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FtMgAl

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Everything posted by FtMgAl

  1. I hope you're exaggerating. Exaggerating by 37 sq. miles. For shame! Ok, I'll admit that my figure was 1.825% high if you will admit that your accusation of 37 square miles is 1.334% higher than the actual exaggeration of 36.506 square miles. Picky, picky. It still means I have to drive a long way to get my next cache when many can bag more in a single day than my total for the past 6 month. But then again I might be exaggerating by a couple of percent.
  2. 36547 No wonder my count is so low! 9 listed within 15 miles. 1 I adopted that is currently disabled because the park is still closed, 1 virtual that the proof is no longer available, 4 that require a boat and I'm sure no longer exist (most recent logged before the hurricane in Sept.), 1 known missing recommended for archive in Aug., 1 micro (not lame), 1 tupperware I did last summer. If I look out to 25 miles there are 9 more that still exist - been there-done that. A 25 mile radius is about 2000 square miles. That means 1 active cache for every 181 square miles. If I want to cache now I have to drive about 50 miles one way. Bring back locationless.
  3. Searching for "underwater" found a few more: Super Duper Underwater Hydro Cache 2.0 Millie Falls Underwater Cache Underwater stash Underwatercache Only one is rated a 5/5.
  4. Did you check the site suggested on the cache page? http://airnav.com/navaids/ tells far more about these aids than most of the cache logs. Not only does it give accurate coordinates but it also gives radio frequencies and types of equipment. True the logs here give one or more pictures but what self-respecting terrorist is going to trust what is found here rather than doing their own scout work? If I can drive out to the Summerdale NDB and take a bunch of pictures from the county road in broad daylight, a semi-intellegent terrorist with a nightscope could learn even more about that shack out in the country. But to what purpose? There are far jucier targets back on the main highway. No, IMHO this locationless is harmless and should NOT be archived. Someone may be able to get arrested for taking a picture of Aunt Millie at Laguardia but that is no reason to ban cameras from the entire US. Whatever happened to common sense?
  5. Do like I do - live on the coast in Alabama and travel home to Decatur every month or so. We lost most of our caches in this area due to hurricane Ivan so I look forward to coming up in a few weeks and freezing in 30 degree weather (BRRR!!! ) while looking for the latest caches.
  6. Its possible they were approved before the .1 mile rule was in place, or the approver just missed it, or perhaps (but hopefully not) the owner of the puzzle cache deliberately mislead the approver. Nope. The second one was placed last summer (June) after the rule. IF the approver has access to actual placement of puzzle caches 6 months after they were approved, then the approver just missed it. Not being privy to the "secret" information approvers keep after approving a cache (I know they get the real coordinates during the approval process but do they keep it?), it seemed more likely to me that the original puzzle cache never popped up on a simple search for nearby caches during the approval process for the second. Lastly the puzzle was there first. No conspiracy with the hider of the second cache because the second placer was surprised to find the first a month after approval of the second. The coordinates for both are very good and clearly indicate they are close together once you solve the puzzle. But if you don't solve the puzzle they are 5 miles apart.
  7. Good suggestions all but sometimes none of them work. There are 2 caches near here that are not more than 250 feet apart. No creek. No change in elevation. Just a nice stroll across flat woods clear of underbrush. You can do both of them is less than 2 minutes without running. How was that approved? The first cache is a mystery cache where you have to solve a puzzle to obtain the correct coordinates. The listed coordinates are 5 miles away. The placer of the second cache had never solved the puzzle and so didn't know it was there. The approver also evidently didn't keep the actual coordinates so there was no indication that the first cache was even in the same park. Bottom line: Do your homework before going to the trouble of trying to get approval. If you don't find another nearby cache then the approver probably won't either. If it is later discovered that your cache is too close most cachers will give you a wink and a nod for putting one over on TPTB rather than grief for knowingly violating the spirit of the rules through lack of diligence.
  8. You can't read this very well here but the penalty for individuals is $5000 and 6 months in jail per person per violation. The penalty is $100,000 and 1 year per offense for a corporation which presumably implies Groundspeak. I have to assume they mean the officers of the corporation do the jail time and not just the certificate of incorporation Some individuals are real touchy about their property even when it isn't their property. The government entity here is REALLY POed that people can actually walk on the public property they are charged with administrating. For many years they have taken every opportunity to exclude the public from this reserve and beach. Right after the recent hurricane they demanded a 24 hour National Guard posting to make sure no one put footprints on their beach until they could put up fences to keep people off the beach. The guard drove Hummers up and down the 3 mile stretch cutting deep ruts even though the state prohibits motorized vehicles on the beach. This is federal land so the state has no right to tell them what they can and can not do. Here we are over 3 months later and you can now park in the parking lot and walk to the water through a fenced chute. You are then informed that you will be arrested if you venture inland more than 50 feet from the surf. Note it says surf and not water's edge. The dictionary defines that as where the waves break which is about 300 feet offshore. As far as I can tell, the poor guy who dared put a cache here is still in hiding. The cache was just off a well traveled and MARKED trail and causing no problem at all. There were trail guides at the trail head and sign posts along the way. But what was missed was that the administrator only allowed those things because his supreiors said that he had to. He didn't have to allow a cache bring in lots more unwanted people trampling his sand. So sometimes there are strong deep undercurrents you need to be aware of before placing a cache. Public property doesn't always belong to the public. Sometimes it belongs to some pea-brained power-mad bureaucrat. P.S. Yes, this guy is serious in enforcement also. The parking lot is small and if you dare park on the side of the road he will and has called a tow truck. You better have a cell phone because it's about 15 miles back to town.
