A Wager Between Cachers

All afternoon, TheNinjaJedi has been reveling in his winning wager in a secret geocaching bet that we made a few weeks ago. Now that the bet is over, I thought I’d share it with the rest of the local caching community.

On February 21st, TheNinjaJedi and I decided to do a day of caching. Having missed the Ice Walk a few weeks prior, we decided to head to Cocagne Island and grab some of the caches there. The ice seemed to be in good shape with jim52 having gone over the day before, although it was a warm day. In fact, I spent almost the entire day caching in a t-shirt.

We made the short crossing to Cocagne Island near Cormierville and started racking up the finds. The snow was hard packed in many places although we frequently sank to mid-thigh in some of the deeper places. A snowmobiler had gone the length of the island and his hard-packed trail made for much easier walking.

After a couple of hours, we found ourselves pausing for a snack and some water and I realized that we were in a good place to hide a cache. I had brought my caching kit with me in case any of the island caches needed repairs, and so left a new cache. And to thank Ma & Pa for all their puzzles, I decided that I would make it a puzzle cache.

As TheNinjaJedi and I were walking along the beach to another cache, we started discussing how long it would take for someone to find it. With the Ice Walk having recently gone by, and with open water visible on the east side of the island (and with me caching in a t-shirt due to the warm day), I didn’t think the cache would be found for awhile. We both figured the most likely people to find it would be Ma & Pa, who we know go out caching almost every day and who live in the area.

“Ma & Pa will surely find the cache within a week,” TheNinjaJedi stated.

“I don’t think the cache will be found until spring,” I replied. “There’s no way Ma & Pa will find it within a week.”

“I’ll bet you a plate of chicken wings that they will,” TheNinjaJedi boldly responded.

“You’ve got yourself a bet,” I said confidently as I shook his hand.

We quickly refined the terms of the bet: Ma & Pa needed to find the cache within 7 days from the puzzle’s publication on geocaching.com. If they logged it after the 7 days were up, we’d contact them to confirm the date/time it was found. In no way could we try to sway their caching by letting them know about the bet.

When I got home I debated making an incredibly devilish puzzle so that it might take over a week just to solve it, but I was confident they wouldn’t go back to the island. I made a reasonably challenging math trivia puzzle and sent it off to Cache-tech. On Saturday, February 25th at 14:45, A Puzzle of Pi and Pain was published. The race was on.

The next morning, TheNinjaJedi, Lexamazoo and I went to the monthly cacher’s breakfast at Mooser’s in Dieppe and Ma & Pa happened to be there. Pa mentioned to me that he noticed I had put a puzzle cache on the island, and then in an offhand remark said that with the ice thinning that he probably wouldn’t get it for awhile.

Advantage: heathtree.

On February 29th, we attended the Leap Day event hosted by Army.of.Two in Centennial Park in Moncton. I ran into Belladan who mentioned that he had asked his 19 year old daughter to solve the puzzle for him, and that he might go out and find it the next day. I was nervous: Belladan frequently caches with Ma & Pa and the colder weather made the ice crossing more feasible.

Advantage: TheNinjaJedi.

The next day, I got a log from Belladan. I breathed a sigh of relief when I noted it was for another one of my new caches in the Moncton area. He hadn’t gone to the island with Ma & Pa after all.

Advantage: heathtree.

While sitting at my computer doing some work on the afternoon of Friday March 2nd, I got my first found log for A Puzzle of Pi and Pain. It was from globuf, but it was a portend of things to come. Within a few minutes, the following message appeared in my inbox:

Ma & Pa found A Puzzle of Pi and Pain (Unknown Cache) at 3/2/2012
Log Date: 3/2/2012
Took a trip over today to get this cache and do some maintenance.
Belladan solved this one so we followed him over with globuf
Had a great time on the island

As I screamed and cried in defeat, another log appeared.

TheNinjaJedi found A Puzzle of Pi and Pain (Unknown Cache) at 3/2/2012
Log Date: 3/2/2012
This may be the best log I ever write! Not only do I get to log the find, but I get to tell a story. This is a tale of a young Jedi, not just any Jedi but a NinjaJedi!! A jedi so in tune with the force that he was able to see in to the future and predict that this cache would be found by Ma&Pa less than 7 days after it is published. This young jedi was so sure of his vision that he wagered the mighty Heathree 12 wings that it shall come true. Today there is balance in the force. All is well in the galaxy. Thanks Heathtree for this cache and thanks Ma&Pa for finding it.

TheNinjaJedi will get his chicken wings this coming Wednesday evening at the Sports Rock in Dieppe. All are welcome if they wish to congratulate him. And Ma & Pa, I will never underestimate you again.