Seth!

It has been said that geocaching is a lot less harmful than a busload of school kids getting dumped out a park for the afternoon. Typically, we hunt a given geocache in very small numbers over a period of weeks and months. Our impact is minimal. Now, tell me, how are representatives of the sport going to use this analogy in a discussion with a land manager who has gotten wind of ‘cache machines’? How many park rangers have to see a dozen cars pull up and unload four times as many geocachers, before they call ‘foul’ on our sport? How long will it be before cache-machine type events make the task of advocacy difficult or impossible?

This is the most stupid thread I have ever seen and it's a duplicate of a thread that was already started. To answer the question, "Why not have both?" the answer is that it is a really small place. The park is not much bigger than a railroad spike, for crying out loud. There is absolutely no reason to have to VCs in one place. Nightstalker had two months to look at the web site and see that I had already posted a cache there. It was silly to post a duplicate in the first place. As I've said before, asking permission to post a virtual cache is like buying a movie ticket for your imaginary friend. Seek professional help! - Seth!

quote:Originally posted by Elias:For moderators and topic starters, there should be an Admin tab at the top which when clicked, brings a drop-down box and one of those options should be "Close". If its not there, let me know and I'll look into this further. Elias It's not there--at least not from threads prior to the change. Laurencat, do you see an option for you to close this thread? (Not that you should!!) - !

Yeah, that's pretty weird. I don't know why it doesn't just link to our regular profile pages. Maybe Elias can shed some light on this. Let's see if we can get him to poke his head in here... Also, Elias, there does not seem to be a 'close thread' feature in these forums. Is that intentional? - !

Hi! The Washington State Geocaching Association has a tutorial on using HTML in geocache pages. The site is: www.geocachingwa.org I don't remember the URL to the page, but it should be under Resources. - Seth!

I'm not sure if it makes sense to intermingle these two things, but we'll find out. First, the apology. To Jeremy, Mr. Snazz, and anyone else I've snarled at in these forums, I'm sorry. I'm not sorry about my feelings, but I am sorry because my expression of them was hurtful and counterproductive. Although I make a genuine effort to be a person of integrity, I can see that I still have (on occasion) a double standard. Sometimes I should just let it go! (Dang, I need to work on my New Year's Resolution #5!) Now for the observations. Did you know that you cannot edit or delete a post on the forums after it has been there for more than 24 hours? That doesn't give you much time to rethink your post! I'll have to remember that. Just when you think a thread might start sinking to the bottom of the list, someone posts a reply! It would be nice if we could lock our own threads. Sort of a shut-the-lid-on-Pandora's-Box feature. (I realize that this idea probably has more flaws than merit.) Why on Earth did my "what the heck" thread get a four-star rating? That's just crazy. (I see it's down to three now.) I have a wish for Jeremy. This is meant to be constructive. I think that sometimes it would be prudent to make a distinction between opinion and administrative duty. Having been an admin, I realize that is a fine line. But this is my thought: When I posted the thread about e-mailing Pinecones, perhaps one of these choices would have been good--Post your opinion but leave the thread up and open--or--Delete the thread altogether and then send me a private e-mail explaining why, as an admin, you felt it was the appropriate action. In other words, sometimes the forums may not be the best place to exercise authority, just as they aren't the best place for me to stomp my foot. I am pretty opinionated. I'll try to be more careful with my posts. I hope, though, that we can all remember that saying that someone's idea is dumb is not the same thing as saying that the person is dumb. We shouldn't be afraid to share ideas and to get/give criticism. And we probably shouldn't use words like 'dumb'. Geocaching.com, like the sport, has changed over the past two years. I think that perhaps we all need to think about our roles more carefully. Like E-bay, it really is a business-client relationship. It's not a club. And like E-bay, the site is only as successful as those who contribute to it--both with money and content--and those who operate it. As clients, have the right AND resposibility to present our concerns to the management in a constructive way. As good business practice, Groundspeak needs to take these suggestions seriously and politely. But I, for one, have not always done a good job presenting them as such. The sport of geocaching has given me a lot of satisfaction and I believe that I have done a decent job of giving back. None of the angst in (and out of) the forums is helping me sleep nor is it improving my game. I suspect this is true for many. Serenity Now! - Seth!

