More cave rescue modernisation

 I had already upgraded my satnav game for reasons of cave rescue. But more modernisation was in order. On the eve of the AGM I realised it would be good if I could get my NWCRO mail on my phone. I had tried to sort that earlier, but to no avail. But who knows; maybe this time it would be different!

It was different! I just managed to add an inbox to my Gmail. And these days we have a WhatsApp group with all the aspiring controllers. When I boasted there that I had managed to get my team emails on my phone, our cyber officer (that is not his official title) immediately suggested I also get Google Drive on my phone. That is where we keep our team documents. So I downloaded the app. Now I can get the membership spreadsheet on my phone! I am amazed by my level of digital sophistication.

I am also in the process of getting an Outdoor Active pro account. That will help with finding rescue venues and such like! I am glad I also bought a power bank a while ago; if a callout happens, I might be wanting to spend quite a lot of time on my phone. And it's obviously not the newest model, and it doesn't have the longest battery life in the world. But it is a good thing I am doing a bit of catching up! It is useful to have old-fashioned skills, such as being able to drive somewhere on memory, but only if you also have the modern skills for when that is what's needed for the occasion.

The next thing I need to do is really dive into the map-based database of all the underground venues in our area. that's thousands and thousands! And they are logged with all sorts of information, such as what the best place would be to gather as a team, and what phone signal is like near the entrance, and what kind of venue it is. Does it require a lot of rope work? Is it very wet? All that sort of things. Our cyber officer has made that, and it is a very powerful tool, but I haven't really got around to having a good look at it. I think I would be able to get that on my phone as well! Maybe one day I'll reach this actual century…

These things you can see on your phone