GRANPA ALEX

Right Mtn-Man, we have WE4NCS locally who has a propensity for hiding micros in Holly trees - when one hunts his caches, the first target is the nearest Holly tree. Then he went and put one on the ground by a stump, newbies got it quickly but it took me more than a single trip for this one & it was all my fault for having preconceived ideas of where to look. Sometimes, experience can slow your progress but it is all fun!

Yes, I would do it if it was near enough to my home . . . BUT, when I came out, there would be a lot more caches there than one & my back pack would be empty!

Ditto to ALA Rambler . . . cooler, quieter, peaceful - sooo nice at night. Have done the 24-hour runs, but mostly only up to 18 hour runs. Seem to even find the caches easier at night, weird this - but lots of fun! GA

THANKS for the advice . . . it is really helpful! Granpa Alex

Shopping for a 'refurbished' hand-held PC and want to compare them before diving into the waters . . . looking for a site that compares them - features, speed, software, memory & memory cards, upgrades, interfaces & functionality. Basically needed only for use in geocaching right now, spouse overlooking the costs firmly directs me to seek economy. May also serve in my new job classes & college class this summer which is why I seek PC functionality. Found the HP site that compares HP selections . . . really want other sources to be players in the comparison . . . can you help?

Can you believe a 20-gallon tupperwear container . . . it shows up around Father's Day annually in the central NC area . . . simply called the Father's Day Cache. Since it is in a differnt locale each year moving tens of miles, we log it annually. It is time for it to peek it's head out again . . . come & get it, I hear it will be around the Pinehurst PGA golf tournament area.

My reviewer name says it all . . . huggy_ d1 (huggy, the one) - he's JUST so-o-o-o sweet & we just love him to bits! Opps, now he's gonna get tough JUST to change his image - how do I delete this #@%&!?# entry - shucks!

In my experience . . . you have to "SELL" the idea. This is done by looking at the thing entirely from the other person's point of view (not your own). What are their goals, their fears, their perceptions and their expectations - you must tie your objective directly into these points. What is in it for them - their income, their prestige, their security in the community, their ego and their pride. To find the answers, simply ask . . . people LOVE to talk & often their favorite subject is themselves and their own ideas, it is just a natural thing. Geocaching has a lot of positive characteristics to help sell it such as revenue from tourism, CITO, maturity of players (family people), voters who play, low impact on environ. How can these or other ideas fit into the decision-makers outlook?

WHAT a beautiful Saturday, went though withdrawals - as I did NOT cache at all! Worked one of the holes, passing our beer/sodas at a golf tournament for the Make-A-Wish Foundation fund raiser . . . it was fun, really fun. Sitting there between golfer 4-somes, I spotted some great cache hiding places (heh-heh), caching never got off my mind . . . I am suffering the shakes now - gotta go!

It may be as CR said earlier . . . once he was a numbers person, now he has different goals - maybe we do change over time, going through stages of 'maturity' in geocaching? Right now, mygoal IS a numbers goal. Once successful, I really think I will slow down - I can already feel a desire to diminish my pace of 12-24 hours days at nearly 60 years old. But, I have another goal that I feel is much more important . . . that of not judging what others choose to seek from the game or choose to give to the game - be it their motives & goals, or their hides & caches. After all, no one has been elected to set standards for everyone else. It seems positive attitudes demonstrate the highest level of maturity for geocachers.

Man . . . this poor OP! Did he really think he no one could check his stats? His experience has not been mine, at all. I have some minor issues in the game but not with the folks at gc.com or even in the field as approvers - they have all been fine & kind to me and everyone I cache with locally (NC), especially my approvers. If perfection is what is sought in this or any/game sport, you just have to wait a short while, till after Armagedden, anyway. Meanwhile, play or not, make a choice - if it is good for you, continue & have fun - if not, you can stop & we wish you well.

My personal experience is the the basic units are ALL you need for caching, I have seen & worked with the Etrex Legend, the Etrx green & the 60cs - all cached equally well. The added 60 cs features help with logging finds, mapping/directions to parking and a host of other neat things . . . but absolutely do not zero in on the cache with any more accuracy than the defeatured models. My first several hundred caches were found perfectly well with the de-featured models.

Looked at TC, found 3TC and 25GC caches on Saturday (4/2)- one TC was very unique that would not have been approved at GC, the log was writing grafitti on a wall & taking a picture of it to send to the owner as proof - GREAT STUFF! I do like the rating system that allows the system to automatically archive a cache that runs negative ratings/posts over a period of time - it seems it will keep cache quality up and automatically eliminate unmaintained or poor caches - this is a good thing, right? Worked for a coupla decades for a monopoly company (PBI) that held a 93% market share for decades . . . it changed nothing until competition gave them a wake up call. It did not move fast enough and has suffered. GC can certainly avoid this - GC should avoid this & I certainly hope that it does! It is not the growth issues related to band width that will drive people to shop around, but attitudes of apathy and insensitivity to the users desires for the site, for fairplay and diminished negativity. These cost nothing to maintain at peak elevations.

