Welcome to the Frederick Puzzler's Corner!
This is a monthly event to encourage puzzle solving in the geocaching community, and all are welcome.
July 3rd is International Plastic Bag-Free Day.
Plastic bags - a ubiquitous method for bringing home your shopping results. Today’s recognition is all about those shopping bags, and heightening awareness of just how permanent and dangerous they are. Except for the occasional boutique store or in local jurisdictions where they have recently been banned, the plastic bag is the only method most retail establishments provide for gathering your purchased goods to make carrying them home easier. Stop and think about this - every single day, millions of plastic bags are mostly used once, for maybe a half hour, then tossed into the trash or discarded as litter.
Plastic bags can take 100-500 years to deteriorate, if they do at all, so you can imagine what our landfills look like. Quite different from your potato peels and egg shells that break down in a matter of days or weeks. Litter that gets carried into our streams, rivers, and oceans endangers the lives of all the creatures that live in our waterways. There are many “reefs” of plastic debris in our oceans that are impacting not only ocean life, but shipping lanes, fishing industries, and other boating traffic; some of these reefs are hundreds of miles long. What could those visiting aliens possibly think of how we are treating our planet?? Some of the plastics that do break down in our oceans are ending up as part of the sand you walk on at the beach, not just as washed-up litter.
Share your awareness today, and every day, by asking for paper bags when you shop, or better yet, bring your own reusable bags, not only for shopping but for everything else you do. And encourage others to do the same. Don’t forget to consider all the other plastics you use, as well, and adopt good recycling habits.
I will now put my soapbox away and move on to the day's business.
And now, for the usual spiel…
This event is open to all cachers, no matter what your statistics say or whether you even like puzzles! So newbies and addicts, socialites and lone wolves, mark you calendar.
If you've got a puzzle or mystery cache that's currently got you stumped and you'd like to pick some brains, this event is for you! Zombies are not welcome here though, so please leave your pets at home - we want everyone to leave with the brains they brought, at minimum.
This event has evolved to a think-tank type gathering, with everyone collaborating on the latest tantalizing quizzler on their radar. Occasionally there may be a short tutorial on some aspect of puzzle solving, but the learning seems to come from working with one another to solve a teaser. You don't have to work on puzzles to enjoy this, as there are plenty of stories to be heard. However, you'll have plenty of others to commiserate with, or maybe find someone who has already solved a puzzle using a similar technique. We continue to see successes and progress at each gathering.
For the puzzle junkies, bring your puzzle paraphenalia - cache listings, laptop or tablet (Wi-Fi is available), theories, worksheets, (sp)eye glasses, HTML color code charts, Enigma machine, abacus, scratch paper (don’t forget your writing instrument) - you never know who (or what!) will show up, and what kind of help you might encounter. Maybe you’ve recently cracked a tough one and want to see the wheels spinning while others tackle it - that can be loads of fun! Yes, we have regular head-slapping moments!
If you have a topic you'd like to learn more about, or have a specific puzzle you'd like help with, feel free to make note of it in your Will Attend log.
When & Where:
Tuesday, July 3, 2018, 6pm - 8pm
Wegman's Market Cafe
7830 Worman's Mill Road
Frederick, Maryland
If you also bring your appetite, all costs are your own responsibility.
Field trips not included.
(But it's a good time to plan them!)