A couple of years ago, I did a blog post about Zander Hollander.

Earlier this year, I got a comment on the post from his nephew, who also gave me the e-mail address of his wife Phyllis. I had planned to e-mail, but didn’t really know how to approach it as Zander’s nephew had noted his uncles wasn’t in great health.

Autographed book.

Recently, a freelance writer happened upon my blog, hoping to find some info about Zander. He is working on a piece about Zander, so he’s looking for all he can get.

That made me remember the e-mail to Phyllis.

I wrote to Phyllis to see if I should forward her e-mail address and such to the writer. I also mentioned meeting them when they came to my town as part of the local book fair. She remembered, which was quite cool.

I’m going to be, in the next week or so, calling Phyllis. I’ll write a little more on the blog after that, to update my post from 2011.

With all of this, however, I went digging for some books by Zander in hopes of finding a signed one. Turns out, I have two signed books. These are very cool to have.

I love signed books and they are ones I really like to keep. So having these two is a bit of a thrill.

Check out the post linked above for the full story.

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As much as I hate to say it, I guess I have to start working.

I’ve pointed this out on the blog before, but I’m a dreamer. So I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dream big when I purchased my Powerball ticket for the $600 million jackpot.

No winner for me.

Though there was a slight disappointment when I heard the ticket was sold in Florida, it’s also reality. Think about how many tickets were sold for that lotto. Imagine the odds of winning. I only buy one ticket, so my odds are even greater.

It still would have been cool though.

Have you ever read the stories about people who win a massive lotto and are broke in a couple of years? I can assure you that wouldn’t have been me. Many of those stories repeat themselves — the person gives away money, is silly with his spending etc.

No chance for me.

I’m not going to lie — if I won $600 million, I would have tried to spend a million in a week or so. House/land, cars, some other things. All frivolous  Why? Because I could.

After that? Back to being smart with it. Invest it. Pay off bills for myself, family and close friends. Set up some college funds for certain youngsters. Set up a charitable foundation.

Then, have it set up so I get paid weekly. A certain amount. That way, I don’t just go spending money for the sake of spending it.

Alas, that won’t happen.

So when this new summer job of mine starts in a few weeks, I’ll be heading there. And I’m OK with that.

Though $600 million would have been sweet.

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For the past week or so, I’ve been out finding spots to place geocaches in my area. I am hosting an event this upcoming Sunday and I wanted to have some new caches available.

You can find some interesting things while doing this.

Old ball caught in a bush.

Whether it’s piles of trash, makeshift memorials, the beauty of nature, or whatever else, you never know what you’ll find.

When inspecting at a local field, an old baseball was found.

This isn’t rare. I’ve come across old baseballs many times. And they often make for good photos.

But this one was different. It wasn’t just a ball in the middle of an old field or something. It was stuck. In a bush. We didn’t remove it as we thought it seemed cool an had its place.

It also looked like it had been there for a while.

Just another interesting find while out and about with geocaching.

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That will do it for this edition of Notes from my noodle. I’ll be back with another edition of this shortly has I have a few more things to randomly share!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

I’ve been in a geocaching placing mood lately.

I’m a believer that most geocaches run their course in time. That’s not so with every one (especially historical ones, ones with a lot of favorite points or some others), but many do. When that times, archive them and search for new spots.

A few of my hides fall under that category. Reasons I’ll archive a cache include:

• Finding a better spot in the same area
• Wanting to make a different size hide nearby
• The cache has been out there for a few years and doesn’t get many hides anymore

There are other reasons, of course, but those are the main ones.

See, I’ve been re-thinking my geocaching philosophy lately. Though I don’t mind the occasional micro, I do like seeing bigger caches. It’s not that I trade items (it’s rare, unless there are signature items), but it’s still nice to find a regular-sized cache with a decent log book in it and all.

I have a lot of caches I want to hide!

So, I’m attempting to make it so most of my caches are at least small in size. That’s going to mean I will be archiving a few of my caches. In turn, that will open up areas for new caches. Though parks in my area aren’t huge, it’s nice to do different spots. That way, it’s not the same thing over an over.

About the only cache I don’t plan to archive is the first one I ever placed. I’ve had to replace it once or twice and will continue to do so if needed. I placed that one on on April 26, 2008. If I had realized it was the fifth year of this cache, I likely would have posted something about it.

Instead, I’ll just mention a few things.

First, it’s a nano. It went a few days before being found when I first placed it. I know there were several DNFs that weren’t logged before it was found. It has 58 finds and 24DNFs. So, it’s a pesky little bugger. But I love it.

And it shall stay!

