terrkan78

Hi there! First off, welcome to geocaching and welcome to the world of trackables! I took a look at the webpage for your trackable and it looks like you must have gotten the photo deleted (or at least I don't see a photo attached to their log). I agree that they must have meant to retrieve it but clicked the wrong log type. You're welcome to send them an e-mail - if it were me, I'd make it a really welcoming e-mail and mention that they picked the wrong log type but it's no big deal, etc. - what you don't want to do is make someone mad who's holding your trackable. I hope your trackable travels far and wide! I've had some disappear with the first person who picked it up (very frustrating), and I've had others travel to foreign countries I'll never see (which is very cool).

It's weird no matter how you slice it, but it seems to me that it's apt to be a stolen card. Maybe they (perhaps a muggle) had an attack of conscience and this is one way to get the card to someone who'll do the right thing? Weird, but possible. Maybe it fell out of a geocacher's pocket? Extra weird (and I doubt it). Maybe a geocacher had an attack of the d'ohs and traded it for the nifty tie dye bracelet that was in the cache? That's just too weird to believe. The sad thing is the bank isn't going to tell you if it's a stolen card. They'll just take it and say thank you. And we'll be left pondering. Although...I like to ponder. An elaborate drug drop? Someone who knows how much geocachers like seemingly unsolvable puzzles? Aliens?

I once found a cache right next to wires inside a light pole. Didn't like it. I once had to unscrew what I thought was an electrical box (later realized it was a phone box) and was very uncomfortable with that. I once started to unscrew an electrical thing for a puzzle final and decided I was just too uncomfortable and left with a DNF. I later found out the final wasn't in that electrical thing anyway. I've found an awful lot of caches nailed or screwed to trees. I know of at least one that was reported and archived. As time goes on, I've become better at walking away when I'm uncomfortable with a cache. I don't worry too much about caches that I don't like. I do make a point of hiding caches that I would enjoy finding and call it good. The only caches that really get under my skin (and not in a bad way) are the T4.5ish. Some of them are just on the edge of what I'm physically capable of doing. You know, rock climbing that's not really rock climbing (a real rock climber would call it wimpy, but to me it's Mt. Everest). Those ones are soooo tempting. I circle and circle and ponder the possibility of dying vs. getting to that cache. Those are hard to walk away from.

Crud. I'm middle school. You know how much I hated middle school? Cool! Pike's Peak is on my must-hike-someday list. I'll look forward to your virtual! I think everyone who posts respectfully (which I primarily define as in a non-shaming manner) in the forums adds a valuable contribution to the conversations. It ought to take some pretty egregious rule violations to get banned. I think old-fashioned caches (which I define as including a hike, spectacular location, frequently an ammo can, sometimes a cool field puzzle) are indeed valuable to the game. They're rare, and some of them are the best of the best. Old timers are often the owners of these sorts of caches and hence are extremely valuable for that reason (if nothing else). I think the most valuable contributor to the game is someone who is passionate about it and wants to see the game live long and prosper. Even if their definition of "prosper" differs from my own.

"Woohoo, I Get A Smiley" Which technically ought to be spelled WHIGAS (on account of the "Hoo) and pronounced "Whee-gas" (mainly just because it sounds more fun than the long "I" version, "Why-gas").

One of the nice things about geocaching is I can do it a lot, or I can skip it altogether for months on end. As long as I keep my own hand full of caches maintained, nothing else really matters. As such, there's no reason to ever retire. I admit that if I found myself embroiled in caching-related drama, that would probably spoil it for me. I try to keep my life far removed from drama - my knickers don't take much twisting before I say something I later regret. So a good solid knickers twisting could possibly get me to retire. I think this cacher is approaching his retirement in the right way. It bugs me when people leave their caches to rot, even if their caches are good ones.

Micro-sized hides can be tough. Very tough. Urban hides can be tough. A lot of times the only way I find them is to look with my hands and find something that feels slightly different than the other surfaces I'm running my hands along (hopefully it's not a bees nest). Last time I did this it was a statute, a female statute in the middle of town, and I was on my hands and knees, reaching up inside Ms. Statute's long skirt, hoping that those eyes I could feel staring at me from behind were just my imagination. I didn't have the guts to actually turn around and see if anyone was watching and wondering what WTH I was doing. If you try searching for a regular-sized (or large-size) cache, it's easier. But often you have to go outside urban areas in order to find the larger sizes. And I've certainly been stumped on many a regular-sized cache, too. I tell myself surely the cache must be missing.

