Monkeybrad

Yep, Osage Orange, aka Hedge apples.

I guess that mean we still hold the record for the most in 24 hours by a team who stopped to watch a football game.

Just drive over to the lake and shoot the coords the same way you shot the ones down at Cracker Barrel and they should be way out in the lake then. Just giving you a hard time, we found the cache no prob, and I see the loose coords have tightened up.

It is a sad day for those cachers who kept putting off ordering, I was hoping to get one for GWIII. I am sorry to hear it, but we all know how it is when a hobby turns into work. If you get back into it, let me know, I will be ready to stand in line.

When my niece was first learning to speak she could not say "Uncle" properly, she said "Unkey", so I was Unkey Brad. I have a penchant for apes and sorta look like a big gorilla, so Unkey Brad quickly morphed into Monkey Brad. I did not figure I would be into this geo thing for very long so I just started using the Monkeybrad name. After signing it a couple of thousand times I really wish I had chosen something shorter. Whenever I speak to a group of new cachers, that is my first piece of advice, "Choose a name that has some special meaning to you, and make sure it is short."

As the driver for the team who set the first 200+ record, I would like to offer my congratulations. I know how much hard work goes into a run like this and you guys are to be commended. My hat is off to you. And I agree with Carleen and Lep, have fun logging, and good luck on the "defense" of you record here in the forums. Let me be the first to say I am sure you did it, because I know it can be done.

You could always make it an offset. Be sure to make it very clear on the page that the cache at the top of the cliff is not what they are hunting.

I received this one on my cache named "G-Spot". GCHG10 April 9 by GeoGyn (504 found) Just could not resist stopping by here for a break on my way to visit family for the weekend. Had absolutely no problem finding the exact spot......afterall, I am geoGYN!!! (GeoGyn is an OB/GYN if you hadn't already figured that out.)

Another vote for the Fisher Space Pen. I have carried them for years and they are perfect for wet logs. I have given many of them to my caching buddies.

Well, except there was one time... Empty post meant to convey that the owner has some secret knowledge of unspeakble acts? If you have something to say, grow a set and say it. If not, please refrain from throwing out ambiguous statements. If you do not like my tone, I am sorry. I don't like you making empty statements meant to question the character of my friend.

CR, I apologize for my unfair portrayal of you. After reading your post I see that some things have changed since we had our initial disagreement, as I have not followed all of your posts since that time I was unaware. I even take back what I said about you getting your panties in a wad, but cut me some slack, you did compare me to Joe. Even though he is a friend of mine and I often agree with him, our writing styles are very different. All kidding aside, I commend you for your efforts to teach people about paperless caching and your endorsement of PQ's. I understand and respect your views on GC.com but I also appreciate that you purchase a membership in order to take advantage of some of the benefits. I am serious, I am sorry that I used an unfair portrayal of you in my initial post. If we ever get in the same place at the same time, I'll buy you a drink to make it up to you.

That is the best description I have ever read on this subject, which is near and dear to my heart. Thank you Puzzler.

Clear path is correct, but clarify even further. In my area the majority of cachers who are active are premium members. So this is basically a non-issue. The majority of my caches are not MOC's. The ones that are MOC's are because I chose to use a feature that I pay for. Sometimes it is to limit access, sometimes it is because I want to look at the audit logs and see who is looking at the caches, sometimes it is to discourage pirates, sometimes it is just to annoy a vocal non-member. I see no reason to not place MOC's, no one is excluded, you just need special equipment, a membership. You ask why some people are not worthy to find some of my caches, that choice is one they made on their own. It is not that they are not worthy, but they have chosen to not participate in the hunting of MOC's by not purchasing a membership. To twist that same rhetorical mirror around. Are my MOC's not worthy of being hunted?

Congratulations on your information gathering skills. sup·port P Pronunciation Key (s-pôrt, -prt) tr.v. sup·port·ed, sup·port·ing, sup·ports To bear the weight of, especially from below. To hold in position so as to keep from falling, sinking, or slipping. To be capable of bearing; withstand: “His flaw'd heart... too weak the conflict to support” (Shakespeare). To keep from weakening or failing; strengthen: The letter supported him in his grief. To provide for or maintain, by supplying with money or necessities. By exchanging money for services you support Groundspeak. When I purchase things I buy from companies that I wish to support, either because of the great product that they make or because I agree with them and they have something I desire. I do not purchase things from companies that I disagree with philosophically or who provide a poor product.

I have to respectfully disagree when it comes to MOC's being an ineffective marketing technique that have proven to be divisive at best. I purchased my intial membership because of an MOC that piqued my interest. It turned out to be one of my favorite hunts ever. I later discovered how handy pq's were and the other benefits of membership. For members this is all a non-issue. I rarely notice whether or not a cache is an MOC since it arrives in my pq regardless, it was not an issue that the pan and zoom on the maps have been corrected, it was not an issue that the OT forum was members only (in fact, I did not even realize it until non-members started complaining that the people who pay for the site were getting something that they were not). It seems to me that the only time any of the member benefits become a divisive issue, is when someone who has chosen to not purchase a membership gets mad that they are not getting something else for nothing. The situation is easily remedied, purchase a membership or stop complaining that those who have are getting something that you are not. The money is a non-issue, in the time it took to read this thread you could have pan-handled enough money to purchase a membership. If your disagreements with Groundspeak are philosophical, then do not purchase a membership, but do not complain that those who have purchased one are getting something you have not. That is the price of your convictions. If you do not see the value of membership, then do not purchase one, but do not complain because others do see the value, and do not pass judgement on them for taking advantage of the benefits that they have purchased. It is all suddenly clear, this issue can be resolved by either purchasing a membership or by realizing that you have no right to judge those who do.

