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If you have pics of those, post em!

To paraphrase a line by Nicholas Cage in 'Raising Arizona': 'Well, here's what's right, and there's what's right, and never the twain shall meet.' I have two downtown caches. One was originally placed in a clear plastic container. Today, I went and replaced the container for the other one to a clear plastic Rubbermaid container. Because when all is said and shakes out, I just feel badly that Mr Cook is going through all this hoopla just because he was enjoying an innocent game with his children in a public place. I would hate for anything like that to happen to another cacher who comes to seek one of my inner city caches. While all this is terribly unfortunate in today's political climate, it is preventable.

Of course I put everything in baggies, but baggies are not bulletproof. As we have all see at caches everywhere, the pen and/or pencil always pokes a hole in the bag; the zipper quits and stuff gets ruined. My caches so far have proven to be water tight and weather proof, even groundhog and elk proof (one of my caches is in a park where elk and bison are captive, but they roam free within the park confines. People are the ones caged in their cars, at least in the bison sector. But we can walk around freely in most of the elk preserve, as the elk just move away from people. So caching is OK there. My cache was evidently used as an elk soccer ball once, and it survived fine.) Anyway, all due precautions are practiced on my end. I just wish visitors would do the same, that's all. Thanks for the suggestions.I'll look for the desicants. But I'm half concerned that someone will just think it's an odd trade item...

Jeremy's thread about rain gear for caching not withstanding, I've gotta say that I don't really understand why people must cache in the rain. I had a few logs posted on one of my caches that it was wet and moldering, Bushwacking With the Beave so I went and brought the cache home to dry it out. The cache container, like most of my hides, is a Coleman thermos jug. Absolutely waterproof, and I even test it in the kitchen sink to be sure the gopher teeth marks haven't compromised it in some way. It's fine. But there are a couple of logs posted that speak of caching in the rain. After I dry the cache out, I decide that it needs a new placement anyway, as the hidey-hole that I chose for it is now home to a gopher or something, and it keeps evicting the cache box. So I archive the original, and replace it with this one: Bushwacking with the Beave's Brothers And the second find logged says: Sigh. The same week, another new cache I placed has a rain log. Cataract Falls Towering Pines Sigh again. Fair warning: rant ahead: It stands to reason that a watertight container remains watertight, whether the water is inside or outside of the box. Once that rain gets in, it won't evaporate out again. It just gets moldy and nasty. So, geez-o-pete, people, if you must cache in the rain, (why? why? OK, I did it once too, I admit it, on a warm Aug day in an all day steady downpour, and I also admit it was fun , and I do get the Pacific Northwest dilemma of cabin fever, and if we gotta wait til the rain stops, it'll only be because it turns to snow-- but I love caching in the snow and I do digress-- but hey, this is Indiana I'm talking about!) So, anyway, if you must cache in the rain, bring plastic to cover the cache box with when you open it. Keep the cache dry! Thanks for the space to vent. Don't know if it'll do any good, but maybe it'll make me feel better. Now I need to go out and check on the Beave's Brothers cache and see if it's all wet inside. Except it's raining all day today, and it's not August, so I'll just wait to do it another day. There. Now was that such a hard decison to make?

Too late. Cache Commnado just posted the FTF on it. But that in no way lessens the beauty of this place, or the power of it's effect on a tortured psyche.

You really need to check out my new cache (be FTF if you like; no one's found it yet.) Cataract Falls Towering Pines That place is so stunningly beautiful, so serene and powerful that those rough edges you are displaying will all be smoothed out. Do this one first, and you will be so blissed out, you won't have the heart to tear down all those other poor unsuspecting cachers you are targeting in your vitriolic search. That's a promise from me to you.

Lately I've been using Coleman and Gott thermos coolers; Watertight, (until somebody caches in the rain, as they did at this cache) and very tough. This cache was placed in a root bole hole in the late winter. A couple months later, whatever was hibernating in that hole woke up, and repeatedly evicted the cache. (The cache was relocated above ground, and will be relocated again soon) The thermos has rodent nibble marks all over it, but it was not compromised. Groundhog perhaps. Do beavers live underground? There are lots of active beavers here. Here's one of mine.

Interesting slug Rat snake Eastern Bullnose snake; harmless Curious buck

They are called "woolly aphids". They suck the sap out of the tree branch and excrete a honeydew. If you look on the ground or the branches under them you will see a grayish coloration that will eventually become black as a sooty mold fungus grows on the honeydew. Then another fungus will grow on it that looks sort of like a clump of coral, only soft, called "Scorious spongiosus" ( I'm not sure of the spelling on that.) As a protective device tha woolly aphids are not only covered with a waxy coating, but when disturbed will wave their tails in an attempt to make the group look like one bigger animal. They are also known as Beech Blight Aphids, as they are killing beech trees by the groves in New England and much of the midwest. I found many trees infested with these in Brown County Indiana this summer. They look really neat in the tens of thousands, and if you breathe on them, they dance and amusing frenzied jig. I shot a quicktime video of them on my digital camera, but I'm not at home to attach it here. Excellent website about them. Lots of pics here.

On the forums home page, scroll down and you will see 'Geocaching Groups by Region / State' When I click on Indiana, it lists the newest Indiana caches on the top of the page, and they are added just as soon as the approver approves them and the owner activates them. Try it for your state/region/country.