Just to add to the above, it's ok if you no longer have the tracking number. The next person who takes the TB can log it, and it'll be all good. Thank you for moving the TB along, and welcome to the game!

Welcome! You sound like you'll make an awesome cache hider. If you do decide to go for an elaborate hide someday, your efforts (and I don't doubt that elaborate hides take a huge amount of effort) will be greatly appreciated!

If you get a craigslist ammo can, check it well before buying. Even some of the surplus cans don't shut/seal very well. If it doesn't seal, then it'll let water in even if it's a metal can. I had a plastic Cabellas ammo can hanging in a tree for a couple of years. It stayed dry inside (big bushy evergreen tree so there was some protection from the elements there, but not much). It was definitely not a water tight container but it was water resistant enough to survive where I had it.

Congrats on the dedicated unit! I got pretty frustrated at first trying to figure out my new, not-so-user-friendly dedicated unit after my incredibly-user-friendly iPhone app. After I figured it all out, it was great. I agree there's only so much you can say in your log on some caches (at least I think that's what you're saying). I honestly don't think too many cache hiders of generic micros expect particularly long logs. Especially if we're talking about caches that are located in urban areas (whether in the woods/parks or just on the city streets). Once in a while, you come upon a cache that the hider has clearly put serious effort into - you'll know it when you see it - and those hiders (I think) are expecting more in the way of logs (and, from what I see, those caches usually get it). But for the epic, page-long, OMG-story logs, usually you have to get out of urban areas into 4+ terrain. It'll probably be a few years before you get your children to 4+ terrain (unless you're stronger than me). But when they're old enough, and you want to go on an adventure they'll never forget, try a cache with a terrain rating high enough to challenge them. My kids still remember (quite negatively) the day we crawled up a hill on our hands and knees (because it was too steep to walk).

Ahh, what you do is tell them it's not really an addiction. It's exercise. It's family time. It's...well, whatever you need to call it to get it past their radar. I bet you could get at least a year of caching in before they stage an intervention. Unless you start missing work on account of caching. Or you miss a family member's birthday party. Or you get 100 caches in one day, dragging the kids in tow. :D

Do you use the aluminum powder as part of a cache, or use the toy as part of a cache container? Just curious, as I've never heard of etch-a-sketch being used in creating a cache. Sounds interesting. I haven't deployed this one yet...it's proving to be a lot of work. The plan is to "etch" (using paint on the back side of the glass and a sharp tool) partial coords to the next phase, as though someone's shaken the etch-a-sketch just enough to obliterate the rest of the coords and then write on the red frame outside, "Oh no, you didn't shake it, did you??" A little screwdriver's velcro-ed on and if they use it to open up the etch-a-sketch, the full coords are inside. Just one phase of a silly, kid-friendly multi. It'll unquestionably be a maintenance nightmare when I finally get it up and running. I like to make duplicates of everything so I have a back-up ready. I got two etch-a-sketches and I work on them every now and then. It's going to be a while. HEH

Etch-a-sketch (And, dang, are those things hard to cut open!) Lots of ultra-flat paint in assorted colors. Fiberglass kit that so far has remained in the "am I really sure I want to tackle this" pile. Liquid nails. Someone on here said that it was a good adhesive. And it is...but it's bright orange. Surely it must come in other colors.

Different reviewers handle this differently. My reviewer asked me to set up a cache page and submit it for review - I did it just like you did, with a reviewer note indicating the cache wasn't yet in place. I don't know why you got the "please don't enable" note - sounds to me like you did everything exactly right. Now that Keystone has verified that no multi's or puzzles are blocking your hide, if it were me I'd go ahead and set up the cache (taking as much time as I needed, within reason) and when I had it ready, I'd enable it with a note in the reviewer box indicating that indeed the cache is now in place. Good luck on your hide!

Ouch. $110 seems steep for a repair. If I understand right, you send your unit in and they send you a different refurbished one (which wouldn't be an attractive option in my opinion) - someone correct me if I'm wrong on that.

I'm thinking I'd like the date correct vs. the chronology, so I'd go with #2, but #1 isn't bad. #3, on the other hand, is completely unacceptable if that's my only chance for logging a cache in a new state.

LOL I have ALWAYS carried a three-fly 30' heavy-duty aluminum extension ladder (rated for firefighting service) in my backpack! Can't believe you would leave the house without one... such a n00b! Crud. Now I feel positively wimpy carrying around my super light (could-twirl-it-around-your-little-finger-if-you-wanted-to) bunk bed ladder that I stole from dad's camper. Question: How do you keep Mr-30-foot from snagging the sticker bushes and low tree limbs? There have been quite a few times when I've looked at the terrain rating, said "I sure hope that means it's just on a really steep hillside," gotten to GZ, spotted the thing way, way up in a tree and given a heavy sign because that's my no-fly zone. And dad'll notice if I steal his Mr-30-foot.

