nashuan

I have done a handful of night caches (and just placed my first) and have to say that I really enjoy them. For the first one I did, I used a small (the size of my thumb) LED flashlight and it worked OK. I think I got really lucky to find the waypoints with the light it threw off. For my next one, I got a headlight and loved it! I used a large hand-held maglight in addition to the headlight (got the headlight at Wally World for about $15), but really liked that the light from the headlight followed where my eyes went. If I looked up, the light went up. Look to the left and the light goes to the left, and so on. I've done a few others since and still use my headlight as a primary source of light, though I still bring back-up lights and extra batteries just to be sure. I'm sure you'll be happy with just about anything you choose though. I hope you have a great time night crawling; just watch out for those branches that have a way of finding their way into your eyes. You might want to think about safety glasses. It sounds hokey, but it's harder to watch out for th branches in the dark and one poke might ruin the rest of the night.

I only have five caches published, but I like seeing pics that are taken of the folks who visit. Maybe the scenery around the area and in the cace of the one ammo can I have out there, pics of its contents from time to time. As has been said, if the container is unique in any way and photos of it would be spoilers for someone else finding it, then no. But Taking pics of you or the surrounding area would be welcomed by most cache owners I think.

I ran into this myself with my first cache. It is fairly unique and gets some good comments in the log. Most people haven't posed spoiler photos in the gallery, but one well-meaning person did. I contacted her and asked as politely as I could if she could remove it, and she did at once. She replied to my email that it was removed "as requested" and I couldn't tell for sure if she was insulted, but the photo did get pulled and now new customers get more of the full effect. Don't assume that people "won't look in the gallery". If I have time to check out a cache page, I try getting whatever info I can out of it, which includes the gallery at times. Just ask nicely that they pull the photo in question and explain that you want more people to have that "WOW" moment when they finally find the cache unaided. Most people are reasonable I think, but if they're not remember that you're trying to help others to enjoy your cache just as much as that person obviously did. Isn't that why you placed it to begin with?

My mailbox had an unexpected surprise in it today from AEToys. A dozen Pirate Treasure coins I ordered and they sent along a freestylin coin on the house for the delay and a note saying they were sorry for the trouble they had last year and that they hoped people would give them a second chance. I honestly don't know what to think at this point and feel stumped. I had some earlier transactions with these folks and thought they ran a great operation. When the Pirate coins (and 2008 Dragonfly coins) seemed to have gone up in smoke and we were left without a word, I was REALLY disappointed. Angry too, but I think more hurt than angry. I figured they were going under and said to heck with their pre-paid customers. What bothered me most of course was being cut off from communication. If they were having problems and I was told what was going on I wouldn't have minded nearly as much as just being cut off. Apparently though, just as in the Cinema Boxers/Geocoin Guy issue, these people weren't quite ready to throw in the towel and seem to be coming through with the old orders at last. So what now? Do I say "awe shucks, that's OK. Here's more money?" Do I think how much they betrayed customers and hurt other coin sellers's who are themselves impacted if they suggest presales? Do I acknowledge that I have made mistakes myself and have been fortunate to have been given second chances? Do I believe in these people since before these shennannegans, I really did like doing business with them? There are several other vendors out there of course and I don't necessarily have to patronize them again. The truth of the matter is though that the Pirate Treasure and Dragonfly series coins are in my opinion some of the classiest designs out there. As I fumbled around with my new coins this afternoon I couldn't really tell if I was happy because I love the design, or happy because I can finally stop feeling like I got ripped off. I guess for now I wish them well and good luck while I mull over second chances.

