"Paws"itraction

Oh, THAT is an EXCELLENT picture. I'm really liking this as a starting place for a coin.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Plus, what I think is really cool might not be what the OP would think is really cool and "wow-ish". I like the category idea, but the "gotta have a wow factor" part not so much.

Lets see. I've found filthy work gloves with holes in the fingers, a dirty diaper cover, losing scratch-off lottery tickets, sunglasses missing a lens or an earpiece, a rusty pocket knife with the blade snapped off, a used baseball cap complete with sweat stains, metrocards with no rides left, unidentifiable bits of plastic, rusty key rings, grocery store receipts, random stones picked up on the way in and an empty mini bottle of vodka. That's the kinds of stuff that belogs in a garbage can. The weirdest thing I have ever found in one of my caches was a handful of water softener salt pellets, left in a wilderness cache by a (rarely active) local cacher who was apparently a local law enforcement officer. He left a note in the logbook saying that he had found the "pretty gemstones" in an area of the trailhead parking lot used as a dump. Well, those pretty gemstones were really just water softener pellets, dumped by an illegal dumper in the parking lot, along with about a hundred pounds of household waste. As for the general topic of junk in caches: it has been aside a million times before by others, but here it is once again: caches which accumulate junk, are, over 95% of the time, caches which are easily accessible to families with children. Caches which maintain excellent swag quality over the years, are, about 95% of the time, caches which are so extreme (i.e., high Terrain rating, long hike, steep climb, deep cave, etc.) or so difficult (i.e., high Difficulty rating due to being a very difficult puzzle) that familis with children cannot reach them. I have personally found this "rule" to be true about 98% of the time, but I have heard from others of a few exceptions, and most folks whom I know seem agreed that about 95% of the variance accounting for presence of junk swag in caches may be laid at the feet of families with children. This is not to say that all families with children leave junk swag, but enough of them do that it can quickly degrade quality of cache swag in a matter of weeks. And, this current thread is harfly the first thread where this fact has been raised -- I have seen it discussed in several previous threads on the topic. BTW, the factor discussed above is one of many reasons why I decided, when I was six years old, that when I grew up I would never have children, and I have stayed true to that promise throughout my life to date; in any case, I must admit that due to my family heritage, my genes are so bizarre that the government has offered me a small monthly stipend to ensure that I never procreate. This problem with junk swag in caches is also one reason why some countries aggressively promote the concept of limiting the birth rate. May I post a brag about one of our caches along with a THANK YOU to our local DNR? Thanks, I think I will. One of our caches, Second Nature: MUSHROOMS!, highlighted Vinnie's rule. It used to, anyway. It was very accessible to children and families, because we really wanted to use it to highlight the Nature Center it was hidden behind - a "Virtual-with-an-ammo-can" kind of cache. It's been used as an "intro to caching" cache by several people, found by many people camping at the Campground in Pokagon State Park, and overall has had a lot of success and visits. Unfortunately, the "swag quality" did (and does) tend to degrade over time. We try to keep it stocked with "good stuff", especially stuff that will appeal to kids, but this does lead to "trade-downs". Even though the kids may not realize it - as mentioned above, sometimes kids think they're trading a real prize, not realizing that their cherished Favorite Matchbox Car (or whatever) that's being traded in for a deck of cards, a pack of mini-lightsticks, and a set of "fun straws" isn't really a fair trade and will be seen by the next kid as "oh...great...a cheap, old, banged-up car." We do, therefore, tend to "police" it rather often, trashing out and putting in new stuff. We haven't had to do that lately, however. Here's why: the Interpretive staff at Pokagon State Park have gotten a FANTASTIC geocaching program together. One of their interpreters holds regular "intro to geocaching" sessions, where he explains how geocaching came about, gives them coordinates for a "REAL GEOCACHE" (that would be our cache), and how to find caches. Our cache is the first spot on the "tour" they go to. (The rest are temporary spots, stuff along the lines of "card stuck to a tree" sort of thing). Once the ammo can is found, he opens it and explains to them the concept of Travel Bugs (ALWAYS record a pickup, ALWAYS put it in another cache and move it along), traveling geocoins (same thing), and "trade even, trade up, or don't trade." Since they've started this program, we've seen the contents of that cache stay pretty much even (and sometimes the swag improves!) (It could be that the Interpretive staff is policing the contents of my cache to make sure it's got some cool stuff in it when they do the programs, and that's why it's been so niftified lately. Dunno. But it sure seems like we're not seeing the usual "rock-pinecone-filthygolfball-advertising-oldlottotickets" contents nearly as much anymore.) I really, really the Interpretive staff at Pokagon State Park. Oh...um... this is for venting about bad swag. Uh...well...yeah, sorry about that. I'll try to do better next time.