Have a local cacher that went straight to the final stop of a 5-stage multi . . . the location was a most likely spot & was confirmed by the short hint for this last stage. He logged the find without going through the stages . . . an alternative way to cache? Can this be applied to puzzle caches, as well - going with a friend who is good at solving to find the puzzle cache . . .is it just an alternative way to find the cache? Do we consider the owners intention as a reasonable consideration?

Have seen a trend lately where the physical log is noted (name/date/TFTCSL) with little or no comment BUT the finder is generous with comment in his online log . . . the feeling seems to be that owners do not often see & read physical logs and they are only proof of the find, if there is a question BUT the owner does see the online log and can be encouraged & informed there, readily. All-in-all, this seems a good trend, saves physical log space & time in-the-field for more caching . . . yep, more numbers, too!

In Sanford NC, it is running $2.05 - $2.09 for unl reg. I am now caching with a friend and we are considering using his little red 4cyl and parking my big Buick. Working together and using a car that uses less gas should allow us to cache on!

We, as an organization, have no political clout or means to act as a unit to respond strongly to this issue . . . BUT, there are organizations with lobbies, capital, clout & connections to derail this issue, quickly. Without the history, why would anyone go to Charleston, for example, and leave all of their money there in the hands of merchants & hotels - it is this history that is being targeted by the legislation - the very source of the revenues to the area. Since SC (& Charleston, in particular) is so dependent upon tourist revenues, is there not a Tourism/Business/Recreation chamber, lobby or organization that represents those segments of business that would be interested in fighting a law that potentially hurts tourism & diminishes revenues? Politicians can attack a small defensless organizations who have no recourse so that they appear rightous, enviromentally-sensitive and caring when it is all really about money & their own re-election . . . you only get their attention when THEIR capital or supporters are impacted. Send in the power lobbies that get them elected and the legislation will fade away.

I would move/archive my micro instantly if asked to do so for the purpose of placing an ammo can nearby, it is simply the unselfish thing to do as ammo cans appeal to a larger pool of potential seekers, including the little ones. It is not about me or my hides, it is about what serves the larger purpose and makes it best for everyone else - simply a measure of character. I have been slammed for my placement of micros but the slammer has not suggested they want to place a better cache, they just want to complain - you, however, have a genuine premise to present for the good, you will most certainly succeed by contacting the place of the micro.

In my area, celebrations (events) are scheduled when one or more achieve 1000 finds . . . one family did this in a single (first) year, others have taken more time. This community, therefore, recognizes numbers to that point & I am part of it - therefore, I have a goal of 1K in 2 years. I am at 600 in just over 13 months just now. After that, it comes to a focus on some of the more esoteric/ethereal ideals, mentioned in earlier posts, perhaps.

My choice of words is mild 'obsession' . . . it gets me active, provides a venue for my need of exercise, gives me a measurable activity that motivates and provides a lot of genuine fun in the people I meet, the stories shared and the creative finds that I enjoy.

Realistically, all forum posts are placed to generate responses, even the ones "with an agenda" - it's the nature of the beast. It is more honest to post for reaction/response/fun than to have an agenda that pretends freedom from hypocrisy while thrusting personal opinion on everyone else in the disguise of guileless truth & fairplay.

Back to the original query, I am personally tracking my finds as I have set a goal for myself that is motivating my progress . . . when achieved, I will probably relax on this measure and seek other measures of the activity. For ME, having no goals in any venture means no measure of success . . . I do not believe there is anyone unaware of their progress (numbers). They may not deem it important or be willing to strive for goals or be willing to compete - but we all watch & know the score. It's just undeniably human!

Yu might check out GCKTF2 as a measure of how far ones may go to collect a cache . . . lots of fun, this one called "HOLY WASTEWATER" - logs are a riot!

I seem to find most of my day caches in the night, it should be okay to find night caches in the day. Sometimes, am out for 12-15 hours, once for 24 hours. Have found night ones in the day, without difficulty, as they used the white fire tacks that one can see easily. But, one tries night caches in the day at one's own peril on these in the daytime. Make them tough for day hunts, if you choose. One way is to use tacks or twist-ties, but put your own dark colored reflective tape on them . . . very hard to see in the day where the white fire tacks can be spotted easily.

I would heartily disagree based upon experience with the thirty-or-so fellow cachers I know and associate with regularly (AND what I read in the forum). . . we do NOT edit and skip caches based upon preconceived ideas of cache quality/value/location - WE hunt them all. Someone gave us the gift of a cache, we are gonna give them the hunt & and an encouraging appreciative log. I feel this idea of caching is, without question, representative of the greater number.