out to be classified as a Virginia cache. So I opted for a virtual at Bristol Motor Speedway. Later in May, the Welcome Center cache got reclassified as a Sullivan County cache, but I'm not renumbering. Sullivan County is County 124.

On the way to my hotel, I picked up Greene County and Cumberland County (Counties 125 and 126). Both were at rest stops, including this gem and one that was placed only two weeks earlier, giving me my first April 2021 cache (Month 217).

Caches at rest stops are a really nice way to add counties; unfortunately, Virginia doesn't seem to allow them.

May 3rd was 21 years and 1 day after increased GPS accuracy was available to civilians, enabling the dawn of geocaching. This allowed me to pick up the "Big Blue Switch 2021" souvenir (Souvenir 80).

As pictured above, I now had a line of connected Virginia counties all the way to the Tennessee border. Sullivan County continued the chain over the border, which combined with Washington County (found in 2018) and Greene County, gave me a connected county total of 55.

The next day, on the drive from Tennessee to Texas, I found seven counties. I made a quick grab near my hotel, giving me Gibson County (County 127). On my way to Memphis, I stopped at another rest stop and picked up Madison County (County 128). Then, in Memphis, I found a fantastic virtual that gave me Shelby County (County 129).

It was a quick detour south to pick up a cache in DeSoto County, Mississippi (State 22, County 130 and Souvenir 81). It was not too much further to the Arkansas Welcome Center (State 23, County 131 and Souvenir 83). I found one more cache near a Target on the other side of Arkansas (I needed more shorts than I packed), which gave me County 132. My last cache of the day was in Oklahoma City, at the bombing memorial. That gave me State 24, County 133, and Souvenir 83. Four states in a day was a new record, but one that I would break on the return journey.

Also that day, I picked up enough points for the first souvenir in the new "Science of Discovery" promotion (Souvenir 84).

The next day was a sprint from Texas to my destination in Arizona. Because I have been building up my county map of Arizona over the years, I wanted to get the three new counties along my path. I ended up finding six caches.

The first one was close to my hotel -- it was the virtual at Cadillac Ranch. I stopped by here in 2005, before I geocached. That gave me Potter County, my fifth in Texas, and 134th overall.

In Albuquerque, I found a challenge cache that required me to have found caches in seven states -- I had done that in just three days, actually. But it gave me my first New Mexico cache (State 25 and Souvenir 83=5) and my 135th county. Later I realized it gave me my first difficulty/terrain combination of 3/4 -- my 45th combo. That's what I get for planning ahead!

I picked up a my only unscouted one of the day in Cibola County (County 136) while getting gas. I stopped for gas a lot to give myself the opportunity to clean the bugs off my windshields.

Entering into Arizona, I found a cache in Apache County (County 137 and my 5th Arizona county), and then a virtual in Show Low, Arizona (County 138 and Arizona County 6).

After a drive through the mountains (again), I found one last virtual to give me County 139 and Arizona County 7. Some time that day I completed my set of "Natural Wonders of the World" (Souvenir 86) and found enough points for the "Science of Discovery: Geology" souvenir (Souvenir 87).

That did it for my outbound trip. That weekend, I found four caches in Arizona to complete my best week ever.

I headed back on the 10th. I found 5 caches on that day. First, I found one in Cochise County (County 140 and the only rectangular county in Arizona). I now have more than half of the counties in Arizona. I was going to take a detour to grab a 9th, but it wasn't worth the 30-60 minute added on to my drive. I'm sure I can route trips in future years to pick up more.

Then it was another fine rest stop cache to give me County 141.

I found another one at a stop for lunch (County 142). This actually completed a group of 19 connected counties across 4 states, my second largest grouping.

My last two at the day were in Otero County (County 143) -- a virtual at White Sands National Park, and a traditional near the grave of the first chimp in space. Some time that day, I earned enough points for the second "Science of Discovery" souvenir (Souvenir 88).

So this trip gave me a good start on New Mexico -- five counties. It's a beautiful state -- I hope to find more!

The next day, I found four caches -- all in Kansas (State 26 and Souvenir 89).

