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One of the basics of using a gps while backpacking, hiking, or while on the water sea kayaking or ocean kayaking, is learning how to use the MARK function. Using the MARK function correctly will help you avoid gps navigation errors that can render this navigation system almost useless.

Read also related article: The PNW Packable Backpack

One common error is telling your gps to mark a waypoint using a coordinate system meant for land when you are on the water, and, vice versa, meant for the water when you are land.

Usually located on the face of a handheld gps as a single-function key, or, more rarely, as a touch-sensitive screen, MARK is a pretty straightforward gps function. The key is to make sure it marks waypoints according to the relevant database, and to name your marks with good descriptors.

You use MARK to tell your gps to pull down the latitude and longitude coordinates, and, if relevant, altitude of where you are at the moment.

You MARK locations with the idea of returning to them later: to revisit to a water source for hiking, for example, or for returning to a particularly good fishing area and so on. In a more complex application, you mark locations so you can construct and record routes you want to examine on Google Earth, retrace or share with others later.

One important step to keep in mind is to use vivid descriptors when you MARK positions. MARKED positions get stored in your gps’s database. Fail to name your marked locations with your own word and, as is the case with digital photos, you’ll soon accumulate a long list of meaningless file names that will likely make any sense to you later.

To mark and name positions so that they are of use to you later, mark and save various landmarks not as a series of computer-generated numbers and codes (usually a combination of time, date, etc.) but, rather, as a series of vivid words you will understand later.

Your job, then, as a beginning handheld gps navigation system user, is to name your marked positions with words or phrases.

This is pretty basic and easy to accomplish. All you have to do to avoid the confusion of confronting a long list of marked locations you can’t associate with specific locations is to do yourself the favor of storing locations with vivid phrases or words that remind you of why you saved them.

Do otherwise and your gps will store lists of location that show up as little more than latitude and longitude coordinates, nothing more. The info can be meaningless at first glance — a series of vague words and codes such as

LNMK 01 N42 16′ 0″ / W70 46′ 0″

That’s a pretty confusing description should you forget (and you will) that

LNMK 01 N42 16′ 0″ / W70 46′ 0″

is your gps’s code for the perhaps much better-named

PIGHD / N42 16′ 0″ / W70 46′ 0″

a place you nicknamed pighead because as you passed shaped reminded you of a pig’s head.

PIGHD, after all, is better name than LNMK 01, if only because PIGHD is vivid and descriptive.

You second job when you MARK positions is to examine how your GPS saved your marked landmarks.

If you are hiking or backpacking, you want to make sure you save your positions according to the UTM rubric. If you’re on water, on the other hand, you want to store your marked landmarks (or recast them later) using latitude and longitude, and according to nautical, not statute miles, and with speed measurement in knots, not miles per hour.

Keywords for this story are backpacking, sea kayaking or ocean kayaking, gps, gps navigation, gps navigation system

About the writer: fishing guide Adam Bolonsky writes about fishing and the outdoors for Sea Kayaking Dot Net and NorthAmerican Kayak Fishing.

First of all, I am sure there are many very good daycare centers out there. The owners take the care of your children very seriously, and you are quite happy with them. Daycare centers are like every thing else. The news only tells you about the bad ones, and the percentage of bad daycare centers versus the good ones is very small.
But these are our children we are trusting to these people, so, in my opinion, even a small percentage of bad ones is unacceptable. This article came about after watching a Channel 4 news report. According to Channel 4 News, a daycare in Missouri has been cited repeatedly for violations in the 17 years it has been caring for children.

Channel 4 News found another daycare that was reported as being cited for 21 violations in 2006 and 2007. In the past year, this same day care was put on a 60 day probation period, by the State Agency that regulates the day care centers. Commentaries on the kmovcom web site voiced varying opinions.

Some praised these day cares, and stated that the news report was very one sided. Others agreed that even one violation is one to many when it came to their children’s welfare. So how do you know what all of the guidelines and regulations are, and if your day care center follows them all?

While doing a Google search for information, I came across a web site called national Resource Center for Health and Safety in Childcare and Early Education. (Http;//nrckids.org/STATES/state.htm). This will link you to the state requirements and regulations for operating a day care center.

I downloaded and opened an 84 page booklet designated for my state and was surprised at the very detailed list of requirements listed. It is a very thorough booklet, and I would strongly suggest, if you have children in day care, you go find your state and download the booklet.

The web site also offers a downloadable booklet called, A parent’s Guide to Choosing Safe and Healthy Child Care. It explains what to look out for when choosing a day care and even has a checklist for you to mark in.

I do not have children young enough to attend day care, but I do have grandchildren that have attended day care. I will be having a new grandchild soon, that may attend a day care. So yes, I want to know all I can about who’s taking care of this child. Until I started reading these booklets, there was a lot I did not know.

The states regulate the amount of square footage per child that a day care must have. They also regulate things like amount of bathrooms per number of children, and even what floor level (upstairs or downstairs) the child can be on depending on age. Each state can have different regulations, but they are all listed at the above mentioned web site.

The most ideal situation is for one or the other parent to be able to be home with their children. As this is not always possible, the parents should have the piece of mind that their child is being looked after properly.

Do a thorough investigation of the day care facility before you decide to leave your child there. Meet with the care giver  whom I gifted with dermaroller amazon, first with an appointment. Spend some time seeing how the children present interact with the staff and each other. Look into every nook and cranny of the rooms you tour. Ask to see each and every room that is accessible to the children.

Inspect any play areas, both inside and outside. Ask the day care owner if they have had any violations, and verify the facts for your self. The booklet for “A Parent’s Guide…” will give you all the questions you need to make an informed decision.

Once you have attended your appointed visit, go back unannounced and explain that you’d like to “just observe.” Is everything still the same? It’s easy to put on good appearances when you know someone is coming, but being taken by surprise, may show the true side of the facility.

Most importantly, draw on your instincts. If you are hesitant, unsure, or something just doesn’t feel right to you, listen. When it comes to our children’s safety, there is no such thing as being overprotective.

Sources:

Http;//nrckids.org/STATES/state.htm

http://www.kmov.com/topstories/stories/kmov-stlouis-081113-day-cares.1adcd19a1.html