Mission Impossible

Give it up, haters. Your epidermis is showing and it's not very pretty. Your efforts are not working, and it's only making you look worse than you already do.

Okay, with that out of the way, today's our office Christmas party. We're closing down early and having our yearly gift exchange and traditional lunch bought by one of our PA's. It's always a fun time. We also have a raffle of little treats and gifts. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm also looking forward to my four day weekend. We'll have a big turkey dinner Sunday night and James will be here, too. We're planning on seeing Rogue One on Saturday with Joe in the new theater, so that'll be fun.

I got a book the other day--the declassified CIA manual on deception and trickery. It was very useful, and no, not to help me deceive others, but about how the treasure hunt is set up. The manual was written by a magician in the 1950's and focuses a lot on misdirection. Direct someone's eyes in one direction so they miss the important thing (like the passing of information from one person to another in the case of the CIA) in the other direction.

I think FF does this often. He's not misleading us. He's misdirecting us, purposely, to see if we can spot his "sleight of hand." He's using words and photographs and drawings to misdirect us to things he knows we'll perceive as important, resulting in us missing the actual important information hidden in plain site where we aren't looking. Remember when he said no one is looking AT the right spot? It's because our perception is skewed, and his special, "secret where" is in the opposite direction of where we're looking. Maybe slightly offset to the right. Lol.

He says the aberrations live on the edges, right? In a photo or drawing, usually the eye is drawn to a certain object, usually the subject of the photo. Like the picture of Skippy with the dark background of trees. Our eyes are drawn to the center, the subject of the photo--Skippy. But what about the edges? Could there be useful information there?

And remember that bit of advice he gave on Jenny's site? "Autobiographers always lean toward the subject." Same thing with our eyes--they lean toward the subject, potentially missing important information on the fringes.

Anyway, time to get going! Happy Tuesday!

Mondays are sorta the worst...

Even the Monday before Christmas...lol. Today isn't so bad, because I woke up early over the weekend, full of aspirations to start wrapping presents and cleaning the carpets. Well, I did actually buy the wrapping paper, and bought a new Christmas tree skirt, but I haven't actually wrapped anything yet.

And I bought the carpet cleaning solution, but I haven't actually cleaned the carpets yet.

I did give Monet a bath and cleaned up the two places in a remote kitchen corner where the cat puked last week (I'd hoped a kid will notice and do something about it, but that didn't happen). And laundry--always the laundry.

I also tried out the remastered version of Skyrim, and although Bethesda didn't say they added new content, they did add a few little things--like building materials in the blacksmith forge. It's a nice remaster, and the only criticism I have is maybe they should've used more than three or four voices for the hundreds of different people you encounter. As it is, almost every male Nord speaks exactly the same way, with the exact same accent. And they all look somewhat similar too. How am I suppose to pick a guy to marry in the game if they're all basically clones of each other? Lol...

They all pretty much look like this:

Aidan asked what I wanted for Christmas, and I wanted to say Dark Souls III, but instead I said, "I just want someone to help around the house this week."

Because having a clean house for Christmas would be really, really nice. One of my friends had generously offered to pay for a cleaning service to come in, but Aidan wanted to do it for me as a Christmas present, and I'm hoping and praying she follows through, or I'll spend Friday, the first day of my holiday, cleaning like a maniac. Lol.

And I was really wanted to go to the combined Operating Room/Surgeon's offices party Friday night, but I had to have Joe to Model UN by 8:00 am the next morning, and I wanted to be alert and not dragging for that. So, I didn't go.

He was North Korea in this conference, and we've found that American's hate towards North Korea is so strong that it's very hard to play North Korea even in a simulated environment. However, Joe received a standing ovation after his opening speech. He delivered a really well-informed speech, and as I glanced around the room, you could tell the teachers were impressed.

Model UN is really a neat group. All the kids, basically the nerds of the school, have formed such a tight bond, and I don't see angst-y teenagers, but mature young adults who care about our country. And wow, they're all so incredibly SMART.

