tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:139079Morton Fox's journalUsing the nuclear option every day!Morton Fox2009-09-14T07:09:29Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:139079:681482Long Island 2009-09-14T07:09:29Z2009-09-14T07:09:29Zpublic0Sunny day, approaching 80°F in the afternoon. Went geocaching on Long Island because I felt like it. I noticed that a few of the new geocaches were placed by <a href="http://aviary.com/">aviary.com</a> employees. This company is headquartered on Long Island. I have a user account on aviary.com but I haven't been using this online graphics suite. I should take another look at it.<br /><br />There was a boy peeing mere feet away from where I subsequently found "DWD with a view". He was having a wild time peeing in an open area and swinging his stream all over the place. No shame at all. I had to wait for him to finish before I could look for the cache. When I found it, it was damp but I hope that wasn't because of pee. Ugh. Long Island, I am disgusted!<br /><br />I finished the caches on my list a bit early but I couldn't resist getting another cache at Flushing Promenade before dinner since it's not far from Flushing Center. As usual, the Mets had taken over the closest parking lot so I had to park at the marina and take a half-mile walk to the cache site. Once I was done with that, I went to Flushing Center. I had <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/e51f6110a0c711de9d8f003048c10834">prawn mee</a> and <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/e4a570d0a0c711de9d8f003048c10834">roti canai</a> at Curry Leaves. That was the flattest roti canai ever. Just one big sheet.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://mortonfox.dreamwidth.org/681482.html#cutid1">The caches...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mortonfox&ditemid=681482" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:139079:679576Long Island and Orange County 2009-09-01T06:42:48Z2009-09-01T06:42:48Zpublic0Good weather on Sunday. Temperature was 70°F to 80°F most of the day. I went to Long Island. This will be one of the last few trips I'll make to LI for a while so I made it count. Went west to east along the southern half of the island. Then turned around and picked up a few geocaches along the northern half. Most of the geocaches were quick but I did find the time for two significant hikes for "South of the Boardwalk" and "The Lakeland Underground". Dinner was at Curry Leaves in Flushing Center. I had <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/762a056c95c311de8353003048c0801e">curry mee with stuffed vegetables and roti canai</a>. I'll miss this kind of unpretentious ethnic dining. <br /><br />I'd left my walking stick at Memorial Field in Rutherford on Saturday so on my way back from NYC, I altered my route a bit and swung by Rutherford. The town is a lot quieter at night. I found my walking stick on the grass. Since I was there, I checked the cache hiding spot and was puzzled to not see it there. I hope that's because someone moved it a little and not because it has already gone missing.<br /><br />Monday is my substitute for that rainy Saturday. I had to go to the post office first thing in the morning to pick up a package that <a href="http://www.meritline.com/">Meritline</a> mailed all the way from China with certified mail. Considering that this is a pair of $3 LED flashlights with free shipping, I doubt Meritline actually made any money after shipping costs. I also had to mail another book that I'd sold in the Amazon marketplace. Considering that I listed that book only the night before, it's a pretty fast sale! <br /><br />After that, I went to Orange County. Got lots of quick caches but then I ended the day with a 4-mile hike in the Stewart Airport Buffer Zone for the last 6 geocaches. Long walk but that was satisfying!<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://mortonfox.dreamwidth.org/679576.html#cutid1">The caches...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mortonfox&ditemid=679576" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:139079:672074Western NJ, Queens2009-07-13T23:12:36Z2009-07-13T23:13:21Zpublic0Went to Western NJ on Saturday. In just a few weeks since my last visit, lots of new geocaches have been listed around Hackettstown, Blairstown, Hope, and Hainesburg so I did those. I also visited the <a href="http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/lodges/mohican/">Mohican Outdoor Center</a> at the Delaware Water Gap briefly to seek 4 geocaches in a row along their access road. That's a pretty scenic area and the cabins look nicer than home! I ran into Chris58 at "65 million years in the making" and we went and did "In remebrance[sic]" together since this cache was next on both our lists.