mousekakat

Well, we just came back from a 2.5 day quick tourist trip to London... WOW... so much to see, so little time! The plan had been to do some caching, but our gps'r's battery is only chargable via car cigarette lighter, and it came on in our backpack on our way over, soooo... no caching for us. We did prepare before we went, we looked at the areas where we were staying using the "map-it" function and printed out the main map-it map and then the caches around it we were interested in. There are a TON of virtual and micro/mini caches in London. We didn't see many that were bigger than that. To be honest, we spent so much time consulting the tube map and figuring out where we were, lol, that we probably wouldn't have had much of any time to do any caching, anyway, with the exception of the virtuals that were directly at the areas where we were going, like Westminster Abby/Houses of Parliament and St Paul's Cathedral, which both have virtuals. If you take the tube in London you will be fine with a 2 zone daycard. It is good for both tube and bus and it takes you to the vast majority of the places you'll want to go in the London major area, it cost 5.10£. Be prepared to spend a bit of money. It costs anywhere between 8 and 20£ per person to get into most attractions, there are some that are free, but St Paul's, Westminster, the London Eye, soforth and so on, they are not cheap, they are pretty worth it, but expensive. It was kind of disappointing that you weren't allowed to take photos in the cathedrals. As for food, there was a great little sandwich joint called Pickles that if you're walking down Birdcage row by the guard museum and then turn right to go to Westminster Abby is on a little side road on the right, danged good sandwiches and other food, we found that those type little joints all had decent food and had better prices than the places that were more "open" and usually a fun, "different" atmosphere and we enjoyed them a lot! Beware that the tube is VERY busy starting around 3ish until 6ish. At one line we had to wait for 3 trains before there was one that had the space for us in it. Walk down to the end of the platform, all the way down, you have a better chance of finding a car that has space if you do that. If you've got kids in strollers be prepared to carry the strollers up and down stairs everywhere as London doesn't seem to be at all friendly for them. There are very few tube stations that have more than stairs, most are stairs only, although there are a couple that have elevators. Most don't. The tube stations, at least the ones that are all indoor and not outdoor, are very, very warm, it's something you might want to remember and keep a bottle of water with you. Because of the heat a backpack style carrier really didn't work, we tried our patapum and it was much too hot for the baby and for Mr Mousekakat. Be sure to keep a good hold on older kids as people push and shove to get on and off the trains. Oh, and if you want to watch the changing of the guard, get there at least 10:30 and go to the big statue facing the castle but across from it. If the castle and its fence is at 12:00, sit facing approximately 11:00 and you'll have decent seats and should be able to see inside the fence, too... we couldn't, kidlet was disappointed! Anyway, those are just some of my observations on our whirlwind trip to a wonderful city!

There are no words.... *hugs*

What about a Texan living in Sweden.....

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Hang in there.... sending prayers and good vibes your way... Remember, the rainbow bridge is there, and you'll see Sedona again some day! *hugs*

Ya know, I asked a simple question if others found it offensive and what should be done. I didn't ask to be grilled, mocked, or for anyone to judge me or my beliefs. A simple yes, I find it offensive, or no, I don't find it offensive would have sufficed. To make me have to go on the defensive over it is just wrong. I'm sorry I came here and asked.

BTW, if you want to get into the germanic language thing, then congrats, you speak one yourself! Does that mean that you're speaking Scandinavian, too? From Wikipedia: English is a West Germanic language Now, a little Latin! Pax...

It is a part of, not it is. I guess you missed this part... The reason why Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are traditionally viewed as different languages, rather than dialects of one common language, is that they each are well established standard languages in their respective countries. Jhwk, you wanna discuss the topic or continue to discuss me? If it's the latter, take it to pm. Men, om du tror att kanske du vet lite mer än vad jag kan på svenska, snälla, förtsatta med din förklaring! Särskilt sedan svenska är inte mitt modersmål, jag har bara tränat för nästan åtta år på det!

