meralgia

Gas money spent traveling to parks i've never before visited... $57.89 Money spent on containers, cammo, pencils, ziplocks, travel bugs, etc... $164.23 Fitting back into a womens' size four pant from all the hiking... Priceless!

RRRR... Bought more pencils to donate to micros only to discover that I developed a BLISTER from all of the sharpening. I'm not winning here. This rainy weather had better clear up so I can get outside and quit blathering on about my pencil pet peeves!

Great. I didn't think to click on "view log" because I didn't really want to view what I had written. I tried to add a note, but I couldn't without the tag number. Here are the pics I uploaded on a rather unlikely travel bug: http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.as...10-c86fa365f825

Glad you recovered your phone!! I had to do the same thing when I discovered that my phone had gotten lost in the snow one night. It must have wiggled out of my pocket while shoveling, because later that night, I called it and found it lying in the alley. I was thankful it hadn't been run over by a vehicle in the meantime!! By the way, you'll all be glad to know that I bought a mini pen tonight so I'll have one on me the next time I go caching!!

I'd like to add pics to the gallery but have already moved the TB to its next cache. Do I need the engraved number on the TB dog tag to add more, or is there another way?

I call patients at the clinic to make an appointment so they can learn how to take care of themselves. Unfortunately, 1/3 of them decide to call and cancel at the last minute, sometimes for inane reasons.

you're right. forget i asked. It was late, and we were tired.

Done. Why isn't there a category for the young'uns? My son caches with me (he's 7). Is the poll simply limited to to those with registered usernames?

>1. they are a very nice way to start off I agree. I was disappointed, upon starting, that there weren't many urbans near my mother. She refuses to go too far off-trail to find, so I was often caching alone with her sitting on a nearby bench. >9. they can spark creativity for someone By that i mean a good cacher will look harder for a place to put them I enjoy finding urban caches though I've found that I enjoy hiding them more. I think of myself as a creative person, and I enjoy the challenge. My seven-year-old enjoys the finding more than the hiding, but will tolerate my hiding as long as he can play on the playground equipment. He does enjoy collaborating with my hides when he climbs on my shoulders to place a terrain of 4. He's eagerly awaits logs on those that he helped to place. > 10. If you get a DNF it is not as big of a deal Can't say that I agree with you there. Some DNF'ers are infuriated that they can't find the micro on the playground. I'm always happy to give a hint to guys who feel awkward "playing" in the sand or crawling under a slide. I think they think the urbans are somehow easier, however, hiding them on playgrounds is actually more difficult because if I put them in the "wrong" spot they WILL get muggled. > 11. if you get injured its SAFER How? You're closer to first aid, sure. But someone said they found a used syringe near one of my caches recently. I don't think you can get HIV as easily out in the woods.

I posted a really dumb question. Please disregard.

I'm currently a medical secretary in a diabetes education clinic. The blood sugar test strip cases make fabulous micros, and they're already black. I was a professional student (with a nursing major) back in 1990-1. Life, however, got in the way and now I have to re-take the science classes because they expire after 10 years. I've been taking a class every semester so I can apply to the competitive nursing program. It may take a good four or five years to get the prereqs done, the rate at which I'm going. Ah well! Would love to be the head O.R. nurse (which, I believe this requires a masters degree, so tack on another few years). ; )

I don't think I've read anything that has implied that you're ever "supposed to" place a cache. It's good that you had quite a few under your belt before attempting to place one, in any case. I think there are four main reasons that people don't place them: 1) A Good Reason: When I started, there weren't many PNG's between my mother and myself; most of the caches are in wooded areas and you have to drive quite a while to do a series. 2) Creativity If I hide a cache on the playground equipment, I have to ensure that they're either too hard for little fingers to extract or in a spot where they wouldn't normally see them. There is a high risk of muggling in these situations, so it is more difficult than it seems to find a "good" spot. 3) Cost My husband commented, just last week, that he "just filled" the gas tank. There is an obligation, of sorts, to make sure they are still there after one or two DNFs. We all know the frustration of trying to find something that doesn't exist. 4)Time and/or Energy These are often in short supply for me. I hold two jobs, have a seven-year-old, and enjoy hobbies that don't involve geocaching (gasp! - how can that be??). I'd say that if you have all of the above, go for it. If not, don't feel badly about leaving it to those who do.

I forgot my pen back in the car and came upon a micro with no writing utensil. Fortunately, I was able to gnaw the wood down on this pencil stub far enough to sign the log: Last week, I had to snap the eraser off a pencil that I donated to someone else's micro so that it would fit. I crammed it in my pocket to avoid littering and didn't have a chance to toss it. What have you used to sign the log when you discovered the absence of a pen or pencil?

I was out walking in one of the St. Paul parks attempting to place a geocache. It was pitch black (the park had lighting, but I was on the shady side of the park building). I had my headlamp on and was walking "with purpose" when my sandal caught the edge of a section of chain link fence lying ON THE GRASS... HELLO! (Perhaps they were re-seeding the lawn.) Anyway, after the sandal caught the edge, I went down fast--whump--in two seconds flat and nearly landed on my face. I had no time whatsoever to catch my fall. My right kneecap took most of the damage; that bone bruise took about three weeks to heal.

It wasn't my injury, but when we were caching around a lake, I noticed a runner taking a high road around us. I don't know why I was watching her, but suddenly she disappeared out of sight. I ran around the bend to get to her, and she was on the ground clutching her leg. Turns out that she had recently healed from a sprained ankle and turned the same one. Ouch! We offered to call someone or take her to her car (because we had no idea where around the lake ours was). She simply giggled, "Heh heh... i jogged about two miles here. I'll be okay." We helped her up, and she hobbled away but was obviously in quite a lot of pain. We felt terrible that we couldn't have done more, but the rest of the caches were calling, so we moved on.

I must say that the person at fault would be the person climbing the tree. If you stick your hand in a blender and turn it on, would you sue the manufacturer of the blender for not intentionally saying, "don't put your hand in the blender, stupidhead." Heck, I climbed probably 60' up a pine tree to retrieve a frisbee we chucked up there accidentally whilst playing disc golf. Money we would have lost if we had to buy a new frisbee: $15 Minimum amount of money you should spend on tree-climbing gear: $45 Logging on a geocache in a difficult-to-climb tree: _PRICELESS_

I'll agree with you about the satellite reception; it does take a little while to start up so I just turn it on before I "need" it. Also, the 1000 is a bit big, but since I tend to drop things, the neck strap and beefy profile are "good" for me. Finally, even though the manual entry isn't "fun", it doesn't take too long. I wasn't thrilled about the idea of spending $200 on my first unit. I bought the Cobra for $60 used, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I think I just need more practice. Thanks so much for writing. I may upgrade some day, but perhaps I won't have to.

I read most of the manual for the Cobra 1000 but can't figure out the compasses. I'm a learn-by-doing person and would love it if someone from Minneapolis can take some time. Willing to travel. Thanks! Karen