Geostash
Time for the date to commence!
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Looked up that word and closest I could find was “Geostachys.” Is it just an in-universe version of that plant or did Google fail me?
It’s an in-universe version of “geocache”. I recently found out that someone bought the rights to the word for branding, so I’m not taking any chances :p
{Google}
Well, that’s a MUCH more pleasant idea than what I thought you were doing, and you just earned a LOT of good will by including that in your comic rather than what my assumption had been.
Well now I’m curious what you thought it was
Why do I got the feeling, that about half of the town is in Annabella’s “assistant group”…? 😅
Of course. Small town full of retirees, any local kids become EVERYONE’s kids. Especiially well-behaved cute dragon kids and their family.
“What even IS a Geostash?”
I seem to recall – many years ago – conversation about a mobile game that used to be basically what Pokémon GO has become, where you would interact with portals that spawned in-game based on your real-world location. My best guess would be that this is something like that.
But honestly, Annabella? The fact that you even have to ASK tells me that you’re going to be more a hindrance than a help.
If i remember corrwctly, they are usually a log book and or box of mementos, you take somethi g out and leave something else in
The Game you’re describing is the actual predecessor of Pokemon GO (since it’s developed by the saame company “Nicantic”) called Ingress.
Most of the geodata used for Gyms and Pokemon Locations is basically copy pasted from Portal and POI Locations in Ingress.
Ingress and Pokemon GO are essentially virtual versions of Geocaching/Geostashing. Or, if you like, it’s an IRL version of Pokemon GO.
Basically you navigate to a published location with GPS to find a treasure, which you add to/remove from to leave “your mark” for the next person.
Annabella Mafiosa;
using Nana Rosa;
trying to perfect
Kai’s date today.
She will trail;
success or fail;
trying to detect
quite how to play.
A future spy;
in her eye;
will select
the worst way.
If they see her;
don’t wanna be her
Hthe whole effect
will spoil their day…
Annabella Mafiosa , I love it
Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Absolutely right: Annabella’s troublesome. Or she may well be.
And it’s clear that Near, quite against her father’s wants, likes dangerous fun.
Was not expecting to learn about a new hobby today. From what I can tell that definitely suits someone who travels a lot. I’ll be honest I initially thought she was talking about some flower with a bunch of widespread subspecies. ‘Geostashes’ sounded like a scientific name at first glance
Given that “Geostachys” do exist you are not wrong. 🙂
Huh, so I wasn’t completely off base thinking it was a flower. Still wrong though. I’m learning so much from this page
Look up “geocaching”. That’s the IRL equivalent.
Let the fun commence!!!
Almost no one expects the little old lady to be a spy, just like how almost no one expects a Shepard spy. I see Anna is keeping the vest for herself, it fits her better than it would on Kai. He short.
And Annabella is following Kai and Near on their date. “Big surprise” there. At least the townsfolk consider the twins to be beloved little dragons, Near best be careful not to hurt Kai (emotionally) or the town will seek retribution. I’m surprised we haven’t seen Kaya yet, you’d think that she’d want to see her best friend/twin brother off on his very first date. Or she might be jealous and sad, though that’s rather unlikely.
As for what Near suggested, I found out what Geostashing/Geocaching (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching) is. It looks like fun, but I’m not sure Kai and Near are dressed appropriately for that. Fancy clothes and wilderness exploration don’t usually mix.
I think I’ve heard of these kinds of things before, gimme a second…
Found it, you track down locations via GPS and you either find a simple welcome & sign in location, or sometimes you find a puzzle box kinda setup, where you have to work out how to access the actual cache. Sometimes there are even trinkets to trade inside…
Here’s a couple of YouTube Shorts that might help…
https://youtube.com/shorts/n9lfeXStlr0?si=Sd2j6LiIpwDylCai
An example of a puzzle box geocache…
https://youtube.com/shorts/wLdaeaVauxo?si=vCp3DmYZplnG6FSc
Some basic information about them…
…..Now I gotta keep Screwball from tracking them down and smashing his way into it once he fails to work it out….
Seems like most of the town is older people, who will, of course, love their little Italian dragons. This really is like coming home for Kaya and Kai, so Kai having a cute hybrid girlfriend in tow is going to draw a lot dotage from the residents.