Those numbers also show something else — not a lot of people travel through this area geocaching. There can be so many caches, but there’s no interstate highways or anything like that. So there are a few winding roads and such. That isn’t fun to some people. So I like to try and put out decent caches so when people do come, they enjoy them.

I’m taking extra special care lately.

Whether it just be a good-sized cache or a cool spot or a tough puzzle, I want people to enjoy the find. I recently placed an order at a place to get some swag to put into caches. I’ve found 5-7 places for new caches and am hoping to have them all placed by the time an event I am hosting in town happens over Memorial Day Weekend.

That also means some caches that have been out there are going to have to be archived. Eventually, these caches I’m placing will likely follow in the same fate. They all run their course. And in the end, it’s about trying to keep things fresh.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Life is full of curve balls. 

When life throws you a lemon, make lemonade. 

Don’t stress about life too much, you’ll never make it out alive. 

Life sucks. Then you die. 

There are hundreds — if not thousands — of sayings about life. A lot of them try to give you a good grip on what life really is about and how one should take a look at the bigger picture. If you’re a regular reader of this blog — or just have been stopping because of this challenge — you likely know my current status and how I’ve been trying to dig myself out.

I don’t want to repeat everything, so if you don’t know and are curious, see this post I wrote earlier in this challenge.

Anyway…

When you look at the bigger picture about life and how things can go up and down, you really need to focus, as well, on the little things. Because, in all reality, it’s the little things that make life truly bearable.

Life is full of little things to enjoy — such as going out for a pint of the black stuff with family or friends.

The big things — making a major purchase, going on a big vacation, other huge life events — are great. And they take part in shaping who you are. But at the same time, they are often one-time happenings (or rare if done more than once). So as nice as it is to have these situations, the reality is they are things to look forward or backward on.

It’s the little things, however, that really make life worth living.

I was truly reminded of this during a Saturday night photo outing in the Albany area.

After spending a while at the Empire State Plaza, we went to a local Dunkin’ Donuts for a quick bite. We decided to check one more place out as I had hoped it would give us a good place for some shots. The area is a waterfront park on the Hudson River. They’ve built it up nicely with some walkways, some nice views and a small building. I believe the building houses a few bathrooms and an office for summer tours.

When we pulled up, I saw a homeless person sleeping in one of the doorways. All bundled up and with a stroller of sorts, filled with some of her items. We backed away and took a different sidewalk in, so as not to disturb the person. It was, after all, about 10 p.m. or so and we didn’t want to scare her or anything like that.

It made me reflect on things. Despite having no job, no income and having to raid what I have left of a retirement account to pay bills, I reminded myself of a few things: I have a roof over my head, the ability to eat, the technology to keep looking for work and family and friends who have gone beyond what they should have to do to help me out at times.

Playing a little disc golf is another little thing in life that makes me smile.

I’ve stayed current with bills so my credit number doesn’t take a full nosedive and, for the most part, I’ve remained as positive as possible in this situation.

There are many people in this country who have it way worse than I do. In a day and age when politicians make oodles of money to make awful decisions, professional athletes make more in a year than many people will make in a lifetime, and countless amounts of money is dumped into worrying about things in other countries more than our own, I realize — for now — I’m actually OK in a way.

I remind myself of the little things, such as the following:

• Being able to have a beer with a friend
• Being able to brew my own beer!
• Going out and finding a geocache
• Going for a walk or a bike ride
• Taking a photograph
• Playing a round of disc golf
• Reading a good book

These are all little things in life. Everyday occurrences that can make one smile or be happy to be alive.

And, unfortunately, some people aren’t in the situation to be able to enjoy the little things. It’s my hope, one day, when I get back on my feet that I can find a way to help people who have it worse than me. And  as much as I would love to help people in other countries, I’d really like to give back to my country because I am proud of who I am and where I’m from.

Everybody should have the ability to enjoy the little things. I realize that isn’t always going to be possible, and that’s a shame.

But it makes me reflect. And it makes me appreciate what I do have. And it makes me continue to fight to get ahead again, so one day I can hopefully give back.

Maybe then, the little things will make others happy, too.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

No matter how bad things are, sometimes you have to sit back, realize it’s a blessing to be alive and smile.

This post definitely will have its ups and downs.

Last year when I did a look back at the year, I was in the same situation I am now — unemployed. But I still was optimistic. I had taken advantage of the year by being able to see things as I did my job search.

But as those months continued into 2012, it got worse.

I didn’t go see things as much. I canceled — understandably so — a trip to GeoWoodstock X (to be fair, it sounds like canning the trip wasn’t the worst thing. I hope to get back to GeoWoodstock some time in the future). I also didn’t do several things I had hoped to do, such as do a repeat trip to my Aunt’s house on the Jersey Shore.