Here's a picture of them all together from last year at the big FSHMUN competition (Joe is in the back, half hidden):

Speaking of smart, I'll take a second to brag about Joe. He scored nearly perfect on his PSAT, and he didn't study even one minute before taking it. That bodes very well for his SAT score. Man, that kid is so insanely smart. I just wish he wouldn't worry so much about things. I'm always suggesting relaxation techniques, and over the last year or so, he seems less anxious, and happier. So, I'm thankful for that.

Tomorrow is our office holiday party. We're shortening the schedule, then will have the party in our office. That should be fun...

I have a complaint. Whoever thought to make the Chips Ahoy wrapper like this is a failure. And why Chips Ahoy has kept this failure of a "freshness seal" for so long is beyond me. Once you peel back the top like a can of sardines, you can't get it back exactly the right way to make it airtight again. So then you have to go buy a box of giant ziplock bags to store the cookies in so they won't go stale overnight.

And yes, that is the bad little cat in the background, who has to get into everything and destroy everything it's little paws possibly can. I was going to clean the bathroom by my mom's old room yesterday, until I saw this:

I just went to take a picture of the toilet paper shredded all over the floor, and discovered someone had actually cleaned it up...I almost had a heart attack, I was so amazed. Lol.

Anyway, it's time to get the day rolling...I am getting into the Christmas spirit...slowly. :)

The Year is almost gone...

Wow, this has been a whirlwind year...lots of good, some not so good, and some really bad. I don't want to do a "Year in Review" post because there's still some year left, but I think this year's post will have a lot of events to reflect on.

We're busy at work with end of the year surgeries, so I'm working a lot. Which is very good, because Christmas is expensive.

Tonight is the hospital's OR Christmas party. Since the doctor I work for is a surgeon, our office is invited. I didn't go last year, but heard it was fun, so I'm thinking about going tonight. It'll depend on how soon I can get out of work today. There's a couple things I have to do at home, like get the dog groomed and meet with a house cleaner that someone has generously offered for to make my house a little nicer place for the holidays.

It'd be easier to get into the holiday spirit if it wasn't still shorts and tee shirt weather. Today is supposed to be cool-ish, but tomorrow it'll be back in the 80's again. I love Florida and not having to scrape off my windshield or shovel snow or drive on icy roads, but a wee bit cooler would be nice to make it feel like Christmas.

I ordered the "big" family gift, which isn't really expensive, but something me and the kids have wanted for a while now. In case any of those kids are reading right now, I won't spoil the surprise.

Everything else will be small, very inexpensive gifts. Callie is the hardest to buy for. She's pretty content with everything she already has and so unselfish. She asked for a "cute wallet," and maybe a necklace for her and her best friend. She texted me a link to the website that sells the necklaces and they're like $7.99 each. Callie is amazing, lol. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but a couple years ago, she asked that whatever I would have spent for her on Christmas to be donated to St. Jude Children's Hospital instead. So, that's what I did, but still couldn't resist getting her a few small things to open on Christmas Day.

And Aidan just asked for me to contribute to paying off the rest of her probation, which is a little over $500, I think. I can't afford to pay it all off, but I'm hoping for a good Christmas bonus this year to at least take a small chunk out of that. She was offered a chef job in Alabama for a new restaurant, but she can't take the job until probation is paid. I would love to see her get a great job like that, even though I'd hate for her to move. I'm so glad she's found a love for making "food art," and a love for the restaurant business.

Here's a recent Facebook post of hers:

Joe still wants super expensive stuff, and I think he may believe I have a secret money tree in the back yard. But he's a techie-type kid, so his gadget computer stuff is expensive. I don't think I'll be able to get him the $800 VR thing he wants. Actually, there's no doubt I won't be able to get him that VR thing he wants, unless I win the lottery or make a trip to retrieve the treasure. Lol. Luckily, he also wants a bunch of cheaper stuff, and was able to pick a few things off his Amazon wish list.