The first three caches I found were in Thomas County (County 144). The highlight was Mingo, the world's oldest active cache. I visited it on its 21st birthday! That was my first May 2000 cache (Month 218). The next one was in Dickinson County (County 145).

The next day, I found three caches in three different states. I found one in Shawnee County, Kansas (County 146) near my hotel. Then I found a nice virtual one in St. Louis, Missouri (State 27, County 147 and Souvenir 90).

This cache was also my first April 2001 find (Month 218) and was also my first find at Minute 37 of 38 degrees North (Minute 32).

My third find was at a rest stop in Indiana (State 28, County 148 and Souvenir 91). Also that day, I picked up my last "Wonder of the Solar System", which gave me Souvenirs 92 and 93.

I found nine caches on my final day of the trip. I started with one near my hotel in Indiana (County 149), then another in Columbus, Ohio (State 29, County 150 and Souvenir 94). Passing through Wheeling, West Virginia, I picked up one there (County 151) before heading into Pennsylvania where I found two (State 30, Counties 152 and 153, and Souvenir 95). Note that was my fourth state of the day.

I cut back into West Virginia and found a rest stop cache that gave me County 154. It was only the fifth large-sized cache I found; the fourth was two days prior in Kansas. It was also a new D/T combo, my 46th. I finally have found more than half of the combos.

I found another one the next county over (County 155). In this part of the country, there is a "JOE" (Just Off Exit) series designed for quick grabs. Three of the ones I found that day were JOEs.

Then it was through Maryland to find Allegany County, County 156. That was my fifth state of the day.

I could have added a sixth by finding one in Virginia, but I wanted to get home, and I figure I could leave the goal of six for another day. (Virginia-DC-Maryland-Delaware-Pennsylvania-NJ?)

My final cache of the day was in Washington County (County 157). That was my ninth county of the day, one short of my record. Again, a record for another day.

That was my 17th Maryland county. I started trying to fill out this map not long after starting caching in 2007. The three in the northeast will probably be easier than the four in the southeast, absent a trip to Ocean City.

Some time during that day, I earned enough points for the final "Science of Discovery" souvenir (Souvenir 96).

I ended up with 62 connected counties in Maryland, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Tennessee. To add to this, I have a lot of choices -- the remaining Maryland counties, the remaining two Delaware counties, some nearby West Virginia counties, more Virginia counties... There's even a possibility to extend into North Carolina. We'll see.

Before the month (and season) was over, I made one more caching outing, specifically targeting new months. I found three near home -- December 2010, January 2021 and April 2021. (Months 220-222)

That leaves me 31 unfound months, tied for the lowest I've ever had. But I found two of the "ancient" months, leaving me six. I found no "old" months, leaving me at 10. I found one "middle-aged" month, leaving me at 7. I found three "young" months, keeping me at 8. The challenge is getting closer to reach (although the fact that I've only found two from 2000 indicates how hard it really is).

Geocaching: Winter 2020/21

Well, 14 caches is better than the 12 I found last fall.

In December, I was doing a pre-Christmas Target run and ended up at one of Alexandria's 2 Targets. But not the one I was supposed to do a pickup at. I left with a consolation cache.

Shortly after Christmas, I did a Subway pickup order in Montgomery County that allowed me to find a nearby cache. This got me the "Last 2020" souvenir (Souvenir 74).

January passed cache-less.

February started with one in Loudoun County. As I recall, I pulled over to get some steps for my Fitbit. 

Soon after, my family visited Manassas Battlefield Park, and we claimed a virtual cache there. (Answers cropped out.)

So, mid-February left me at four caches. It was turning out to be a pretty slow winter for geocaching, but I was able to find a few hours one day to make things more exciting.

I started off by finding three caches near the Fairfax County Parkway. One of them saw me use the trick of "take a picture before you stick your hand someplace you can't see."

And one of them had the final "world wonder" I needed to complete the second "Wonders of the World" challenge and earn the "Ancient Wonders of the World" souvenir (Souvenir 76) as well as the "World Explorer" one (Souvenir 77) for completing both Wonders of the World sets. (Two new sets of Wonders have been introduced since then.) One of them had been placed in December 2020 (Month 214).

