KBLAST

You have to click on "Load more comments". It's below Crew761 and above Katherine Riley.

The May Featured Geocacher of the Month on the Blog has really got my blood boiling and I'm not sure what to do about it. Obviously we have 3 outstanding candidates, as always, so it's not about "my friend is better than your friend". It's about one comment where someone actually votes AGAINST my friend, iphone.cachers. They then "anonymously" go on to berate them publicly and misrepresent ONE INCIDENT that obviously made that person angry at an event. If you'd like to see the logs for the event, it's right here. I give all that information so that you all can give me your best unbiased opinion of what should happen here. So often in these forums you see a rant and only see one side of the story, and I want you to read as much as you want to come to your own conclusions. As a friend, I know my opinion is skewed. I think it is absolutely disgusting that this cacher made a point to smear two well-known, generous, and loving cachers in our area on what should have been an incredible honor (just to be nominated). Unfortunately, now this person has really hurt these people. I know I'd be upset to have even been nominated if it's going to drag my name through the mud!!! I didn't realize this was a political campaign - I was under the impression the "Geocacher of the Month" was meant to be all positive!!! Is there anything that can be done or anything we can do? I'm REALLY angry!!!

A year ago someone put out a puzzle in our area where you solved the Rubik's Cube, then put it into "Checkerboard". Once you did that, you had the north on one side (using the 9 squares - 1 number per square) and the west on an adjacent side, similar deal. It came out Christmas Eve night, and I showed my wife the notification with my puppy dog eyes. I solve the Cube in under a minute. She knew I had to go, so I did. I found it and solved it at 11:00 in the evening on Christmas eve night, mixed it back up, went and got the final, and got home just in time to find out someone else was trying it. He couldn't believe someone ELSE knew how to solve it that fast who happened to live closer to the area! Well, the cube got muggled Christmas morning. Someone else had ANOTHER Christmas present under their tree. The cache was archived a month later when the owner decided it would be too hard to maintain. Anyway - the owner made it CLEAR what the people were going to see when they got to the field puzzle. There was no surprise when someone got there. With that in mind, a number of people were discussing (while the cache was disabled and before it got archived) who they would get to come with them to help them solve the cube, while others discussed how to figure out the coordinates without solving it (just putting it together mentally looking at the blocks.) It seemed like a great idea and I was sad it disappeared.

Just wanted everyone to know that Stash The Geohamster is back up and running. He's still having trouble, but he's having fun! Three days in a row... hopefully we will be able to get a new streak started.

I've found this cache. Actually, this is the 3rd time I've found this cache. It was a large container in a bucket the first time that got muggled. Then it was a smaller container in a tree that got muggled. This one was - obviously - a large ammo can (not a 20 cal - bigger) ammo can that was chained to the base of a tree in the hollow of a tree. The chain (when I found it) was well concealed, and the cache was covered over with wood that matched the tree. The hiders are well-known geocachers in the area and have been at this for quite a long time, and are very good at creating hides. This area has obviously been used by homeless folks in the past - it's a little piece of land with broken bottles, shopping carts, etc. all over the place. That, at least, is at the entry to the area. The area itself is actually a fairly spooky and beautiful spot in the middle of the city. The cache was called "Zombie Library" for a reason. Lots of cool trees and brush. TOTALLY out of the public eye. I'm seriously wondering why ANYONE who wasn't shady and who wasn't a geocacher (not necessarily mutually exclusive, I know ) would be back there. To me this cries, "We need to give the bomb squad some practice time."

Sent a message earlier this week - haven't heard from anyone yet. Just giving a quick update!