Still, I’ve tried to remain as upbeat and as positive as I can. Despite knowing the end is near (or done if nothing has happened) to unemployment benefits, I realize I’m not even close to many others. I have a roof over my head, food to eat and family and friends who care enough about me to try and help or get my mind off things, if even just getting together for a slice of pizza or a beer.

That doesn’t take away from the negative thoughts I have in my head. I look at others who are successful and happy in life and wonder if I’ll reach that. I realize I chose a bad career path — or at least it seems — and I need to figure out something to do.

Hopefully, 2013 will be that year.

That being said, 2012 wasn’t a total wash. The reality is, I try and do whatever I can to try keep an upbeat attitude, if even just for a day or two. The lack of finances has made me look for more affordable things to do, especially in the local area. From photography to community events, I’ve seen a lot more of the area, which is a positive thing.

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One of the biggest — and brightest spots of my year was Rattling Chains, a blog I created to cover the sport of disc golf. This was done as a hobby during my spare time as I wanted to see if a niche blog like that could work. Disc golf is an extremely fast growing sport, so maybe something like this could take off.

And, compared to my hopes, it did.

I had a fun year in disc golf, but would have liked to played more!

Since launching the blog in early March, the site has received more than 115,000 views. That’s not shabby for a small crew (there are 3-5 of us who write on a regular basis) and with no financial backing or gain. We’ve put out some quality content and that’s been something I’ve really been proud of.

At times, it’s been hard to continue. And there’s no guarantee we’ll make it. Who knows what life brings. But for now, we’re doing well and have a loyal group following us.

In other parts of disc golf, I didn’t play as much as I would have liked this year. Unfortunately the drive to get a local course failed, so that made it harder for me to play. Driving 1 1/2 hours to play a round isn’t smart in regard to time or finances.

That meant I also only played in five tournaments this year — two PDGA-sanctioned tournaments (I reached my goal of hitting 700 as a rating), two doubles tournaments (we cashed in one!) and one Ace Race.

I’ve also played a bunch of casual rounds — including one with 2010 world champion Eric McCabe. So, in the end, I think I improved quite a bit, which is something I wanted to do.

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During this year, besides seeking a job, I was also seeking something else — peace.

The reality is, I have a lot of hate when it comes to some things in my life. I’m coming to terms with much of it and, I think, by the end of this job hunt, I’ll have come to total peace.

In fact, I really think I’ll face it head-to-head when I know my life is taking a better turn.

In the meantime, as I tried to shake it — I wanted to find some sort of peace. Kind of finding that place where I knew I could get away and just relax and not worry about anything else.

For those of you who know one of my closest friends Darren, you know he’s got his hands into so many things. That usually means when I get the chance to hang out with him, there’s going to be something different.

Finding kayaking was an important part of my year.

Kayaking was one of them.

Though I had always wanted to learn to kayak, I had never done it until this year. The first couple of times I went was with Darren. I used one of his kayaks and we paddled the local river. However, the kayak wasn’t truly good for me.

The next several times I went, I rented at a local kayak place. The owner was extremely helpful every time I went, helping me find the right kayak and showing me what I needed to do. The first time or two I went, I had to get the feel of it. From then on out, I got the “feel” of it within the first five minutes and I was all over it.

I still can’t do like others — have the legs out while chilling — but I’m sure that will come in time. I also need to figure out how to kayak for a couple of hours without back pain!

The one thing I truly found with kayaking?

Peace.

There is something to be said about being on the water with not many around and just coast, soak up some sun and listen to nature. It’s peaceful. You can get into a great place when out there.

I also held our area’s first water-based geocaching event. We had more than 30 people come out on a warm fall day, paddle a mile and a half to the event and enjoy everything.

Way too cool.

I don’t set resolutions or anything like that, but I’m really hoping to be able to afford a kayak and a roof rack this year. I can definitely see me going kayaking a whole heap more, especially if I don’t have to rent every time I go.

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Speaking of geocaching, I had a decent year with that hobby.

According to my statistics, I found 539 caches this year, which is my highest total since finding 1,030 in 2009. Since then, I’ve founf 491 (2010) and 396 (2011).

I finished a monumental challenge in completing the New York State DeLorme Challenge, which is something I’ve worked on for several years. Two big one-day road trips helped me get to the final point, which was awesome. I was excited to share the moment with some friends and it was nice to know I completed the challenge.

It’s been fun finding caches and doing some DeLorme road trips this year.

The challenge final was also my 3,000th find.

