Cool Librarian

Uh huh. I have tried to get my friends interested - and they have all looked at me like I am crazy. And, let's face it, most of us avid cachers are in one form or another pretty much nuts/dorks/nerds/OCD/scary/scared - take your pick! I too have wondered about the popularity growing "too much" - especially in the wake of a bunch of new, pretty sub-par (for this area) caches by newbies who haven't taken the time to read the guidelines and find a few caches before hiding their own. But, generally, I think one of two things will happen - the ones that will stick around will take the advice of their fellow cachers (I've had sucky hides myself) and grow with the sport, and the rest will ignore the logs and any advice given, they will get bored and not maintain their caches (or their caching), and they will just eventually fall out of the game. But, I do agree that not every piece of land needs a cache.

super-small ones can be found in jewelry/bead supply catalogs.

Thanks for the suggestions! I love Ebay, but sometimes if I don't know exactly what am looking for, it can be overwhelming. The posted info helps narrow things down a bit. On the "new" end of the spectrum, the Zire 21 looks like a good deal as well (especially since I wouldn't be needed a lot of bells and whistles). Peace.

12 miles radius for 100. 12 of them are mine. I have found all of them. Not sure about 2 years ago - except that none of them were mine.... EDIT - TWO NEW ONES!!!! Heh, I will fix that by tomorrow.....

Could anyone possibly recommend some names of older palms for me to check out on Ebay? I know nothing about palms because the cost was prohibitive - and if I can't afford it, I generally don't torture myself dreaming about it. Now that they have been around a while and are showing up on Ebay used, I could use a nudge in the right direction. I feel guilty about the paper I use caching....

Like Auntie Weasle said, in these parts there aren't a ton of caches requiring long hikes - so, I think the term becomes relative. I, too, like having the mileage specified on the cache page if it is over .5 each way - not because it's necessarily strenuous, but because I like to put many caches together in a day, and it helps me plan if I know there is a cache or two that may take more than 30 - 45 minutes (which I have calculated is the average amount of time it takes me to complete a cache with a mile or under total hike). The longest caches I have done around here are 4-5 miles total - mostly multis.

Next time you are in New England, RK, look me up! This librarian thing isn't lucrative, but it sure does come with a whole lotta glory!

Auntie Weasel wins the prize here! This is where my book learnin' FINALLY comes in handy.... According to the Dictionary of Abbreviations and Acronyms, "camo" is the accepted abbreviation of "camouflage." Technically, there is no standard abbreviation of "camouflageD," but the standard rules of abbreviation according to the ELI (English Language Institute) Grammar Hotline, an apostrophe and the final letter would do the trick - hence, "camo'd." Whew! Now I can sleep!

Like many of the folks have mentioned, I will almost always take a sig item or something handmade. I have found that my CL Bookmarks and Minimarks are very popular - and, oddly, little boys like them. I tend to stock my caches out of the dollar store, as I am poor. But, we have a great dollar store here, and sometimes I find really cool stuff (even decent compasses on biners which I have seen for $5 or so at the highend stores). I like to find compasses, new whitsles, waterproof match containers, biners, cool keychains/bottle openers, books, hand sanitizer, cool stones, beads - I just like a cache that is not full of junk.

I just got a tremendous deal on a backpack, as I hope to do some longer hikes this spring/summer. My first 100 or so caches I did with a pack, but then pared down to a mid-sized lumbar (fanny - for my mid-sized fanny) pack because many aches in this area are farly short hikes. Since I sometimes cache alone, I always have my cell phone, a compass, whistle, and water with me. Oh, and swag. That's done the trick for the past 500 or so caches. Sometimes I think it is more important to take into consideration the size of the park/preserve/forest you are going into than the distance from the car. More than once I have gotten turned around in a large area even though the cache was only half mile from the car. Doesn't matter that the car is only a half mile away if you take a trail going in the wrong direction (waypointing the car or using the backtrack feature is a good idea - say this even though I often forget....). Have fun!

I have done several things that I would never have dreamed of in search of a cache - that doesn't mean they were necessarily hard for others! I am horrified by heights, but, there I was, rapelling down a 60 foot face so that I could stop halfway down and grab the cache. But, this was after a full day of instruction - and now I own my own harness.... See, just what I need - more gear! As long as people have some idea of what they are getting into/need, I don't see any problem with physically/mentally demanding caches. In my case, they've only helped my self esteem and made the finds that much more exciting. Hmmmm, there's a cave one that I have to get at some point - that may be a real mental challenge for me!

Yeah, just make sure you are pretty fine looking, yourself....

Oh, but I LOVE you....

