FINALS: Odyssey Summer Table Tennis Tourney

The Semifinals were an exciting event. A small group of 3 came to cheer me on in hopes of taking down the Norwegian fruit, Egil.

Unfortunately, I lost in straight sets 13-21 and 9-21.

But anyhow, Ronnie from the Philippines will be taking on the Noggie in the finals.

GUSTAV Update: Out of harms way

Here's the most recent Gustav track, as of 2pm today. As you can see with the red dot, we are pretty much out of the way, but are continuing our southwest treck to steer even further clear of the storm.

YAY!

REVIEW: i-Detect by Ginkgoware

So on a few occasions a couple months back, some people on the MD forums I frequent were asking questions regarding GPS marking of their finds, as well as if there were any programs available for cataloging said finds. I remember thinking to myself, "Yeah, that'd be pretty sweet!" Well as is turns out, there is a single product that does both of those things, and a whole lot more!

The software, now in it's version 3.0 release, is called i-detect, and is available from Ginkgoware, a division of CMH Software, Inc. They are located in the small (both in population size and area) North-Western Montana town of Libby. They have put out a product that is indeed robust, customizable, and quality made... and I feel every metal detector hobbyist should not be without it.

When I use the term robust in describing this program, I'm talking depth. This software just seems to have every option imaginable. Not only does it do everything, but it does it extremely well, and with much ease on the user end. So for all you tedious record keepers who pay a lot of attention to detail, just check out this list (not all inclusive) of the type of information it tracks:

• Locations
• Details
• Detector settings
• Detector brand and model
• Coil size
• GPS coordinates
• Finds
• Multiple pictures of items and locations
• Common coinage counter per location and total overall
• Total collection value per location and total overall
• Total time detecting per location
• Hardware maintenance information
• Reference # for you relic hunters
• Weight of item
• Map information

That being said, join me while I take you through my first entry. As you run the program, it comes up with a default detector "skin" and entry. To clear the example from the database, simply click Database > New Database > OK. Then just answer "Yes" to overwrite. After that, I had heard that you could customize your detector skin. So on the detector face, I clicked the Options button, then clicked Change Style, and then chose what I wanted, the Minelab X-Terra 70 (the closest to my actual detector). Click close and let's get back to the program. Other than the possibility you chose a different style, you should currently be looking at a blank Record entry like this:

I chose to use my most recent outting, of which was a tot lot at THE SHED next to Atlantic Shores Baptist. As you can see in the next image, I entered in all of "Location Information" accordingly. When you get to "Coordinate Type", you'll want to use the WGS 84 datum (if you are in he US). But here is the tricky part, especially for many of you out there who use Google Maps or Google Earth to find your hunting grounds. The program asks for the Lat/Long to be in the following format: Degress, Minutes, Decimal Minutes. However, if you are using any of the Google programs for GPS data, you may get a value like 36.78345003, -76.1925223, or adversely, one like this, 36°47'0.42"N, 76°11'33.08"W. Both of those mean the same thing, but neither is what the program asks for. If you have no clue about GPS coordinates and need an explanation to help you get the right numbers, check out THIS WEBSITE or simply message me and I'll hook you up.

So my one complaint about the program would be that there is no way to enter in the GPS data in other formats. Small price to pay for such a great piece of software ;) But after you get the right data in there, clicking the "View Online Map" button brings up your location in a web browser, which I think is super cool.

Next we'll move on to the "General Pictures" tab. You'll immediately see tons of blank thumbnails. Click the little button under then that says "Load Image." Enter in your desired caption and then again click "Load Image." Simply browse for your image and select it. When it loads, just close the window and you'll see your thumbnail.

After adding however many pictures you want, head over to the "Related Documents" area. At this time I did not add any, but it's a great repository to add web links to information regarding the history of the location you hunted, or maybe granted permission documents.

Now on to the "Items" button. Simply click "Add New Item." Then you just add the details for said item. I chose to start out with the 19 modern pennies I found. As you can see, I entered the date of the find, the type of the item, it's era, it's condition, and value among other things. Does the item you want to enter not fit into one of the six default categories? Never fear, go back to the "Options" button on your detector face and you can add/remove/edit nearly every single pull-down menu list in the software.

You can also enter in info about your detector. Which did you use, what were it's settings? Did you hunt with a buddy? Note it as well. If you took pictures of individual items, you can load those here too. When finished with that item, click "OK" and continue to add others.