I’ve also completed the New York County Challenge, but I have yet to go find the final.

During the year, I had the chance to hit up 13 events, including the first New England mega event, which was held in Massachusetts  We made it a one-day trip (it was only a few hours from me) and had a good time, despite the crazy heat.

Including the seven events I hosted this year, I have launched 16 new caches in 2012. One of those was also my 50th hide (I now have 59). I think I’m most proudest of that, because it’s always nice to put out new caches.

It hasn’t been all great, though. We had a geocache attack this year, stealing upward of 10 ammo cans. A good bulk of them were mine or one other persons. I wondered if it was somebody local or somebody coming through the area and stealing them. The worst part was when my golden ammo can was replaced (it was done by someone else), it was stolen a second time — and one of her caches that was nearby was also close. I don’t know if it’s somebody local, but I won’t lie when I say I think it has to be someone with some sort of a vendetta. Since then, however, it seems to have ceased. So we can hope, anyway.

In the end, it was a good year for caching. I had the chance to go on some really fun caching days and got to meet new people. Though I had to cancel two trips to mega events I wanted to hit for financial reasons, I still enjoyed the year of caching. In the end, it did what it normally does — gave me an out to forget things for a while and took me to some places I likely never would have found without the game.

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This has been an interesting year when it comes to photography, which is why I’ll be breaking that down into more than one category.

First, professional wrestling. I’ve blogged about this before, but when it comes to photography, I’ve really found a lot of fun in shooting wrestling. Especially independent federations. First, it’s cheap entertainment (usually, tickets are $10-$15 for about three hours of action). Second, you can get some great images, be it action, close-ups or even the fans.

One of my favorite images this year in regard to wrestling — Brodie Lee. He’s since been signed by WWE and is wrestling under the name Luke Harper.

I have to say, I’m kind of shocked at how many events I went to this year. I took photos at 16 wrestling events and attended at least one other where I didn’t take any images. That’s quite a few. But I’ve loved the images I’ve taken. I also had the chance to tag along with a couple of indy wrestlers to a training seminar.

You get quite the variety of quality, too. Some is bad, some is good, some is awesome.

Either way, it’s a slice of variety that makes it fun to take photos.

I’ve also had the chance to get to know some of the personalities and am working on some writing projects with a few of them. In the end, I hope to talk to several others and make this one massive project — possibly a book.

After all, the photos only tell half the stories.

Though many people look own upon this sport, these guys (and gals) who do this really have some interesting stories to tell. Some are wild, some are good and some are bad. Some are downright tragic.

I am happy I’ve been able to shoot this sport. I’ve grown up a wrestling fan, so being able to capture these images has been awesome. That being said, one thing the training session taught me is being able to take photos at ringside is way better than being back in the crowd. Maybe in 2013, I’ll get that chance to get up close and personal to shoot the sport in a different light. I’ll look to rent a lens beforehand if that opportunity comes.

I didn’t use my favorite wrestling shot of the year in this post because it’s graphic and I want people to make their own choice if they want to see it. Note it’s bloody. If you want to see it, click here.

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This year hasn’t always been the best for photography.

I started out the year with a bang being involved in the second year of the HooHaa 52 and taking part in the 366 Project.

Some of you may remember I completed the 365 Project in 2010. The project is where you take a photo every day for a full year. I finished in in 2010 and swore I’d never do it again.

My Feb. 28 shot for the failed 366 Project.

However, 2012 was a leap year, so …

Needless to say, I didn’t make it. I sputtered throughout the summer and forced myself to keep going. Once the fall hit, I really hit a wall. No job equaled fewer opportunities to travel around and taking photos in my immediate area was becoming a bore.

So, after about 250 days, I called it quits.

I realize I only had three months or so remaining, but I knew I wasn’t going to make it. So I had two decisions — push as long as I could, or end it there. I decided to end it there, knowing I’d really get mad if I made it to December or something and then slipped.

Also, I think knowing I had completed this project in 2010 made it easier for me to call it quite.

The HooHaa 52 was also a failure. I was about 10 weeks shy of finishing. The reason there is the majority of people who joined this challenge had faltered. And others were using older photos or logging too many in a row. So I got frustrated and gave up.

That being said, Year 3 of the HooHaa 52 is starting this week and I’m more excited than I have been in the past for this challenge. I think we have a good group of people and have tweaked the rules to make it easier. Hopefully by this time next year, I’ll be telling you all about how I finished the project and how proud I am of the group and everything that got done.

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Travel this year was limited. I hit up the Lancaster area early in the year for a couple days of disc golf. Same with a short weekend trip to Philly in November, where I also got to stay with relatives and see some relatives I hadn’t seen in a while.

