In our language and culture, we have many ways of expressing numbers without directly saying their names.
For example, we can use words of different linguistic origin that don’t name the numbers in a “one, two, three” sense. When i learned that the city of St. Clair was celebrating its sesquicentennial in this year (Congratulations and happy birthday, St. Clair!!), i knew that the town had been founded one hundred fifty (150) years ago. Likewise, if i had never seen a Petoskey stone in my life, but knew that in scientific terms, it was a fossilized coral of the genus Hexagonaria, i would not be surprised to see that the fossil was made up of the six – (6-) sided units of a long-dead organism.
Another way to communicate numbers is through visual cues. If i were wandering around the Joe Louis Arena, on the night of a sold-out game, with my index and middle fingers extended, the scalper urban entrepreneur might correctly surmise that i wanted to purchase two (2) tickets to the event. Add the ring finger to this display, and a small child is telling you that he is three (3) years old.
In my line of work, in the engine room of a lake freighter, we have a vast display of gauges and tools that visually display measurements of operating conditions and dimensions. While we often transcribe the readings into straightforward “4,5,6” notation, we can tell just by looking at the position of a pointer on a gauge if a condition has changed over a period of time, and by what magnitude it has changed. Or, by reading a measuring tool, we can see if the dimension indicated by the tool is the correct size for the job. In addition to making a quantitative measurement of, for example, the temperature of the main engine lube oil, a gauge can serve as a qualitative indicator of engine operation. Say the pointer on that gauge is beyond the two hundred (200) mark and moving toward a red line. I don’t need to tell my co-worker “Hey, Ray, the oil temperature is currently two hundred six (206) degrees and climbing!!” I need only point to the gauge and look alarmed, maybe let loose with some sailor language, and he’ll get the gist that the engine is overheating. But we don’t let that happen on my watch.
To solve the puzzle, you must view photos of some of the gauges and tools that i consult regularly. Once you get the correct digits, you can find the cache.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.