<br /><br />Dinner was at Arby's in Hackettstown. I noticed that there are now lots of new restaurants (both fast food and sit-down) just south of Hackettstown on Routes 517 and 57. It's like a food court out there now and this solves the problem of where to eat in Western NJ after geocaching. Anyway, I had a coupon for <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/822e06ac6e8011deb190003048c10834">a bacon and cheese roastburger</a> so I got that. This Arby's was also offering a 5 for $5 deal. End result: <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/82a16cd26e8011deb190003048c10834">6 sandwiches!</a> I brought 3 home. Such a deal.<br /><br />On Sunday, I went to Queens. NYC has traffic problems now because of the closure of the ramp from Cross Island Parkway to the Throgs Neck Bridge. Some traffic got diverted to the Clearview Expressway and some got diverted to the Whitestone Bridge, causing even more delays there. I didn't experience any delays going to Queens but coming home, I got stuck in traffic until I thought of an interesting alternate route to get around the mess. I didn't have quite as much of a problem on city streets, which is a good thing because I used those most of the day going from cache site to cache site.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://mortonfox.dreamwidth.org/672074.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://mortonfox.dreamwidth.org/672074.html#cutid2">The caches...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mortonfox&ditemid=672074" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:139079:668149Long Island 2009-06-22T07:33:04Z2009-06-22T07:33:04Zpublic0Cloudy. 63-70°F. It looked like it was going to rain all day long but it didn't rain until the evening, and even then, the rain didn't last long. I went out to Long Island to find all the new geocaches placed within the last few weeks. I headed out eastwards on the northern half first, turned around, and came back along the southern half. Most of the caches were pretty standard hides. "I lost my marbles" was a little strange because it was less than 100 feet from the final stage of an older cache. I saw the older cache first and it looked like someone signed that log book by mistake.<br /><br />Someone ran a red light in downtown Oyster Bay. Good thing I was slow to enter the intersection. A collision would've ruined the day, no doubt.<br /><br />Went to Flushing Center in the evening for dinner. I had <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/f5e2088a5ece11deb3f6003048c0801e">curry mee with stuffed vegetables</a> and <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/881ec7425ecf11de8939003048c0801e">roti canai with egg</a> at Curry Leaves. I think the former is their best dish. I came to that conclusion after trying most of the items on their menu. It's tough to beat something that has curry, crispy fried bean curd, and fish. On this trip, I also did a bit of shopping on Roosevelt Avenue and got a bulk discount from the sweet bean curd lady.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://mortonfox.dreamwidth.org/668149.html#cutid1">The caches...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mortonfox&ditemid=668149" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:139079:663818Memorial Day Weekend - Central Jersey, Long Island, Western NJ 2009-05-27T03:09:30Z2009-05-27T03:09:30Zpublic0Saturday: Went to Central Jersey to finish a few groups of geocaches in Passaic River Park, Glenhurst Meadows, and Duke Island Park. That last group was placed for the Duke Island Safari geocaching event earlier this month. I missed the event but caches placed for the event are still in the park so I got that part of the event experience at least. I did a lot of hiking in muddy flood plain areas on Saturday so it's a good thing I had boots. Dinner was at Fuddruckers in Parsippany, where I had <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortonfox/3568162567/">chicken nachos</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortonfox/3568162525/">tomatoes with cheese</a>. It felt weird going to Fuddruckers when there wasn't a geocaching event. I kept expecting to sign the event log or trade travel bugs at any time.<br /><br />Sunday: Long Island trip. I started late so I didn't think I would have that much time but I still was able to get nearly all the new geocaches up to Moriches. Dinner was at Curry Leaves in Flushing Center. I had <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortonfox/3568980768/">curry mee with chicken</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortonfox/3568980686/">roti canai</a>. I'm pretty sure I've tried those before but when in doubt, go for the curry.