This does not look like it would cost $800...lol

We had some sad news a couple days ago...Aidan's friend and coworker, Tony, died in a motorcycle crash. He was wearing a helmet when an elderly woman (76 years old and here for the summer) pulled out in front of him. He tried to stop, but couldn't. He died of his injuries shortly after arriving at the hospital. He was only 21 years old.

Aidan was crushed. She's lost many loved ones this year, and she had a really hard time when she heard the news. She said the guys would tease Tony and encourage him to "take risks and go fast" when he left work. I suppose they're all feeling a little guilty for saying those things, even if the teasing was good-natured.

Not much else is going on...looking forward to a good Christmas break (we have Friday through Monday off) and to cooking a nice turkey dinner. Callie will be here Christmas Day, and James is hopefully coming, too, so we'll have a cheery house full of family. It'll be nice, although we will miss my mom...

Hot Spot

I didn't have time to post on this blog this morning, but I did put up a new Hot Spot...

I was thinking today, and maybe some should not laugh at and mock others failures, no matter how confident they were. We are quickly degrading the strength of the human spirit in this country, by pulling down instead of lifting up, by destroying reputations without first finding the facts, and by just being dicks.

Think about it...do you have kids? Do you want them to see the example you portray on the blogs? I'm really hoping some of you will reflect on this with an open mind. Kids see things differently than we do. You might be thinking you're just destroying the reputation of someone who deserves it for perceived faults and conspiracies. But if a kid (or any other rational adult) read some of the things said about others on the blog, those kids would probably look at their parent and say, "Wow, Dad, that's harsh." Some older kids might even scold you for saying things you preach to them against.

Anyway, I read this speech by Teddy Roosevelt and part of it says:

It is not the critic who counts;

not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs,
who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst,
if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,

so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

So, no matter how dumb or wrong you may think some searcher's are-- at least they dare to search. 

Flooded

Sometime between 2:30 am when I heard Aidan walk in the door and 4:08 when I got up for the day, someone went in Joe's bathroom, turned on the water in the sink with the drain plugged and left it on.

So, when I walked out of my room at 4:15, I immediately noticed the tile hallway covered with water. My heart nearly stopped as the first thought (washing machine) popped into my mind. But the water seemed to be pooling around the base of the stairs and hadn't yet reached the laundry room. After I checked just to be sure, I heard the sound of water running from behind the closed bathroom door.

I opened the door, and sure enough, water was pouring into the basin and spilling over the sides. I toweled up some of the mess near electrical stuff, but left a bunch of it for whichever kid left the faucet on.

I would like to blame this particular mess on a cat, but I just can't see how a cat could accomplish this one. Although they are clever little mess makers.

Oh yeah, the other day on his way home from school, Joe witnessed a plane that had just crashed. I was already home and he came in the door really excited. He showed me the pictures, which are amazing. Joe and his friend drove by just before a police car arrived. So the crash had just happened, very close to our house.

As Joe showed me the photos, we heard a helicopter circling at the nearby crash site.

I forwarded the pics to the local news station, and they used Joe's pics in the story! However, they put my name as the contributor, because it came from my email. Thankfully, the pilot only suffered minor injuries--cuts and bruises.

Here's the story:

As we were watching the story unfold, I looked closer at the pics, and first noticed that the pilot's seat was empty. Then I looked all around the area near the plane, to see if I could see any sign of the pilot. I didn't see him.

But what I did notice is that in two successive pictures, one of them had a wire near the open back door, and the very next picture didn't. Joe continually snapped pictures as they drove by. So one picture was taken maybe a second or two after the previous. I think it was the pilot working his way out of the plane, and maybe as he moved from the pilot seat to the aisle between the two front seats, he pulled on something that pulled the wire out of the way...

Here are the original photos Joe took, in order:

 Here are the two close ups: the first with the wire (circled in red) and the second without the wire...

So, it was pretty interesting. Once the news learned the pilot was okay, though, they deemed it no longer "newsworthy" and stopped reporting on it.