Some trackables die a quick death, and others live to travel far and wide. I haven't found a whole lot of rhyme of reason to this - I've released a couple dozen geocoins since 2009 and I didn't really follow any of the advice given on these forums for geocoin longevity. One disappeared out of the first cache. Most made it a lot longer than that. Some have sat for a long time in seldom-found, remote caches (which is fine by me). A few are still moving around. One thought is to release maybe a dozen trackables (make them all CDs if you like - I'd like to come upon a trackable like that), and then it's not quite so painful when one goes missing.

Interest stats on here! 10 mi. = 65 25 mi. = 115 1000 caches = 99 mi. Percentage found: 2.75% No, there's not too many. Mostly I don't bother with them. That works for me. What I really like, though, are field puzzles. Fairly easy field puzzles that are designed to make the finder laugh rather than exercise much in the way of brainpower.

If you do take a bunch of trackables from one cache, it might be a good idea to say something in your log about why you're doing so. "I'm going overseas next week and thought I'd take these trackables on a nice long trip." "I see that these trackables have been sitting in this cache for eight months now, so I'm taking them with me to further them on their journeys." "I'm able to help all four trackables with their missions, so I took all four with me." An explanation in your log will help counter those who might otherwise label you a trackable hog for taking a bunch at once. It's totally fine to take them all as long as you can help them on their missions, but if you're concerned about what others think (and it's ok to not be concerned about that), then an explanation will help. Although...not too many people will even notice if you take all the trackables at once. Unless we're talking about a TB Hotel, in which case the cache owner will definitely notice and possibly be upset about it (I'm not saying they should be upset about it, but they are likely to at least be irritated).

It's incredibly nice of you to pay for a replacement. It's incredibly cheezy of the CO to ask you to replace it. I broke a cache in half once trying to get it open in the dark (thought it was a twist-open container; it wasn't). I didn't offer to replace it. I did toy with the idea of walking away and pretending I was never here but in the end I fessed up. If the CO had asked me to pay for a replacement I would have done so, but I would have then kicked myself for fessing up. As a CO, I'd just be glad they did fess up and that I could fix it before others attempted it.

As Andronicus said, Lakedogs needs to log the TB online - there's nothing you can do to correct the situation. But don't worry, even if Lakedogs fails to correctly log the TB but eventually leaves it in a cache, then the next person who picks up the TB will hopefully log it correctly, thus removing the TB from your online inventory. In other words, it might take a while, but eventually the TB will likely be correctly logged and removed from your inventory. If worse comes to worse and several months down the road the TB is still showing up in your inventory and Lakedogs says they put it in a cache and no longer have it, etc., you could e-mail the TB's owner (named "CDS231") and ask them to mark the TB missing. That will remove it from your inventory (I think).

I love hiking solo. The farther out in the boonies, the better. I've looked into the devices that you can use outside cell service, but they're not cheap - I haven't sprung for one yet. I leave a plan with family, but frankly I'd be surprised if they could even find my car, let alone find me. I spend plenty of time thinking about what it would be like if something went wrong, very wrong, while I'm out hiking. It betrays my own issues to say so, but I actually kind of like the thought that if something does go wrong, I have only myself to rely on to fix it. Frankly, it scares much more to think of having to rely on someone else (unquestionably there's something sick and wrong with that!) I'm not a rock climber and I draw the line occasionally when I'm out scrambling up/down steep terrain, but usually the lure of the cache gets me to GZ. There have been times when I've surveyed the incredibly scary and slightly over-my-head terrain, looking at the cuts, bruises and clothing tears I've accumulated on this particular scramble, and I've stopped to ask myself if this is worth it. So far the answer has come from deep from within, loud and unequivocal: This is where I feel alive. This is so worth it. I accept the risks inherent in hiking alone. But I haven't watched (and don't plan to watch) that movie where the guy gets his arm stuck and eventually cuts it off to save his life.

Oooo. Hammer-caching. Reminds me of rubik's cubes - if you jam a letter opener in there and pry that sucker open, you can finally get it in the right order. I'm not sure a letter opener will work with the plastic puzzle shown in the picture - probably gotta move up the tool scale to hammers. I'd list it as a puzzle. Just to keep the hammers away.