Marietta Moose

.... snip .... As one who has engaged in spirited debate in these forums and who has had major disagreements with many participants, I really can't think of anyone who I wouldn't want to spend a day geocaching with, or offer a bed and a meal to if they are passing through my area. Well maybe if I think about it there may be one or two, but I'd have to think really hard. Well, some of us still remember that if YOU ever visit us golupki is great but egg plant should not be considered. I know this is off topic, sorry. You are right though.

Thank you sir. You got it. To each his own. My point was that there are different perspectives on drive by micros. I'm glad you were careful and noticed, I didn't say lamp post micros. I very deliberately wrote "drive by micros." I also didn't say handicapped cachers should only be offered nothing but lamp post micros either. I decried the proliferation of lamp post micros before I got injured. My former perspective was only one and I got a new perspective while temporalily handicapped. I'm now much more careful suggesting that any cache is worthless. I learned that I need to not be arrogant enough to presume my perspective is the only right one. While handicapped cachers should have choices for caches to hunt, I'm not ready to suggest they should not have lamp post micros to hunt. My contention is that they should have a choice and these are among their choices. As for not getting permission to plant a cache on private property, every cacher is supposed to agree to gc.com's placement guidlines. Not complying is a personal integrity issue and an issue for gc.com if it is proven that no permission was obtained. I'll leave that issue for Jeremy.

..... snip ..... I broke my ankle geocaching and I was darn glad I had drive by micros to go after for 6 months. I had to cache on crutches or by wheelchair until I could walk. Drive by micros are a pain for many geocachers but to those who are handicapped, these drive by micros may permit them to cache. I got a real education and developed a different perspective when I got injured. This just goes to show one needs to be very careful assuming ones own perspective is the only perspective.

Gosh, that all sounds so reasonable, and you even let folks know who you are. Can I get you to review it? By the way, how common is it for reviewers to hide behind sock puppets? I just put out my first cache and it is rather different puzzle cache. Your reviewer is noted on the lower left of your cache page when you look at it. First, you don't have to worry about your reviewer logging a find because you can eliminate any log from your reviewer. Second, this is a game and you want folks to find your cache. If you don't want it found, just don't put it out. The idea is to strike a balance between the time spent solving the puzzle and the time spent searching for the cache. My advice is go with the flow and help your reviewer help you put out a cache worth finding. That's my 2 cents worth. MM

I have been using PQ for well over a year. I began using GSAK to handle the data for several months now and it is fabulous. I also use Cachmate on my Palm PDA. GSAK talks to my Garmin and my PDA with absolutely no problem. There are two software programs required. GSAK for my PC and Cachmate for my PDA. Here is my update sequence: 1. Get a pocket query sent to me as a zip file. - Receive it and save the zip attachment to a "Waypoints" folder on my PC 2. Start GSAK and "Load" the zip file into my database (GSAK will handle .gpx or zip files with a gpx enclosed. 3. Filter in GSAK for the caches I want to find. 4. Select file "Export" in Cachmate format and GSAK does it. 5. HotSync my Palm and the data is transferred to my Palm 6. Disable HotSync as it grabs COM1 and won't let go 7. Disconnect my Palm cable from COM1 8. Connect my Garmin Cable to COM1 and my Garmin 9. Select "GPS" in GSAK and "Send Waypoints" and it updates my Garmin on full automatic. 10. I run Cachmate on my Palm while I'm sending stuff to my Garmin and Cachmate takes the HotSync data file and merges the data into the Cachmate database on the Palm. Now, I'm ready to paperless geocache. I hope this helps, MM

Markwell, you will need to forgive my very rusty German and drifting off topic a bit but you should get my drift. Setzen Ihren Schuhe dabei der Kamin. That should fix your perpetual "Schuhe Problem." My old Palm IIIxe uses AAA batteries and my Garmin uses AA's so either is appreciated when they are found in a cache. Just my 2 cents worth. MM

My wife of 37 years says I'm about 15 while caching but I'm physically 60. She is 2 years younger (she doesn't read the forums). My son got me caching (addicted) and he's 27, my daughter doesn't geocache so she is just plain 24. That's all fclks.

Yes, you have to use the new desktop software for XP. The serial port can be a problem because com1 may be the modem connection to dialup on your computer. Unfortunately, the modem doesn't speak to the Palm. Try changing the com port selected for the Palm in hotsync and see if that doesn't solve your problem. MM

You don't say what kind of computer you have, what the cable is (serial or USB) and whether your computer port is properly functioning. Why this is important is that some laptops need to have their serial ports initialized to use them. So, if you help with just a bit more info, we might be better able to help you. Just for the record, I use a Palm IIIxe with my Dell 3800 laptop running XP Pro SP2. I use GSAK on the laptop with a serial interface to my Garmin and Palm and Cachmate on the Palm. No problem here, so XP does talk to my Palm IIIxe. Now, please tell us more about your system and connections so we can try to diagnose your problem. Thanks Marietta Moose