I always hate it when someone starts a topic then appears to just fall off the face of the earth. I'm here, I have just been watching the comments because I really wanted to see some of the suggestions. I do want to chime in on a few things: Thanks a ton, Nate, for letting us know about the changes and changing attitude. I can only imagine what a nightmare it is for you all at HQ dealing with everyone's little petty squabbles. As I was working with the wonderful lady who dealt with me on this one, I often thought to myself, "I should just drop this and let those poor people have a break. This blog ISN'T that popular, it was meant for fun, and it's sad this poor woman has to sit and mediate something that I would have gladly worked out with the cache owner had he contacted me directly." I'm so glad she was very considerate and helpful! As I said in the original post, no matter what ANYONE else's opinion is, I appreciate the hard work the folks at GS put into trying to keep this fun for all. I may find their decisions misguided from time to time and may disagree, but they were ABSOLUTELY wonderful with the way they handled the situation. To answer Cup. - The CO said they didn't like me using their cache to advertise my blog, and they didn't like me posting "spoilers". I use the term in quotations because the two caches of theirs that I used had pictures taken 40 - 100 feet away from the cache with the cache location not even in the picture. I want to make sure it's clear that I NEVER intend to post true spoilers without a CO's permission. OK - as far as practical solutions, I'm first going to reopen my ticket as suggested by Nate to find out what my options are and if anything has changed. I'd still love thoughts and suggestions... if nothing changes, I'm actually planning to combine a few of the ideas stated here. Some are similar to what I was considering, but with some twists I hadn't thought of. That's exactly the kind of input I was hoping for. Thanks a bunch all!

I'm going to do my best to give as much information as possible ONLY to give backstory so I don't get bad suggestions due to being misinformed. The question I am asking in the end is... what direction would YOU take with my blog now? Some of you will automatically think this is trying to draw attention to my blog - it's not. If I wanted attention, I would have an updated blog. DUH! I started a blog back in the beginning of July. I was trying to come up with a way to do a blog that would be fun and silly, highlight some fun caches, and would not give away spoilers that COs would be upset about. I attempted to win one of the retired geohamsters back then, but didn't win. Then the idea came - what if a wannabe geohamster (rejected geohamster) teamed up with a wannabe geohamster owner who was also rejected? And why does this hamster want to hang out with me? To learn how to be a PROPER geohamster! The problem is, he stinks at geocaching, therefore he could NEVER find any caches he sought. Stash was created, and he started DNFing caches. I would take pictures of Stash and how bad he is at caching. Sometimes there were spoilers, but I asked for permission to place those spoilers. MOST of the pictures were of Stash being WAY far away from the cache and failing. He had a DNF for every day (I'm currently on an every day streak, so it wasn't too hard to pull off.) I also had a quick blurb at the bottom of each DNF pointing to the blog for "more information... there may be spoilers". If you REALLY want to see the blog, it's here. LOTS of locals loved it and even created two caches specifically aimed at helping Stash finally find a cache. Groundspeak even noticed the blog at some point and sent us a LEGITIMATE retired geohamster to help Stash! I then got a note from Groundspeak asking me to stop the whole thing due to a complaint from a cache owner. I had a GREAT conversation with the lady at Groundspeak, and have ZERO COMPLAINTS about their final decision. Here is the ultimate decision: I am not to post "false DNFs" anymore as they are potentially misleading. I would always post my personal "found it" after Stash's DNF, but in essence, I was creating a "false log", and cache owners are responsible for removing false logs, so me putting false logs there creates problems. I'm also not to post any links to my blog on any future logs because it's advertising. I've been mulling since these decisions were made about what to do now. I had so much fun posting "non-spoiler" pictures and having fun with the DNFs. As I said at the beginning, I'm looking for suggestions on where to go with the blog now. Do I start the blog over with a new premise? Do I pick up now after Stash's "hiatus" and say that suddenly he has learned how to geocache? Since he can no longer "DNF", what kinds of pictures do I take now? I won't post spoilers without cache owner permission, and don't want that to become the purpose of the blog AT ALL. For those of you curious folks who are wondering what the "rest of the story" is, the cache owner's primary objections to the blog were my links to my blog in my DNF (something I didn't realize was a problem at the time but will stop doing now), false DNFs (I think it's sour grapes but understand Groundspeak's dilemma), and they claimed I placed spoiler pictures of their cache in my blog. In both instances the cache owner's cache was not even in the pictures and the pic was taken 50-100 feet away, and Groundspeak eventually said that claim was invalid.

Hey Landon! We have 2 fairly new night caches in Columbus, mine and a friend of mine. The reviewer told us that we had to change it from a multi to a mystery cache. Surprised the heck out of me! It really doesn't matter that much. If I weren't worried about some of the crazy folks down there who probably signed the log but haven't posted anything yet, I might just head your way and snag that one.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?key=hauntings Someone in the C-Bus area is doing a whole series of them and they all have hauntings in the title, looks like there are some others in other places, too!

