[quote roceda]Welll not quite a solid year. I have been out of commission a lot with some serious disc trouble in my lower back. Some of this has been posted during the past year. I don't post my finds after every hunt because they don't seem to compare with the finds others are posting. My best find is the 10K class ring. Thanks for looking....[/quote]
Don't let other folks' superior finds throw you for a loop. I know it's easy to get jealous- happens to me all the time, with people finding as much cool stuff as they do! But it would be nice if EVERYBODY posted their finds. I think you'd see that your finds, rather than looking outclassed, were better than some other people's finds. That's the thing about this hobby, as with many facets of life- no matter how good you are, there's always somebody better than you to look up to, but on the other hand, there is always somebody else below you, looking up. You measure success by your own yardstick, anyway, not other people's. What would be a disappointing day's diggings for some folks would be a good day in my book, and vice versa.
I can't tell you HOW long it's been since I dug a gold ring.
Let's see... I think Bill Clinton was still in the White House, and Monicagate was the talk of the nation. Princess Diana hadn't been gone for very long.
Hope the back troubles don't keep you out of commission. I can sympathize, there. I found a little contractor's shovel with a short handle on it saves my back some strain. In the past, I used to kneel and dig every signal with a 3-in-1 knife. Still use the knife, but the small shovel helps me out, and I find I can actually cut tidier plugs with it that are no bigger than the ones I used to make with the knife. Instead of making for sloppier holes, the shovel has actually made my plugs better. Of course, if your back pain is really bad, it'll take more than a change in tools to help you. Hope you feel better on that score.
(Edited to fix the usual typos.)