I like Clan Riffster's idea of leaving coordinates to one of thier custom camoflaged ammo cans hidden nearby. That gives the FTF-er another thing to "find" plus, helps to further populate the area with more caches. It might even turn out that you would be FTF on that new cache you supplied! Ammo cans from an Army/navy surpluss store in my area run between $6 and $8, depending on size. If you don't have one near you, you could probably get a lock-n-lock type container, throw in a log book and leave that. I have only put out 5 caches so far and have left unactivated geocoins in a few. I was FTF on one and found a carved soapstone disc (about 2" across) that I keep displayed right on my monitor. It probably cost the person a few bucks for the disc and they sandbalsted some text into it (FTF #1, GC, and their name - Ravenhorse) and then painted in the text. Very simple FTF, but I love seeing it every time I log on. People who like FTF prizes aren't all that greedy. They just like to feel like they got "Something" as a form of keepsake/prize. Most people are thrilled just to find the blank log. Don't knock yourself out over the FTF prize; just try to place the cache somewhere nice and people will be happy.

Thank you El Diablo and every one else who posted tips and info on making a hiking staff. I've been meaning to do one for several years now and maybe this thread will finally push me to get started.

Unfortunately, I didn't have room to leave coins or TB's. In the cache page it is listed as a "log only" so people don't bring them expecting to have the room (it's listed as a size 1). Muchado was the FTF on my Pirate cache (Nashuan's First Cache); which was my initial introduction to him. At that time he had just over 2000 finds and I couldn't believe anyone had that many. Since then I have met many great people through this game of ours and have marveled at the effort and ingenuity that many people put into their caches. I really appreciate a memorable cache; whether it brought me to an awesome place, or was a crative puzzle that I finally solved or was an innovative container. I am currently at just over 500 finds and noticed pretty early on how much thought Muchado put into his caches and wanted to give him some recognition for these efforts. "An Evening with Shakespeare" just got published last night, but I've already had a few customers (including Muchado). I was a little reluctant to post pics of the final, but hope that it will give others ideas to put different kinds of caches out in the wild. I know that I have taken an idea or two from this thread myself.

SPOILER PHOTO FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE CACHERS For your consideration: This is the final to "An Evening with Shakespeare" - a Puzzle cache dedicated to geocacher "Muchado" hitting his 2500th find. The cache container is an ammo box.

I agree that it looks like a placeholder. Probably just starting to work on the site for the 2009 beauties.

I just love this thred and come to it often for inspiration or just for plain entertainment. I really appreciate an imaginative cache that a lot of care and ingenuity went into and I think this one would be one I'd love to seek out if it were not for the distance from New Hampshire. Monty Python's Holy Grail is of course a cult classic that lends itself well as a caching theme and this cache will long be remembered by those who log it. I can understan your concern about the muggle factor, but think you are offering the community something important enough that it should be placed appropriately. It seems as if you are a little unhappy about your final placement of the individual stages. If this is the case, I would encourage you to make the effort to relocate them to an area where you are totally satisfied and that they are safe enough to be available for many others to find over the upcoming years. Keep up the good work.

Merry Christmas to Hollera and all the other cachers/coin collectors here. Thank you for hosting the cointest and thanks to everyone who participated. It's great to read about how everyone spends their holidays. We had our get-together last night and it was awesome. With the pitter pat of grandchildren's feet running around my parent's house, Christmas cheer filled the air for the next generation to enjoy and the adults got recharged as well. Hope you were all good boys and girls and that Santa put coins in all your stockings.

I had fairly small family (two siblings and both parents) gatherings for Christmas Eves, which is when we always did out thing. The only other relatives we had were in Philidelphia, so we were pretty much on our own when we opened our gifts. This fostered a more intimate atmosphere for our family that I'm glad I had. Later in the day, we'd hit the neighborhood houses (most everyone had families with children in my age group) and exchange gifts. As a kid, my whole world was within walking distance except for school, and everything seemed simpler. We always loved what we got (except for clothes) and I can't remember anyone ever having any problems - no unemployment, no divorce, no sickness that a couple of days rest couldn't cure. Today, as I look at the lives of everyone around me - friends, family and coworkers, it seems that everything is full of drama. This one has cancer, those two are divorcing and everyone is trying to make ends meet over the course of the year. We still make it a point to have Christmas Eve at my parent's house (same one after 45 years), though the family has now gotten bigger. With all the turmoil everyone faces, it's as if we fight to keep this one simple time undisturbed; to renew our faith in the "good old days". We eat, laugh, exchange presents and for a few hours each year, we return to our roots, where everything is within walking distance. Merry Christmas everyone, I hope and pray that each and every one of you gets to spend this holiday season as you wish and that the upcoming year brings you health, happiness and prosperity. Nashuan (Michael)

Pretend you are setting up a cache (I see on your profile that you currently have a couple already, so I won't go into how to set one up), but make sure that the box saying to send to the reviewer is NOT checked. This then is like a rough draft cache page that has not yet been published and never will if you haven't sent it to review.