I placed my first cache a while ago. I placed it on a guardrail in my neighborhood on a weird dead end street. I caught someone finding my cache, so I went to meet them. It was someone who had JUST downloaded the geocaching app and was trying it out with their kids. He seemed a little confused about me showing up, so I clarified that normally people don't just pop up when you are caching. He explained that he was mostly surprised by the fact that I was the SECOND person to show up to meet him! I asked what he was talking about, and he said a man came out of the house near the guardrail and gave him and his kids popsicles!!! I was a bit confused, so I went up to the house to meet this man (with my kids). He opened the door, and I explained that the people going to the guardrail were my doing. He said, "Oh... you're the reason! I just saw so many people showing up there with their kids, and I like things where people are doing stuff as a family, so I just started giving out popsicles! Here are some for your kids!" He still has no idea what's in the guardrail (as far as I know). I would definitely nominate that guy! I also have a friend who I told about geocaching, so he has helped me create caches and as a land manager of an area, he gave me exclusive permission to place a cache on that land. He has made a choice to NOT cache because it's not his thing, but he loves creating stuff and being a part so OTHERS can have fun caching. Finally, I'd like to nominate the muggles who came by a cache at a beautiful area to do a photo shoot. I was there and was struggling finding a cache, and they either didn't notice me or didn't care. It made finding the cache a little harder when the female muggle model started stripping down. I wasn't sure how to continue searching, as I was afraid of being seen as a creeper. This pushed me to find the cache quickly and get out of there, no matter how difficult the cache was!

Interesting reading here. I just published a night cache with the same thing (tacks lead to a container that give coordinates to the other tack trail) and listed it as a multi. I got this from the Reviewer: "Being that this is night cache, and the coordinates are not for an actual container and the cache page should be read before cachers hunt the cache, this cache type should be changed from a multi cache to a Mystery/Unknown/Puzzle cache type ?" It's no skin off my back - just an interesting response. I changed it to a mystery.

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=e861a881-cf7b-4bc1-9c96-8263bf5b9051 Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati area have tons of tree climbers.

Here's a link to mine that was set up AFTER the ALR rules were changed. Notice the point that you do NOT have to do it, but it is encouraged. Some of the logs have been AMAZING!!! KBLAST's Convoluted Cache

Geez - any time you video tape or take a pic of something like this, it depends on the angle your are shooting at. I know Landondena, and I can pretty much guarantee this is a 5 terrain and that harness is 100% necessary.

I think it's funny you posted this, S-n-B, cuz your multi is one of the caches on my "must do soon" list based on the feedback from the local geocachers that have attempted/found it! You are definitely no longer a newbie. End of discussion. Next topic please!

I actually love the Wherigos. I have to be honest, though, that I like the one I created more than the ones I've found. I love the idea behind them and see lots of cool potential. Too bad they are so hard to create and execute well.

Hmm.. maybe I need to adjust one of mine. I upped it to 1.5 due to mugglocity, but maybe I shouldn't have. Anyway, there was once an urban cache in a town not to far from here where the difficulty was a four. I took a buddy of mine who was new to geocaching to the area to show him how tricky these can be. I pulled up, and sure enough, it was an LPC. Difficulty raised due to muggles. He looked at me after we sneakily removed and replaced the cache without anyone noticing, then said, "So I bet it would be bad if I just jumped up and ran off... like this!!!" And then he did just that. I of course had to run off after him. Sometimes a 4 difficulty should be a 5, and sometimes a 4 should be a 1. Anyway, thanks for giving me a reason to recount this fun story.

I was wondering how many states had controversial first active geocaches... was glad to see there are more than just Ohio. In Ohio, we have the one listed by Baloo that has an older date, but the FIRST geocaching.com cache is actually Shawnee Lookout. The GC code is smaller for Shawnee Lookout. ancient lake has GC2DBE and a date of 1/23/01, whereas Shawnee Lookout has GC31A and a date of 2/18/01. Some in Ohio believe ancient lake was placed on 1/23/02 and the owner made a mistake when listing, while others think the cache was hidden on 1/23/01 but wasn't listed on gc.com until later. The world may never know, and it's not so bad having TWO oldest caches in Ohio to go after on opposite ends of the state! It's just interesting to look back and see how things went back when they first started doing this stuff.