I speak Swedish, US English and some Spanish. There is no language called Scandinavian, silly...the greatest cacher alive you may be, but linguist, lol? There is only a Scandinavian language group. From our friend Wikipedia:

I also believe in freedom of speech, and yes, I'm also originally from the states. I don't care about the dam word, but the G*d addition to it bothers both me and my Swedish husband. It's the one curse word we don't use in our house. FWIW, we don't have the slightest problem with cursing otherwise and have been known to colorfuilly pepper our speech with it... in both languages, lol! It's also an appearance thing. I, personally, don't think it leads to making a good impression for those who look on the listings in Sweden and see it there. It looks really bad.

Because "dam-n" is not a word in Swedish. Damm means pond or dust. Did you even read the definitions or the fact that I speak Swedish, or does that mean nothing to you at all? Even the forum here automatically blocks using the word.

Yep. It's not offensive in Swedish. I wonder if the Swedes have gotten used to seeing the name "Brad Pitt" in their media? We laugh at Mr. Pecker... It is offensive as it isn't Swedish, it's English. For the second time, I speak Swedish. Look at my location.

Nope, your translator is wrong. Besides, I speak Swedish. Damm is a pond: English entry word pond pool of water; basin Swedish translation damm, tjärn, vattensamling, liten sjö (substantiv) Composition the Pond---{informellt} {skämtsamt} pölen, Atlanten irrigation pond---bevattningsdamm duck pond---ankdamm Swedish entry word damm [dam:] dammen dammar noun vattensamling, bassäng English translation dam; pond, pool here is the definition of dam translated over to Swedish: Swedish entry word fördämning [för_d'em:ning] fördämningen fördämningar noun anläggning för att hejda vatten, dammbyggnad English translation dam Examples alla fördämningar brast---all dams burst God is good in Swedish, though, it did get that part right! Swedish entry word god el. vard. go [go:d] gott goda adj. comp.: nbetter, bestn bra, fin (in informal Swedish, ngon) English translation good ant. bad Examples god effekt---good effect god hjälp---a lot of help god kondition---good shape god sikt---good visibility god vän---close friend

It's in a Christian, although somewhat secular country. It's been online a few days now, it was published like that. I sent two messages, one through the geocaching.com site and one through the Swedish geocaching site. and haven't heard anything back. I'll give it a little more time. We leave to London tomorrow and don't come back until Friday, maybe by then it will be addressed. I just don't want to jump the gun, ya know!

We really enjoy faith geocoins of any kind, and today we were blessed with one of PrinceShoko's coins that recognizes 6 different faiths... Cool! Thanks, PS, and blessings!

GC14WRZ Hopefully that is linked right as I didn't really want to put the name of the cache on this page. Is it just us, or is that an offensive name, and if so, what would be the next step if you have already notified the reviewer that was the one that published it and he hasn't responded or done anything and he has since published other caches since then, so you know he's around.

We discovered caching together and cache together and we both love it! It's kind of funny, I'm short and somewhat overweight, but the more challenging the trail, the more I'm into it! I don't like bushwhacking a while lot, but give me a rocky trail and I'm in heaven... it's something to do with pushing myself to the challenge. I may feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest, but when that cache is located... man, what a rush! He's better at bushwhacking and does pretty good finding caches. I keep the dog and 7 1/2 year old on their leash and help find too and I'm the "trip organizer"... In any case, though, we love it and I don't see us quitting any time soon, although we might take a break when the dark, snowy winter gets here. In the middle of December we're lucky to get 5 or 6 hours of sunlight and night caching with little kids just doesn't sound like fun!

Ohhh, geez, you two, I'm really sorry.... there are no words that I can say that can ease the pain, just know that you're in my thoughts! Naomi

Tsun, I'm relatively new here, but from what I can tell, your coins rank up there as some of the most desirable, they are colorful, well thought out, imaginative, and best of all, many are done freeform. Those together make your coins already memorable. I think that a card of some sort with a description would be the icing on the cake, but that the cake is already one of the most delectable there is out there One day I hope to stumble upon one of your coins! From what I've seen, they are gorgeous! Why not try some sort of special edition that comes with a pouch and note card explaining them and selling them also without that... see what the sales numbers say and take it from there!

