Toaster Rodeo

Like several others have said...I'm a lurker, sort of. I'm also rather new to the forums. I do read them a lot, and learn TONS, and hope to post more. Also, like others have said, if it's a flame war, I'll read it, to see everybody's opinions, but I like to stay out of it.

I just met my first in person geocacher today. He walked up on me while I was hunting his cache. It was a pretty funny scenario, but basically, he seemed like a really cool kid. 'Kid' to me being 13. :-) I could have stood out there and talked to he and his dad for days, but alas, I had to leave. That being said - the geocaching community is probably like many others. It's probably mostly really cool, fun people, but there's going to be some people you just don't get along with. Same goes for any large group, be it an office, a sporting team, PTA, whatever. As for the forums, the internet has a strange way of making some people much 'bolder' than they would be in real life, as somebody else had mentioned earlier in the thread. Some people are 'bold' in real life. So again, in my opinion, it's like with any group, hang with the people you like and just avoid the ones you don't. And most important...have fun.

My sister was a science teacher and she had to do a class on outdoors, and they told her about geocaching - she told me. I blew it off - then I decided a GPS wouldn't be a bad thing to have (since I have no sense of direction) and hey, why not try the geocaching thing? 1 word...addiction.

"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." "Jack told me the hatch was located somewhere around here." <--For 'Lost' fans. :-) Actually, I haven't had any direct encounters...yet. A cop drove through my location and I immediately suspected he was suspicious of my daughter and I, so I immediately started formulating excuses. We were near a historic site, so I could have said that my daughter and I were tourists. Luckily, nothing happened. I saw on another board the suggestion of carrying a clipboard, as that makes you look 'official.' I think it's a brilliant idea! Might try it.

Oddly enough, another great source of swag is the toy section of World Market if you have one of those around you. I've gotten some stuff in the $2 range like these cool little pocket kites (about the size of a hacky sack) that fold out and fly. I also recently picked up some $2 puzzles and chalk. Like many others here, I tend to cache with my daughter a lot, so we try to do a lot of kid's stuff, but what some of the others mentioned here is great like emergency kits, hand warmers, etc. I recently saw a nylon bag like you would put a sleeping bag in. I have several so I didn't take it, but thought it was a great idea. Just use your imagination - you'll be surprised what kinds of things people will appreciate.

Holy cow - what an awesome thread. I've had the flu for the past week and so have not been able to go out, but this made me laugh - definitely the best medicine. Thanks!

Ours is from (drum roll) Spongebob Squarepants. My daughter is a a huge fan and there's an episode where Mr. Krabs makes a bad theme park to drum up business for the restaurant. One of the rides is 'Toaster Rodeo' which are just toasters on springs in the ground. Yes, I'm a dork.