Jump to content

Joe the Mailman

+Premium Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    41

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Joe the Mailman

    FTF ethics

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Hi all, first time on the forum. Just need to mention something that has really been bothering me.

    I've recently made it my goal to get an FTF (only 150 finds to my name, but it's about time to start trying for one.) I have ended up at two caches FIRST, but wasn't able to find them! OK, so fair and square, I lost the caches- that's part of the reason FTFs are hard to get. Oh well!

    What rubs me the wrong way were the folks who claimed FTF on the last cache I missed. I had seen them go by, and having already gotten the coords for the letterbox cache, said jokingly, "You're too late!" After seeing on their faces that they maybe took that a little too seriously, I said, "Well, I mean, I have the coords, but that doesn't mean I'll find it, so you should probably keep going." (And sure enough, I didn't find it. Too much rushing! Lesson learned!)

    OK, so far so good. The two fellows got the FTF, but in their log, they stated that they had called the CO to confirm the coords! Does that strike anyone else as, well, cheating? Sure, I lost it fair and square: I wasn't going to get FTF for that one. But even if I could have, I wouldn't call the CO to get the coords right. Maybe if I had been struggling with it for a long time, and after several visits to search, but on an FTF? They also conspicuously left out my encouragement for them to keep going, but made sure to state that I was "taunting" them. I can see how it could be perceived that way, so ok (I don't agree, but ok.) But calling the CO? Isn't it clear that not everyone searching for the cache will know the CO, and that calling in order to confirm coords on a possible FTF is... dubious, to say the least?

    Ah, is there no honor in geocaching anymore? LOL. I jest, but I am wondering, would others of you do the same to get an FTF? I wouldn't feel like I earned it if I did it that way.

    Just have to keep trying- no one gets it the first time they try, right? And when I do, I'll get it in a way that seems fair to me, and it will be that much sweeter. I still consider myself relatively new, so there are plenty of other challenges I want to try (24 in a day, fill in the calendar, etc) and I'm having tons of fun. Even introduced my uncle to it this Thanksgiving! (He found the 4 star we were going after! Who would've guessed!? :rolleyes: )

    Thanks for any opinions. Not going to lie, I'm salty about it and want some commiseration. :signalviolin: (Just being honest!)

     

    EDIT: And in retrospect, I'll mention that I probably should have stopped longer to say hi and introduce myself. I was just on such a high thinking I'd gotten there to work on it first, and that my first FTF was mere moments away! I didn't want anyone to pass me up!

     

    I wouldn't consider it cheating unless it was a Puzzle cache. Besides, I am sure most CO's would give you hints or clues to where the cache would be, and not specific cords. After all, its about the search itself. Logging the find isthe icing on the cake. There will be many opportunities to be "FTF". Me personally, geocaching is not a competition, but a way to have fun,relax, and a diversion of every day goings on.

    2013 Travel Tag/Bug & Christmas Card & Postcard Mission

    in Trackables

    Posted

    So, I finally got around to sending off my trackable (TB5NN6W - "Toronto to Arizona")that I received from last year's Christmas exchange. Azgeobugs had sent me (among other things) an Arizona license plate TB. I attached it to a Toronto key chain (where I live) and gave it a mission of getting back to azgeobugs. Gave it to someone at an event who was headed to Vegas. He did more than that, and actually made it to the TB Hotel that it was aiming for. From start to finish in less than a month. Azgeobugs now has the TB. We'll give it a new mission soon. I'd like to do this exchange again. Anyone interested?

     

    I'm interested.

    January 2012 FTF Geocoin Cointest

    in Trackables

    Posted · Edited by Joe the Mailman

    Mymost memorable FTF was GC2JJMY "Joe the mailman's Geo Post Office Golden Ammo Can". My girlfriend and fellow geocacher G.O. Jen placed it for me to commemorated my first 1000 finds. Thanks G.O. Jen. Contact form sent.

    QR Code TBs

    in Trackables

    Posted

    I have come across QR codes that are Trackable. How do you create a trackable QR Code and how do you get an official tracking number for it?

    There's a new "travel tag" style Geocoin sold buy a third party, which has a "QR Code" on it instead of the familiar "barcode bug". Scan it and you go to the main Trackable Page on Geocaching.com, not to the individual trackable's page like you might expect.

     

    You can print and laminate a QR code, and attach a TB dogtag. There are several free online QR Code web sites. You could use just the tracking number, or the entire URL for the trackable, for the QR Code.

     

    It is highly advisable to use a Travel Bug Dogtag, attached to an object you wish to track, such as a laminated QR Code tag, since people will recognize that as a trackable item and not Swag. That is also a way to get a tracking number (buying a Travel Bug).

     

    Thanks

    Team Geocache Hockey Geocoin

    in Trackables

    Posted

    I just found one of these coins in a cache yesterday: #14 Islanders (TB1Z849). Almost 15000 miles traveled.

     

    Very interesting to discover this thread and read all about it's history!

     

    Very interesting thread. Like to see this come back for another season

×
×
  • Create New...