So after adding all of your items, your first record is complete. Simple as that. Awesome software isn't it? If you want to continue on with your next record, it's as simple as Record > Add new Record.

Besides the Records window, your detector face has a few functions as well. Not only do the options let you customize many of the settings of the software, from the look, to the actual information you can enter... but it has a great feature called Hardware. This let's you store all pertinent info regarding your machine. Who you bought it from when, warranty info etc. It's a great resource to bring that back up if something goes wrong.

Lastly, there is the "Search" function, which I think is golden. This search feature lets you search all of your record entries by one of dozens of criteria. Just think, nearly everything you entered into your record, is now a search option. It makes finding things and narrowing down finds quick and efficient.

Ginkgoware really outdid themselves, and are truly pioneers in metal detecting software. They really did think of everything, so it's hard to imagine what the next revelation in the product will produce.

If you are interested in the software, please visit Ginkgoware and purchase an application that will keep you motivated and excited about getting out there and swinging that detector!

Even more MD Items to Review

The month of September is going to be quite the busy month for me in regards to metal detecting. Not only do I have the ACE 250 vs X-30 review scheduled for release, and a few accessories to review... now I have even MORE accessories to review and the possibility of a new machine to use at the beach.

So anyhow, by the end of September you should see reviews on the following:

i-Detect MD Cataloging Software by Ginkgoware
White's Royal GT Headphones
Lesche Digger

And the possibility of either the White's Beach Hunter ID 300, or the White's Dual Field Surf PI Pro.

Keep a look out!

*EDITED* Shark Attack

CONTENT EDITED FOR SECURITY REASONS

CONTENT EDITED FOR SECURITY REASONS

What was that shark attacking? Did it think it was food? There was some really cool stuff here once with pics of a shark tearing some shit up... but no you won't get to see, sorry :(

AND REMEMBER...

SEMIFINALS: Odyssey Summer Table Tennis Tourney

The Quarterfinals were full of excitement as favored players fell to unsuspecting talent.

My match against Craig from South Africa was pretty much a cake-walk. I won in straight sets, 21-8 and 21-18.

We have decided there is quite an advantage to playing on the far court nearest the water, as opposed to being on the near side. Returns from the near side tend to go long.

Anyhow, other news. Willie beat Nervis in three sets, but due to a scheduled crew transfer, fellow American, John will be taking Willie's place and going up against the favored to win Ronnie from the Philippines.

The boat is backing me and are cheering that I beat Egil. I think he is a better player than me, But after watching his previous match, I noted he is weak on his backhand to his left side, so I'm going to try and use that to my advantage.

Wish me luck, as I have the weight of the crew on my shoulders!

Hurricane Watch: GUSTAV Comin' Right At Us

I know I haven't really discussed much about my occupation here on the blog, but now is as good a time as any. I work for WesternGeco, which is the seismic exploration arm for Schlumberger Oilfield Services. My job consists of doing seismic surveys throughout the oceans of our planet. In doing so, we must plan and react to all natural phenomena that may impact the quality of our job, as well as the safety of those we work with.

Two days ago, the NHC started projected what they believe will become Hurricane Gustav. As of 2pm today, their project path of the next few days has it coming at us like a point blank gunshot. As you can see in the image above, if we were to stay where we currently are (around 27N 89W), we've get get run over by the storm.

So tomorrow morning we are packing up our gear and headed West towards Texas along with our mother vessel, the Western Neptune. Hopefully, all goes well.

QUARTERFINALS: Odyssey Summer Table Tennis Tourney

As you can well see, the tournament is off to a good start. First round matches have all been completed and the bracket is updated and ready for the Quarterfinals.

All matches were a success, drawing crowds of one or two, haha. Everyone else was probably either asleep or working.

We had one forfeiture, as the deadline for completing the match had passed, and the party who had been reluctant to play agreed to step down.

I won my first match in straight sets against Julius from the Philippines, 21-8 and 21-3.

The Semifinal lineup should be ready shortly, as matches are completed.

The Folks at White's, Great People

I want to share with you all a letter I recently wrote to White's Electronics. The kind people there not only took the time to read it, but they felt generous enough to offer a reply that included a $100 Accessories Gift Certificate. The people at White's truly live up to the reputation their products have thrust upon them. WTG White's, hat's off!

From: James Lambert [mailto:jimmymlamb@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 8:48 PM
To: sales@whiteselectronics.com
Subject: Praise, and I don't even own a White's!