I keep hoping that this stinkin' thread will sink to the bottom and everyone will forget about it. But then someone else posts a reply and there it is at the top again. So...while this is already at the top, I'll post one last time. First of all, I did not send Pinecones more than three or four e-mail messages over an eight month period. I was not harassing them. My thought was that if some people other than me sent them mail, they might take it more seriously. Obviously there is some disagreement on that. Fine. Let's drop it. But about the Travel Bug itself, I think that those who chided me to 'let it go' should at least hear the story. Last year, I created a very special geocache called Mission: Impossible--Deep Undercover. To make it extra-cool, I bought action figures as Travel Bugs/Agents. This included Agent 13. I got him on E-bay for about $10, plus the $5 TB tag. He was supposed to go to California and back. He made it as far as Oregon. Then the kids of a geocacher held him out their car window and let him go. Whoosh! Their mom could not find him again. She felt bad, so she bought a new TB tag and bought a Ninja Turtle action figure to replace him. We called him Agent Ninja Turtle, we made a TB Info Sheet, and she put him in the geocache where she got Agent 13. Shortly thereafter, Pinecones picked it up and it has not been seen since. Now this gal and I are out two Travel Bugs. (I bought a replacement for Agent 13, which is still traveling.) Hopefully this explains why I would like to see Pinecones get the Travel Bug moving again. It would be nice to at least hear a reason from them. Please do not reply to this in the forums. If you have a burning desire to respond, send me an e-mail. Thank you. Seth!

This is stupid. The caches in quesion are my virtual cache, which was posted on JULY 1, 2002 and an identical one posted on SEPTEMBER 19, 2002. Now, why would anyone ask for permission to post a VIRTUAL cache for something in a National Historic site where people are allowed to visit? Ask permission for people to read a sign? Gimme a break. Second of all, if I posted mine in JULY, how can someone claim that one posted TWO & A HALF MONTHS later was in process at the same time? Spare me. - !

Thanks, Bazzle, but actually there is about $30 wrapped up in that Travel Bug. It's also a matter of principle. But whatever...

quote:Originally posted by Lazyboy & Mitey Mite:The Lord Of Geocaching has people skills like no one else. Still approving caches Seth?

Man, talk about abuse of power: Jeremy wrote (in another thread that he locked): quote:I agree with Mr. Snazz. The forums were not designed to drum up hateful comments to other geocachers, regardless of whether they are in the wrong. If Pinecones is truly being belligerent it doesn't give us carte blanche to reduce ourselves to their level. I'm locking this post and will decide whether to delete it completely. Did I say anything about sending Pinecones hateful comments?! NO! WTF? Is sending people e-mail such a bad thing now? I was just suggesting that people send them a note asking about the status of the Travel Bug. I never said to be mean to them. I have seen a lot more mean stuff in these forums than that. Why would Jeremy lock that thread? Or delete it?! Because he can. Oh, and Snazz, I take back anything nice I ever said about ya. - Seth!

Well, Pinecones still has my Ninja Turtle Travel Bug. These folks are apparently a family of four, plus a dog. They regularly visit geocaching.com (as recently as today) yet they completely ignore my e-mail. That's just freaking rude. Really rude. I WANT MY TRAVEL BUG! I encourage each and every one of you to send these people an e-mail asking about the Ninja Turtle. In fact, send them two or three. These people live in Oregon, by the way. Here is their profile. Thank you! - Seth!