I seem to have neglected to mention my two Fall souvenirs in last season's post -- they were both from the Memory Lane promotion, which is now over.

After the three nearby ones, I was motivated by the fact that Clarke County, Virginia wasn't very far away, and I didn't have any cache finds there. Just across the border was a cache under a bridge that was my first in Clarke County (County 112), my first from April 2005 (Month 215) and my first in 77°53' (Minute 56 for the W77 challenge). Heading along Route 50, I found my first in 77°59' (Minute 57). I have almost finished that challenge, unbelievably.

Continuing westward, I found my first in 39°09' (Minute 32 for the N39 challenge) and then my first in 39°10' (Minute 33).

Sunset was approaching, so I decided to concentrate on knocking out a few more counties. I went to Winchester City (County 113), Frederick County (County 114), and Shenandoah County (County 115). The one in Shenandoah County was also my first from August 2011 (Month 214).

I have a nice collection of counties in the northern part of the state now.

What a day! And in fact my day with the second-most finds ever.

That leaves me at 599 finds. I should plan something exciting for the 600th, but I probably won't.

Three months found while three months have passed means no net progress. If I refer to my categorization of months from last year, however, I can see some progress. At the end of January 2020, I had 8 missing "ancient" months -- that is still the same. I had 11 missing "old" months -- this month knocked off one of those. I had 10 missing "middle-aged" months -- I found one last February and one this February. I had 3 "young" months...now I'm at 8. I think this counts as progress.

Geocaching: Fall 2020

Well, I'm glad I'm doing meteorological fall (so it consists of exactly three months), but I don't have a lot to report.

I found 12 caches in this season, none of them far afield, given the state of the world.

In September, I started out with a relatively new one in Maryland, near a Target pickup I did. Then I did a couple within biking distance of home. One of them was my first August 2020 cache (though it was archived in November) -- that's Month 212.

I got one near a drive-through CVS while I waited for a prescription to be filled, and then a couple of more in Maryland.

October was even slower. I got three near home, and one in Maryland shortly after it was placed to give me October 2020 (Month 213).

I only got two in November, one on a bike ride, and another "waiting" find.

At 110, I likely won't exceed my all-time record of 134 from 2016, but I have a good chance of beating my second-place total of 119 in 2018.

I'll count this as 34 missing months, since December was not available in Fall. Still, that's up 1 from Summer, and I suspect I won't make much progress on most of my geocaching goals until travel is possible again.

Where's Jon? Surprise Non-Virtual Canadian Edition

 

Pictures are now on-line from a conference I went to last year in Waterloo.

I spent some time finding a couple of images of me in the audience before stumbling across this one of me giving my talk.

Scotland's UEFA Coefficient: 2020/21 Group-Stage Preview

We have group stage! For two clubs!
🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆
Just like last year! And the year before that!

The Coefficient

What I take from this is that Scotland is firmly entrenched with two Champions League spots for 2022/23. In other words, to drop below 15th, they would need to be caught not only by Denmark and Cyprus (difficult when each nation only has 1 team left in Europe), but one other nation would need to make up more than 4.5 points in the group stage and beyond.

In fact, let us set aside anything even as unlikely as Scotland being caught by Denmark or themselves catching Austria. What is at stake for the coefficient in the group stage?

Scotland, by holding on to 13th, would have their champion enter the Champions League no earlier than the third qualifying round, and likely the playoff round. If they could make it to 12th, they would guarantee that playoff round slot, and one of their Europa Conference League teams would get to enter into that competition's third qualifying round, instead of the second. If they make it to 11th, they would likely (but not guaranteed) go straight into the Champions League group stages.

(The "likely"s in the above are if the Champions League winner qualifies for the Champions League group stages another way -- that was true of seven of this year's quarterfinalists, including the eventual winner. There are other weird things that could happen, because UEFA.)

Using Fivethirtyeight's match predictions, we expect Scotland to gain 3 points in the group stage, while Turkey gets 1 point, and Ukraine gets 2.5. That would put Scotland barely ahead of Ukraine, and probably not settle things if some clubs go on to the knockout rounds. I guess my summary would be, expect Turkey to fade, and despite Ukraine's three teams, two of them being in the Champions League means more losses are expected there.