To the folks at White's,

Good evening to you all. As a relative newcomer to the realm of metal detecting, I am humbled by everything I have read and heard about your great products. I started off a few years ago with a Garrett ACE 250, not knowing much about the hobby, or my first purchase. It wasn't until recent months that I actually got into using it. I started to get pretty decent at pulling things from the ground and decided it was time to upgrade a bit. During my search for a new detector, all I kept reading was White's this, and White's that. Most of my friends from an online metal detecting community use White's detectors, whether it be MXT, DFX's, BHID 300's or even the newer Dual Field PI. However I chose not to go the route of White's, as most of those models previously mentioned were a little out of my league. I decided to go with Minelab, getting a model in their X-Terra line, and have been very happy since then. My land hunting has made it to new heights and my recovery speed has drastically increased. I'm a firm believer in Minelab, or so I keep telling myself.

I work offshore as a contractor for various oil companies, so I'm away from home (Virginia Beach, VA) for weeks at a time. In all of this "free" time I spend quite some time reading online discussions about finds, and try and learn new techniques to better improve myself. However, this time out it's been a bit different. I've come to terms with myself, and I believe I am in the market for a beach machine. My first thought was, "Ohh man, I know Minelab has that new Excalibur II out." I knew a couple people who use it, and with great success, but there was one issue holding me back... the near $1200 price tag.

So I started my research. There was actually some negative stuff out there about the Excalibur II, but not in the sense you might think. Yeah it was a great machine, no mechanical problems, went deep and all that jazz. But most of the reviews said there was something far better... White's new BHID 300! I thought to myself, "Really, the BHID is reporting better than the Minelab?" Not only is it reportedly deeper and can discriminate, but it's made in American and the price is a few hundred dollars less!

As it turns out I now know nearly 10 people who have bought the new BHID 300 in recent months, and none could be more happy. Granted, most of them have been die-hard White's fans from the beginning. I cannot express enough how much greatness I have both read, and heard from my peers, with regards to the BHID 300. It makes me second guess my devotion to our Aussie brethren and seriously consider picking up a White's.

Living in Virginia Beach, VA, I feel somewhat ashamed I don't own a metal detector designed for the conditions one would search in at the beach. But then, I don't go the beach often, must be that nagging hatred of the sand I have come to live with since returning from Iraq in 2004. I have taken my two current machines there, and they preform in the dry sand, but I'm really itching to find something great in the waves, and the White's BHID 300 just may be the ticket.

I recently ordered your print catalog and cannot wait to get back on land to flips through it's pages. Most likely I'll be at the point where it's not if I want a White's, it will be which White's do I need to choose!

Thank you for your time in reading this. It is more my pleasure to sit here and type it, as i know it falls on the ears of the maker's of an American made product that truly deserves the praise.

Regards,

James M Lambert
Currently out in the ZFZ, Gulf of Mexico

Here now is the reply from one Cari Brewer at White's.

From: Cari Brewer
To: jimmymlamb@gmail.com
Sent: Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 1:52 PM
Subject RE: Praise, and I don't even own a White's!

James,

Thank you for your email! It is great to know that you have been researching our company, and possibly going to buy one of our metal detectors! I would like to send you a $100 Accessory Coupon for submitting this story, and for some accessories for your new detector! If you have any questions about our metal detectors feel free to call us 1-800-547-6911 or direct 1-541-367-6121, one of our Customer Service employees can help you out, they are very knowledgeable and have been working for White’s for 10+ years.

Let me know if you have any further questions or if there is something we can help you with,

Cari Brewer
Advertising Assistant
White's Electronics, Inc.
(541) 367-6121 Ext. 191

Outstanding! Soooooo... I'm going to take that $100 and get a few thing's I've wanted, which will include the following:

Lesche Digger
i-Detect Software by Ginkgoware (Check out their link on the right-hand sidebar!)
Royal GT Headphones
White's T-Shirt Navy Blue
Treasure Apron (So I can two, one in the wash at any given time).

The Sanctuary - Raymond Khoury

The newest novel by Raymond Khoury, The Sanctuary, is an awesome read. And for any fans of his previous work, The Last Templar, this book takes on the same sort of historical flashbacks when explaining current events in the book. The second half is very faced paced and you never know what surprises will unfold. With that, I'll leave you to the back of the book synopsis:

"Portugal, 1705. In the dungeons of a Templar castle, a dying old man bequeaths an ancient half-burned book to his young inquisitor. Keeping one step ahead of those who would kill him to wrench the book's secret from his hands, the inquisitor turns his back on his calling and sets off on an impossible journey to complete the old man's quest.

