Beer Monster

...and in bizarre contrast, toe nails have kept me out of caching for quite a while.

I have to go along with Alibags on this one. I think a hint should be just that - an extra clue, not a dead giveaway. I like the sense of achievement I get when I find a well-hidden cache. I like the slight risk that I may need to record a DNF - something I know a lot of cachers don't like admitting to. And I really don't like picture hints. On some of the more distant caches I've done, where it's unlikely that I'll be back to try again, I've found myself trying to print out pictures without looking at them. One of my more noteable foreign failures had the written hint, "Under a protruding rock formation, surrounded by stubby bushes." The whole area for 100m in all directions was full of rocks and stubby bushes. When I checked the picture hint at home a week later, I'd stood on top of the one in question.

Aha! Cheers Keith.

Just tried it, but to no avail. However, as it seems to be changing by the minute, I'll keep watching for a little while!

Ouch! I'm just compiling the match stats from the first GeoRugby game. Luckily I have all the figures in a spreadsheet now, but life might be a touch more tricky for the next game.

Where have I heard that before?

Struth! TPTB must have been listening. In the last half hour it's changed to "Trackables"

Is there a geocaching overlay for the lunar one? Are there even any caches up there?

Not tried it yet, as there weren't any in Bardonecchia last year. But I found details of 3 around Alpe d'Huez last night. Got the details - just waiting for the holiday now!

Mine looks strangely like this: ... only a bit smaller (wouldn't fit in too many log books otherwise)

I know I failed to be the first to find this one. My excuse is that when I'm in a hot foreign country I find myself strangely reluctant to stick my hand into dark holes in stone walls. It's probably 50/50 whether you'll find a plastic box or a scorpion! I now routinely carry a torch!

No need - that's one of the bits I've already got to the bottom of, along with 2 of the stages that follow directly on from it. Once you've sussed that bit, try looking at the animals going into the ark...

Hmm. I do seem to remember something about that Lucky 7! I've been studying Menagerie for a week or more now. I've cracked some of the puzzles and seen solutions to some others, but I'm nowhere near an answer yet. In fact I now have more questions than when I first found it! If you want a good place to start, try asking yourself what the funny lines on the scrabble tiles are for...

Are you SURE it was port? I just got reminded of the old Jasper Carrott sketch where he leaves a whisky bottle on the bus, and it actually contains his urine sample!

I've been toying with the idea of going paperless, but is there much point if I'm a miserly tight-wad and not a premium member?

I've had a couple of unpleasant caching experiences with the after-effects of irresponsible dog owners. As Mac says, it all breaks down pretty quickly if left well alone, but when camouflaged by leaves and left in the middle of a footpath I'm afraid my boots managed to break it down even quicker. The least pleasant experience, however, was having to duck under a clear plastic bag full of the stuff that was hanging precariously from a thin branch at about head-height, just where the GPS said I should be looking. How long will it be before THAT breaks down???

Mine was my 39th find, at Earlswood Retreat on a bitterly cold and snowy January afternoon. Somehow, and I don't quite know how, I beat Snerdbe to it by almost 4 months!

Yes, it does work. When we (Moon-Watcher and I) set up the Centre of England, we put so much effort into getting the questions and final co-ordinates right that we completely misquoted the published co-ordinates. They were something over half a mile out. Fortunately we noticed within just a few minutes and managed to move it (bit by bit) before anyone noticed!

Here in the Midlands we don't get many caches to be able to judge trends. I just looked at GeocacheUK's interactive map, and there's thousands of blue spots around Newcastle. Manchester, Liverpool, London, Bristol, Southampton, etc. Just south of Birmingham there's a diagonal line across the country between South Wales and The Wash that's still mostly beige. That's where I live.

I seem to have hundreds of things plugged into almost every orifice in my PC but luckily only 2 are serial. Unluckily I only have 1 serial port. The etrex goes into the serial port and the dive computer plugs into a USB serial adapter, then into a USB hub and then into the PC. I just needed to be a little careful in telling the dive software which COM port (serial port) the computer is plugged into. I think it'll now recognise up to 6 COM ports. Finding the right one was just trial and error. I don't know the make, but it was about £9 from www.ebuyer.com, and much more reasonable than the £50 cable that connects to the dive computer!

I found a bent poppy-pin in a cache once. Unfortunately I found it with the end of my finger. Wish I hadn't found it though!

Maybe the cacher went to the published incorrect co-ordinates, found a small container there and logged themselves as FTF a piece of litter!

Not sure about Old Triffid, but Highbury (home of the FA cup!) is around £30 for a match, and my Mrs is off to Wimbledon this year at £50 for the day. In principle I have no objection to this. £150 less expenses to cart a bunch of people around for the day isn't going to make anyone rich. My only problems are the with TBs (as has already happened) and the bunch of people trampling around at a cache site. Many of the caches I've visited show signs of a few people looking around. A dozen people unfamiliar with the need for the site to remain inconspicuous would ruin some caches.

I just read some of the posts up they're, and I'm sure their not right! Some people have spelling errors in there's!

Why do it as a trail of separately loggable caches? Surely each cache would then have to have some merit in its placement. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to do it as a multi-cache, albeit a rather large one?