Sparky-Watts

It was? Gee, I had no idea! (There, that covers the sarcasm part, too.) NOTE: Last attempt to post was deleted, but no reason given. Pretty much similar to this post, only a bit more snide. Mea Culpa.

Oh, that POOR tree! I just wanna go give it a big ol' hug!

You've got to be kidding. ***** GEOCACHING Nope! GEOCACHING I'm GEOCACHING serious.

I've always been a bit squeamish about walking on graves, but there are times when I just don't know exactly where they are. Most cemetaries lay the bodies east of the stone, but not all. I think 7 feet of snow would change the terrain difficulty of a cache just a tad, wouldn't it?

Yup,GEOCACHING figured GEOCACHING that GEOCACHING would GEOCACHING get GEOCACHING me GEOCACHING warned. GEOCACHING 10%. GEOCACHING I'm GEOCACHING heartbroken.

I basically read the forums for entertainment. Personally, I'll make a generalization about Mods named Jeremy (not a direct attack, mind you, just like calling people "ankle biters" or "thieves"). In general, the mods I've seen on message boards named Jeremy seem to be quite smug and conceited, and appear to be quite power hungry. Yeah, I've read most of the posts that have been closed, and couldn't really see any reason for it, except that some mods, in general, don't like being told they're wrong and would rather satirically flame people who do post against their authority. My nephew is 4 years old and in daycare. He can't use a computer yet, but he gets "time out". If gc.com goes to a full paysite, I sure as hell ain't gonna pay for it. I've been out of school for about 25 years now, and I won't pay anyone to tell me to take a "time out" for talking out of turn or off topic. That said, I think I'll go plant me a few caches, download some waypoints, and enjoy myself. I don't work, don't need money, and sure don't need these mods to tell me I'm a criminal for not using the word "geocaching" in every other sentence.

Good point, bons. I'm used to cemetaries that are still used for burials, and though the one here is a mile out in the country on a dirt road, I still encounter someone about every three visits there. Out here in the sticks, I guess people don't have much else to do besides visiting old friends.....

Too many posts ago to remember, but someone made the comment that if ya don't like the direction the thread is heading, change the channel. And yes, I think the "Warn" meters are very childish. I used to have a teacher when I was in the 2nd grade that would make marks in a book beside our names for misbehaving. When you got 5 marks, you got a swat with a big wooden paddle. 10 marks would get you two swats and detention. I won't tell you what 20 marks got me...err...umm....some of the kids. Lets all grow up and be adults, including the Mods. As long as the posts are clean, keep them there. Off topic? I either skip them or move on to another thread. Flaming ain't cool, and no posts should take on a personal attack on anyone (like this one just did by telling the Mods and users to grow up and stop acting like children). CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

33 miles for my closest 100 not found...but I've only found like, ummm, half a dozen or so.......still, this area in Kansas is actually quite heavily populated with caches, if not people (15 mi NE of Wichita).

Personally, I think even poking around in the trees or fencelines surrounding a cemetary is a bit too conspicuous, and therefore a tad disrespectful. However, verts are great for cemetaries, as they can be done and still look as though you are trying to find a departed friend or loved one. In fact, this thread has given me some great ideas for verts. I have a collection of photos I took when I was in college of unusual headstones, ranging from a carving that looks just like a fallen log to an actual V-Twin motorcycle engine. Many of these are interesting to me, simply because the people who placed them seemed to be celebrating the life of the deceased, rather than mourning the death of the living. Sparky Some days you're the bug, other days you're the windshield.

Dang, all this time I thought I was supposed to be geocaching, no jeepocrashing..... (couldn't resist another one-liner) Sparky

One more note: I agree with ju66l3r, we will gain so much more by trying to work with the Fishy Wildlife guys than against them. 100,000 positive geocachers requesting a review of policy may or may not get the intended results, but 1 stupid jerk intentionally tromping around in a Wildlife Refuge, bent on getting arrested for the sole purpose of calling attention to the plight of geochaching on Federal Land will definitely make the rest of us look bad, and not help us in any way. Lets be sensible about it. May I make a suggestion? Rather than waiting for an interminably long time for the Fishy Wildlife guys to email you back, why don't you write your state senators and congressmen? I've gone that route before, and believe me, it works. I don't think the Fishy Wildlife guys will be very receptive to comments from a bunch of geeks with GPS units (no offense intended, I'm in that group), but when the senate office calls, they tend to listen. Give it a try, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Sparky edited for spelling...I make typos when I get excited....

Oops, sorry. I saw the title about "High Contrast Skin" and thought this was the tanning forum. George Hamilton

I think the best code is basic common sense. Or the Golden Rule. If you think you're doing something wrong or illegal, then you probably are and should ask first. An earlier post mentioned that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission. My Grandfather used to tell me, "It's only illegal if you get caught." Bad thing about that, Grandad was a County Sheriff. I guess advice is worth every cent you pay for it. I agree with most of the posts here, that in general, the code of caching ethics is already spelled out in many different ways, both on this site and by your own conscience and life experience. Sparky (Try fitting your life experience on the back of a business card!) (When I think about it, I probably could do that.)

GEEZ!!!!!!!! Double Secret Probation!!!!! That one really got me laughing!!! I too got put on some type of Secret Academic Probation when I was a paramedic student. Only thing was, I didn't know it until after I had graduated and had my records released. And to think, if I had cut all the clothes off of one more pretty young girl with a twisted ankle, (they always stressed that we should expose the injury, just never gave us any real tight guidelines)I might never have become a proud member of the Emergency Medical Services! Well, I guess my warn meter is going to spike after that little story, and no, it really doesn't have anything to do with geocaching, and yes, I still, after all these pointless posts, think that I am a tadpole, and yes, I do, at times, seem to use a few too many commas and not nearly enough periods, as you can probably, in your grammatical wisdom, see. Double Secret Probation......dang, still laughin' my, ummm....well, you know the rest! Sparky

I've only been out caching about half a dozen times, and only once with someone else. I enjoy it either way, I guess. I took my brother and his 4 y/o son with me one warm fall afternoon and had a great time, but we always have fun, no matter what we're doing together. Incidently, in my profile, I mentioned hiding my name, address, and phone number in a film cannister in the Colorado Rockies back in 1985. I was with my brother when I did that. Not a cache that I could easily maintain, but still a great challenge for diehard cachers. We hiked up to a 14,500 foot peak, and neatly wedged it between two boulders, about 45 miles south of Pike's Peak along Gold Camp Road. One day, I will return and mark it, if only for my own satisfaction, with a GPS. Sparky

I am an Underground Geocacher, I don't log my finds online, and I make my own rules. And my #1 rule is: no rules apply to me. See how easy that is?

I'm guessing it could be similar to the one I found last fall...underneath my house in the crawl space. Several USGS benchmarks in my area have structures or landscaping over them, and they are "covered".

Ya know, this may be just a hair (or thread) off-topic, but last fall, I stumbled onto a USGS benchmark in the most unusual of places....underneath my house in the crawl space. Still set in stone, undisturbed for at least 83 years, it just sits there. Once there is a reliable site to log these where other users can view them, this one will be a great one for someone to try to find! There are also about half a dozen more in my neighborhood (all dating back to around 1920) that aren't listed on this site. Guess I just don't understand why some are listed and some aren't. I've found a couple that are listed around this area, but most that are listed are either destroyed, or as in my case, have structures built on top of them.