What did you need the shotgun for???? Back OT: Men in kilts are HOT I tell ya - HOT

Um, excuse me, do I know you? Perhaps it was - if that was the intent, the cache page should have reflected that. I have done more than my share of CITO. If a cache page mentions that CITO is needed, I try to pick up a bag. If I go to a site, find it trashy, and have a bag handy, I do some CITO. I have organized clean-up efforts in my community (noy caching related, so not CITO)..... Not that I should need to defend myself to someone who has no idea who I am but chooses to call me lazy in a public forum....

Just a tip - CVS will develop the film from a disposable on disk only - if you ask. It costs about $5.00 - which is cheaper than getting prints done. That way, you don't have to get prints (if you don't want them) and you don't have to scan - all you need is a photo editor (and most XP systems include one now). As a bonus, you also get the negatives in case you would like prints made later.

Seventeen (17) days last fall when I asthmatic bronchitis and was told to stay out of the cold and off of the trails.... I thought is was longer.

That'd be because it's a domesticated rabbit - probably a pet that someone lost, or let out because they got sick of having a bunny....

I agree. WYLostinMA- You won't be able to please everyone. Some people will like it, some people won't. Some people won't care either way - it's a cache, there for the "hunting." I did one of yours, my first lamp pole micro.... It wasn't thrilling, but it also wasn't the WORST Wal-Mart cache I have done (that was the next day, in Vermont of all places). But, you should know, there aren't, relatively speaking, a lot of micros in New England - and there's a reason for that - many people in these parts don't like them. But, you are welcome to place them. Just be able to accept negative feedback, no matter what you place - it's part of the game. I placed a cache not too long ago that just didn't seem to "do it" for most of the locals - low visits, lackluster posts - even though I thought the area was very cool. But that was just it - the AREA was cool, but the hide was lame. So, it's disabled until I can make it better. And, BTW, park and grabs can be cool, at least to some degree. I have one that very clearly states that it is a quickie, but it has some history info at the sight and the hide is kinda neat. I have had some of the best comments about this cache, even though it's small and takes about two minutes - it can be done. Good luck. Don't take things so persoanlly - it'll only make you crazy.

I got 20 on a card at the dollar store - should have bought 10 cards, because I never saw them again.

I wish all the kids (and some of the adults) were as mature as you appear to be. I think your thread is great - I just wish it weren't member's only, because that is locking (I would guess) a lot of younger people out.

I agree as well. However, in some cases, I don't know that is just about BEHAVING properly, it's also about maturity. No matter how well raised, no matter how many times manners and rules have been drilled into their heads, SOME teenagers can't help themselves. the latest And, sometimes, they do want to discuss things that aren't bad or rude, but just of no interest to adults (even if it IS geocaching related). At any rate, it's too bad that the "legalities" of a teen forum are such a deterrent. I am far from a law librarian, but I have not yet found any particular laws related to this - just liability issues that can usually be covered by disclaimers. Let's face it, kids are accessing the forums, and they can be preyed upon in here the same as they could be preyed upon in a teen forum. And, I'm not sure what the difference between a teen forum and a teen thread would be, in legal terms. Oh, well. If TPTB ever decide to try a teen foum, or decide to take the Off Topic forum off of MO to accomodate a teen thread, I would be glad to be a moderator. In the meantime, we may all have to find a way to let the kids know what is and isn't appropriate. And if it's just goofy kid conversation they want, I guess they are out of luck here.

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=91662 One of the reasons I was asking.... Again, not to necessarily exclude, but perhaps just re-direct. As the sport grows in popularity, there's bound to be more kids on the site. Heh, this is school vacation week in many places - might be interesting.

Ha ha ha! You're funny, Reveritt! Back to reality.... I am actually looking into the legalities of a teen forum section - just for my own edification, if nothing else. This is an area that librarians deal with all of the time - as a profession, we do our best not to censor materials. But the fact of the matter is that not all material is appropriate for teens - not to mention that teens vary greatly in their maturity levels. My thought with this thread is that a teen forum (on or off-topic) might provide a place for kids to talk about kid stuff.

Thanks for those links! Heh, I guess you guys didn't look at my profile pic - Im about 20 years too old for the teen room! As a librarian, I should have thought about the CIPA and COPPA stuff - I guess registration would be needed for the "cover you backside" aspect. Too bad, because that's a real pain, legally. I was just curious, because it just seems that it might be nice for younger cachers to have a place to talk about stuff that "adults" aren't necessarily interested in. I know that there has been much discussion about the off topic section being members only, but it seems that that may be the place for kids to hang out, but I don't know how many younger people have their own MO account. Thanks for the feedback.