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Read Thread: Windex boxing?

Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77454 by LibraryGrrl
Mar 11, 2007 4:10pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Do you recall if the box in question was on the ground? OR was it elevated on a rock or anything?

Thanks!


I haven't a clue about the box in question but we've experienced some 'interesting' sub-freezing level temps letterbox situations during the past several years that may help future planters make decisions in how best to plant their boxes considering the different types of scenarios they may encounter along the way.

Idaho: One locale we found a letterbox hidden behind a rock that was frozen to the pavement. The letterbox was hidden in one of those little 'tunnels' of jersey barriers where the fork lift 'tines' actually lifts the jersey barriers to set them into place. We almost gave up on trying to access the letterbox because the rock in front of the box would not budge--even after using half a can of windshield de-icer on the rock. It wouldn't budge--it was that cold! Later on I decided to lean over the jersey barrier (I don't recommend this as it was fairly dangerous) and had one of the kids push the letterbox to the rear opening of the jersey barrier with a stick. We only had 'one attempt' to retrieve it this way as if I hadn't caught it the box would have fallen in the creek 15' below the footbridge and would have either floated away or sunk to the bottom of the parts of the creek that weren't yet frozen. So--rocks like to freeze to pavement!

DC: Another instance we found a micro-letterbox frozen solid to a stump--simply frozen into the wood--as if the wood had been 'spongey' all the time and when it froze it 'captured' the letterbox within the fibers of the wood. Trying to pry it out would have destroyed the box so we left it. Bizarre!

Central Oregon: Another instance we found a letterbox frozen to a rock--same scenario--you couldn't separate the box from the rock without damaging the container--so we chalked it up to another 'attempt' instead of a find even though we had the box in our hands. Nothing more frustrating than that!

Central Oregon: Another instance we found a larger letterbox frozen beneath 2' of snow after it had fallen into a tree-stump hole. After much persistence (we were boxing with other boxers who were just being really nice in helping us retrieve the box--as they'd already found it before) we were able to free the box without damaging it or the area.

Central Oregon, yet again: After trudging along 2 miles for a 'driveby' box (that would have been driveby during the summer when the parking area adjacent the box was open and not covered in 5' deep of snow) we got to a box that was buried in ice about 1' below the rim of a stump. We could see the box encapsulated in ice, pine needles and frozen leaves. Knowing it was going to be a 4 mile hike total we were determined to work on that box and eventually were able to 'entice' it out using body heat to melt the ice, sticks and other sharp objects to help chip away at the frozen needles and leaves taking great care not to damage the box itself. We finally succeeded in reaching the box and its contents. A bit bummed when we opened it up and it was a store bought stamp that had absolutely nothing to do with the really cool location in which it was hidden. :( Otherwise the trek we took to reach that particular box was one of the most memorable 'winter scene' type of hikes we'd ever experienced--so that alone made the outing worth it.

Just some ideas--we've experienced some other 'ice-boxing' treks along the way, I'll have to research our logbooks/blogs to see if any of the 'details' vary from the before mentioned ones.

I guess if we could recommend a good method of hiding boxes in freezing prone areas it may be best to place the box on a layer of rocks in a hole taking care not to pile too much 'freezable' debris atop it that may 'cake' together to create a solid leaf/pine-needle popsicle of ice encapsulating the box. For finders hunting in snowy areas, recommend creating lots of false trails in the snow around the area so as not to leave one straight trail to the letterbox. If you have a pet with you--the better, encourage them to run in a few different directions to lay false trails.

Happy snow-boxing out there,

daelphinus
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77472 by Lock Wench
Mar 11, 2007 7:25pm
Thread (disabled) Board
that's PartyPig....always quick on his feet and his wit.....I am GLAD you got the box, I told him "way to be stealthy" Thanks for sharing the pics! We will make sure we have washer fluid in the car when we go boxing on the 25th!
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77577 by CathCainGwen
Mar 11, 2007 7:38pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Yeah, but did he tell you he wanted the tire iron?!?!? LOL

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77583 by Lock Wench
Mar 11, 2007 7:40pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I shall keep that away from him! Of course we will have Gweny, so he will have to restrain himself a bit....
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77584 by CathCainGwen
Mar 11, 2007 8:04pm
Thread (disabled) Board
I wonder if those little pocket size lock de-icers would be a practical for unwedging iced in letterboxes... I've never used the lock de-icer...but... hmm.

