elle weems updates

Punta Gorda Live Fire Training on FireDailyNews

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:40:30 -0400

050608-FireDailyNews-PGFDarticle-frontpage

FireDailyNews.com has featured an article on the Punta Gorda Live Fire Training which was submitted with original photography by me.

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PGFD Training + Bailey's Art Exhibit

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:40:46 -0400

PGFD - Live Fire Training - Lit up

I had a lot of fun shooting PGFD Live Fire Training exercises and it was great experience. Everyone was very gracious and friendly. Afterwards, I made the stops I needed to make and got my final shots on the remainder of the firehouses. See 72 of the pictures on the PGFD Live Fire Training 4/30/08 set.

Artists run in my family.

Bailey's artwork has been chosen by her art teacher to be included in an art exhibit at the Charlotte County Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda! I'm so proud of her!!!

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Geocaching to pass the time

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:27:04 -0400

Tom left today for Miami and will stay there on his MCSE boot camp until April 27. At the usual time, I'll be picking up Bailey from south Punta Gorda and I've decided to pick up a few geocaches that are newly hid by South County Park while we're across the bridge. One is in the park and the other is off Cooper. The Cooper St. one is part of a series of a specific type of caches that are really easy and fun park & grabs. Both hides are by 3birdfamily, of whom I am a big fan.

Fire Power #3 (GC1B5FX)

Play in the Park (GC1B5G5)

Nothing like geocaching to pass the time.

There also a multi-cache in South County Park, as well as four brand new hides all by dominook (another florida geocacher I'm a fan of).

The visitation meeting spot itself is a geocache spot, but that was one of our hides.

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Charlotte County Fire/EMS Station 16 - Take two!

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:19:23 -0400

Charlotte County Fire/EMS Station 16 - FF Gary Wilcher

After stopping by my attorney's office this morning in regards to my stupid ex being stupid, I went over to Station 16 for another shoot. This was one of the stations where I lost the majority of the images in a technical malfunction while transferring from the camera to the USB stick. I'm pleased with the results. Go to the Charlotte County Fire/EMS Station 16 set on my Flickr to see some of those photos. Below are a few more:

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It's an artesian well... duh! + Charlotte County Cemeteries + a note about Bailey

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:28:51 -0400

Fountain of Youth - Punta Gorda Spigot

I finally found the appropriate category for the Fountain of Youth in downtown Punta Gorda. It's an artesian well, thus it belongs in Artesian Wells. When it is approved by an officer, it will be Fountain of Youth - Punta Gorda, FL (WM3EXT).

There are a number of cemeteries in Charlotte County that I didn't know about. Who would have thought to look on the Public Works website for the information instead of, say, the Historical Society! The history is very unpleasant. These are cemeteries that have "historically served Charlotte County's African-American community", as the website phrases it. As a result, the records are poorly kept and the maintenance is next to none. With a horrific history that makes a reasonable person sick to learn, El Jobean Cemetery is historic and requires responsible documentation.

Tomorrow is Wednesday and I have to start researching Rennsalaer if I'm going to know what I'm waymarking and why when I arrive on Sunday.

Bailey's fever broke and now she's dealing with cold symptoms.

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Geocaching and Waymarking

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:25:36 -0400

Villa Bianca

We waymarked and hid a geocache on Friday, we rested Saturday, and then waymarked and hid a geocache on Easter Sunday. I couldn't tell you how many total waymarks I picked up this weekend. I have a couple more items that don't have a category.

This first one might be the start of its own category when finding a way to unite it with the previous paver remnant. I'm still holding my breath on Woman's Clubs, which is still in the officer recruiting phase, so a new cat endeavor isn't really on my agenda. The potential is there, though.