So help me out here (seriously not sure of the definition). What constitutes adequate permission on a device placed for public use such as a pay phone, drinking fountain or, in this case a soda machine? Asking the owner or his representative if it's ok to do so. What I was looking for here was the difference between adequate and explicit permission. I have seen both terms used in this forum as if there was a distinction. Your reply seems like explicit permission. Yes it is. But for a cache on private property like this explicit permission should be the minimum adequate permission. In a public park with no rules to the contrary assumed permission may be adequate. Each hide needs to be evaluated on its own merits. Some hides require a written permit as the minimum adequate permission acceptable. So I may have adequate permission to place a cache on say a newspaper box located on a city sidewalk which I am rightfully able to be at any time of day just by my right to be there, whereas a cache on a similar paper box located at the front door of a private business may require explicit permission from the property owner? Not quite right. You should get explicit permission for that paper box as it is private property. Look at it like this. If you park your bicycle in a public bike rack would it be ok if I put my bike lock on it? It's on public property that I am allowed to access. I hate all the quotes, but I don't want to go outside of context (though it is getting kind of pretty.) Anyway, I totally disagree with this response. I'm not arguing that the paper box does or doesn't need permission, but I disagree with the comparison completely. We are NOT affecting use of the paper box or restricting use of the box in any way by placing a cache there. It would be more like placing a nano on the spokes of my bicycle. I doubt I'd ever notice it, if I did I would just get rid of it, and if I decided to use my bike, your nano would most likely be GONE.

Thanks for finding the listing. The permission statement really ends the discussion, other than the safety angle. I will tell the New York reviewer to archive this unsafe vending machine cache, but only after I first archive every tree climbing cache in the State of Ohio. Holy cow!!! Are you trying to destroy all geocaching around Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton?!!!

A little searching and I found the cache. Sure enough, he got permission from the owner.

Holy crap - I'm so mad right now. I solved the puzzle almost immediately and now I desperately want to go to the UK to see this thing!!!!!!! Thanks for ruining my life!!! []

I was once out getting a whole bunch of FTFs that had come out. I didn't post anything because I was running after the NEXT FTF, and then it got late and I got tired so I went to bed. The next day I had a TON of angry geocachers meet me at a local event and even had one yell at me saying, "You do this **** on purpose to get other people's hopes up of a FTF only to see your name there! You have a ****** smart phone, use it!!!" I also hate seeing "FTF, TFTC" on a found it log. So I remedied this by starting to post notes saying, "FTF more later" once I find the cache out in the field. I do this MORE often when it's late at night. I am attempting to help out the other FTFers in the area who are debating rolling out of bed, getting dressed, and rushing off to get FTF. I always appreciate it when I'm debating running 10 miles out of my way for an FTF and someone posts a note so I know the FTF is gone. I can then go home, go to bed, do whatever, and then post my found it log in the morning. This allows me to take the 15-30 minutes or so that I usually spend on my FTF logs (I like informing the CO how their coordinates are, their rating, sometimes I add a little song to it to celebrate, etc.) Then the CO and anyone who has it on their watchlist will SEE the log come through in their email/on their phone/whatever rather than an edit which does nothing for watchers. There was a good example of why I use notes today. I posted my FTF - more later comment. Then someone else came along and posted that I shouldn't have been in the park after dark. I then posted my found it log indicating that there were no signs, no messages, no comments about "no caching after dark" from the CO, no attributes, and there were lights on in the picnic area of the park, so I assumed the park was open. If I had posted a found it note, then deleted it to put my REAL found it note, then the comments would all be screwed up when I deleted my log. As far as PQs go, if you're a REAL FTFer, you're not running PQs. You're checking your notifications, etc. You're also reading the prior notes. I think all of your complaints are silly, personally, and I've discovered that I've made a LOT more people a LOT happier with my notes than when I didn't use them.

I have big plans for a group of caches (5 or 6) that I want to release all at once because they will be related and have a bonus final cache. All of the caches will take some time to set up and are in pretty cool places where I was surprised there wasn't a cache there already. My concern is that I will start putting all of my work into it (one is a night cache with lots of firetacks, for instance) and will be in the process of finishing my cache when someone comes along and drops a pill bottle near my new GZ and writes, "This spot needed a cache, so I grabbed one and threw it under this light post." Is there anything I can do?