Not necessarily - we found a cache that was over a tenth of a mile off the listed coordinates. (And no, it wasn't a "puzzle" or an "offset" - it was just an inexperienced cacher with a bad-coverage day.) We found it based on the hint and using our Cache-Fu. We posted our coordinates in our cache log and several people "avenged" their DNFs on the cache using our coordinates. The hider went back shortly afterward to check the coords, and found that he did get numbers agreeing more with our coords than his originals, so he changed the cache coords on the page.

I don't know anything about your PDA, but if it'll accept .pdb files, GSAK can export your database to a .pdb file. I don't know how you'd read it on your PDA, though. If your PDA is compatible, you can try to load GPXSonar on your PDA. If it's not, you can try Cachemate.

Take heart! The problem is often not with the cache idea but with others' reactions. ... Yes, Virginia, it's a PC world and we all have to get along. Perhaps a variation on your theme would be to locate caches near sites that fit your theme. Near religious sites, memorials, etc. You have to be careful about the "public land" placement rules but you might have a winner there. The cache contents need not be of a religious nature but a tribute to an early Catholic missionary, Johnny Appleseed, an abandoned graveyard of a long-gone church, a particularly striking cathedral ... As a devout atheist, I have no problem appreciating the beliefs of others. I hope he does one in tribute to FSM. It's only fair. ; ) Filled with Geocoins?

I've had the same problem, along with another issue that may be related. I used to be able to go straight to my Waymarking page by typing in http://www.Waymarking.com/my Now I get this message: Directory Listing Denied This Virtual Directory does not allow contents to be listed.

Hm...to avoid the usage of the word "hobby", could the first bit be rephrased thusly: Geocaching is an activity where participants, called geocachers, locate objects called a geocache anywhere in the world...

Thanks, V&ST. I've thought about all of that, and...I guess I'll just have to use a workaround, like you mentioned. It'd be nice to know why the forum software fritzes on special characters, though.

The forum PM feature doesn't work for people sending messages to me. I know it's because I have the quotey thingies in my caching handle. But why does that mess up the PM feature? I'd really like to be able to receive PMs, but as it sits now I have no way to do it. I used to be able to do so, because I'd go in and change my userID to PAWSitraction, then register the changes in the forums. I'd only change it back if we were going caching again, so the correct ID would show up on our cache logs. But...I can't do that anymore. Is there a reason the PMs don't work with special characters? Thanks.

Thanks! I just logged a new one yesterday, and I really appreciated that not only did you simplify it, but you also explained the rest of them to make it easier to understand!

The high end units have plenty of memory, and you can even upgrade them by implanting a bigger chip. This allows for things like turn by turn directions. They will even speak to you with voice commands during your trip. I suspect that you would welcome this improvement. On topic, I have acquired, in order: A Garmin GPS-V A Magellan SporTrak Color A Garmin Map 60CSx I still have all of them. I like to hold on to my Unit. Y'know, that isn't always an improvement.

Ugh, ew, ow, ow OW! Yikes. Eeeeee, pokes in the eye just creep me right out. Which is weird, considering I wear contact lenses, but whatever. Here ya go. Ready? Ppppoooooooorrrrrr, poor CyBret. <pats head> Poooooorrrrr, pooooooorrrrr CyBret. Your eye all better? Hope so. There. Good? Maybe you and Lord Elwood can compare eye injuries, yes?

<raises paw> I'll help out, as well, if you want more than one.

Not finding the Waymark; can you link to it please?

I agree with Isonzo Karst - I'd email the cacher and ask them to please delete the pictures. But, I'd also let them know that if they hadn't done so by a specific date, then I'd delete the log. They'd be also told that they were welcome to re-post their log without the pictures. Labeling them "HUGE SPOILER" really isn't a fix.

