Chipk
Elite Member
Oh my gosh. What a day.
First of all I got a message yesterday from a local elementary school saying they needed my help. Seems they have a 100 year anniversary coming up and they have lost a 100 year old time capsule. I figured I would have at least a week to line up some help and search their grounds.
Nope.
Got a text this morning that their anniversary celebration is TOMORROW! And they need to find this capsule. I already had 2 hunts planned today so I called the assistant principal and made arrangements to go there as soon as school ended at 3pm.
First I had to drive to the first spot. It's a little over an hour away. It was a big waterfront property and I had been looking forward to it for several months. But what a disappointment. Lots of buried metal and the ground was impenetrable with roots and cypress knees. I had a couple of possibly good targets but couldn't get to them. The heat and humidity was stifling. After 4 hours of hard digging and no goodies I left and drove 45 minutes to my next target.
This one was sad. A good friend is dying of ALS and recently had to leave her beloved house. Her husband had recently died and I was hoping to find something of his to raise her spirits. Didn't find much but I believe the few things I found will make her a little happier.
On to the school.
I arrived and met with the assistant principal who apologized for the short notice but she had just been told about the time capsule the day before.
I asked if they knew where it might be. NOPE. I asked what it was made of. NO IDEA. I asked what was in it. NOT A CLUE. How deep was it? COULDNT SAY.
!!!????
She led me to the area it was thought might hold this century old artifact. Then she told me they had planted trees and bushes, laid sidewalks and placed big heavy metal picnic tables across the area.
This was a freaking haystack and I'm supposed to find a needle. I don't know what I'm looking for, where it might be or how deep it might be. Then I realize there is a ton of buried metal. I start swinging and digging. I'm pulling out nails, screws, roofing tacks and pieces of aluminum. I soon realized the detector is going to be no help. So I start digging random holes and then inserting my pinpointer to see if there is anything deeper. I found three possibles and dug as deep as I could. I don't know what was there but each was about 2 feet down and too big for me to uncover without a larger shovel and I left each hole uncovered. After I had given the entire area a once over, I decided to stop. I was exhausted, filthy, dehydrated and my back was on fire. I found the assistant principal had gone home so I called her. I explained what I had done and she didn't seem appreciative. I told her to get a custodian to dig out those holes and she said she didn't want to make a mess because they'd have to clean it up before the celebration tomorrow night. I told her it was already a mess because I left her three holes to clean up. I guess she was disappointed that I didn't kill myself on her behalf, but enough was enough.
Truly it would have taken a backhoe to find that capsule.
Guess the celebration won't have their capsule.
First of all I got a message yesterday from a local elementary school saying they needed my help. Seems they have a 100 year anniversary coming up and they have lost a 100 year old time capsule. I figured I would have at least a week to line up some help and search their grounds.
Nope.
Got a text this morning that their anniversary celebration is TOMORROW! And they need to find this capsule. I already had 2 hunts planned today so I called the assistant principal and made arrangements to go there as soon as school ended at 3pm.
First I had to drive to the first spot. It's a little over an hour away. It was a big waterfront property and I had been looking forward to it for several months. But what a disappointment. Lots of buried metal and the ground was impenetrable with roots and cypress knees. I had a couple of possibly good targets but couldn't get to them. The heat and humidity was stifling. After 4 hours of hard digging and no goodies I left and drove 45 minutes to my next target.
This one was sad. A good friend is dying of ALS and recently had to leave her beloved house. Her husband had recently died and I was hoping to find something of his to raise her spirits. Didn't find much but I believe the few things I found will make her a little happier.
On to the school.
I arrived and met with the assistant principal who apologized for the short notice but she had just been told about the time capsule the day before.
I asked if they knew where it might be. NOPE. I asked what it was made of. NO IDEA. I asked what was in it. NOT A CLUE. How deep was it? COULDNT SAY.
!!!????
She led me to the area it was thought might hold this century old artifact. Then she told me they had planted trees and bushes, laid sidewalks and placed big heavy metal picnic tables across the area.
This was a freaking haystack and I'm supposed to find a needle. I don't know what I'm looking for, where it might be or how deep it might be. Then I realize there is a ton of buried metal. I start swinging and digging. I'm pulling out nails, screws, roofing tacks and pieces of aluminum. I soon realized the detector is going to be no help. So I start digging random holes and then inserting my pinpointer to see if there is anything deeper. I found three possibles and dug as deep as I could. I don't know what was there but each was about 2 feet down and too big for me to uncover without a larger shovel and I left each hole uncovered. After I had given the entire area a once over, I decided to stop. I was exhausted, filthy, dehydrated and my back was on fire. I found the assistant principal had gone home so I called her. I explained what I had done and she didn't seem appreciative. I told her to get a custodian to dig out those holes and she said she didn't want to make a mess because they'd have to clean it up before the celebration tomorrow night. I told her it was already a mess because I left her three holes to clean up. I guess she was disappointed that I didn't kill myself on her behalf, but enough was enough.
Truly it would have taken a backhoe to find that capsule.
Guess the celebration won't have their capsule.
