Author: Patrick

Medal Count (Winter Edition)

Patrick 4 Comments Geekdom

Patrick here. You may remember back in 2008, I counted medals a bit differently. (initial post, final tally). We’re about 75% of the way through Vancouver, so let’s see where we stand with the population and GDP metrics.

Medals per Population
1) Norway (1 per 286K)
2) Austria (1 per 837K)
3) Switzerland (1 per 972K)
–
11) Canada (1 per 3.1M)
21) USA (1 per 11.8M)

Medals per GDP
1) Latvia (1 per $12.1B)
2) Estonia (1 per $18.1B)
3) Norway (1 per $21.7B)
–
16) Canada (1 per $120B)
23) USA (1 per $549B)

Patrick’s Big Mistake

Patrick 5 Comments A Day In The Life...

I guess my claim to fame on this website, so to speak, is being the “geography and navigation” expert, mostly because I do a lot of competitive orienteering in my spare time.

I figured it would be fun for everyone to see how I spent about 45 minutes of my time yesterday, at the British Columbia Orienteering Champs in Sumas, BC.

I approached from the south and headed up the rocky hillside (the black specks are all distinct cliffs of various sizes– but in reality there were more rocks out there, just not “distinct” enough to be mapped). My GPS tracker shows that I went right by the checkpoint on my first attempt (the red circle is about 50m in diameter), and then I spent the next several attempts crawling all over that hillside… until I decided to give up and head to the finish. My first ever DNF!

National Orienteering Day!

Patrick 0 Comment Quickthoughts

As Mike D’s geography & maps correspondent, I’m here to tell you that this weekend is National Orienteering Day! Get maps, explore the woods, and find checkpoints! Less than $10! Woo!

And since I know that most of you are in the CT/MA area, here are the two events nearest you! (I can look up other National Orienteering Day events by request, too.)

9/13 Tarrywile Park, Danbury, CT

9/14 Great Brook Farm, Carlisle, MA