Monday, December 31, 2007

The bad side of being addicted to the grid

Some people specialize in one category, and others have a goal of filling in their category grid. We are a little of both, specializing in several architecture, history and of course, neon categories, but still working to fill in that grid.

I have found that as a gridder I end up doing what I call the "grid run." A grid run is when you are out on a specific trip that's only purpose is to pick up new categories to check them off of your list. This is not usually the fun and interesting type of waymarking you do on vacation, or when you are waymarking in your favorite categories. Sadly, it is the compulsive type of waymarking that is done not for interest in the category, or wanting other people to find a cool spot that you have happened upon, but for the sole purpose of seeing a tiny 1/4" icon fill in a hole on your grid. I consider it a lower form of waymarking, however I am more guilty of it than most so don't think I'm judging you for your compulsive need to fill up the grid. :)

My husband is home from work the week between Christmas and New Year's Day so we ended up doing a grid run one morning when we had nothing else to do. These were the stops - Jack-in-the-Box, the local hospital, a wastewater treatment plant, a closed drive-in that was replaced with a Lowes Home Improvement Center, and an independent movie rental shop (ended up that it had gone out of business.) Now I'm not passing judgement on these categories (other than maybe the Jack in the Box one) but a trip like this is the waymarking equivalent of washing dishes - it's boring as hell, but it has to be done. Well, it has to be done if you are compulsive about filling up your grid.
So is there anyone else out there who does the occasional "grid run"? Have you found a way to make it a bit more interesting? If you have let me know how!!!!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

A White Christmas!!!!

It snowed on Christmas! While some of you are rolling your eyes as you think of the snow shoveling that you still have to do this afternoon, we are ecstatic. See, in Seattle there are only 5 Christmases since 1909 where there has been snowfall on December 25th. Mind you, this is lowland Puget Sound snow - heavy, wet sloppy snow that melts on contact with the ground - but it is snow nonetheless and we aren't going to complain. If you squint your eyes and look up at the sky you can almost pretend that you aren't standing in the soggy patch of green moss you call a lawn, but are instead in a beautiful winter wonderland.

In fact we may walk down to the Puget Sound when I finish here to enjoy snow on the beach of Dash Point State Park. On the way we can waymark the local waste treatment plant that sits in an idyllic little forested spot on the way to the park. What could be more "Christmasy" than waymarking a waste treatment plant I ask you? I'm always looking for a chance to grab a new icon. ;)

Merry Christmas and happy waymarking!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Holiday Interference

The holidays and my new stint as a rescue dog foster parent is definitely cutting into my waymarking time lately. It seems like I just get ready to sit down and post a waymark when the puppy needs to go out, or the dogs start to fight over a toy, or I remember that I still have shopping to do. It took me two full weeks to post the waymarks from my day and a half in Vancouver and typically I would have had those done pronto. Oh well. I'm having fun with our foster puppy, even if that means I won't be posting into some of those new categories anytime soon.

Have a happy holiday season everyone. It's been a wonderful year getting to know all of you waymarkers out there.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Are people ever happy?

Sometimes I wonder if people are ever happy. This last week I've had a couple of waymarks approved that have complaints about the waymark that have nothing to do with what the category requires. Now I pride myself in trying to give each waymark my best effort. When my photos don't seem to fully describe the place like I want them to I try to add links to Flickr photos or a youtube video of the place to the description to add another perspective. So when someone complains about an evening photo for a place that I can only get to in the evening, it irks me.

I think that people need to remember to hold waymarks to the category standards, and not their own. Someone may have posted a waymark that you would have spent more time and energy on. It's too bad, however you need to get over it and move on.

Friday, December 7, 2007

The Sweet and the Bitter side of the Vancouver weekend

I am finally getting around to posting about the wonderful weekend that we experienced up in Vancouver on the 1st and 2nd. It snowed the whole time we were there and the city was blanketed in a layer of soft snow. We rode the miniature train in Stanley Park through the lit displays, wandered the parks beaches, marveled at their incredible collection of totem poles, spent an evening on Granville Street taking in the old theatre and hotel neon, wandered Chinatown and the famous Classical Chinese Garden there, and saw some great landmark neon signs on Hastings Street. (Photos below: Third Beach, Brockton Point Lighthouse, Inukshuk on English Bay Beach)


I was struck at how international the city was. Like Seattle there is a large Asian population, but in Vancouver there are small pockets of town with Greek or Indian markets and restaurants serving food from seemingly every region of the world. (Photos below: Entrance gate in Chinatown, Totem Poles in Stanley Park)


On the down side, the poverty in parts of the city was astounding. Drug use and prostitution happened right out in the open, rather than down dark alleys as is usually the case in Seattle. Garbage littered the streets, and matresses were lined up against the walls with people huddled there to keep warm. Panhandling was aggressive and unnerving and my heart went out to the people stuck out there in the cold. (Photos below: Ovaltine Cafe, Save on Meats butcher shop, Hotel Balmoral - all on Hastings Street)


My biggest disappointment was that the huge, ornate dragon sign that I was so excited to waymark was gone. Several other signs were missing also. Vancouver at one time had one neon sign for every 19 people in the city, and many of those were spectacular. Only a handful of the extraordinary signs remain. (Photos below: Cambie Plumbing and Heating on Fraser, Only Seafoods Cafe on Hastings, Yale Hotel Jazz Club on Granville)


I was able to find waymarks for most of the Canadian specific categories, several National historic sites and British Columbia historic plaques, Canada Post, Tim Horton's, Curling Clubs (okay, not Canada specific but just about). I also found waymarks or visited waymarks in some difficult to find categories like gender separated entrances, Guinness World Records, and inukshuks. We didn't find any Canadian benchmarks, thanks to that beautiful blanket of snow, but we can always visit again. I've been wanting to take a trip to Victoria anyhow.