Name of coin: 2008 Dragonfly Name of Vendor: AEToys Date Paid: 5/27/08 Shipment Due Date: Who the heck knows Ordered by: 1. yalehockeymom, not received, pd 5-27-08 2. AtlantaGal, not received, pd 5-27-08 3. kehunt64 , not received pd. 8-13-2008 4. Vanelle, not received 5. rivercity, not received, pd 3-2-08 6. fairyhoney, not received, pd 3-2-08 7. GeoKs, not received, pd 5/27/08 8. LionsLair, not recieved, paid 5/26/08 9. RSFish1, not received, Paid 5/27/08 10. pingos, not received, paid 5-27-08 11. Steel City Babes, not received, Paid 8/13/08 and 8/20/08(Don't ask...as you can see I have a problem biggrin.gif ) 12. Sweetlife not recieved and paid for 5-27 08 13. Nashuan - Dragonfly 2008 (3) sets not received. Pd $161.25 on 5/27/08 (also pd $119.30 on 5/30/08 for Pirate Treasure coins - not received) 14. Penny and Kona - Dragonly 2008: 1 set and extras of each not received. Paid: too much Paid when: 27 May 2008, and I still have original email receipts and an order number to prove it. 15. gardengorilla, not received paid sometime in April... 16. hitechman, paid June 1, 1 set, have all e-mails and receipts 17. FamiliaSilvestre, paid 5/28/08, 1 set plus S&H $74.25 18. ThePetersTrio paid for 5 coins on 5/26 for a total of $55.05 and coins were never received. 19. Whitby, not received, paid 6-4-08 $78,80 20. Sunrayers: Order #5008 date 5/27/08 2 sets of Dragonfly coins $107.70 + Order# 4952 date 5/24/08 Pirate coins $60.57 21. Pabloturtle, not received, paid 5/27/2008 22. mickebush77 not received paid 8/15/2008(and for one pirate treasure not received) 23. Geo-Gophers, paid 5/27/08, Paid $34.11 via Paypal (for one "Dragonfly 2008 Blue Wing" & two "Dragonfly 2008 Green Wing" plus $4.26 shipping/handling.) 24. Cache_in_hand, paid 8/13/08, not received *Also from this vendor 2 Pirates Treasure Coins, same date 25. hollora, 1 set = $55.05, not received, paid 5/27/2008 26. IthacaDoodle, not received, paid $22.45 for 2 coins on 8/19/2008 27. Band of Bradys - Paid 11.99 on 5/27/08 with Paypal - one Dragonfly coin - never received 28. Ratandjmt - Pd $55.05 ($49.75 for one set and $5.30 S&H) on 5/27/08 ** Posted to include Ratandjmt as regards post (see link) in 2008 Dragonfly thread.

Through an odd twist of events, I built my first cache before I had ever been out geocaching and before I was familiar with my GPSr and such things as waypoint averaging. I found my first cache in late May (a couple of weeks before my cache got published) and the owner of that cache kindly offered to Beta test mine for me. It was a two-stage multi, and in fact it had some bugs that I hadn't seen. I was really glad that someone with a fresh set of eyes looked things over. The cache and listing got tweaked and he eventually did log the find, though not as FTF. That was my first introduction to the kindness of geocachers - a stranger who went out of his way during a busy work schedule to help out a newbie. Thank you Cow Islander.