Baghdad, 2003. Hunting for a mysterious bioweapons scientist, an army unit discovers a concealed state-of-the-art lab where gruesome experiements have been carried out on men, women, and children. The scientist escapes, but a puzzling clue is left behind: a circular symbol of a snake feeding on its own tail.

As the power of the symbol comes to light, revealing centuries of destruction left in its wake, one unsuspecting woman stands at the center of a conspiracy that could change the world forever..."

Check out Raymond Khoury at www.raymondkhoury.com for information on purchasing this book, and also, The Last Templar.

Choosing to forgive -- or not

Taken From CNN.com, a really good read. Great tips on overcoming and forgiving for all sorts of things. Please take the time and read it, and learn a little.

Story Highlights

• Experts: Holding on to hurt feelings can wear you down
  
• Professor: Recalling own offenses make it easier for men to forgive
  
• Psychologist: Women get defensive when recalling own offenses
  
• Keeping a journal, talking to professional or close friend helps with bad situation

Read more after the JUMP.
 

Pizza From Scratch, My Way!

So last night, during shift I had pondered in my head making a pizza. We have a guy on the ship, the Chief Engineer, Anders, who makes pizza for the crew maybe once a week or so. It's pretty decent, but it's nothing to write home about. Usually topped with Pepperoni and/or Sausage, and no sauce, and a mediocre crust.

Everyone on the ship loves my Calzones I make using my very own Parmesan Oregano bread, so I thought of using that as a pizza crust. And using some techniques I learned from Pizza Hut back in the day when i worked there in High School, I came up with a game plan.

Pizza Dough

1 1/4 c. Warm Water
3 c. Flour
2 tsp. Yeast
1 tsp. Salt
2 tbsp. Sugar
1 tbsp. Milk Powder
1/2 c. Grated Parmesan
1/2 c. Dried Oregano

Sauce

1 can Tomato Sauce
1/2 c. Grated Parmesan
1/2 c. Dried Oregano
1/8 c. Garlic Powder
1 tbsp. Black Pepper

Other

Mozzarella String Cheese
Grated Mozzarella
Sliced Pepperoni

Mix all of the dough ingredients together right away, no need to let dough sit and rise. It will see sort of dry and crumbly, but thats what you want. You'll want to roll it out to maybe 1/8" thick in a long rectangle shape, like the size of a cookie sheet. After it nice and long and flat, with a fork make holes all over the crust... don't ask me why, but it helps, haha.

The next part is great if you have string cheese, otherwise grated will work. Using mozzarella, line them up along the outer edge, stretch the dough and fold it over the cheese, pushing down on the inner part to seal it. Do this all the way around.

Take only a few spoons of sauce and spread in a thin layer all over the inner portion of the crust. You can add more as you like, I just prefer less. Top that with a nice layer of grated mozzarella, then top with sliced pepperoni (or whatever else you want).

Then lightly brush the crust with olive oil, and sprinkle extra garlic powder and oregano.

Cook @ 350 for roughly 10 mins, or until crust is firm.

ROUND ONE: Odyssey Summer Table Tennis Tourney

August 24th will begin the first rounds of the M/V Ocean Odyssey Summer Table Tennis Tournament. Fifteen players have signed up and assigned numbers at random. Then, placed into the bracket, also randomly... with the Tournament Organizer, Olav, having a first round bye.

Round matches will be held at the players discretion.

Keep watching for updated brackets!

More Reviews coming to Sectshun8MD

Being that I plan on having the ACE 250 and Minelab X-Terra 30 comparison written up pretty quickly after I get back on land, I figured I'd tackle a few other items.

That said, Sectshun8MD will be reviewing the following:

Treasure Products Vibra-Probe 570 Handheld Pinpointer
Sun Ray Products Invader YF-1 Target Probe
for the Garrett ACE/GTP/GTAX series
Sabre-Toothed Digger

And maybe other products as well, including a set of Headphones and a LED flashlight.

Stay tuned!

OMG: USARPS Barack, Paper, Scissors

I wish I was making this up...