Chances are that Near’s dress will be torn and dirty when she returns from the forest. Kai’s shirt should be alright as long as he doesn’t need to force his way through a thicket. We haven’t seen what else Kai is wearing today, but the shorts he wore yesterday would be fine. (I figure Kai himself is rather scratch-resistant.)
You have no nosy elder relatives? Always suspect the old ladies for being spies.
Based on the woods I know and the pictures I have seen from Cinque Terre good shoes should be enough, especially if there is a gentleman helping the lady. Given Near’s sandals I hope the geocache is close to a path.
Turtimus: “Almost no one expects the little old lady…”
OR. the Spanish inquisition! 🙂
I must admit I never expect the Spanish Inquisition. But I always expect old ladies. And ninjas. 😛
Annabella is not beating the “relationship with Allessandro” allegations by wearing his vest.
Good, Kai doesn’t have to stress out on figuring out how to entertain Near. She seems to be ready and willing to ask for what she wants, which is a godsend on a first date.
Luckily it seems things are going well.
Do you think you could please add commas to “Well” in panel 1 and “So” in panel 3?
Neither one of those is correct. “Well then” is a phrase, which wouldn’t have any punctuation inside it. “So Uh” could possibly use a comma, but even better would be an ellipsis:” So… uh”
Can YOU stop trying to sabotage the best webcomic ever created by spamming incorrect changes on EVERY page??? Please and thank you!
I suggested last week for jprime to change phrasing to questions instead of imperative sentences. If you want to blame someone, blame me for trying to be a mediator. English isn’t everyone’s first language, and it’s good to ask questions if you want to learn.
My wife is Russian, and she often had problems with overusing imperative and early in our marriage. It’s part of Russian culture that if you’re requesting something, you use an imperative sentence, and it’s up to the other person to be firm if responding “No.” That’s just their culture.
I’m not sure where jprime is from. I didn’t ask, since it’s really none of my business to know. However, if jprime is from Eastern Europe, it’s likely a cultural difference that we’re seeing; not an intentional grammar Nazi thing.
And so the date begins! This should be a fun little activity to get things started, hopefully it’s a nice, neatly maintained little forest trail they’ll be on.
Are any of us surprised that Annabella is going to be spying on the two? The better question though is will she stay out of sight?
Kaya will accidentally blow Annabella’s cover, -because- Kaya is not “in on it.” 🙂 She will notice Annabella from a distance, without realizing that Kai is near, and Near will notice Kaya when she calls out loudly to Annabella. Kai, being totally besotted with Near, won’t notice a thing. 🙂
I love a world where cellphones work regardless of what country you’re in…
Why shouldn’t Kai’s and Near’s cellphones not work on a planned vacation in Italy?
Some mobile phone companies charge you for using your mobile overseas, since it has to go through the local mobile networks, through them THEN on to wherever the call or data needs to go…
I’m thinking the Twins and family have some sort of local phone deal + another for America since they make this trip every year and stay for a month. Maybe even have 1 of those mobiles that have 2 SIM Cards so they can install 1 Card for America and another for here? Near and family are possibly using travel data…
That explains why it would be INADVISABLE to use your phone in another country, but Guru’s comment suggests that they have problem with the phone FUNCTIONING in another country.
No, sorry, I was referring to the plans, not the phones. Even the first iPhone was GSM which meant it would work in Europe.
That’s what I was assuming, too. Thank GOD for dual-SIM phones.
If she does geostashing I can assure you that she made sure her mobile works in Italy.
true true. It’s not that expensive in Italy, you can get a 10GB card for under €25, and if my daughter is boompin’ around the Cinque Terre on her own you can bet I’d put one in her phone.
Here in the US you just throw $45 onto Mint Mobile and you’ve got 3 months of US service.
They’re in Italy, so there should be plenty of roamin’ people.
What do you mean? I can use my cellphone everywhere, and if I stick to the EU I don’t even have to worry about any extra charges.
If I have to leave the EU I just need to get a temporary addon to my account and there will be no problems.
You might want to ditch whatever phone provider you are using if you can’t use it anywhere except your home country.
Taylor,
I assume you’re from the EU? Mobiles in the US are not like that.
Our phones work in the US but if you want to go outside North America it is very cost prohibitive unless you have a very expensive plan.
Our carriers aren’t consistent about this either.
I learned something new. 🙂
(At least new to me.)
To be fair, the roaming CAN be turned off. But the reason the option is there is BECAUSE when you turn it on it can cost a lot.
And yes, EU forced removing of roaming fees between it’s countries.