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Been Here: Pastoria Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

RedHiker: Since 50sumtin passed away some time ago, and there has been a homeless person/people living at the cache location for more than a year, I think it's time to let this one go.

RedHiker
Volunteer Reviewer Northern California

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Hidden : 4/15/2006
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A small cache that is part of a small series called Been Here, this cache was placed to coincide with Earth Day 2006

From the late 1960s until the early 2000s, the buildings immediately on either side of this industrial park cul-de-sac housed microfilm coating, floppy disk coating, and other manufacturing operations.

Sadly, these operations were the source of various soil and groundwater contamination incidents. Of all of the things that I did here, I am most proud of my association and involvement with the remediation efforts that culminated in the sites achieving "cleaned up" status!

In April of 1990, I took a transfer and a promotion to work at the microfilm division here. I was the EHS (Environmental Health and Safety) Manager and Facilities Manager. Later came an additional title: Production Equipment Maintenance Manager. A certain 40sumtin also wore many other interesting "hats" during this time, but it was the experiences in environmental, health and safety that were the most important for me and my future career paths.

This decade was most definitely an odd experience overall, dominated by the woman who managed the business. The operations were tightly ruled by a control-freak whose management style was described as "medieval European". Many of us referred to her as "The Dragon Lady", and this was not a term of endearment. Her management style was that every problem had as its root cause human error for which the corrective actions usually included lengthy and severe verbal tongue lashings by The Dragon Lady herself, not often privately.

Microfilm, a once thriving industry, lost ground as a medium for image management systems to digital applications throughout the 1990s. Microfilm usage world-wide dropped an average of 10% a year throughout that decade. And as production shrank, operations were consolidated into the now-demolished building to the west. During this time, every year or so (or less) there would be another layoff, another tightening of the fiscal belt, another consolidation of responsibilities as the management team shrank. But I always managed to miss the "down-sizing" axe. I would work here until the end of 1999, at which time I would finally leave the "company" with almost 20 years of seniority.

A few short years later and the operations were closed for good. And now even the building is gone. All that physically remains of my decade of work here are clean soils, clean groundwater, and the pink jasmine vines that I planted myself that still cling to the Central Expressway fence to the west of the cache.

Not a bad legacy, actually, now that I think about it!

The cache should be easy enough to find.

The Been Here series will probably include:
Been Here: Walsh
Been Here: Elko and Reamwood
Been Here: Patrick Henry
Been Here: Pastoria
Been Here: East Java
Been Here: Osgood

Enjoy! And happy caching!

50sumtin

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

abg va vil

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)