Anyhow, I was searching online today for a quip about the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS as it will hence forth be known). It's a little diddy about how ridiculous it is that Paper can beat Rock. I figured just typing in RPS would give me what I wanted. Who knew I would be so wrong?

As it turns out, there is actually a US RPS League! No shitting! It's legit, and is sponsored by Bud Light. This past years champion brought home $50k AND got a trip to Beijing for the Olympics.

On their front page is one of the coolest Flash games ever. It's called, "Barack, Paper, Scissors." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Anyway, click the image to be directed to it and play. Feel free to browse around USARPS for info as well, it's funny stuff.

Oh, and yeah I did find my quip. Going back and using the search terms, "no way paper can beat rock," I was able to hunt it down. So here it goes.

Send me your MD Blog links!

I've been scouring the net looking for some good stuff to read daily, or even weekly. It's been slim picking to say the least.

If you happen to come across this, and operate an MD related blog, or cool MD related website, feel free to send me the link so I can add it to my Blog Feed or Links on my main page here at Sectshun8 MD.

For any of you interested in podCasts, check out Dan Hughes website, http://danhughes.libsyn.com/, for new material as it's released. And while you're at it, check out his book, "The Metal Detecting Manual."

ACE 250 vs. X-Terra 30 Review Coming Soon!

I know many of you have been curious as to my thoughts since upgrading from one machine to the next. I've been kind of slow getting the review made, but the extra time will be worth it. I'm trying to make it the most in depth comparison review of two machines most any of you have read.

You all know my recent admiration of my X-Terra 30, so I'll try and keep it as unbiased as I can. I'm aiming for the second week in September for the review, so keep a lookout!

From The Archive: Summertime Award 8-9-08

After finding that WWII pin earlier in the day, I was pretty psyched about getting out and hunting again. While out driving to a cookout being hosted to a co-worker of the g/f, I noticed a good sized tot-lot at a church visible from I-64 that happens to be on S. Newtown, which I believe is technically Norfolk.

I had all intentions on heading over there when I left my apartment at 10p for what would be my last hunt during this 5 week period home. But as I left, I remembered right around the corner from me, there are two churches, with a daycare in between them that has a pretty good sized playground covered in chips.

So that's where I went, to THE SHED at Atlantic Shores Baptist.

This was a wood chip tot lot, but under the chips was hard rock solid ground and/or sand with tons of pebbles in it. And the chips were only maybe an inch deep. But I tell you what, this place sure did a number on these coins. They are all stained orange pretty much. This place seemed pretty virgin, as I was hitting all over the place. I know I left a bunch there, so it'll be primed when I'm able to get back to it, and preferably after a rain so the ground is softer.

$3.18 in clad total, as well as this neat Boy Scout National Summertime Award.

From The Archive: WWII Pin! 8-9-08

Being the weekend, the g/f wanted to go over to her parents house in Chesapeake for the day and hit up their pool... so we did. Her mom had once asked me to bring my MD over to try and find their property line pin that was in the ground, so I thought, what the hey, I'll bring it with me. I did end up finding it, it was about an 8" long metal rod that was down about 6" and rang up as a penny.

For s & g's I decided to just scan around the front a bit to see what might pop up. The first was a 1962 Memorial penny about 4 inches down, not far from the driveway. Her mom was pretty stoked to see how accurate the MD was, and how I hit it and dug it with precision. It was nice only digging three holes for the day and getting something out of each.

The next beep rang as a 32, and I was like, sweet, maybe this will be my wheat penny or something... but I found something even cooler. It came out and I immediately identified it as being military, but I didn't recognize the insignia... the g/f's mom had no clue. So a brief search online and I found it as being a WWII USAAC insignia, but could only find the Officer's version w/o the disk. And then I came across it, after about 15 minutes of searching, it is indeed the Enlisted disk version of the lapel insignia for AAC guys... very cool and easily my oldest find.

These two are examples from the web of both the Officer pin, and the Enlisted disk.



Oh, and USAAC for those who don't know is the US Army Air Corps.

From The Archive: Night Hunt 8-8-08

This day started off early actually, but ended up as a night hunt. I had originally planned on being out at my sister's house in Carrollton, VA in Isle of Wight County. I did actually go there, but my first hour in her very large back yard, which used to be a chicken farm quite some time, yielded nothing but a few pieces of can slaw.

That much was expected, as the land her house was recently built on has been used quite often for party bonfires, so there is a lot of your standard buried cans and black ashes just below the top layer of dirt... which btw was rock hard!