I don't see that. I had a pretty good idea as to what this sport was all about by the time I had 36 finds (I use that number because my 36th was my first micro). By my 50th find I had experienced short hikes, long hikes, drive ups, urban caches, suburban caches, historic caches, scenic caches, lame caches, puzzle caches, multi caches, micros, full size, 1/1's, difficult terrain, events, virtuals, devious hides, caches in AOL tins and ammo boxes and caches on two coasts and in 3 states. I'll put the experince I gained in my first 50 finds up against anyone who has racked up 1,000+ finds by going from mall parking lot lamp post to mall parking lot lamp post. You aren't "experienced" until you've opened an ammo box and been bitten by an extremely upset hamster. No cache is truly a difficulty 5 unless the trade items fight back. w00t! My favorite sig line makes an unexpected comeback!

w00t! Thanks!

Can "search for user" be added to the Waymarking site? A couple times I've needed to find a waymark listed by a certain person, but there's no way to search for them. I finally had to go to a waymark I was pretty sure they found, scroll through the logs, then pick their name to get their profile and their waymarks. Would be muchly appreciated! And, of course, if there is such a feature, I'd greatly appreciate knowing how to do it. I can't see it readily available anywhere.

Is the dll file in the same directory / folder as the cmconvert.exe file? I know mine won't run if they're not in the same folder.

Yes, I like the idea of the approval history as well. That would help prevent a lot of confusion and questions.

That would probably be the best way to do it, while you still have a low number of finds... Us old-timers are too established to change now... <looks at poster name> Good one...

I don't understand why they need to be temporary. My wife and I have hosted one event, our 2nd one is coming up in about a week. Both events had caches but they were real permanent caches. Why is it difficult to do that? Setting up a cache takes some time, does setting up a temp cache take less time? If so, what part of the guidelines are being skipped, and if none, why not make it permanent? Paul Yes, setting up temp caches can take far less time. In my experience, the big events I've been to that have temporary caches set up have taken place in Indiana State Parks, which have restrictions on how many permanent caches can be in the park at any one time, and where they can be located. Temporary caches, while placed with the approval and assistance of the land managers, so as not to damage any endangered-species habitats (or the endangered species' themselves), cannot stay past the event due to those permanent-cache restrictions. I'm very much in favor of having temporary caches, but not logging them. The increasingly widespread practice of it affect even the people who don't log them - and not in just the ways cited here. I helped out with one large event, and I've attended a few more, and every single time there were temporary event caches, at least one group of people wanted to argue with the event "owner" because they weren't allowed to log the event multiple times (due to the owner's rules on the cache). Eventually, each time, the owner gave in and said, "fine, whatever - you want to cheat, if it's that important to you that you feel some deep need to stand here and waste my time and yours arguing with me about it, then fine. I don't care. Log them all. Whatever." So now you've got a case of The Will of the Many (or at least the Obnoxiously Persistent Numbers Hos) overriding the wishes of the cache owner. You can argue all you like about how the cache owner should have stayed persistent and should have deleted the logs and all that. Sure, I suppose that would've been the "obvious" solution - but these cache events are supposed to be FUN. If organizing event caches meant I had to stand there and argue the same stupid thing, over and over again, with people that were just going to refuse to "get it", and then was going to have to take the time to DELETE a multiple of logs from each of those SAME PEOPLE, then that would be my last event I organized. How many people WOULD voluntarily do that, over and over and over again? How long would it take for most people who DO put on excellent events to say, "Ah, the heck with it. It's not worth it." and those EXCELLENT events would go away? You can say I'm exaggerating, you can say I'm overreacting...but I've seen it happen. I've seen at least one cacher completely QUIT putting on events (and he'd done an excellent job on them) because of carp like that. It took YEARS for our area to get good events again - and the same kind of garbage is going down again. The cache owner doesn't like the "multi-logging" but has decided that it's not worth fighting with the Numbers Hos about it, and so allows the multi-logging.

Then you guys are even. "Cristal bowl" indeed! Cristal?

Yeah. They both need to go just INSIDE the <table>....</table> tags. OK, done. Now what happens to Plucker when it runs that cache? OH, you must be waiting on me? Let me go run the same PQ and run it through Plucker and I'll let you all know what happened It worked fine. No problems OK. Last try. I've re-generated the "Selector" table altogether by going to the Selector site and picking a couple things, copy-and-pasting their stuff into my cache page and deleting the older Selector table I had. Now what happens?