meralgia
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Posts posted by meralgia
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never mind. ; )
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the reviewer is acting on the ones with multiple DNFs, but the others seem to be fairly in play so I doubt the reviewer will do anything about it.
I sent an email, "sorry you feel that way. hope you have a safe trip back."
I doubt they'll open and/or read it even though I put "have a safe trip back" in the subject line. I'm not going to stew or fester about it, and I won't hold my breath for any kind of reply.
It's just too bad that some cache placers are willing to generate trash and waste peoples' time by placing caches they refuse to adopt out and/or are too lazy to maintain.
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how funny... i think we're flushing out all of the uninterested cache owners now that the weather has turned decent:
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I'm sure you're right.They are coming back soon, I would have dropped it and let it go with a 'Great, thank you for your quick response and have a safe trip back!' -
my first email to them, "do you need someone to adopt your caches? I see you haven't been online since Fall."
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I asked a cache owner whether or not the cache was still in play because of the multiple DNFs and the forty minutes we spent mucking about looking for it (obviously it was our fault for not noticing the DNFs before we went out).
This is the response I got: ""Yeah...I get a lot of complaints lately about my caches. I don't get to check my email often, but so many emails are from geocachers... I've been out of the country for a long time so I haven't any idea how my caches are faring. One appears to have flown the coop, and another has off-kilter coordinates...Here in Nigeria there's only 3 geocaches in the whole country! The point is, I apologize to the people who have wasted time looking for mine. I know from experience how frustrating that can be. But I don't want to give them up for adoption. I've neglected them, but I plan to be a better parent soon. I return in a few weeks to pick up my life there again. I will rush out and visit my sites. Sorry again."
My response to them: " I hate to say, but IMHO, it's simply irresponsible to know of those problems and let them go. It's not that I "want" your caches, but it wouldn't be hard to adopt them out to someone local so that problems can fixed and then re-adopt them when you're back. If you don't want my help, that's fine. But at least edit the cache description to let people know that you're not available.
Their response: "A bit harsh there! geocaching is a HOBBY. it's not life or death--like what i am doing here in Nigeria. so give me a break. i don't have time to wait for the geocaching website to load with the signal so weak here in the bush. nor do i want to waste time emailing and reading emails from cranky geocachers who had to waste a few extra minutes out in nature looking for my caches. i don't know anyone else who does this hobby or i would ask them to look in on mine. and i have wasted enough time here... "
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The Amana Colonies in Iowa has a similar thing:
"Take the Amana GPS Adventure. Stop by the Amana Heritage Museum in the village of Amana and receive your first coordinates. You can use your car's GPS system or borrow a hand-held unit from the Museum. Then follow as the coordinates lead you on a chase around the Colonies. A great teaching tool for kids, the GPS Adventure concludes when you discover your token treasure. Contact the Amana Heritage Museum at 319-622-3567 or www.amanaheritage.org for additional information."
(above excerpt found here: http://www.amanacolonies.org/leisure.htm)
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The thrill of the chase.
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I have sympathy for both the reviewer and the cache placer. First of all, if you desire to be a cache placer, it takes a considerable amount of time to do so and should not be entered into lightly. Worst possible scenerio (as you found out) is this:
Let's add some rough time approximations:1. Prepare the cache.2. Look up local caches in the area and find a good unused location.
3. Plan to deliver and hide the cache.
4. Hide cache and mark coordinates.
5. Log in and submit the cache.
6. BAM, sorry - this location is in use.
1. Preparation. This can take ten minutes minimum if you don't want to be simply a black-tape-over-pill-bottle hider.
2. Research. Finding a suitable spot via google earch and researching the park on the state/city webpages can take me ten to twenty minutes. If a park is not already taken, there's usually a reason why. I've run into situations where a private college owns a park, a county park has regulations about caches hidden in the park, and there's a premium-member multi in the park.
3. Travel. Time, time, time...gas money, gas money... If you're truly interested in hiding the cache well, actually visiting the location is a must. If I were to ask a reviewer about the park each time I saw an empty one, it would be a considerable waste of their time. Besides, there are some parks that simply don't accommodate a micro. Trust me, I've searched for nooks in trees countless times that seem like a good spot and eventually the micro just won't stay in the dang tree. It's quite embarassing to have an active cache that fails time and time again.
