Snoogans

FTF Geocacher MrsB I like the FTF mag. I've met the publishers and have several issues, but for some reason I have never fired the bullet on a subscription. I don't even know why. It could be the poor choice of name. I'm not really sure. As for the OP, It may be time to go further to get this crook's website taken down. But who really has the time to do it? Simple bean counting is what keeps this guy's con alive, but it chaps me to see he keeps getting away with it. Here is some light reading for the OP. (I just wish my powers extended to lottery numbers...)

A vast portion of American society has entitlement and expectation issues which cast a dark cloud over the American bright side. Many are completely unaware that their insignificant lifetime would be beyond the wildest dreams of people in certain other countries.

Good post. Good on you Doc. illegitimi non carborundum There's just no hope for some people. Give 'em 10 million dollars and they will complain about the taxes. At least they provide entertainment and smug superior feelings for the rest of us. Never gonna happen. You can't please everyone. My wife thinks geocaching is about the dumbest activity ever. Some people will just never love it. I swear that there is possibly a majority of cachers who stick with the hobby for pure self abuse if the complaints about one aspect of geocaching or the other are taken into account. To those we can't please..... If you're not having fun with the activity you CHOOSE to spend your free quality time doing then you're doing it wrong or perhaps geoching just isn't your thang.... (Anymore) Keep that positive attitude Doc. You're doin' it right.

Actually, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. When I started caching in early 2003, geocachers were mostly outdoor types. Folks with a better than average knowledge of outdoor risks and precautions. Most had a handheld GPS before they ever learned of caching. Today, new cachers don't always enter the game possessing an outdoor skillset. When you can download a $10 app and head off trail to find a cache a moment later without considering personal safety... It's up to US geocachers as a facilitating community to raise awareness for considering the options for greater personal safety. That said, there is a measure of satisfaction for having donated blood to the Earth on a particularly challenging hunt.... But I can't imagine a cache that would be worth one of my eyes. It's entirely up to you if you want to protect your own. Mine are covered. And if you ever go caching with me, I keep a couple extra pairs in the car if you need some.

I brought it up years ago on this forum about how the old Doom games would taunt you with a percentage of secrets found. I couldn't move on until I had 100% on every level.

I've had finders complain to me about ants near one of my caches that weren't there when I placed it. Several even demanded that I do something about the.... So I posted a note explaining that the cache is outdoors where the ants live and to be mindful that animals and insects live outside. Or a few who complain about poison ivy that eventually grew in the area. - Guess maintenance nows means hitting the cache area once a year with Round Up, Raid and Mold B Gone. There are attributes that address these hazards but they are unevenly utilized by cache owners and considered by finders even less often in my experience.

I've had finders complain to me about ants near one of my caches that weren't there when I placed it. Several even demanded that I do something about the.... So I posted a note explaining that the cache is outdoors where the ants live and to be mindful that animals and insects live outside.

To keep the thread where the quotes below are posted from being derailed from the direction it has taken, I decided to start a new thread. I had a recent near miss of my own while night caching in the woods of Wisconsin while on a business trip. When the branch touched my eye all I could think of was my safety glasses in my vehicle geocaching supplies kit that I left in my car at the airport and how much good they were doing me there. I flippin' knew I would be going caching. I had no idea I would be caching in the woods at night. I was lucky. Imagine having to explain that injury to my boss.... I just got lucky. The safety glasses immediately graduated to my don't leave home without it geocaching kit. I wear them even if I have to search in bushes, high grass like you find around guardrails, or urban landscaping. How many of you regularly use safety glasses while geocaching? Please post about your near misses that could have affected your eyes if they had gone further wrong. Post about how many other cachers you know of that have had eye injuries or near misses with objects/branches in the eyes while caching. It only takes a few bucks and a second or two to remember to USE safety glasses while caching in the woods or bushes. It's a habit that must be formed from conscious practice until it becomes unconscious muscle memory. I think as a community we should raise awareness to include eye protection in your caching preparation routine. What do you think? Anyone want to share? Anyone out there that never even considered using eye protection while caching that may be considering it now?

I'm sure George Carlin could reduce that list a bit.

Potty mouth.

I think you confuse acting stealthy and being stealthy. Yep. Acting "stealthy" is a good way to raise a red flag with anyone paying attention to their surroundings. It's unnatural behavior in an urban environment and will focus a curious person's attention on you. I cached with some cops and asked them why other cachers seem to be constantly questioned by police where I had never been approached in 10 years of caching. The answer I got was that most people avoid eye contact with police officers and a great many "turds" (their term) try to look normal or act stealthy hoping they will pass on bye which only creates focus on themselves. If you want to BE stealthy own your activity and go about it as if you belong there. Props help at times but you really need to gauge appropriateness before using them. I keep a clipboard and a bright yellow safety vest in my car as well as trash bags and 3 foot pick-up/reach tool for picking up trash. I've only needed them to be "stealthy" a few times. Most of the time they are not needed. However, there is not much that is less interesting than someone picking up trash.

Going through an OSHA environmental manual for a work project today, my eyes fell upon the term ODS. It stands for Ozone Depleting Substance. So, besides ruining geocaching, it appears I have inadvertently caused global warming too.

