cottonmouth

Positives: finding places I didn't even know about meeting nice people honing my observation and navigational skills Negatives: having a hard time to explain the new hobby total loss of sense of time while caching (got me considered MIA on a friend's birthday party where I arrived 2 hours after the start) cachers inflicting damage in the vicinity of caches

A mixture of snow and rain came down in ample quantities and strong wind was blowing. My first thought after a peek out of the window was "That's the perfect wheather to get the new cache in a muggle-infested area". Ten minutes later I started a bicycle tour to actually get the cache. I guess the fact that I had my gear ready to go in such a short time might be a sign for a slight addiction.

The last two digit are seconds for tom-tom hence they need to be less than 60. I assume that you tried to enter the decimals. That will take you to the wrong place. You have to multiply the decimals with 60 to get the proper entry (e.g. 25.800' => 25' 48"). Luckily you ran into that problem before the DNF. HTH

I have tom-tom on a different unit but things should be similiar. In the map view select the second menu from left (should be "extras" or "tools"). You should find an entry "go to coordinates". Select it and enter your data. You can select it as destination when your are back to the map view. Captions may differ a bit as my version is german but I hope that helps you to get on the right track.

I use FF 1.0 on a Linux machine. I can't access the Windows update pages properly. For obvious reasons that doesn't bother me too much. I encountered not too much sites that required IE. None of them was worth bothering with them (a few lost buisiness to competitors but that's their problem not mine). With the proper plugins (adblock is highly recomended the rest is up to your taste) the general experience with the internet and GC is pleasant. FF fails to resume downloads when the connetion is interrupted. For bigger files I use Opera as it handles that better.

Sometimes the telltale is left so cachers can go easy on the hiding spot. The owner may not appreciate an improved hiding. I´d restore the state in which I found the camo.

When I don´t find items that I´m interested in, I just leave it at TNLNSL. I don´t see a need for trading something out that someone else may actually enjoy. I started leaving my sig-card though. After all it´s about the hunt.

That could remedy the tremdous lack of red tape in geocaching. I'd surely quit online logging if that was introduced. I wasn't born a bureaucrat though.

I wouldn´t have a problem with that as long as it´s not required to go into the restaurant to find the cache. Some cache owners include recommendations for restaurants in their description (no gift certificate). For out of towners it can be pretty handy if they want to have a meal. If that´s all right your´s should be too. I´d also appreciate having the coordinates as it makes finding the spot easier. The certificate is an offer that could be refused if it´s not convinient. IMHO a gift certificate in a cache is ok when their is enough time to claim it and it´s not for adult stuff.

It´s always possible that a cacher inadvertently reveals too much. I´ve done that myself. IMHO it´s not a big deal to receive a polite mail that asks to change the log (received one - changed log ASAP). I´d skip the "or else" part in a first mail though.

By its nature Geocaching isn´t very social. It can be done totally anonymous. Despite of that geocachers seem to be very social. Otherwise neither the sport nor the events would work. Geocachers are some of the nicest folks I´ve met.

You could try to contact the owner of a cache for an english description. They might help you with a translation. If you do it early they may even add an english description to their listing. Just out of couriousity: which region of germany are you visiting?

It´s always weighing hogging all the fun versus letting the TB sit there forever. There is no way that is always right. If there is any doubt, the person who served the TB owner´s interest did the right thing.

I´m an outdoors person. I go fishing, ride motorcycle and enjoy finding beautiful spots. I bang my own drum. If you think it´s noise then it´s your problem. If the outdoors part of a cache doesn´t promise to be fun, I don´t hunt for it. My leisure time is too short to be wasted on things I don´t enjoy or pointless griping.

There´s no way this could be appropriate. Give proper coordinates so others can find it too. Seriously, I´d appreciate a recommendation when I have to drive a long way for the cache. When a business does a good job satisfying their customers they deserve a recommendation. I don´t like logs or listings where someone mentions a great place with terrific food, reasonable prices and extraordinarily friendly waitresses and then skips the part with the whereabouts.