KA, I'd like to suggest that Jeremy just might be a bit perturbed if one decides to give the server a good shot of coffee to pump Signal with a shot a caffine. I know for a fact that coffee and keyboards don't get along at all. Now, sending Jeremy a box of chocolates will provide Signal's boss with the shot of caffine and just might contribute to a feeling of warmth and being loved which seems to do wonders to help solve some problems. MM

Welcome to Georgia geocaching. Your first find is usually found near where you live. In a couple of days there should be a posting up here for the Georgia Geocachers Association meeting event to be held in Cave Spring. Go to the meeting on May 14th and meet some of most knowledgeable cachers in the Southeast. They will be able to help you a lot. In the meantime, you might try an email to MariettaGecko as he has over 400 cache finds in the area and he taught part of the paperless geocaching class at the April GGA meeting. Suggest you check out www.ggaonline.org too. Tell the MariettaGecko the Marietta Moose told you to contact him, he should be a little easier to reach that way. Happy caching, MM

Nothing wrong with geocaching.com but I keep a running tally in GSAK so I can review my caches without being on line. All I need is my laptop with GSAK. I too keep cache notes not all sent in logs as they contain spoilers. For some caches, it is necessary to keep intermediate waypoints and puzzle decryption hints and the like so GSAK personal notes are great. MM

I hope y'all noticed that two of the more experienced cachers (Briansnat and AllenLacy) both carry a magnetic compass. If one is going well off the beaten path, it is usually a good idea to have a compass and a topo map of the area. For urban caching the map may not be useful but a compass can keep you headed in one direction. The further into the bush you go for a remote cache, the more you need a compass, map and water. MM

Desktop 1024 x 768 Laptop 1024 x 768 Higher resolution are getting just too difficult for me to read. My age related issue not a computer one. MM

Our society has changed a lot from the time I grew up. Today, there is almost no such thing as personal responsibility. Someone else is almost always to blame for anything unexpected that happens to folks and rules or guidelines are established to handle worst case situations. Today we plan for the possible but not probable 80+ year old terrorists at airports with toe-nail scissors and nail files for weapons and 6 year old cachers without parental supervision. While I understand the guidelines, I'm appalled by having to resort to guidelines for cache contents at all. It is unfortunate but a reality. It is possible to argue that eliminating pens and pencils because kids could use them to stab someone for mouthing off while those kids are caching without parental supervision. Since paper cuts are both painful and can get infected one could argue eliminating paper logs are a good safety measure too. Do these sound ridulous to you? They do to me, but then again look where I come from in space and time. I grew up in the country. I had a pocket knife by the time I went to kindergarten. If I have my pants on, I have a pocket knife today. My Dad taught me to shoot a rifle as soon as could hold one up. I had my own 22 caliber bolt action repeating rifle at age 9 because my Dad knew I would not dare misuse it. I knew better because I believed whatever the sheriff could do, what my Dad would do would be worse. I would be held to account for whatever I did and it was never someone elses fault. My neighbor friend and I shot rats at the dump when we took ours and his trash to the dump in the old farm truck and nobody cared if we were too young to have drivers licenses. We learned to drive the truck as soon as we could reach the pedals to help move the hay from the field to the barn. The dump was also two miles away on back dirt roads. Now, that was over a half century ago. We even carried pocket knives to school then. We used to play mumbly peg during recess. Things were a lot different when I grew up. So, what is my point? Times change and nobody can really control time or what you put in a cache as a trade item. That is a fact. The guidelines are there for us all to help maximize our freedom to cache. YOU are responsible for your actions and for the consequences produced by them. If land owners and managers don't like YOUR actions, their land will be lost to caches just as hunting land access has been lost because of trespassing and obnoxious hunters. Feel free to complain about the guidelines if you like, but just remember YOUR actions will influence OUR sport. MM

Really. I heard that intellegence was directly proportional to the number of teeth divided by the number of tatoos. I also heard that there was some number of posts that qualifies one as a blowhard. Perhaps numbers are really for accountants and statisticians. I heard a while back that statiticians are proported to have insufficient personality to be cost accountants too. I was ROTFLMAO when I heard that one. Perhaps the only numbers that really amount to much are the ones that win the state lottery.