4. Hide and mark. This can take another ten minutes minimum. Instead of spending oodles of time to prepare just the perfect cache for that spot, try taking a temp cache into the field. Mark the coords of the temp, ask the reviewer about the coords (#5 below), and go back to see if the cache even stuck around overnight. Sometimes kids with sticky fingers find things that we'd never imagine them to find in a million years. Of course cammo might help the sticky fingers, but you also don't want a cache that's been cammo'ed especially for a spot, disabled, sits in your pile of useless caches, and angers you each time you see it.
5. Submit the cache. Two minutes. "Your cache should be in place and ready to hunt at the time your cache page is submitted for review." That's why the "activated cache" box exists. Don't click it at first--no matter how tempting it is. Mention to the reviewer in the intended box your concern about the park's use.
6. BAM, sorry. Unfortunately it happens. Be sure to spend the time to retrieve your temporary cache if it does.
I wish you well in making quality caches and finding suitable spots for them. I applaud your first effort. Don't let the process get you down. It's like college--the first year is supposed to weed out the folks that aren't truly "in it" for the long haul. The last thing we need are caches that people only spent two minutes on when a quality cache hider could have used the spot for a humdinger instead.
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i'm guessing that either:
1) the cache could be the last stage of a multi. try doing the multis in the immediate vicinity and see if the coords lead you there.
2) the cache is only viewable by premium members. i found that out the hard way also. if you're not a premium member and are interested in hiding, I'd suggest signing up so you don't go to unnecessary trouble in the future.
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My son and i found an intact rabbit skeleton on a hunt. We put it in a small garbage bag and brought it home (I carry rubber gloves in the car). We bleached it, and made quite a project out of it!! : )
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maybe it's the previous finder's signature swag! ; ) tee hee... oh yeah, this isn't the off topic forum! ; )
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Before placing our large, concrete-encrusted cache, I had a long conversation with our reviewer about its placement, the demise of the previous cache (someone peed in it) and other logistical details. The thing weighed close to 150#, and we carted it out to the woods on a dolly. Thankfully all went well and ours hasn't been peed in yet!!!
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Have you put in fresh batteries?
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use the text tool in Adobe photoshop, select more than just the text (like everyone else said)--as an image and flip horizontal
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In which hand do you enter coords and/or use your GPS?
Although I'm right-handed, I enter coords and navigate with my left. I have a "little blue" Garmin.
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Good for you!!! I was a SAHM and SAHGD (stay-at-home granddaughter) when I could get to my mother's house to watch grandma. It was sad to watch my son grow up and my grandmother "grow down". Is your granny okay?I am a SAHD and i also care for my 90yo Grandmother full time as she is blind. She lives with my family. (This really puts a ka-bash on caching but i dont want her in a nursing home either.
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Sounds like FearCaching to me.cachers would have to face tumbling logs, pits full of mysterious mud-like sludge, and mazes full of traps while avoiding being pelted with rocks or whacked with long pointy sticks. -
i'm a secretary so am staring at the screen basically all day. it's no big deal for me to keep a couple open at the bottom though the urge to post becomes distracting. I justify it this way: if I didn't type so quickly, I wouldn't have time to post. Because I can get my work done quickly, i spend the little extra time to jot off a sentence or two.
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If the GPS system died, I think I'd shrivel up and die myself. ; )
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I'd like to see people falling on their faces in the woods (like I have) while DNF'ing a cache.
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In addition, I could say that I ate at Jax Cafe (here's the address, and here's the phone number) before finding the cache. If the cache owner felt like it was too much information, they could either delete the log or politely ask the finder to cut a little information, but there is no requirement that the owner HAS to do anything.
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I humbly disagree.
Doing an end-around on the rules is the same as breaking them!After your page is published, post a note with the info you meant to attach. I don't believe that the reviewer has much control over the notes.
If commercial content is kept out of the cache description, then the cache owner has followed the rules. There is no stipulation about what can or cannot be contained in the log. Cache reviewers are "hired" to review the caches, not the logs.How about finding out what IS allowed and working with the PTB instead of trying to become a problem?? -
After your page is published, post a note with the info you meant to attach. I don't believe that the reviewer has much control over the notes.
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too harsh?
in General geocaching topics
Posted · Edited by meralgia
okay, okay. point taken. thanks guys!! won't happen again! ; )
and, yes, I'll watch the IMHO... I suppose it's said a bit tongue-in-cheek.