Interesting Stats…

Relic Recoverist – Jocelyn Elizabeth

I check my blog statistics almost daily and they’re very telling. The one post that ALWAYS gets a lot views? The Q&A with Jocelyn Elizabeth. Likewise search terms that directed people to my site are frequently…

Happy Father’s Day

Well my day started at 4:30 in the morning with heavy rain, thunder, lightening and Digger telling me he had to go out and lift his leg real bad. Happy Father’s Day! At least he’s a trooper and doesn’t diddle around when he goes out! He also spent Friday at the hospital getting fluids thanks to a hypoglycemic episode. With a glucose reading of 32 he was close to death so yeah he can wake me up any time, any day. Don’t know what I’d do without him….

Savvy Shopping!

Shopping has long been thought to be a female thing but that’s not really true. Men shop too. The difference of course is in what they shop for. Women like to shop for clothes and jewelry. Men? Things like golf clubs, fishing gear, tools, grills and oh yeah…. metal detectors.

For whatever reason we can’t wait to part with our money and drool over every new detector that comes on the market, believing it’s the machine that will finally put us on easy street. After all it’s guaranteed to go down three inches more than the one we have now and it has that locked on, never in doubt, right on the money, you bet your ass target ID! And get this….it weighs one ounce, fits in your hip pocket, can be upgraded via download, comes with a camouflage field team cap and you can put more than 25 different searchcoils on it.  I mean damn, what’s not to like?

You can’t stop thinking about it…

…and you bite. You somehow find the money and you buy. You are happy as a pig in sh*t. You tell everybody at work, on Facebook, Twitter and you get antsy waiting for it to arrive. When it finally comes you just have to take a photo of the box, and if the rest of tekkiedom is lucky you make a video of the unpacking and share it on YouTube. You show it to your friends, you take it to the club meeting, you fiddle with it in the john and you sleep with it.

Then reality sets in…

….and you actually attempt to use it. You try to figure out what all those pads and labels mean and you try to get past page five of the 500 page manual (that’s where the assembly and battery insertion stops). You figure what the hell, I’ll go with the presets and take it to that park I’ve pounded the hell out of. You know, the one you’ve hunted 500 times in the last two years.

You get there and you go ever so slow because you’re not comfortable with the new detector and because you just know this puppy is going to sniff out those rare and very valuable Barbers, Liberty Seated, and Bust coins. You dig every signal because you’re not sure how your new detector responds, what it’s audio responses sound like. Then BAM… you find an oldie, a nice one and you’re convinced you made the right choice. Greatest detector ever, best damn investment you’ve ever made and you’re quitting your job in the morning!

Okay, I’m done bustin’ chops….

There’s some truth in the ole “where there’s smoke there’s fire” so taking that new toy to a known old coin producing site makes some sense, but understand that old coin you just found was more the result of you having slowed down and having listened than it is the new detector. After all you knew diddly squat about it when you arrived there and you were using presets so don’t go off the deep end.

The moral of this story?

…“IF” you kept going slow, listened intently AND really learned that new toy you just spent an arm and a leg on you ought to kick everybody’s ass when it comes to finding more. Add in some good ole fashioned research and you could be on top of the world.

On the other hand….

….you could just keep your old machine and do the same thing – slow down, listen carefully, research and give that money that you would have spent to the wife. She will love you for it, she will go out and spend it and while she’s doing that you’re out detecting!  Never forget….if mama ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy!

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Throwback Thursday Photos

Hawking the Garrett line with Bob Podhrasky, Treasure Expo 1988
(photo courtesy of Paul Tainter)

l to r; Rosalie Ray, yours truly, Gerald Costello and John Howland – first World Council meeting, Longleat Castle, 1986

Looking for that hidden stash – early 80’s

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Are Your Finds Really Yours?

FINDERS KEEPERS?

Archaeologists would like you to believe that they have the inherent right or claim to everything that has been lost or cast to the wind. Whether buried in the ground or hidden under the seas, it’s theirs to preserve so all of mankind can enjoy.

Too Many Candles…

I have no clue how the aging process is supposed to work but I turn 78 today and I’m not all that excited about it. You see despite all my efforts to exercise, lose weight and eat better the aches and pains are gaining ground.