Geez, you got me. I stumbled into your carefully crafted logic trap. I guess I will now hang my head in shame. On the other hand, I could feel sorry for you, since you feel compelled to purchase a service from any entity that you do not wish to support. How unfortunate that they are the best thing going. I guess I will be forced to broaden my views to include those unfortunate souls like yourself who do not like Groundspeak and who do not want to support them, but who do like the services that they provide for a fee. So I will from now on place MOC's to reward the like-minded and to provide some comfort for those who spend their money to purchase services that they desire from an organization they do not wish to support. Is that better? Does the enitre discussion seem ludicrous yet?

"Coming soon.... "insert it here" " If I were TPTB, I would be more likely to listen to your complaints if you backed it up with a couple of bucks a month. I do not mean for that to sound rude, but you are complaining that they have not provided some enhancement (which costs money, even if only for programming time) in the same thread where you have stated that you are not interested in "ponying up the dough" for the current premium benefits. Sorta like, you guys need to work faster to give me something I am not willing to pay for. To me that would fall on deaf ears.

Like-minded as in "they have chosen to monetarily support the site that I have chosen to support, one of the benefits of this support is access to MOC's. Inorder for this to truly be a benefit someone has to place MOC's, I think I will continue my support of GC.com by placing some MOC's so my fellow premium members will have MOC's to hunt. The more MOC's that are placed, the more valuable it is to be able to access them, the more valuable that access is, the more people buy premium memberships, the more premium memberships are bought, the more money Jeremy and company make, the more money they make, the more money they will have to reinvest in the site, the more money is reinvested in the site the faster the site operates with more enhancments. So you see MOC placers are trying to improve this site so you will be able to log quicker, so you will have more time to come to the forums and argue over nothing.

That is a premium member exercising their privilege. Just as when a non-member exercises their right to tell everyone on the forums that they don't think that people should pay for the services gc.com provides, or that by using those services they will become bad, elitist cachers. Edit to add: Maybe one of the features they bought was the ability to reward like-minded individuals by placing MOC's.

I agree.

I invite you to add something new to this discussion, something that was not said last month or the month before that. If you have something to add to the discussion I am sure that we would all like to hear it, perhaps you have the key to solving this once and for all. If not, then you prove my point rather well. Thank you.

You have said several insulting things, but to compare my written statements to Joe's, well that just about takes the cake. Perhaps you meant that although we use a different vocabulary and rules of grammar, neither of us have any problem calling a spade a spade. Has this topic been well and truly beaten to death yet? Every month we have a new firestorm of how anyone who uses a feature they choose to pay for is bad or elitist. The same folks come in and explain why they choose to do it, the same folks come in and explain why that makes them bad people, the same people straddle the fence and say they understand why but that they would never do it. This is a divisive topic that after so many discussions I think we can all see that there will be no agreement on, beyond that we could "agree to disagree". This is exactly the type of topic that people should point to when they ask, "What is wrong with the forums". I believe strongly in the power of discussion and that it is important to try to work things out, but this is one of the topics where that has not proven possible. Honestly, at least once a month this comes up and when was the last time we really heard something new? It is just an excuse for the same groups of people to rehash last month's arguments so they can get off on seeing their "opinions" in print. Maybe this time someone will leave themselves open and you can hit them with a very clever zinger, maybe not, is it really worth working for? In the great scheme of things in this sport this issue means almost nothing. MOC's exist, some people like them, some people don't, many people could care less. This topic is a non-starter, there is no happy medium, there is no way to solve this without upsetting one side or the other, since there is no room for compromise. So why bother having the discussion? All that is going to happen is lots of people are going to say noncommittal things, a few people are going to come down solidly on one side or the other, Joe is going to call someone a slacker, and CR is going to get his panties in a wad. I have the answer. For our November discussion of the evils of MOC's, I will start a thread that says MOC's exist. Joe may respond that he thinks non-paying members are slackers, CR may take up to 3000 lines of text to say that he does not like geocaching.com and therefore will not pay them and that no one else should, but that he still wants every cache to be available to him. I will refrain from posting and starting a new discussion of why he is on the GC.com forums if he dislikes Groundspeak so much, I will instead wait until five people have responded with something noncommittal, as the OP I will then close the thread until December when we can do it all again. With a little practice we can get it all where we just copy-paste it together and on the first of every month we can get this moot discussion out of the way in a couple of hours, then move on to things that matter or that might be helpful to someone. I think it can work. All kidding aside, maybe we should all work harder to make these forums a better place, somewhere that people feel good about coming to. The constant rehashing of old topics that we all know are going to cause a fight at some point, are really turning the forums into a playground for the few instead of an open forum for all geocachers. We need to remember that new folks look in here everyday, see the angst and go running, how are we going to build a real community based on that. I am Monkeybrad, and I approve this message.

How about the Smoky Mountain Geocacher's Club. They are based around Knoxville, with many members from up in your area, Morristown etc.

I'll second that, although I opted for the all-black model. This is the best rain hat I have ever seen. I bought one for my grandfather, my father, father-in-law, and brother. No doubt the best rain hat out there.

That is what gpsr's and maps are for, grasshopper. I-65 south Or from your house... got to I-40 W, to 440 W to 65 S, when you get to Cool Springs you are there. Major caching area, but many of them (mine anyway) are difficult. I don't usually chase ftf's, I let someone else check to see if the coords are right before i go a hunting.