1. Thou shalt not taketh the name of Snoogans in vain. 2. Thou shalt sacrifice thy travel bugs unto the community. If they returneth to thou it was meanteth to be. 3. Blessed are the micros for they shall inherit geocaching. 4. Speaketh not of the wetness of thy neighbors log and ignore the mold on thine own. 5. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors geocoins or other trackables. 6. Thou shalt not holdeth thy neighbor accountable to thine own aesthetic sensibilities. 7. Thou shalt holdeth thine own self accountable for thine own choices of how to spendeth thine own free quality time. 8. Thou shalt always remember that geocaching is dependent upon the good will of other cachers who hideth the caches for thou to findeth and hosteth the events thou attendeth. 9. Thou shalt looketh after thine own safety and the safety of thine own valuables and remain alerteth for danger at all times. 10. Thou shalt not bear false witness unto muggles, and always explaineth that thou art geocaching. Add subtract or make up a new set of your own. Remembereth to have fun....

Yep, that was like law at recess in the second grade.

Oh yay! Then I could drive on the sidewalk mowing down pedestrians, throw Molotov cocktails into crowds, shoot down police helicopters, pick up hookers, AND find Geocaches AT THE SAME TIME? I'm so down for that challenge. Because all I could do before was jack an armored car, drive on the sidewalk mowing down pedestrians, throw Molotov cocktails into crowds, shoot down police helicopters, then pick up a hooker and try to get her back to my safe house before I got killed... But I got so good at it that it wasn't much of a challenge. Prolly hafta park the car against a wall to keep the hooker in the car while I find the Geocache. Gonna be trial and error but I'm up for it.... Nuh uh. I bet that one is a lead pipe cinch.

I wish Groundspeak would embrace that message a little bit more supportively rather than standing behind their disclaimer. I get the legal position they are in, but they are getting bad advice. One only needs to look through the topics to see there is an underlying theme of safety concerns that should be at least addressed upfront with adequate space for the community to concentrate on these particular concerns & issues. It takes a few key strokes to create a safety forum. It takes a few more to encourage event hosts to spend 3 to 5 minutes during an event to address geocaching safety for the benefit of all who attend. It takes a few more to add a periodic/semi-regular safety message to Groundspeak's various media without doing it to death. For instance...Ask yourself this... How many cachers do you know that have had an eye injury or a near miss with branches/objects in their eyes while caching? Ask the crowd at your next event and see what happens. Now, how many of those future injuries and near misses could be prevented if awareness was raised just to add a pair of safety glasses to your caching supplies and to remember to use them when the need arises? We can do this ourselves, but endorsement by the Lilly Pad would expedite the process. Whoa. How'd that soapbox get under me? /steps off

That is a very reasonable viewpoint. Good post. Greater awareness that our searching/hiding behavior is often perceived as suspicious by the muggle public is in order. We shouldn't voluntarily restrict our activity as a knee-jerk reaction to this incident. I went caching at night with 2 cops last year while on a business trip to Milwaukee. We were asked what we were doing at the first stop. Without hesitation I said Geocaching, expecting to have to explain it. The person said, "That's what I thought," and continued on their jog. My point. Be honest and forthcoming without hesitation and don't assume everyone is ignorant to the activity.

At the recent Texas Challenge mega event, there was a young cacher selling antler handled micro cache log rollers for $5 each to raise money for a trip to Japan to study art. I bought one and it has already come in handy.

Ummmm... with tired legs and gusting winds and sleeting and snowing, myself and two fellow cachers continued to pursue that 4.5/4.5 on Sunday about 200' up on the bluff above the Cannon River, hanging on to saplings trying to keep from being blown onto the road below.. the car down on the road looked like an ant.. One person's Darwin Award is another person's nice afternoon challenge. You both exercised proper judgement for your own physical limits/ability. However, the latter story brings the census of old, bold pilots to mind.

Usually one takes one's own ball and goes home, not someone else's ball. I rate this geocide a very lame 1 out of 10 due to the lack of actual caching time, no hides to turn into geo-litter, little to no hostility or flaming in the parting message, and taking someone else's ball home. Thanks for coming out. You forgot their abject failure to properly fill out and submit the official RK666 geocide form too. I still miss RK as a regular around here.

Ummm, you have a world of opportunity.... I'm assuming that you are probably still a full or part time student..... Why not start a geocaching club at school? Girls never forget who showed/ taught/ introduced them to something first if it is something they like... Trust me on this. I'm 46.

Lol. Cacher chicks too nerdy for ya or what? You just tempted fate BTW. In my case, my wife never was a cacher per se. I met her as a side effect of helping organize GW4. I refer to my son as half muggle or half blood. This annoys the crap out of her because she is a huge HP fan and we are bastardizing HP terms for our use. BTW I tempted fate by stating that I wanted my significant other to BE a cacher or at least have geocaching aptitude. :laughing:

Reading the thread, I can't tell if this is a trolling thread or not. However, taking the OP's words at face value, I see an ethics dilemma for him/her. The OP wants to make an innocent third party pay for their frustration with Groundspeak. Real mature. Buh bye. Don't let the door smack ya on the way out.

Bumping to counter balance the Geocaching Deaths thread with geocaching births and to make a shout out to the Snoogstress on our 6th wedding anniversary. The Dragonhunters were FTF on ours... For non PM's here's the cache write up by the CO:

I actually started a thread about that awhile back. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=222936 I'm guessing births outnumber deaths by large factor. My son is one of those births. I met my wife as a result of my efforts to help plan GW4. Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. My son recently turned 5.