I just checked the AEToys website and found the following message: Due to the economy and a few issues we have had on our geocoins we are closing until further notice. We hope to reopen in the next few months. Our Nanos will be back instock and we will offer them on our ebay store. We love geocaching and our store but hard times have forced us to back off for a short time. Thank you to all that have supported us, we look forward to working with you again. All orders placed for stock items will be shipped in the next day or two. Any orders for the Pirate geocoins we have been told they left China and we hope to be shipping them very soon. We will honor all orders for the Dragonfly geocoins with refunds or shipping them soon as we receive them. We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. We will see you in the new year. Team AEToys!

I wonder if there is such a thing as a 'class action' small claims filing? It probably depends upon how much money total has been defrauded those who participate in the suit. But it might be something to check into. Anyone know a good lawyer - preferably one licensed in Idaho? I don't know any Idaho lawyers, but if we can all band together and do some class action thing or even a whole bunch of individual things, I'm in. I'll fly in from New Hampshire if need be - even if it cost me more to fly and for a hotel room than I have on the line.

I think they will opt for door number three and not answer you one way or the other. Don't hold your breath. Don't mean to be all down on you, but I'm thinking that they are too embarrassed to tell us what happened, or deliberately defraudded us in which case it is in their best interest not to contact us.

I have to laugh - I was thinking the very same thing. I don't know if anybody has ever noticed, but the last batch of Pirate Treasure coins that were actually delivered were marked as 2007, though they were supposed to have been minted this year.

I paid paypal through a debit card. It has a Mastercard logo, but I don't think it's actually considered a credit card per se. My computer was acting wacky last night, but after a couple of hours, I was finally able to also file complaints with Paypal. Next stop; BBB and maybe the Attorney General's office in Idaho.

I finally gave up and filed a complaint with the Internet Crime Compliance Office and would encourage anyone else who is waiting for orders from AEToys to do the same. I had hoped that by some miracle these people would come through. I have orders in on the Dragonfly sets and Pirate Treasure coins and it sickens me that we've been ripped off, but plain and simple that's what happened. You know, I can understand sickness, I can understand divorce, I could even understand mismanagement of funds (I wouldn't like it, but I could understand it). I don't think that's what is going on here though. We were strung along, with empty promises until our time for refunds ran out. We were conned.

I've been hoping for some contact from AEToys but no word yet. I'm waiting for about $300 worth of the 2008 Dragonfly coins and the Pirate Treasure coins. If anything has shipped, you would think they would have notified everyone to expect deliveries, so guess what that means

I'm in agreement with A.F. on this, and just spent a good 20-minutes writing up this whole long thing about why I agree, but then deleted it as it is just simple common sense. If we are to hold sellers to a reasonable professional standard (which we obviously should), then the consumer should have an equal amount of responsibility on thier side. Problem solved. Start the list.

2) Nashuan pd $119.30 on 5/30 for Pirate Treasure coins - not recieved (Also pd $161.25 on 5/27 for 2008 Dragonfly coin sets - not received)

Ordered by: 1. yalehockeymom, not received, pd 5-27-08 2. AtlantaGal, not received, pd 5-27-08 3. kehunt64 , not received pd. 8-13-2008 4. Vanelle, not received 5. rivercity, not received, pd 3-2-08 6. fairyhoney, not received, pd 3-2-08 Combining the 2008 Dragonfly coins to 1 list per Eartha's instructions in post 1. Please keep the coin on 1 list so Eartha can easily see how many people have not received their coins. If you have not received your 2008 Dragonfly coins, just "reply" to the latest post on this list, add your name and number it Thanks 7. GeoKs, not received, pd 5/27/08 8. LionsLair, not recieved, paid 5/26/08 9. RSFish1, not received, Paid 5/27/08 10. pingos, not received, paid 5-27-08 11. Steel City Babes, not received, Paid 8/13/08 and 8/20/08(Don't ask...as you can see I have a problem ) 12. Sweetlife not recieved and paid for 5-27 08 13. Nashuan - Dragonfly 2008 sets not received. Pd $161.25 on 5/27/08 (also pd $119.30 on 5/30/08 for Pirate Treasure coins - not received)