<br /><br />Monday: Went to Western NJ (Washington, Hampton, Bloomsbury, etc) via Route 57. I don't think it was that long since I was last there but there were quite a number of new geocaches. I was at the peak of my ability that day. All the geocaches, even the difficult ones, were a snap to find. For dinner, I did a Google search on my cell phone for a conveniently-located Ruby Tuesday and found one in Bridgewater. I had <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortonfox/3568179567/">Ruby Minis</a> with <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortonfox/3568991122/">salad bar</a>.<br /><br />On Saturday evening, my phone malfunctioned to the point where it was totally unusable. The screen came up blank. Nice of it to do that at the end of the day when it would cause the least inconvenience. Fortunately, I already had a spare phone from eBay, so that night, I activated it, transferred the contacts, and installed the Opera Mini software. I've done that a few times before so it was easy. (Who needs the Sprint Store anyway? :) ) It's the same phone model except red in color instead of gray. Since both colors are around the same price on eBay, I figured I might as well get a non-drab one.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://mortonfox.dreamwidth.org/663818.html#cutid1">The caches...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mortonfox&ditemid=663818" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:139079:662251Orange County and Queens2009-05-11T18:53:13Z2009-05-11T18:53:13Zpublic0<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortonfox/3518945437/" title="The Sun Yat Sen University alumni are having a picnic by Morton Fox, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3357/3518945437_c8ddf3efe3_t.jpg" width="100" height="80" alt="The Sun Yat Sen University alumni are having a picnic" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This was the first weekend in a while that I hadn't committed to anything. No geocaching events or mascot gigs. Both days had good weather too. On Saturday, I went out to Orange County to do a bunch of new geocaches from Warwick to Middletown to Montgomery. Dinner was at Ruby Tuesday in the Middletown Galleria. I had <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/fef9d1d03cfc11debd47003048c10834">buffalo chicken minis</a> with <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/ae93cd823d0011de9e4f003048c0801e">salad bar</a>. Clearly, the camera on the phone is not capable of taking pictures in low light. More on this later.<br /><br />On Sunday, I brought geocache info for both Central Jersey and NYC/Long Island, so after finding one geocache in Fort Lee, I did a last-minute coin flip and went to Queens. I always put off NYC geocaches for long periods of time because of imagined difficulties in driving around, parking, and most of all, finding restrooms. The first two weren't that bad on a Sunday. As for restrooms, one of the geocache sites in Jackson Heights was near a Bed, Bath and Beyond, and they let just about anyone use the restrooms near the employee break area.<br /><br />Dinner was at Curry Leaves in Flushing Center. I had <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/b70fee903dce11debd47003048c10834">curry mee with stuffed vegetables</a> and <a href="http://brightkite.com/objects/6e7e75983dce11de9e4f003048c0801e">roti canai</a>. The "thumbs up" in the latter picture is the cook's hand. Late Sunday night is a slack time for this restaurant and everyone was hanging out in the dining area watching TV. It's a family-like atmosphere.<br /><br />I'm still without a fully-functioning camera since the Nikon Coolpix L4 broke last weekend. I'd been taking pictures with the camera on the Razr V3m. This is convenient because I can email pictures from the phone to Brightkite and Flickr without any intermediate downloading/copying stages. However, as you can see from my photo links, picture quality is not good. It has no flash and no macro capability so it's only acceptable for outdoor photography in daylight. I bought a Coolpix L11 from an eBay seller but it turned out to have an undisclosed flaw: the flash doesn't fire. So I'll either return it or accept their offer of a partial refund. I'm leaning towards the latter choice because it wasn't expensive and shipping it back would eat up a big chunk of the refund. <a href="https://friendfeed.com/mortonfox/086200c1/test-photo-from-replacement-camera-it-is">This</a> is the test photo I took with the L11 in light-capture mode.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://mortonfox.dreamwidth.org/662251.html#cutid1">The caches...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=mortonfox&ditemid=662251" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments