m.austin

I went to log a cache today and noticed I didn't have as many smilies as before. I noticed one of my caches was archived, so I lost that smiley. I found it - why doesn't it count any longer? Doesn't that mess up your milestones? Also, I thought I had one more cache - if a cache owner deletes your find for whatever reason, do you, the finder, have any sort of record for it? I don't know if I had one deleted or if I just don't remember my numbers. I realize my life will not be affected one way or the other if I lose smileys - I'm just curious.

I attended a Technology in Education conference and one of the workshops was on geocaching. I went back to school and started researching. Before long I purchased my GPS system. I spent some time trying to figure out how to put in the coordinates, but once I figured it out and used that little toy to track down a hidden cooler under some bark I was hooked! Funny how that works..............

One thing I usually try after an unsucessful hunt is to go back & re-read the cache page. Read the deciphered hint, and also the logs. Sometimes you'll discover the answer. Sometimes it is helpful to know that you are looking for a magnetic key holder - generally that means it is stuck to metal somewhere, which helps narrow the search.

I think I'd be tempted to draw a big ol smiley face and put it under the windshield wipers!

Play "artist". Carry a camera & start snapping pictures. Or carry a sketchbook & start sketching flowers along the path. Artists are always viewed as a bit odd anyways, so a big, stern looking guy sketching in a book or snapping pictures will be viewed by most as normal. Don't have a camera? The GPS can double duty it as a camera as well as a cell phone. Or get a dog.

1) Going paperless only works if you load the info on a PDA. IF you don't print the log and you don't have a PDA, then all caches will be puzzle caches. 2) The car is always much much further away from the cache than the cache was from the car. 3) No matter how "sneaky" you start out, soon your rear will protrude from a bush. 4) You can intend to head west to hunt caches and end up 100 miles east without realizing it. 5) No matter how cute you look when you pull out of the drive, you will have weeds in your hair, stickers on your socks, and mud on your face when you come home. AND you will need to stop for milk. 6) People you'd never think were into caching know all about it (and have impressive numbers!) 7) It's fun to cache alone and it's fun to cache in groups.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here - if the problem lies with the defacement, then how do you justify night caches? (and don't throw stones - I LOVE them! Haven't placed one, but do enjoy the ones I've been on). The reflectors can be purchased on several sites linked from GC.com.

I found a cache in Smileyberg KS that had instructions where the log was to contain a joke. I thought that was fun - although not a cache item. You could leave a small journal and ask the finder to write a short narrative about their day, where they are from, a 3 word descriptive of themselves, etc. I love these ideas for cache items. I've been thinking about what to leave in caches I'm working on. One is going to be Kansas related, with all sorts of Kansas stuff - handmade sunflower pins, misc. Kansas items, and probably some Kansas quarters, cause who doesn't like money!?! It would be nice if finders would leave either state related swag or postcards. Another cache I've been thinking of is to put in some SAS postcards, where people could jot a note and stick them in the mail box when they reach their destination. Still thinking on this one, but it would be fun to do with my students to map the location of the cachers. Some of the swag that I have really enjoyed was personalized stuff - art pins, ceramic coins, even silly keychains that were "signed" by the cacher who left them.

When I signed up I paid with an electronic check via Paypal. It took a week for that durn thing to clear.

Hubby, who happens to be a law enforcement type, said he would have just removed the offending cache. No note, no explaination. If it were breaking the law it would be removed. Myself, being more on the evil side, would definately have used that paper as the new and improved log book! (Improved cause it would tick off the jerk who left it and THAT would make me laugh!)

Well, I look at swag from an artist's perspective. I am planning a painting where I include all the swag I have picked up - and yes, most of it is crap. But combined together it is quite whimsical. If it weren't for the painting aspect I probably wouldn't trade at all, other than to leave swag for the kiddos to enjoy!

When I purchased my first GPS I bought a Magellan because for the price I was wanting to spend it came with a data cable and I liked the interface. I had it less than a month and it locked up. I couldn't change screens, it wouldn't do anything. I took it back and got a Garmin. Spent an additional $70 because after a month it was time to upgrade anyways! The salespeople tried to convince me to just exchange for another Magellan, but I told them no way - if it was only going to last a month I wanted no part of it. I was disappointed, because like I said, I did like the interface. I never could get it to play nice with my computer tho - I had to input all the data by hand, and that got REAL old real quick. Magellan was absolutely no help on this issue either. Customer Support lost them a customer!

I joined because the nearest cache to my home was 1/2 mile away and I couldn't access it! It ended up being a part of a multi-puzzle cache. It is so worth the $3 a month (I know, I'd save $6 by paying for an entire year, but hey, I didn't know if I'd keep my membership & it's worth $6 to me not to mess with it!)

I was planning on hiding my first cache, but the OP was looking over my shoulder and documenting everything I was doing. Now EVERYONE knows the cleverness of my hide..... (pondering) has anyone hid a log book in an empty cigarette package................................

I am the technology coordinator for my school district, so I am very comfortable with computers. I never could get my Magellan Triton 200 to connect to my computer (XP). In the end it didn't matter - it froze up so I took it back to Wal-Mart & got a Garmin. I didn't even mess with tech support, since when I had trouble registering (the folks at Magellan kept insisting my address doesn't exist, even though the government assures me every year at tax time that my address does indeed exist!) I finally registered my post office box as my home address. Those kind folks at Magellan were satisfied that I was happy living in my little p.o. box and were very glad they could help me out with my problem. I never did figure out just what they did to help me register - especially with the glowing customer satisfaction letter they sent me!

If you've already logged your find, go back to that page and look towards the bottom to see your log. You'll find a link to edit your log, as well as a link to upload an image. I suggest you leave abit of a comment with your image so that when you view your uploaded images in your own gallery you'll remember where they were taken.

In my the June 2008 edition of PC Photo there is a page on Geotagging your shots. The software is Microsoft Pro Photo Tools, and is supposed to be a free download. It has the ability to geotag photos with GPS data, view and edit metadata, and use MS Live Local to view and position images on a map. Has anyone tried this, and is it worthwhile? The article itself caught my eye, with all these photos of famous places with their longitude & latitude included, and then the talk of geotagging. I will probably download the software, but I really don't want yet another piece of software that I never use sitting on my machine!

I don't know about business cards, but if your family's business had personalized items that could be cool. Pens with your logo, keychains, etc. You might print up the business cards on waterproof paper (I saw it online somewhere) and adhere it to magnet backing. I found a ceramic coffee token from a coffee shop that was really cool once.

I like to find "treasures" in caches, but my purpose is to include them in a giant painting I'm planning on creating this summer! I haven't decided if I'm going to glue the actual items on or just paint them, but I love finding wierd, unusual stuff - from stickers to toys, broken flashlights to bowling patches (heck, I'll never bowl a 175 but at least I've got the patch!) But even though most of the stuff I like might be considered trash, I still get disappointed to open a cache and discover dirty grimey swag. McToys are great (I personally leave Sonic toys as I have an inside scoop to obtaining these!), but at least wash them off. Finding a toy covered in grape jelly is not only icky, but it also draws ants. Heck - stopping at the gas station & rinsing them off doesn't cost anything! The items don't have to be new, but clean swag is always appreciated! Also, clean swag may not look trashy, but dirty swag can sure leave that impression.

I am really leaning towards the Tilt - thanks for the recommendation! I love the way it felt when I held it - I worry the iPhone won't have the ability to change with my needs. I have had a Cingular 2125 for a few years now. It was used when I got it, with no instruction manual. I wonder if it would work for this purpose? Since it's so old I didn't even look to see if it would work - then I could really tech it out. As it is, when I go caching I have my cell phone (for just in cases...), my GPS, my MP3 (so I can listen to audio books as I trek along), my digital camera, a bag of swag, and the dog. Occasionally I take hubby to help carry stuff! Has anyone ever used a 2125 for caching? I can't believe I didn't think that....

They were probably playing some sort of crazy world-wide game that none of us no about and were wondering what the crazy muggle (they call them muggles in their game too probably) was was doing under the bridge, and have now written about it on a forum about a someone crawling around under the bridge when they thought they finally had te area to themselves. THAT is hilarious! I would love it if there were some muggle writing about me on another forum - what a hoot that would be! I love the drowned story - glad you caught that one in a picture, cause it definately adds to the story!

I was under a walking bridge searching around, knowing I was dead on in my hunt. This is a walking trail that was put in a few years ago, so I was happy to be able to find a day where there was nobody around. I am over 1/2 mile from the parking lot. So there I am, happily crawling around and I hear odd noises on the bridge above me. I crawl out and there are two women, setting up a TABLE & chairs right in the middle of the path! I don't know what they were doing, but it was a bit bizarre! We just smiled at each other - them sitting at their folding table and me, covered in mud, and off I went. I never did find out what they were doing there!

This may sound stupid, but are you changing the view closer (I don't know the correct termanology on this). I usually have mine set so the satellite is projecting 12 miles away (again, I could be way off - I'm a visual learner as well. I hate to read the manual!), then as I get closer I zoom in until I'm at the 20' range. I sometimes forget to zoom in, so it looks like I'm on top of it, only to discover I forgot to zoom. Then I walk another 50' and there it is! Another thought - did you go back and read the logs? Sometimes you might be looking for something completely wrong. You can find some good clues sometimes, especially if someone found the cache at different coordinates and posted those in the logs. Or maybe the container is different than you thought.

Personally I think each cache is going to give you exactly what you expect. If you expect a crappy view, a bug-ridden mosquito infested hike to a cache buried beneath a snake pit, you can pretty much expect to find something along that line. IMHO, I enjoy caching and seeing new sites. At every cache I look around to try to find what the cache owner found interesting about that spot. It might be a beautiful view, a cool nearby sculpture, a hike intended to build my leg muscles. I go to each cache with a positive attitude, and so I have enjoyed EVERY cache I have found. I refuse to allow those negative people to ruin MY enjoyment of the sport! I appreciate the effort cache owners have gone to for my enjoyment. Unfortunately, too many people seem to think they are entitled to more than they were offered. Keep enjoying that cache & don't let other's ruin it for you!

My phone is ready for an upgrade and I have been torn between an iPhone vs a Tilt. I plan to use it for going paperless (among other things), but I'm confused about why I would need to install software to create queries (I guess that's the correct vocab!?!?!) vs just going going to GC.com & looking up the needed info on the internet. I realize occasionally I might not be able to get cell phone reception, but is that a major deal? I'm not interested in the GPS functions as I'm perfectly happy with my Garmin eTrex Venture HC (as long as it lasts longer than the one month my Magellan Triton 200 did)! Since these phones are on the high $$ side I want to make sure I'm happy with it! Or should I get a cheap-o palm for my caching?