After a hot hot HOT (did I say it was hot?) August caching day, my caching friend and I both direly wanted to change out of our long jeans and sweaty shirts, because we had a long drive home in front of us. There was no one around but us when we got back to the car, so we just changed right there by the car, in a public parking lot in a city park. I'd like to tweek your purient interest and tell you we got caught, but we didn't. Would I do it again? Would and have. Now, lets have all your best hot hot HOT jokes. Can't wait!

You simply MUST post a pic of your geo-tree when you get it done. Can't wait to see that!

Blown fuse at one cache; It wiped out the entire dashboard, electric windows and AC, and it was over 90* out. Too dadgum hot when you can't even turn on the fan, or open any windows. But it still drove OK, except the odometer didn't rack up any miles either. No speedometer either and I was 60 miles from anywhere. Now I always have spare fuses. And this happened at a cache in St Louis, in a dicey part of town. Chain of Rocks Cache log

Robespierre, It was not my intention to kick a person while you're down. And you get points for bravely posting the truth about your health indiscretions. And God knows, I'm no saint. I can stand to lose another 35 pounds or more, and have made no inroads there in six months. I've also gotten out of the habit of testing daily, since my A1C stays easily below 6 these days. I probably test about 3 times a week. So, I could do better myself. But if your challenge lies in staying motivated, and you think a good nagging from time to time might help, I've been told I have a guilt trip talent that can make remorse and shame sing through your veins. I'm happy to help; so feel free to email me if you need to be nagged, denigrated and inspired. -2Q

OK, now I just want to scold you! If you wait until you feel 'too bad most of the time' it'll be too late to repair the irrevokable damage you've done. Of course if caching gets boring to you, you can always up the difficulty level considerably by doing it as a blind double-amputee on a dialysis machine. Now, behave!

So, is diabetes new for you, or have you been coping for a time, before giving in to the injections? I ask because if you are new to all of this, knowledge cannot be understated. Many excellent references exist, but this is the best I've found: ADA Complete Guide to Diabetes I too am a diabetic, but am not insulin dependant. Losing 70+ pounds has also made meds lo longer necessary but I do have frequent hypoglycemic episodes, especially if I am having fun, exercising and time gets away from me. So I am sure to set an alarm on my watch to remind me to check after four hours. When I hit that fifth or sixth hour, I always hit the low wall, so I must watch my time between meals, and always carry glucose tabs. If you find your bs levels (no jokes please) fluctuate wildly throughout the course of a day, it will be especially pronounced with physical exertion. Consider asking your doctor about insulin pumps. They can monitor you bs level without your even having to ck yourself, and administer a dose of insulin automatically. Expensive, but insurance should cover it if your doctor orders it.

Just know that tree hollows and knot holes are often home to small mammals, and squirrels and possums will throw your cache out of their homes over and over again. Then, the cache is not only not where it was supposed to be; now it's burried in the snow after all!

Maporama Put in any address, and the coords are on the map page, bottom left corner under 'Information.' Hope that helps.

How very sexist! Where's the dumping location for husbands!

Of the caches I've placed, the one with the most hits by far is an easy downtown park and grab. It's clear that many out-of-towners who come to downtown for business or for the convention center are looking for things to do in the near vacinity. They are staying in downtown hotels, often without their own transportation, but are looking for an evening or lunchtime caching diversion. So if you are looking to create a cache that gets lots of traffic, perhaps that's something you could exploit by placing one near the convention ctr of your city, within walking distance, or on the buslines. Even better if you can place a number of individual such caches, so the visitors can create a cache route and hit several in close proximity. Just a suggestion.

There is a cache in the area here that is exactly that: springy snakes in a can. I'd post the link, but don't want to spoil it for the finders. The logs are all good natured and well humored. Personally, I thought it was a hoot, and stood laughing alone in the bushes, much to the concern of a mom pushing her child on the nearby swings.

I was recently FTF on a new cache that used a peanut butter jar for the cache container. I guess they didn't bother to clean it out too well because it was attacked and destroyed before it's first find. That peanut butter is a mighty strong animal magnet! I found the container out in the open, thoroughly gnawed upon and contents scattered. Still, I logged the find and put it back where it looked to belong. The cache owner promptly replaced it with an ammo can. Moral of the story: Don't use former food containers for a cache box.

I also recently went ape city when I lost my GPSr. After, I wrote the story for Today's Cacher ezine. Here's the link: A Fine Obsession Then, yesterday, I lost my prescription shades while caching. ACCCKK! A $300 pair of sunglasses!! (I have a bizarre scrip.) Took two of us about a half hour retracing our steps, but we got lucky and found them again. Seems learning to look for things in the woods comes in handy after all. Who know?

Doesn't everyone? OK, I found it; It's The Leprechauns, and though I've found some early references to it being a joke, it's clear that if it was in the beginning, it's not anymore. They actually leave live hamsters as their signature item.

For a time, there was a cacher who would put a live hamster in their caches. They expected it would be FTF'd quickly, I guess. Might've been the Cheesheads, but I could be wrong. I tried doing a search for the word 'hamster' on the forums, but it only brought up recent logs, within the last month, and I remember a thread or two about this quite awhile back.