 

Where's Jon? Virtually Québec City Edition

 

These online conference photos are easier, because my name is generally on my picture. I forgot to turn on my camera for this one, so it's my profile picture. That's fine, I suppose, as I was in a bike shop at the time, trying to use a virtual background. This one is from the Québec-Maine Number Theory Conference last weekend. I still really want to go to Québec City. Maybe 2022 or 2024.

Scotland's UEFA Coefficient: 2020/21 Third-Round Preview

All four made it through to the Europa League third round (Motherwell barely), so let's preview where the third round and possible playoff round have us headed.

The Coefficient

Still the same 10-16 neighborhood within 4 points of Scotland. They gained a little bit on Ukraine in the race for 12th.

There's not a lot of movement this year, because of the reduced maximum points (0.75 instead of 1) for a club winning and a guaranteed parting gift of at least 0.25 for clubs that lose.

In order to keep rising, Scotland needs both halves of the Old Firm to progress to the group stage. In order to tread water, they need one half. If either of the other sides makes it through to the playoff round, I consider that a bonus.

Celtic

Celtic (ELO 1629), as expected, return to action against Riga (ELO 1203). That should be an easy win, but away matches are tricky, especially in this weird year. If they make it through, they face the winners between Bosnian champions Sarajevo (ELO 1272) and Montenegrin champions Budućnost Podgorica (ELO 1098). It's a clear path if they can take advantage of it, but they will be away again.

Rangers

Rangers (ELO 1607) blasted Lincoln Red Imps 5-0, to set up a showdown with Willem II (ELO 1468). They should win, but it probably won't be easy. If they take care of business in the Netherlands, they host the winner of Galatasaray (ELO 1522) and Hadjuk Split (ELO 1460). Definitely possible, but not as easy of a path as Celtic.

Motherwell

Motherwell (ELO 1303) needed penalties to see off Coleraine, which meant they missed out on 0.125 for the coefficient in the process. They now face Hapoel Be'er Sheva (ELO 1382). It's not a definite loss, but it is likely. If they sneak through, they host the winner of APOEL (ELO 1590) and Zrinjiski Mostar (ELO 1276). That doesn't make group stage likely, but again, this is a weird year.

Aberdeen

Aberdeen (ELO 1422) took care of Viking FK, but face another road match at Sporting CP (ELO 1614). A win there means they face either LASK (ELO 1636) or  Dunajská (ELO 1363). The Aberdonians definitely face the hardest path of any Scottish side.

Scotland's UEFA Coefficient: 2020/21 Second Round Review/Preview

Well, this is the last time this season we have to worry about the disconnect between the Champions League rounds and the Europa League rounds, as Celtic got bounced out of the Champions League. For reasons I don't understand, all four Scottish teams are away for the third round.

The Coefficient

  

 There's not change worth mentioning here.

Celtic

Celtic (ELO 1623) lost their second-round Champions League game (still picking up .25 for the coefficient because COVID), so they are idle until the third round, where they face the winner of Riga (ELO 1213) and Tre Fiori (ELO 701). Let's say it's going to be Riga, and let's say Celtic better win.

Rangers

Rangers (ELO 1605) take on Lincoln Red Imps (ELO 904). Another "better win" situation. If they do, it's on to face the winner of Progrès Niederkorn (ELO 1124) and Willem II (ELO 1469). Willem II could prove a tough opponent, but it's the type of match Rangers needs to (keep) winning if they want to return to, let's say, the top 100 European clubs.

Motherwell

Motherwell (ELO 1296) are having a terrible domestic season, and will hope to salvage good news against Coleraine (ELO 1090), their second consecutive Northern Irish opponent. They should win, but I'm not too confident. Success would see them up against the winner of Laçi (ELO 1214) and Hapoel Be'er Sheva (ELO 1387). I don't see them getting past Hapoel.

Aberdeen

Would someone please get Derek McInnes to the group stage? Aberdeen (ELO 1418) take on Viking (ELO 1360), and then hopefully Sporting CP (ELO 1618). Oof.