LG.
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77507 by Fire Goddess
Mar 11, 2007 8:15pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote QuoteYou seriously get your oil changed for the windshield wiper fluid??


Yep - it's almost a guarantee that if I am out of windshield wiper fluid - it is time to change my oil. It's almost beautifully synchronized....I would probably forget for years about oil changes without the vacuum and fluids. It's nice to know I am not alone :-)

AGJ
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77471 by LibraryGrrl
Mar 11, 2007 9:38pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I just had this very funny daydream about having to upgrade from a bag, to a backpack, to a Letterboxing Uhaul trailer. ;) My mom has already said we're taking the camping RV on a letterboxing trip this summer...


This put an image in my head of boxers walking around leading a burro like the old mountain men. :)

Shiloh
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77599 by shiloh
Mar 12, 2007 3:52am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote This put an image in my head of boxers walking around leading a burro like the old mountain men.


Do you know where I can get one? :)

Woodsong
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77631 by Woodsong
Mar 12, 2007 4:21am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Do you know where I can get one? :)


As a matter of fact I do. There's a guy here in Arkansas giving some away. I think he only has two or three though.

Shiloh
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77589 by LibraryGrrl
Mar 12, 2007 6:32am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I wonder if those little pocket size lock de-icers would be a practical for unwedging iced in letterboxes... I've never used the lock de-icer...but... hmm.

LG.


I was using a large can of spray deicer that I'd purchased at a Safeway while driving through an off again on again snowed in Interstate highway through a mountain pass in the Cascades and it wasn't enough to separate the rock that was frozen to the pavement (mind you there wasn't any debris around the rock or on the pavement--the two items just fuzed together due to the extreme temps). I doubt a pocket can for a car lock would help in the least. Unless the temperature was hovering around 28-30* or so. ;)
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77682 by daelphinus
Mar 12, 2007 8:40am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I was using a large can of spray deicer that I'd purchased at a Safeway while driving through an off again on again snowed in Interstate highway through a mountain pass in the Cascades and it wasn't enough to separate the rock that was frozen to the pavement...


I'm from Florida and don't venture north in the winter, but I've gotta wonder why you guys are fiddling with spray cans. Why don't you just fire up a propane torch? Propane is cheap, the torch is cheap and easily portable, and you should be able to de-ice anything you need to.
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77706 by Kirbert
Mar 12, 2007 8:44am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Why don't you just fire up a propane torch?


Plastic melts. You wouldn't want to harm the letterbox, would you?

FG
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77706 by Kirbert
Mar 12, 2007 8:47am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Why don't you just fire up a propane torch? Propane is cheap, the torch is cheap and easily portable, and you should be able to de-ice anything you need to.


I like the way you think. However, this could quite easily go awry. Best case is you find the box without melting it. Worst case is you have Smokey the Bear on your case.
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77706 by Kirbert
Mar 12, 2007 8:50am
Thread (disabled) Board
I didn't use a propane torch because I was within a stone's throw of the NYS Capitol building. There were enough guards and cameras to discourage bringing flammables. :)

LW PhD * who can't be stealthy with her shoulder held rocket launcher either...*
"Nice Counts"
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77711 by Fire Goddess
Mar 12, 2007 12:40pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote
Quote Why don't you just fire up a propane torch?



Plastic melts. You wouldn't want to harm the letterbox, would you?


Jeeesh, back off a little bit! There's a broad margin between melting the ice and melting the plastic!

Seriously, you don't need to be heating the box itself. You can be heating the area surrounding the box -- or even the rock it's hidden under.
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77715 by Lock Wench
Mar 12, 2007 12:42pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I didn't use a propane torch because I was within a stone's throw of the NYS Capitol building.


Ba-GAAWWWK bawk bawk bawk! This pastime is supposed to be challenging!

:-)
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77780 by Kirbert
Mar 12, 2007 1:12pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Ba-GAAWWWK bawk bawk bawk! This pastime is supposed to be challenging!