The Cooperstown Winter Festival was one of the local events I checked out this year.

There were also the two days of 22-plus hours of travel and caching to fill the DeLorme squares. And I ventured a few places to play disc golf, usually day trips.

But things I had hoped to do this year — a couple of geocaching trips, a trip to the Vibram Open — it just wasn’t in the cards this year.

And I’m OK with that. I realize my time needed to be spent (and still does) applying and searching for employment. It’s part of this crazy part of my life I’m in. Throwing money out for big trips just isn’t justifiable, when I’m trying to keep my head above water with bills.

That being said…

What this year taught me was to find more things locally. Things such as area fairs or festivals that are low cost (or free) and things put on for the community. I had the chance to see different things in a different light.

I also explored more of the local area, through geocaching and photography, to try and get out and visit local parks and such. There are a few I missed and I look forward to checking in 2013. There are also many awesome state parks within a couple hours from here. They offer many things and after receiving an Empire Pass for Christmas this year, I plan on trying to visit as many as possible this year.

I got involved with helping people looking for photos of headstones via Find A Grave and did some personal photography challenges. I worked on geocaching things in the local area. There really are so many things in people’s local areas they don’t know about. It’s unfortunate it took me this long to realize it. I look forward to looking at things like this in the future though.

It truly is amazing how you look at things differently when you have to find more cheap and inexpensive means of entertainment.

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In the end, the year featured more than I can put in this post.

It definitely had its ups and downs. Though a lot of the downs outweighed some things, the reality is I still am here on Earth, have good family and friends and am better off than so many others.

I also do believe things happen for a reason.

What the reason is that I’m going through all of this right now? No idea. But hopefully it will show its face in 2013.

Thanks to everyone who has visited the site through this year and I hope to have many more things to post about in the upcoming year!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

I know I wrote a little about geocaching the other day in my Notes from my noodle post, but I’ve been on a bit of a binge lately.

I also have two other posts in the works about geocaching — one which will follow this weekend’s trip and another that deals with — yes — cheating in the game. Seriously, people cheat. In a game where numbers don’t matter. Hopefully regular readers, as well we geocachers, will enjoy reading that wacky story.

Anyway, on with this one.

I’ve been on a bit of a hiding spree lately.

If you’ll recall, I’m a bit of a believer that caches have a lifespan. Basically, if a cache is basic, doesn’t have a heap of favorite points and isn’t historic of sorts, it’s not a bad thing to archive them every few years. You can place a new one in the same area — just change it a bit — and make it a place for people to discover again.

I’ve been working on placing some caches recently…

My area is quite rural. To get here, you have to go through some winding/hilly roads. Some people don’t like that, which is a shame because this area is really nice. Alas, to each their own.

Recently, I looked at many of my geocaches and some of them go a lot of time without getting hits. So, despite being attached to some of them, I decided I would archive a few to open up space for some others to be placed.

Not too long ago, I purchased a box of lock-n-lock type containers at BJ’s when they were on sale. I let them sit for a while. This seemed like the perfect time. I dug out some camo duck tape I had got a while back and started to get some containers ready to place.

See, I was all about getting things done.

I went out one night and started scouting spots. I hiked some trails. I looked at small parks. I checked places where caches used to be and I came up with a bunch of spots that I thought would make for some good caches.

I found a few of my caches and archived them. It was hard on a couple of them because they were from when I first started caching, so they had a bit of a sentimental value. Alas, for the good of the game, it was time for them to go and I hope those who found them over the years enjoyed them.

In their place went several new caches. Not in the same spots, mind you, but in the area or park. Over the course of a few days, I placed seven new caches in the area. Of those, one was a regular, three were smalls and three were micros. A nice little mix.

I firmly believe it can be just as fun placing these caches as it is finding them, especially if people seem to like them when they look for ‘em.

As expected, however, the caches haven’t been hit as much as I’d hope — especially for new caches. But, they are there and there are still many days of good weather ahead, so I hope these caches will be hit up soon enough.

I also plan on placing a couple more. Possibly tonight. One is a cache I’ve wanted to do for a long time — a letterbox hybrid. It’s going to be straight forward, but it will have a stamp for people to use and stamp their books. I hope finders enjoy it! I tried to place it last night, but there were people at the spot I wanted to put it… so I’ll try again tonight!

In the end, this has helped me enjoy caching again. Ever since I posted about the game passing me by, I’ve come out of that funk and have had a good time with it. I’ve especially found fun in placing caches again, so hopefully I can come up with some new places to hide ‘em and have some fun with these, too!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!