mortaine

Lisavemt: Well, you know, everything that you pointed to can be attributed to the normal heightened senses and sensitivity that dogs have. I think Parker knew the woman wasn't a threat because of her body language and that of DW. Perhaps she also had contact with other dogs, who were happy around her, and Parker could scent them and knew they were not stressed around her. Your dog knows the school bus is coming because he has better hearing than you do. He knows it's Friday because you know it's Friday and you act differently (you probably even smell differently, even if you don't use a different perfume). He knows his routine-- if something disrupts it, he will whine and worry. He will know that you have been disrupted by the delay, and will act accordingly. He knows one neighbor lives over there and the other is across the street because he has a sense of smell, hearing, and because dogs are naturally territorial-- he *knows* where everyone's boundary markers are, because that's his biological job, so to speak. I'm not saying the woman is a charletan-- I think she has the best of intentions, and certainly that she believes in her own abilities. If it brings a man and his dog closer together, that's great-- I have no problem with that, either. I just feel that all the tangible evidence can be accounted for using known scientific information, and that the intangible evidence can be accounted for with good guesswork and body language. I will not discount the possibility of someone being able to communicate with a dog. But I do doubt the possibility of reincarnated dog spirits, or a person reading the past. Personally, I think it does no harm to acknowledge and celebrate the known and knowable properties of these fine animals, whether you choose also to believe in non-knowable properties such as a spiritual communication or connection.

I think these were stumblers, rather than geocachers. The pantyhose and candle could have been considered humorous. I doubt highly that anyone would think a broken glass crack pipe (yes, it had been used previously) would be humorous or appropriate or in any way not extremely hazardous to other geocachers. On the other hand, I also have a hard time understanding how people think littering is OK, so maybe I'm just too narrowminded to get the joke.

Umm.... Okay, I'm a skeptic and an atheist, but I'm also a dog owner and dog lover. And I refuse to discount the possibility of energy beyond that which we scientifically have proven. Dogs are incredibly perceptive, and they are always watching you. The way Parker focuses on you is probably even more intense than the way your ordinary pet dog focuses on his owner. To think that Parker doesn't at least know about Max would be, well, foolish, shall we say? This Native American woman who came to talk with you about it. There are three possibilities: either she was intuiting that you previously had a smaller brown dog (okay, *any* breed is smaller than a Great Dane, and how many brown dogs are there?), or she was reading your past, or she was communicating with you and Parker non-verbally to learn things about the two of you. I doubt highly that she was reading your past-- I just don't think that's possible. But reading body language? Sure. Absolutely. Communicating with a dog? If it's possible to talk with a dog, then there's certainly no reason Parker would not have been able to tell her that he'd had medical problems, and that you'd lost another dog previously. Putting those together to say he will come back.... that might just be wishful spirituality on her part. I can tell, just from the way you and Parker are standing in your photograph, that the two of you train for obedience-- anyone with even a little knowledge of animal behavior can see the difference between conformation and obedience training in a dog. The reincarnation bit is, well.... not believable to my mind. Parker acts like Max because Parker and Max are/were both your dogs. I guess what I'm saying is that this extraordinary experience you had doesn't have to be anything more than someone recognizing the very deep bond you have with Parker, using clues that, though elusive, may not be super-natural at all. I certainly agree with and support the comments that, if it brought you closer to Parker, than what harm is there? The woman didn't seem to be preying on you, didn't ask for money for her spiritual guidance, and was probably saying what she said out of pure motives.

I think it's a great idea! Visiting graveyards is a great way to learn history. And it's really not that strange-- genealogists, historians, and just fans all visit grave sites to pay respects. In a way, graves exist for that purpose.

Mortaine is a name I used in a diceless co-ed naked role-playing game in a hot tub (go Santa Cruz!) She was a fighter-type character with a force sword (think "light saber") who was into history. When I created the name, someone remarked that "le petit mort" (the little death) is a term used in the Renaissance as a euphemism for orgasm; something I knew from being a Renaissance lit major. Anyway, the name stuck, at least in the online world-- almost nobody calls me that in real life. It's been my online name for 8 years now, going through every evolution of online service I've used, including some very embarassing Usenet posts (can I please expunge the record now?) Most people don't think of it, so when I get onto a new system, or a system I'm not sure if I've created an account on, I just check "mortaine" and usually, it's me. I've thought of trademarking it, except I have no commercial use for it-- only personal identity online.

I do a LOT of urban caches, so the most wildlife I run into are litterbugs, but man, they are EVERYWHERE!