I saw a clearing in the tree line that seemed to lead down to the creek. So I hunted a little through there, and only found two 12g shot shell bottoms.

Being that it was getting close to dinner time, I had to drive back home to get read for Rancho Grande. After getting home from our weekly hajj to the Mexican place for dinner with the family, we got home ohhhh say around 9pm. Got the lil one in bed, tended the hamsters (yes I have pets now, WOO!) and the g/f was busy watching Law & Order.

It was almost 10pm before I got my stuff together and headed towards the spot at the school I mentioned the day before where I left all of that stuff to dig another day. Little did I know I'd end up digging nearly 100 targets, and 2 hours was over before I knew it.

What is amazing, is with digging the 64 coins in that area... THERE IS STILL MORE LEFT!!! Lots of 32s and 36s left to bring up (pennies and dimes).



I found my first Sac $1, which I was totally stoked about. No coins older than a 1967 Memorial Penny... which is sooo lame. Over the past two nights digging near 80 pennies you'd figure I was due for a wheat.

I've brought in exactly 100 coins in each of the two previous months... so bringing in 89 coins in three days is pretty sweet for me!

From The Archive: After Dinner 8-7-08

Not waiting until it got dark this time, I went out to the school behind my place and started doing the fields. I have yet to do these, always just tore through the tot lot.

Anyhow. I started in a far corner near the fence line, and really only found twist caps and slaw. By on of the trees however I did find three bullets (appear to be 9mm after comparing to my own 9mm rounds) all within a few feet of each other, all reading a 16 on the VDI. They are unfired, but outside of the casings, just the bullet. My only hang up on them is that they have flat bases, whereas all my modern 9mm ammo is concave, so that may hint to their age.

I got bored digging slaw so I decided I'd head towards the tot lot to brighten up my day. On the walk towards it I just was swinging randomly, and hit a 32 on my VDI. That tells me, ooh, a penny. So I dig it, spot on, a penny. Within a 3 foot radius I found 17 pennies and a dime. And can I just say, the Minelab's pinpointing feature is sooooooo much better than the ACE 250s. It's always center coil and quick to target.

After diggin' all those memorials I was like, "Geez, can't ONE of these be a wheat or something!?" None were. It was getting dark and I was getting tired, so I left probably another 20 VDI 32 hits from the same area undug.

From The Archive: After Dinner 8-5-08

So it was a late night for me. It was warm out too, a little too warm. I decided to give my X-Terra 30 a rest and give the ACE 250 with the YF-1 probe a go.

I headed out to new territory, for myself at least. It was Indian Lakes Elementary off of Ferrel Pkwy in Virginia Beach.

When I drive places at night, I like to keep my truck within visible range, and it was tough at this place, since the playground I wanted to hunt was around the back of the school, but I Managed.

I was there for roughly an hour, and though I had roughly 30 digs, the place seemed as though it was not virgin, so most of the stuff I found was more than likely recent drops, and nothing was too deep. I did manage $0.16, haha, and a few pieces of crap jewelry, though the skull and crossbones with the pink stones is pretty cool if you ask me!

From The Archive: Back From Texas 8-4-08

I only really hunted for maybe an hour on two separate days. The 100+ temps were brutal while I was down there. I hunted mostly the front yard of my parents 1930s farmhouse, and to tell you the truth, I was rather disappointed. I almost felt like I was hunting wet sand. I had to set the sensitivity wayyy down and the entire yard seemed to be hitting every swing. I found tons of iron items, like nails, an old trowel shaped tool, a few license plates (wierd). A handful of 30-06 casings, along with some slag. I only found 2, yes TWO pieces of clad. A 1970 penny and a 1989 dime.



The only really two things I found worth keeping in my stash were a bent pin that either says Lucky or Luciky, and a 1991 Bacchus token from Mardi Gras in New Orleans.



Otherwise I just managed to swing around aimlessly with my X-Terra 30. I checked the places you'd expect to check an old house for... near the front steps, within a few feet of the house in the back yard, and even the nice big shady tree in the front. There just wasn't much to give up I guess. I was really hoping for at least a wheat penny if nothing better.

Oh, and when i was digging up the license plates, I think they were covering up a hole in my parents water well. Because when I got the last one out, I heard what sound like dirt falling into water, and sure enough... that's what it was. I know the front portion of their house is sinking, and is no lower than the rest of the house... hmm...