Yesterday was also not a good day. But today is a little better. So thankful for that!

Now I just have to find out who'll own up to the sink overflowing and get them to clean it up...

Yesterday was Terrible

Yesterday was terrible. I won't go into a lot of detail, but when I got home, I went straight to bed. I fell asleep early and slept like a rock all night, which is rare, because I usually wake up at least a few times during the night.

Right before I woke up this morning, I had a dream...

I dreamed that a bunch of searchers had honed in on the general area of the chest at the same time--and it was at Forrest's house. He'd planned it to happen that way, so the searchers that showed up were the ones that had the proverbial "golden ticket" and were basically left alone to wander the rooms in his house. There were just a couple rooms that were off limit--where Peggy was-- but the rest we could search while he sat in his recliner in front of the fire.

Two searchers (I don't know who they were--I did in my dream, but can't put names to them now) followed me. I didn't mind, and began thinking about the poem and which items in his home could fit the poem. I went to the room to the right of his bathroom, and there was a box in there, about the size that could hold a chest. I opened it. Inside was another box. Inside that was another box. And all the way down to a very small box. I almost didn't open it, but remembered something I'd seen in one of the photographs. I opened the box, and found a key. Not the key to the chest, but an old looking key.

I Googled "old looking key, and I found the exact key in my dream, lol:

So, anyway, I went through the poem, and these two guys following me were trying to beat me to find the treasure, pretty much destroying everything in the process. It made me sick to see them tossing things on the floor and breaking things. And they were saying things like, "If I find the chest, you're going to have to give me that key." I was like, "I'll swallow it first."

Then I saw a wicker "treasure chest." I ran over to it, and tried to lift the lid. Since it was wicker, the locked lid gave a little, and I could see inside. The real treasure chest was there, and I yelled, "I got it!" Then I used the key I found to unlock the wicker basket, then took the chest into my arms. I don't remember it feeling like 42 pounds, but it was heavy enough to cradle in both arms. I took a tiny  peak inside, and everything promised seemed to be there.

Then I walked triumphantly to the kitchen where Forrest was talking to a couple of searchers--a woman and a man. The man was a well known searcher, but I don't know who it was, just that he was well known. In the dream, his name was Steve.

I walked in with the chest, announcing "I found it," and my smile quickly faded as I watched the looks on the other searcher's faces completely drain into a pale, terrible sadness.

I realized Stephanie was around, also searching, and imagined how devastated she and some others would be. Forrest noticed the realization in my expression, and said, "Come here...it's okay. Let's take this in another room and see what you have." He smiled, and I followed him, but the sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach didn't really go away. He explained each artifact and piece of gold in the chest, and as he was explaining the next steps, I woke up.

It was a very vivid dream, and as I woke up and looked at the clock, I expected it to be the usual 3:00 am. But it was 5:06, and I'd slept past my normal wake up time.

Anyway, I've dreamed of finding the treasure before, but never in such a way. I'd never dreamed of finding it in the presence of other searchers. I'd never dreamed of the impact finding the chest will undoubtedly have.

I don't think Forrest intended "worth the cold," to mean the reaction of other searchers toward the finder, but I think it certainly applies.

Hopefully, when the chest is found, the world will see that searchers are good sports, and not a bunch of lunatics threatening the finder or FF with death and lawsuits and cries of cheating and foul play.

I have been accused of cheating, and I know other well-known searchers have been accused of the same. However, I don't believe anyone can cheat, unless by hacking computers or otherwise stealing information. Those searchers I hope, are few and far between. I know they're out there, as my computer has probably been hacked once. Since then, I've installed the strongest anti-hack software you can get, although I notice attempts are still being made.

I'll just let you all know that every week or so, I take all my info off and store it on flash drives, which I cement into my wall. Lol. Part of that was a fib, but I'm very careful with what I do with the information as I learn it.