I may try to attend. But I have some reservations and misgivings about these 'events' that should perhaps be considered by others as well. These are based on feedback I received about the Bremerton CM and also my own thoughts. Environmental Impact--It has been said that geocaching is not as bad for an area as, say, a busload of school kids who all show up in a day and run around. But I have to think that all of the vegetation within X feet of the cache will get trampled if Y people are all scrambling to find the cache at the same time. Parking--I would say that well over half--maybe even 9/10--of the hundreds of caches I have visited had limited parking. I mean really limited parking, like room for one to six cars. This includes most of my geocache hides. As a cache owner, I would have a cow if a dozen vehicles pulled into my cul-de-sac and offloaded a bunch of geocachers hunting Squeaky Cache. I mean, having an event in my driveway is one thing, but... Sheer Volume--I've done some big hunts, on the order of 10-20 finds in a day. Although I enjoy them for the most part, I don't enjoy the feeling of being rushed. I like to enjoy the hunt. Any time I am in a hurry, it takes the fun level down a notch or two. Event?--It's been a while since I have looked at the cache page for for YCM, but I hope that the criteria for logging it is the get-together at the end. Otherwise, I might be tempted to log an extra find every time I go hunt a bunch of caches with my buddies. I suppose that geocache owners in the Yakima area know about this, so if they didn't want their geocache included in the YCM, they might say so. I hope that they would, anyway. My two cents. - Seth!

quote:Originally posted by John E Cache:If one of the 8 is for The Searcg, I don't think it is there even though it is shows up on the page. I think all of the caches were removed. It is actually in the commemorative cache created at the event. It has not been posted yet. - Seth!

If you haven't seen them, you've heard of them: The famous Moun10Bike Geocoins. Is this the most successful AND unsuccessful travel bug series ever? Many people may not even realize that these are travel bugs. Moun10Bike released his first coin (#002) on September 30, 2001, at his 100th find. Most of you had probably never heard of a geocache back then. I only had three finds back then. Moun10Bike has since released 152 of the coins/travel bugs. Here are some interesting facts (at least, interesting to me): • Of the 152 released coins, only eight --yes, 8!-- are logged into geocaches and may actually still be there waiting to be picked up. • There are five others that are logged into geocaches, but appear to be missing. Someone took them but did not log them out of the cache. • Of the 152, there are 36 logged into 'cache limbo' because their whereabouts is unknown. • Of the eight that are in geocaches, five geocoins are in the United States. There is also the aforementioned coin in Peru, plus one in the U.K. and one in Jamaica. • Most of the log entries say something like, "I'll be moving this to another geocache soon." But then they don't move it. Only a few people actually said, "I'm keeping it." (Note that the geocoin pages DO say that you may keep it, except for the ones that have a lot of miles logged already. Those don't say that.) • There are a few people who have more than one geocoin in their possession. My personal experience with them: • I have found three of them--first finder on each. I released all of them to other geocaches. • I was the first person to find #014. I did not keep it and now it is the most-traveled geocoin, with 11,742 miles! (It is currently in Peru. I'm hoping that my dad can retrieve it this month, but he may not be up for the climb.) If I had kept it, it never would have had this journey. • I was also the first person to find #004 and #030. That one (#030) disappeared from the geocache in which I placed it. All of this leads me to wonder if the geocoins are too successful. I mean, has anyone else launched 152 Travel Bugs, with only eight or so to remain in circulation? (There are a few that were recently grabbed and may actually be in circulation.) As you may have guessed, this is part observation and part gripe. What is particularly annoying are the newbies who grabbed one on their first or third hunt, then promptly quit the sport. There are also a handful of people who have grabbed more than one and are hanging on to them. I would think that one would be enough. Since I've been on numerous hunts with Moun10Bike, I've seen many geocoins drop into geocaches. In fact, I've probably seen more than anyone except Moun10Bike! But I've never just grabbed one right after he put it in. That just didn't seem sporting. But I would like to get my hands on another one! Here's my plan: I'm going to grab the next one I find. I'll keep it in my bag and if I ever come across another, I'll swap it. Hopefully #014 will return to me for a visit some day. I'd also like to get my hands on #013 if it ever returns. (That's my lucky number.) - Seth! (Posted this here rather than the TB forum intentionally.)

quote:Originally posted by Mr. Snazz:I don't like the note, personally. I hope that cache owners can delete admin notes... Of course cache owners cannot do that! What in the heck are you thinking? Admin notes go on your permanent geocaching file at the FBI, CIA, and GPH (geocaching police headquarters). You'll probably be deleted just for asking that, Snazz. - Seth! (I'm kidding. You can delete any posts to your cache page. People are always posting things on my cache pages. Mostly notes with little smileys. Clutter. I delete them all.) (I'm kidding about that last bit, too.)