Enjoy! I'm sure that everyone who receives them has really earned them in one way or another... I think this O'coin is a bug with impeccable taste!

Why not just list them and put "donutdog" in the title... don't put anything else that denotes it's a proceeds going to type thing, we all know what you'll are doing it for, and "DonutDog" could be the "code" hehehe! Just a thought!

I think that is really important. Most of the people who trade are the ones who have kids. We've cleaned trash and junk out of many caches and refilled them with fresh swag. We don't have a lot of funds, but we do it because we know how much the kids enjoy finding neat little things and because we have our own kids who enjoy finding things. I think it's just good "geo-manners" to do so. One cache we removed matches, lighters, a stupid paper measuring tape that was all crumpled in a ball, and literally trash that was left in the cache and refilled it with 5 or 6 dollar store items - blow up bath toys, pads of paper, pretty glass rocks, and other goodies. Found another cache that had a 3/4 full pack of smokes in it and we removed that, as well. Did a cache a couple of days ago where it was almost empty and at a very family friendly place, so we also restocked it. I think as long as you trade "nice" the value isn't as important... the trade up/even thing comes into account more if you're taking an obviously expensive item. Just be sure to not leave food items or things that can make the cache wet/sticky/nasty in any way! Enjoy!

hehehe, I didn't want to be too obvious, but she deserves the credit, she's an awesome lady And you guys are right, there are some incredible people here. Mr Mousekakat and I have already noticed it and are so impressed and touched by the generousity and caring shown here. Truly an inspiring group. Some day we hope to be in the situation where we're able to repay the kindnesses shown here! As for now, we've got a lovely little cabin here in Sweden, if anyone ever crosses the pond and wants to visit, our door is always open.... the house may be a mess, but the cabin is clean and the welcome mat is out . Hubby and I met on the net 9 year ago, so net friendships into real life don't scare us at all.... unless it's Snoogans ... he scares me... a little...not too much.... but a little... Just kidding, Snoogans!

However many things you take out, put back in... Dollar store is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful thing Personally, I'd let the kids each take something, as it is part of what makes it exciting for them and helps keep them interested. I've got a 7 1/2 old and a 14 month old. The oldest gets to pick, the youngest couldn't care less, lol, and I let the oldest pick what to put back in the cache. Right now we're doing a LOT of decorative glass flowers that are pressed from a piece of molten glass that we get from the Dollar store here in Sweden (yes, there is a Dollar Store here, how funny is that, lol) and I pay roughly 1.25 for a bag of 25 of them. They are a couple of inches across and about an inch thick and cost just pennies and are really pretty to leave in spite of their low cost. Kidlet enjoys picking out the "perfect" color to leave . I keep up with logs of caches we visit and I see that the glass flowers are one of the more popular swag items we leave Have fun, that's most important!

I contacted a user here, who will remain nameless unless she decides to reveal herself, that I loved her personal coin, the message on it, the picture on it, the entire 9 yards so to speak and asked her if I could buy one from her. For various reasons she was unable to sell one to me, but could trade me one, but I didn't have anything to trade her . I was so disappointed, I loved her coin so much! This wonderful person asked for my address and offered to send me one of them! Today in the mail I received the package from her. Not only did it have one of her beautiful coins in it, it had 2, AND a bunch of really neat signature items (that my 7 year old is still oohing and ahhing over), and a couple of other unactivated coins. We're a one income family in a country that is set up for 2 incomes and things are always pretty danged tight here, so it's difficult for me to outright buy any coins. Hubby works full time and studies part time to be a priest in the Swedish church here (Evangelical Lutheran). Thanks to this wonderful person and her generosity, we've now got a good start in the geocoin adventure, and even better, 2 of her beautiful coins! THANK YOU!!! You don't know how much you just made our day with these! I think you're a geocoin angel! (I know there is the mailbox thread, but this was really special and I wanted it to stand out, hopefully it doesn't get moved too early!)