October 14, 2003

Sunnyvale Public Library

I had half an hour to do this cache before I had to be somewhere. I thought that would be more than enough, but it took a lot longer than I expected.

I arrived at the library and found some numbers for A and B, but they didn't really match the what it said we were looking for. I tried two different catalog systems and both gave the same result. Wandering around somewhat aimlessly in the library I found the patent database and sat down to look up those answers. Boy, that system is slow. I'm always amazed how poor the interfaces are on these catalog systems are. Who designs these things?

As I was trying to figure out that patent software, Kreebelle showed up and we decided to join forces. I got the rest of the patent answers from the computer and she found the book. We then tried to find better answers to A and B, but didn't have any luck. Since I was running late, I said I would try the brute force method outside while she investigated further. One of the questions seemed to indicate a particular hiding spot, so we thought knew what to look for.

I started looking and shortly after Kreebelle popped out. We headed around the building in opposite directions to look. We met up again as we approached an area that looked right, searched for a few minutes and came up empty. I was really running late now, so I ran over to try one more spot. Didn't find it there either, so I said goodbye to Kreebelle and headed back towards my car. About 100 feet away I hear Kreebelle shout that she found it. It was in the last place I looked, I just didn't look hard enough. She graciously let me sign first so I could get on my way.

I think the puzzle has some problems, but it's not hard to find without doing all the lookups and calculations. And it was nice to meet another Geocacher. Thanks. Posted by jeff at October 14, 2003 06:40 PM