quote:Originally posted by Jomarac5:Obviously, Admin will have more influence as they are representatives of the website and it's policies. Ha! Yeah, maybe. Someday ask me why I'm no longer an admin. Influence...ha! - Seth! (BTW, I like your avatar jomarac5)

quote:True I can fold up a piece of paper and stuff it in the cache and call it a log but it's not a log it's a piece of paper. Plus if you have a trade theme that paper takes up all the room. Why isn't it a log? Sure it is. It's just not a log BOOK. If you can write your name and date on it, it is big enough. I have a log and room for coin trading in a magnetic hide-a-key. - Seth! People who make preparations to kill others are never truly free. They are not gun-toting murderer wannabes... they are HOMELAND DEFENSE WARRIOR WANNBES! (Who, when their office buildings are blown up by jets or nuclear warheads, will rise from the ashes, guns blazing.)

Yes, I still have my first "took" item. It is a red pepper candle. Pretty weird item, but memorable. That was August 29, 2001. Yes, I like to 'collect' signature items, although I think I only have a couple. A lot of people (like me) don't have one. BUT I will be getting one soon, since that was one of my resolutions for the new year. Seth!

Gosh, did I kill the thread? Does this mean nobody has a photo or have you all been sworn to secrecy?

...that this is one of the most stupid threads I've ever read. Of course, I try to avoid reading the forums... ...that Mr. Snazz is my new forum hero because I can just say, "yeah, what he said" ...that there is a great quote from This Is Spinal Tap: "There's a fine line between clever...and stupid." Do the rules for geocaching change daily? No. Do the kinds of crap that get posted as 'geocaches' get more and more lame daily? Yes. If the admins approve every stupid-@ss submission just because it's there, then what happens to our sport? If I were a newbie and the five caches nearest my house were (a) a film canister with a wad of gum in it; ( a rotting bird carcass; © a road sign; (d) a statue of Bill Bixby; and (e) a ziplock baggie with a soggy piece of paper in it, I wouldn't stay in the game for long. Or worse, I would stay in the game and I'd hide equally stupid stuff. What's with the vocal minority so determined to bring down the quality of geocaching? Why not spring for an ammo can, sand it down, paint it brown, then find a really great hiding spot for it. Post a great cache page with a photo of the area, accurate coordinates, a well-written description, and a decent hint? It's supposed to be Cache In/Trash OUT remember? - Seth!

And I don't mean leave it in a geocache. I guess if I was on the ball, I'd have gone hunting for one earlier. (Do they sell OR papers in WA? Do they charge sales tax on them?) !

I had a great time geocaching in AZ. I found 20 geocaches in the Tucson area between Saturday and Tuesday. It was a nice variety and a lot of fun. If I didn't find one of yours, don't take it personally. Thank you to everyone who placed the geocaches that I found. I was also happy to be able to swap some Travel Bugs. I shall return some day. Happy Geocaching!

quote:Originally posted by Ish-n-Isha:....BUT! If its some sort of elitest thing where it bothers someone to know that others are out there having fun in a diffrent way that they like, thats just sick. A few people live in areas where LC's show up on their nearest caches page. 90% of us live in areas like me, where if you want to see LC's you have to search for them on a diffrent page already! Out of sight is out of mind, isnt it? Sigh. Ish, we've been over this. It has nothing to do with whether or not LCs are fun. Frisbee Golf is fun. But it is not geocaching. LCs are fun. But they aren't geocaching. It's that simple. Elitism? Please. Just so you know, Locationless caches don't show up on ANYBODY'S nearest caches page. That's because they don't have a LOCATION! That's why there is a link at the top of the nearest cache pages called "Also search for locationless caches"

Ahem. Pardon the intrusion into your conversation. Does anybody have a photo of the GPS Control Center or whatever it is that you folks have there in Colorado Springs? I understand that you have the Mother Ship there but I cannot find any photos on the web. Is it a big satellite dish? A concrete bunker? If any of you have a photo or know where I can get one, please let me know. Thanks, Seth!