On-road/Urban/I don't know where the heck it is caches: (should look familiar) It's a Honda Civic Hybrid. Gets 42 mpg when I run the A/C (hasn't been cool enough yet to run it long-term without A/C). For 4x4 caches, which I have done none of so far, we would use my husband's new 2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon model, which is still "stock" for another week or two until he puts in something called a lift. In my area, 4x4-ing is strictly limited to posted areas and private property.

quote: Of course I wouldn't use it, this would be a terrible moral violation. Don't be ridiculous. How else are you going to validate the product's continued usability? How can you guarantee that it didn't get corrupted during transfer to your backup drive? Really, now-- the only moral thing to do is use the software. (removing tongue from cheek now)

Thanks, Kealia! I got your email-- I was thinking a simple little Skypark micro, as I haven't seen anything there yet, and it's a big enough park to sustain more than one cache.

Sigh. Testing.

Yeah, I hate it when multi-posts happen.... OK, assuming I'm going to go ask the city for permission to place a micro cache in the park, anyone have some good ideas/links/forum threads for how to present my case? Who would I even ask? Parks and Rec department?

I'm considering (finally) placing my first geocache near my home. I'm going to start with a micro, because I think they're GREAT! I ♥ micros! I've read the FAQ here on geocaching.com, but wanted any advice from other geocachers about contacting the local land managers (absolutely necessary? sometimes necessary? forgiveness not permission?), where to place the cache, etc. Thanks in advance.

Take the camera to a professional photo developing service, or send it out to ofoto.com or similar. Drug store types of photolabs will confiscate any nudity pictures, even naked baby bathrub pics (not the porn type). Professional labs won't do anything unless there are pictures of murder victims or something. And if you tell them in advance that you're developing the pics from a known crime scene, they probably won't bother at all.

Don't know much about the capsules, though I like the look and the idea. But those bottle holders are awesome.

They're talking about how to pronounce "CITO," which stands for Cache In Trash Out.

Actually, I think Planet and Mr. O have it on the head, here, and that's a great reason to leave a cache in a badly-littered park. Of course, it behooves you to include that information in both the cache page and in the log book/instruction sheets. Actually, a cache of just garbage bags would be kind of cool, you know.....

Beckerbuns: I'm planning a good geo-day on Sunday in the City for my birthday, if you feel like driving up to hunt a cache together.

Oooh! Echo's a bit, um, hardy for me, most of the time! I tend to go for the 2-star and lower terrain caches, on account of my poor physical fitness and asthma. I think I've decided my current love is Micro caches, though! There are TONS of them in the Silicon Valley, and they're so much fun! Definitely embracing the spirit of the sport! Maybe we'll run into each other caching sometime.... or arrange to meet at a cache or event?

Shane: I read about your pot cache in the other thread! Very..... interesting? Amusing? Odd?Yes, odd! I think there's a world of difference between a pothead and a crackhead, though. I would have been amused if it had been part of a bong (still would have removed it from the cache, though), but part of a crack pipe? It's just.... seedy, I think (no pun intended).

Yeah, I was thinking about getting an extra bagholder (I've got the little roll container style, similar I think, to TBD's) and just zip-tying it to my GPSr lanyard.

You don't have to have bags specially printed up. Just make an extra page of labels and slap one onto the bag you use yourself.

Hey, I'm also in Scotts Valley, but I also geocache up in Milpitas/San Jose, where I work.

I'm not sure what needs it most, but if you do something (next year, perhaps?), post a follow-up; I'd participate.

This weekend, while geocaching, I found the following items in a cache: A pair of pantyhose (used) A candle shaped like male genitalia A small baggie of white granulated powder: salt, sugar, or...? One half of a glass crack pipe (broken, obviously, with nice sharp edges) UGH! First off, this was one of those moments that reminded me that humans really just need to be wiped off the planet. Or, at least, most of them do. Second, though, I couldn't figure out what to do. I'm sure I did the "wrong" thing in the sense that I did not call the local authorities (which would have been, I think, either state or national forestry services) to have the evidence removed and evaluated. I'm sure doing that would have resulted in the cache being destroyed (and no charges being filed, since the cache itself is inherently tamper-ready for evidence). It also would have taken the better part of my day, and frankly, I was caching on my way home from a 3-day camping trip and just wanted to get going on the 7-hour drive back. Instead, I packed up the above items and a few little pieces of normal cache trash (stickers that have come loose, bottlecaps because some people think they're a trade item, etc), and put them all in a baggie-- I used the pantyhose to wrap the sharp end of the pipe, and threw them all away at the nearest possible garbage can. I did, by the way, trade this trash for two of my own geotrade items-- I certainly have enough trinkets to trade for trash, I suppose. But what *should* I have done in this situation? What would you have done?

I made my first Travel Bug (Austin's Joke Book) and released it on Monday night. I thought it was a clever little idea: a waterproof notebook heading towards my 4 year old nephew, picking up jokes on the way. Right now, it's aimed at Kansas City, but he and his family might move in the next couple of months (and we're not sure where yet). As a result, on the goals page I said to check the website to find out where the bug was heading, and then to please put it at least 500 feet closer to its destination. About how long should I expect it to take this TB to reach its goal, if it ever does? In this case, the goal is to reach Kansas City from the Bay Area in California, but of course that goal might change in the near future.