I have been using PQ for well over a year. I began using GSAK to handle the data for several months now and it is fabulous. I also use Cachmate on my Palm PDA. GSAK talks to my Garmin and my PDA with absolutely no problem. There are two software programs required. GSAK for my PC and Cachmate for my PDA. Here is my update sequence: 1. Get a pocket query sent to me as a zip file. - Receive it and save the zip attachment to a "Waypoints" folder on my PC 2. Start GSAK and "Load" the zip file into my database (GSAK will handle .gpx or zip files with a gpx enclosed. 3. Filter in GSAK for the caches I want to find. 4. Select file "Export" in Cachmate format and GSAK does it. 5. HotSync my Palm and the data is transferred to my Palm 6. Disable HotSync as it grabs COM1 and won't let go 7. Disconnect my Palm cable from COM1 8. Connect my Garmin Cable to COM1 and my Garmin 9. Select "GPS" in GSAK and "Send Waypoints" and it updates my Garmin on full automatic. 10. I run Cachmate on my Palm while I'm sending stuff to my Garmin and Cachmate takes the HotSync data file and merges the data into the Cachmate database on the Palm. Now, I'm ready to paperless geocache. This requires only following this sequence to accomodate both my GPS and my Palm. This is about as simple as it gets if you have a Palm. You seem to have a Palm, so if you want it simple this is perhaps the simplest process. Less complicated is had if you get yourself a DELL AXIM X30 (or equivalent) Pocket PC and use GPXSonar on it. I hope this helps you lose some of the frustration you have. Unfortunately, with a Palm and a PC it is not as simple as it could be but if money is no object get a Pocket PC like the Dell and it will get simpler. Either way you go, GSAK will handle the database on your PC or laptop and will handle transfers to your GPS and PDA. I hope this helps. MM Edit - Spelling and punctuation

I checked the cache listing to see if it was archived and it wasn't. I then decided that this was either a leftover from April 1 or that we had an approver in yankee land who may not have realized the civil war was over and he won. I was even tempted to add a post to the arrogant approvers thread but I decided that I was getting my leg pulled. Yes, folks this southerner has a sense of humor. Now, let's see how efficiently you will be able to determine how to get to the bottom of the discovered anomaly or this redneck sountherner will have found one that "gotcha" in the end. MM

Can't imagine why it didn't work for you. I copied the coords directly from your post into GeoCalc. The distance is 0.838 miles. I can imagine what his problem might be. Perhaps the coordinates were not entered properly. So, here goes: Start GeoCalc. Select the distance tab. Enter Point One: N 33 34.525, W 101 48.974 Note the spaces and the comma Enter Point Two: N 33 34.058, W 101 48.305 Select GO Hope this helps, MM

And you archived it because? It is a great cache. I know I have found it after a lot of hunting. So, please don't archive it because geocaching.com won't handle the numbers with consistency. Thanks, MM

Marky, Here are thje details: Cache Name: "Gotcha" N34 04.123 W084 24.327 On the Search page under "Search by latitude/longitude format:" N34 04.123 W084 24.327 Here is the resulting URL: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.asp...ong_mmss=24.327 Page 1 is text and "Gotcha" isn't listed on any page. The other pages are ok. Change the location entered to: N34 04.100 W084 24.300 and "Gotcha" appears properly. Does that give you what you wanted to know, Marky? MM

I'd like to suggest you get a copy ok GSAK and use it to keep track of your caches as well as those you have not yet found. If you once get your found caches in GSAK, your counts will match the logs here and you will have a permanent record on your computer of your found, placed and not found. MM

Unfortunately, I doubt Jeremy has a clue as to how many geocachers are in SC or any other state or area. He does have member records but one can cache without being a member. He also will have no clue as to how many members there are on Terracache, Navicache, etc. who are listed there and not here. So, while I agree some statistics on the number of geocachers in an area might be nice, it would really be only a guess. Now, Jeremy might be able to use the old definition of SWAG (Scientific Wild a** Guess), I doubt that is what your legislative contact has asked for. What might be relevant is to ask Jeremy (as an expert) for his estimate of the number of cachers in SC say around Jan. 1, 2005 and his estimate of the growth rate (#new cachers/month) at that time. This doesn't give anyone hard information and allows some understanding that the sport is growing at a rapid rate world wide. Now, that is just my 2 cents worth, but when politicians get the idea that there is a large and growing block of their constituents engaged in an activity they may want to consider their chances of getting re-elected, and vote accordingly. MM

Yesterday I wanted to locate caches in the vicinity of a known cache. So, I gave the location coordinates of that known cache and the system responded without an error but page 1 was text without listing the known cache. Interesting. I changed the location coordinates to about 100 feet from that known cache and everything worked as expected. This told me that the system really doesn't know how to respond to a distance from the specified location to a cache equal to zero. If anyone wonders why I wanted to use a cache location as the location coordinates, consider that I wanted to see any other caches close to that cache. Why? Because I want to place a cache near but not too near that cache and I wanted to see any other caches close to that cache so I could avoid them also. Not a problem to work around but I had not seen anything about this anywhere here. Jeremy, thanks for adding interesting situations to keep us on out toes. MM

Is that your poduct MM? That is a really handy little utility. I'd kill for a Palm OS version though! No, it isn't mine but I've learned to recognize a good product when I see it so I use it. There is another useful one too. I use this one too and it isn't mine either. Forward-Inverse Both of these do similar things but are slightly different. Both are great. MM