:-)


You first! *grin*

LW phD
"Nice Counts"
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #77445 by Lock Wench
Mar 13, 2007 10:20am
Thread (disabled) Board
"We kept laughing about what a CSI would say about the area after we were done. Three sets of footprints...all around a stone bench, which has no evidence of being sat on....and mysterious blue fluid all around...Hmmmmm...." -- Lockwench

"It's obvious. They've killed a smurf!" -- Grissom

-- Dagonell :D :D :D
Re: Windex boxing?
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78033 by Dagonell
Mar 13, 2007 2:34pm
Thread (disabled) Board
LW and Party Pig killed a smurf, which one, gosh hope it was Brainy he is SO annoying!
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78098 by CathCainGwen
Mar 13, 2007 6:38pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Speaking of Smurfs...I was talking with some 8 year olds the other day at a get-together. Our "conversation" drifted to cartoons and I mentioned growing up on the Smurfs. They all looked at me really oddly and said, " Who are the Smurfs?". It didn't occur to me that kids nowadays do not know who they are?
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78148 by Shoafsters
Mar 13, 2007 7:36pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Lucky, lucky children.
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78148 by Shoafsters
Mar 13, 2007 8:30pm
Thread (disabled) Board
It's sad that kids now-a-days don't know the oldies!

I'm proud to say that my 6 yr. old has an obsession with the retro cartoons! He prefers Looney Tunes, the original Scooby-Doo, Jabberjaws, Grape Ape.........to most of the new stuff they have out now.

He dosen't like the Smurfs though, or the Snorks! I don't really blame him.....

moonshowr
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78189 by Electric City Four
Mar 13, 2007 9:15pm
Thread (disabled) Board
My 7 yr old adores Tom and Jerry ....he loves the violence! hehe!
Whoever complains about Ninja turtles obviously has NEVER seen T&J - tonihgt at the dinner table he said " Mom all they do all day is try to kill eachother come on it's a mouse and a cat what do you think? duh!" To which I invited him to leave the table for a couple minutes til he could talk to me nicely ....then he came back and he told us all about the different ways they attempted to kill eachother today.....YIKES!!! They do get the award for use of kitchen tools though! He is an otherwise kind child - but when he watches T&J he wants blood!

I wonder what he would do if he watched Wiley ? I think the Roadrunner would be toast ! ; )

Happy hunting, enjoy the journey,
teekasue
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs re:wacky racers
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78148 by Shoafsters
Mar 14, 2007 12:40am
Thread (disabled) Board
What about Wacky Racers. Penelope Pitstop, Peter Perfect, Dick Dasterly and Muttley, Arkansas Chug-a-bug.......

Shiloh
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs re:wacky racers
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78206 by shiloh
Mar 14, 2007 3:30am
Thread (disabled) Board
Every now and then we tune into the Boomerang Channel (It's all coming back to you...) to see what "oldie" is on! We've seen Wacky Racers...Penelope Pitstop, Dasterdly and Muttley (LOVE his laugh!), Smurfs, Snorks, Grape Ape, Touche Turtle, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry....even some Three Stooges cartoons! There are tons more too...

It's fun to see some of the cartoons I watched growing up...but it's also sad that they're on the "oldies" channel....*sigh*!

D5 Mama
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs re:wacky racers
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78206 by shiloh
Mar 14, 2007 5:12am
Thread (disabled) Board
And Professor Pat Pending? This was my favorite. I've carved a Muttley already.
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs re:wacky racers
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78215 by Smimle
Mar 14, 2007 8:56am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote It's fun to see some of the cartoons I watched growing up...but it's also sad that they're on the "oldies" channel....*sigh*!


And what does that say about us that remember these cartoons???? I AM NOT AN OLDIE, I refuse to grow up.

Mystic Dreamer
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78192 by teekasue
Mar 14, 2007 9:20am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I wonder what he would do if he watched Wiley ?


Thing is that I often wanted Wile E. to win just once. ;-)

Knit Wit
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78261 by knit wit
Mar 14, 2007 9:46am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote Thing is that I often wanted Wile E. to win just once. ;-)


Trouble is, if he'd won, he'd eat the Road Runner, and then no more cartoons!

DebBee
Re: Windex boxing? Re: Smurfs re:wacky racers
Board: Traditional Letterboxes
Reply to: #78215 by Smimle
Apr 18, 2007 9:04am
Thread (disabled) Board
I love the "oldies" cartoons. We do not get boomerang or eve the Disney Channel for that matter!!(We live in FL for goodness sakes!) I miss all those channels. I am so bored. I have been getting good finds on my bike trail letterbox. I am excited about that. Yay!

ok rambling done.