Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
What do I like best? Making a big find? No that isn't it. Not entirely anyhow. I like finding ideas. And in the end, isn't an object an idea? Actually it is a bunch of ideas - and questions.
If you haven't noticed, I like ideas. I like thinking. I like discovering. As Pink Floyd said, "Thinking is the best way to travel."
A find is the center of a bunch of ideas. A find can verify and justify a lot of ideas. For example, at the most basic level, a find can verify that yes, it was there. This thing was where I expected it to be, or maybe where I didn't expect it to be.
Every time I go to a particular spot that I like to hunt, there are people who say, "There is nothing there." And sometimes I find things, which surprises them, but not me. Sometimes the thing or things that I find are not interesting to them. When that is the case, the find only supports their idea that there is really nothing there. More often than not, the find is more interesting to me and it confirms to me that there were things there, and there probably still are things there.
You might have noticed that I like many kinds of treasure - gold, silver, gems, iron, fossils, artifacts, bottles, sea glass, etc. etc. I think that is because it is really that I am seeking ideas as much as the objects. That is what makes objects interesting to me. The fact that some finds are valuable and other people sometimes appreciate them enough to pay money for them is just icing on the cake. But that is just another idea.
Why do people like and collect and pay for some things that are not necessities. They can't eat them, but they can sell them for food or shelter or get some sort of comfort out of knowing that they can sell them if they need to. That is where it is for some people. They want to accumulate wealth at one level or another. It gives them the feeling, or should I say "idea" that they are safe, secure, worthwhile, successful, or whatever it is. Nothing wrong with that.
For me, it is very much about ideas. I like to discover how things work and how I can do things, especially different and better ways of doing thing. I like to figure out how the sand is moving and how items got to be at one place or another and what they mean. I like to hypothesize, theorize and then test my ideas. I like to test my ideas.
For me treasure hunting is very much about creative problem solving. I taught myself computer programming back in the sixties and later developed training software for the first military GPS system for what was then Martin Marietta and a flight training simulator for Eastern Airlines pilots. When it comes down to it, I analyze and solve problems - all kinds. That is who I am. It is all about creative problem solving for me.
It was nice when I could make a living solving problems, but now I metal detect because I still like ideas and solving problems and I'd always be doing that somewhere somehow. It is always nice to get validation when other people will pay you for solving problems, but now I am content to do it for my own entertainment. It is still about the ideas. Some ideas are great finds - in more ways than one.
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Want to participate in an exotic expedition, but don't want to get out of your pajamas? Expedition by telepresence is what you have been waiting for. Actually that isn't the reason I mention it. I mention things like this with the hope that guys and gals who are actually doing things will think about new ways of doing things. I always encourage people to think about new possibilities and methods and how new or old technologies can be integrated into what they are doing.
Here is an excerpt from an article about telepresence expeditions.
The waves of Narragansett Bay break gently on the rocky beach at the University of Rhode Island’s School of Oceanography, as vacationing families jockey for prime sunbathing real estate. It’s not your typical research cruise environment—I feel a bit guilty about the brief respite out of solidarity for my sleep-deprived colleagues on Atlantis—but such is the life of the shore-side team.
During this 10 day long expedition, half of our crew of early career scientists has been on the Atlantis at any given time while the other half operates a mission control of sorts at URI’s Inner Space Center (ISC). We’re testing the utility of telepresence technology for sea-going research expeditions, trying to see how decision-making and analysis might be outsourced to get more done and leverage a broader set of expertise...
And here is the link for the the rest of that article.http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/22/life-on-the-shore-based-team-the-other-half-of-a-telepresence-expedition/
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The surf is decreasing. We're supposed to have another bump about Friday. As I think everybody is learning, it is about as much about the direction as it is the size. I'm eager to see what Friday and next weekend brings. Until then, I'm lowering my beach conditions rating back to a 1 again.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