Sometimes people get upset with me posting certain information, but I don't post anything I think will lead anyone closer to solving the poem. It may help understand how the puzzle works, but I'm convinced everyone has their own ideas, and no matter what I post, most people will think it's wrong, or only partly right. What people don't understand is that I keep very secret the most important information. There are things I haven't even told James, not because I don't trust him, but because he's still got his own solve floating around in his brain. And even if he's right, I won't believe it til I see it. And if I'm right, I'm sure he feels the same way.

Because we all have more faith in our own solves than we do in anyone else's. That's human nature, and we can't escape it.

I have a feeling when the chest is found, the only people the solve will make sense to is the finder and FF. Everyone else will be like "What?! That was HoB?!" Because our own solves and ways of thinking will still be firmly embedded in our minds, that not even the right solve will be comprehended by the masses.

However, that being said, I purposely posted something important yesterday. But no one will believe it, no matter how plausible. At least one of the pictures is EXTREMELY important (in my solve, lol), and the answer to one of the clues. I did the work to reveal what is to be found on certain pictures, and it has nothing to do with Photoshop. You don't see the 8 on FF's forehead by playing with PS or LightRoom (or maybe you can, but that's not how I found it). I have found LightRoom to be useful though. Astree, thank you!

So I can post it without too much worry that others will catch on, because they're too embedded in their own solves.

So, where do warm waters halt? They halt at the Paperboy.

Functioning...kinda

The diagnostic test I had Friday was wasn't too bad in itself, and not too bad Saturday. I mostly followed instructions to lie down as much as possible and to not bend down to pick anything up off the floor, or do anything that would stretch my back.

Lol, they obviously haven't been to my house, where there's ALWAYS something to pick up off the floor. And if I don't pick it up, I'll surely forget about it and trip over it later on. 

Monet also desperately needed a bath.

I thought I was safe from the "dural headache" they said I might get. And I guess it happens quite often because the entire five or six hours I was at the hospital, they warned me about it, almost like it was a certainty. But by Saturday afternoon, I deemed myself safe. 

So I was surprised as yesterday went on and my head started to hurt worse and worse. I laid down, and it felt better. As long as I stayed in bed, flat, I was ok. So, that's what I did, and watched about everything I could find on YouTube about Pueblo History, then caught up on Stephen Colbert, and then watched watched about everything BBC Earth had to offer. 

After that, I grabbed my ipad and tried to find a particular drawing shown in one of the documentaries of the Pueblo. It's a drawing of a bloody meeting between the Spanish and the Pueblo Indians. I took a pic of it while it was on the TV. I was interested in it because it showed a palm tree, and there are many vague hints toward palm trees in TTotC.

To me, it looks more like a battle between the Seminoles in Florida than with the Pueblo Indians. But the documentary portrayed it as Spanish and Pueblo, so I went online to try and find the pic but quickly was distracted by some of the old NM maps I found. Particularly, this one:

I was drawn to a specific part of the map...because it reminded me of Diggin's page 99 map...

And then I found this map:

Which also reminded me of a part of the map on page 99:

And also reminded me of a photoshopped part of a photo on F's Old Santa Fe Trading Co., webiste:

Anyway, those were just a couple similarities I happened upon yesterday...and looking at those pics made me pull up some of my old discoveries and reopen my curiosity about them. 

I still want to know why Forrest has a palm "halo" over his head in his water hole picture:

And who or what is that little bird man kneeling on the right?

And why does Forrest have an 8 on his forehead in this pic?

There are so many things I've discovered, and each piece seems to confirm my spot a little more. But I'm pretty sure I still don't have a thorough enough plan to retrieve the treasure (IF it's there). It will most likely have to wait until Spring. I've only spent about $2000 on all of my searches combined, and I want to keep it under $3000 by the time I find the chest. I'm not going to be someone who throws away all my responsibilities to find a treasure...

And why does this kid have a wrench on his head?

Anyway, my head is just throbbing, and I'm really hoping I can make it through the day without an ER visit. Lol. It really is a terrible headache...

But, I'm gonna try and tough it out...