CrunchyBill

This situation really seems like the usual result of subjecting software to being updated by folks who do not actually use it and have only a tenuous idea of its genuine use. Using "region" rather than State as a location filter ;makes no sense for anyone, but it is especially asinine for folks like myself who live in the NY/NJ/CT so-called "tri-State" area. The search results for region are simultaneously under- and over-inclusive. Searching by State seems like such a no-brainer, and it was formerly easy.

Confining a search to a U.S. State (New Jersey, New York, etc.) used to be easy and reliable. The "improved" site actually seems to have eliminated this filter, which is BAFFLING. Has anyone found a workaround? I gather from reading the posts in this forum that there are a large number of bugs that are being "addressed", and that use of a State as a filter has fallen off . . . the map. I can't believe that the developers overlooked this bug.

HOW DO I FILTER FOR A PARTICULAR STATE???? So, until the site was "improved," I didn't have any trouble limiting a search by State. Now, "region" seems to have limited functionality, filtering for "Query: New Jersey" is getting me hits as far from the so-called Garden State as New Hampshire, and, for the life of me, I can't figure out what I"m doing wrong. I've tried MULTIPLE combinations of input in the field for geographic limitation (City, Zip, . . . why not STATE???) Any help would be MUCH appreciated.

OK. I didn't expect to wind up utterly skeeved out reading through forum posts, but, there you go. Preserving the tick(s) after removal is a good idea in the event follow-up medical care is sought. On the one hand, positive identification of the insect can be useful for determining the likelihood that the insect could have served as a vector for an infection of some sort. As usual, carrying an extra ziplock around is a good idea . . .

Thanks for the (incredibly quick) advice and assistance. I'm going to figure out how to steer folks away from Google Earth and Maps . . . and now all I have to worry about is the local Admin Reveiwer.

I'm leaning towards simply specifying in my puzzle description that Google is not to be trusted . . .

Elevations. I selected points using the Spot Elevation tool on the National Map viewer at https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/advanced-viewer/ I recorded the decimal lat/long coordinates withOUT truncating. [Typo edited/corrected: I DIDN'T cut off digits. D'oh. - Bill] To double check, I accessed Google Earth and entered the coordinates. For each point I had (somewhat laboriously) selected, Google Earth returned different elevations than the USGS site. GoogleMap ("Terrain" map enabled) also provides elevations. The data from Google Maps were consistent with Google Earth's data . . . and inconsistent with USGS. Arggggggh.

In the course of attempting to double-check a puzzle I'm trying to create, I discovered that Google Earth and the National Map/USGS website seemed to offer inconsistent information about the waypoints I was researching. Further checking confirmed numerous irreconcilable differences between information from the government site, on the one hand, and Google's information. If I had tons of extra time, I would submit inquiries to USGS and Google. As it is, I have already imperiled my day job by spending time on GC when I should be billing a client. So, I'm posting this topic to crowdsource a solution. Or at the very least confirm that I'm not simply boradcasting some sort of Harry-Dresden-like jinx when it comes to website interfaces.

Welcome to NJ . . . the place the Internet almost forgot! -signed, NJ Resident Since 1999. I called today to try to confirm whether or not the Echo Lake office is/will be open on Saturday. No one picked up the telephone between 2:00 and 3:15 PM. The NWCDC does NOT appear to have a website . . . Think about how many people would buy hiking permits and NOT make it out to use them. That money could be very useful for trail upkeep and other expenses. Sheesh.

In the short amount of time I have been enjoying geocaching, I have managed to have several encounters with various representatives of the security enforcement world. Thus far, I'm happy to say, everything worked out ok. The first was while trying to find a cache inside the cemetery adjacent to Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. The GZ was a large carving, and the cache itself was behind part of a carved sculpture that had to be accessed by, well, sort of climbing up the thing a little. I was having trouble reaching the pair of capsules stashed back there. When I finally managed to grasp them and carefully stepped down, I discovered several hundreds of pounds of security officer waiting for me. They were VERY curious about why I was climbing on a monument listed as a National Landmark (Hamilton is buried fairly nearby). I explained what I was doing, to their apparent relief and bewilderment. The one in charge said, "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," and the entire detail walked away. Which was an unusually good thing since: (a) I had to put the cache back in place; ( apparently, the cemetery is owned by a trust that is administered by the National Park Service, so if they had called for someone to ask me more questions, it would have been someone federal. Yesterday, I was searching for a micro called Mulberry Bend at roughly the corner of Mulberry Street and Worth Street. This is just south of Chinatown. Which means it was roughly 75 yards from U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. I concluded that either a phone booth (one of the last in lower Manhattan, perhaps) or mailbox was the hiding place, and was searching underneath one or the other when I realized that there were several sets of legs standing close by me in blue uniforms. They were heavily armed and incredibly courteous. I showed them my iPhone, explained what I was doing, and one of them admitted that this was the most reasonable explanation he had received in this kind of situation in a long time. On the one hand, I wasn't doing anything illegal this time (climbing on a monument constitutes trespass, technically speaking). On the other hand, anyone who looks like they may be searching for a place to put an IED across the street from the courthouse where everyone from tax cheats to terrorists stand trial is going to attract some serious attention.