This fountain is in downtown Punta Gorda. Twenty years ago, the retired residents and snowbirds would line up for blocks to fill jugs from this supposed Fountain of Youth. Let it be known that it contains a dangerous amount of radiation and should never be consumed. There are no lines now. This doesn't fit into the Fountains category, which is only for free-flowing water fountains, like those that shoot water into the air to be pretty. It's not a Converted Fountain, since at no time was it a free-flowing fountain and it is not used for an entirely different purpose. It's still functional as a spigot of radioactive water. It begs the question on whether there should be a category for attractions or features that are now found to be dangerous, like old x-ray machines that used to sit on street corners so you could wiggle your feet in and see your skeleton back in the 1950's because nobody realised how dangerous playing with an x-ray can be. That's just an example off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more out there. There has to be.

The Harvey House is an unfortunate entry because I've not been able to bring up any information on this homestead. It is very historical and just as duly notable as Villa Bianca, A.C. Freeman House, and the Trabue Law & Land Sales Office. Unfortunately, without any information to back up this little wooden sign staked out front, there's nothing I can build a waymark on. I'm going to have to call the Historical Society for help. Perhaps the information just isn't published on the internet.

Bailey must have picked up a bug from her father's house. She's sick today with a fever. She kept me up all last night vomitting. Due to getting barely any sleep, I was slow to get everything going. Michael was late and he was mad at me for it. I can't blame him, but it's not far-fetched for me to be dragging. These things happen sometimes.

Of course, Easter was Easter. The kids got their baskets and we had the nighttime egg hunt.

My goal is to get as many interesting, notable and historic waymarks out of Charlotte County and North Port as possible. I won't be doing the McDonald's, the Burger Kings, the Wendy's and so on. There are more images in my photos section of my efforts on Friday and Sunday.

One of the geocaches has been published and was found a day later. The other one is still under scrutiny, based on a terrain rating of 1 instead of 1.5 and something in the clue field that wasn't a real clue. This is the same reviewer that told me I couldn't name a cache after a business and then approved a series of Hooter # caches for another cacher. Whatever. Both caches are fire-related. The second is very difficult and I don't expect many non-firefighting cachers to get it, if/when it's published.

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Waymarking Tuesday

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:52:22 -0400

Courtyard fountain

Tom's had some kind of food poisoning over the past couple days so I haven't been out much. Today after school, Bailey and I went out waymarking in Punta Gorda. Here are some pictures from that:

But I have two particular places that I'm not quite sure what to do with. Actually, it's three, but the third can fit into an existing Waymarking category. It just cannot stand as a Historical Artifact, which is bothersome. The original jail is at History Park. It's nothing more than a metal cage. Now, if it was a replica of the original, it would have a category. Unfortunately, there is no existing category that I can find to place this location. That's a shame because it's killer. The other is the original paver bricks from the streets of downtown Punta Gorda that have a home in front of the Bank of America building.

St. Patrick's Day was a meal of corned beef, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. I forgot the cabbage! Eddie and Bailey did great peeling the potatoes:

Bailey and Eddie peeling potatoes

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Punta Gorda Fire Department Station 3 and Ladder 1

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:30:41 -0400

Punta Gorda Fire Department Station 3 - Ladder 1 crew

The crew for Ladder 1 was accommodating and kind when they pulled into Punta Gorda Fire Department Station 3 while I was taking photos in a desperate race against the sunset. They posed for pictures, let me photograph the truck and gave me a tour of the truck and its equipment. I'm pleased at the number of shots that turned out since the time spent photographing the truck and speaking with the firefighters far exceeded my available light.

Here's some more photos:

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A couple new stops in an alternating Sunday routine

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:58:10 -0400

Indian Springs Cemetery: Hewitt tomb posts

I left a little early last evening so I could stop by Indian Springs Cemetery for a cache check and photos before heading towards the visitation meeting spot in south Punta Gorda. I didn't have a lot of time but had fun with the Hewitt tomb, which stands in the southwest corner next to the unofficial children's section.

Afterwards, Bailey and I stopped by the new park off of Bayshore Rd in Charlotte Harbor Town. Most of the park is still fenced off and under construction, but they have opened up a small parking lot with a nice walk-out. I brought Bailey's 110 camera with me so she was able to take pictures, too.

Sunset over the fishing bridge

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