  9. Makes me wonder why bother with geocaching? Just call a friend and ask if they know any neat places to go. No messing with approvals or damp logs or poison ivy or mud. Hey, I just found a nice new restaurant. Give me a call and I'll tell you where it is. I'll even let you use the number 81919 to describe your experience. It's prime, you know.
  10. My record is just under Mach 3 in a Pontiac. Just goes to show that we're still smarter than our machines.
  11. Always one to disagree... Would you really put a wet dirty bandage on your child's cut? Caches are not the most sanitary place to keep bandages. If you put them in a ziplock it might keep for a while but I have removed several dirty bandaids from wet caches. Parents bringing children on caching trips should come prepared. They should have their own first aid kit that they know the history of. Next imagine yourself as the kid. You're out here in the cold and wet all excited to find the hidden treasure with all its toys. You cut yourself and it really hurts but you wiped away the tears and pressed on because of the treasure you are going to find. Finally you found it and when you open it up and look at all the bounty your mother wants you to trade your neat toy soldier for a bandaid! There's cars and marbles and dolls and you want to trade for a crumby bandaid? Get real, Mom! The kid bandaids are nice to have in the medicine cabinet to ease the pain but IMHO they aren't the best trading item in a cache.
  12. I've almost always have a wood hiking stick. It is a three section unit with brass joints. It stores under the seat in the car and the hard wood has a nice feel in both summer and winter. I've cracked it several times by applying too much lateral force but carpenter's glue has always fixed it as good as new. The brass point wore completely through but a large brass wood screw solved that problem. I estimate it has at least 1500 miles on it and there is another 1000 left in it. I don't want to imagine caching without a stick. It provides balance while getting there. No more walking into spider webs (after walking into the first one ). Defense against everything from dogs to snakes. It even deters biting flies when swung around the head and back. I can poke into holes while standing 6 feet back. Pictures are much sharper using it as a monopod for the camera. Stab it into the ground and you can hang a small pack on it above the mud. It moves grass and brambles including poison ivy out of the way. It investigates things I wouldn't want to touch without knowing what they are. It provides a guide to how far I can jump to clear a creek and gives assistance during the jump to allow an extra couple of feet (good way to crack it again ) If I had to replace this old friend I would have 2 absolute requirements - wood and sections no more than 25" long so that it fits in carry-on luggage.
  13. Sometimes a micro will grow. Salvda Hill Cemetery Cache is listed as a micro because that is what it started as. Originally it was a medium sized pill bottle with a few scraps of paper but people kept adding to it. By the time I got there it would have filled an ammo can. Still a pill bottle and a large ziplock after 2 years activity.
  14. Adoption complete. Thanks to all for the advice.
  15. Back in the olden days when they first started searching luggage at the airports it was all manual even at OHare. I was on a 1 day trip and I packed everything I needed in a large brief case. When I got to the inspector I told her "That's going to explode when you release the latch." She looked at me sternly and said "We don't joke around here." I said "OK". She then flipped the latch, the top blew open about 6 inches, and she flew backward into the wall. I just stood there not even smiling. Ok,OK, back on topic!!! So I guess my 4 6" PVC sections strapped together with duct tape for use as a TB motel (NSEW) under the rocks by the suspension bridge tower isn't going to get approved? This isn't 9/10/01. It's a different world out there. I like PVC and ammo cans but this does make a good case for clear plastic. It's supposed to be a game, not a public safety training activity.
  16. Personally I dislike micros almost as much as hydros. Ok, not as much as hydros which I will never do because of the low probability that it's still there but I really don't like them. I'll do them if I have to (you do have to when you drive past them on your way to a regular, don't you?) but I usually don't find the cache itself fun. Now I did a micro just the other day that was great. But it was great only because of the location that I would have missed if the micro wasn't there. It would have been just as enjoyable if not more so as a virtual. But thems the rules. But even though I strongly dislike micros I would fight against any ban. More people live in the city than in the country and there are far fewer places for a regular size per finder in the city. Micros have their place. (Maybe a rule that says a regular can displace a micro within the .1 mile rule?) As mentioned several times above, the real problem is lame caches of any size. It's just easier IMHO for a micro to seem lame. A pill bottle thrown in a pile of trash beside a highway isn't as exciting to find as an ammo can in the same pile of trash. Both are lame but the former is far worse. It would be a shame if micros were limited without taking this into consideration. (How about requiring a picture of the container and hiding place before approval?) Edit: Ok, KA mades a good point while I was posting. Forget the last sentence above. Approvers have to have objective rules to hold down the fighting. But a picture of the general area posted publicly on each cache page so we could all decide whether or not it was worth the effort to go just for a micro?
  17. do you know for what purpose? I watched my first few caches to make sure I hid them properly afterwards. If the next person to log it said it was left out in the open, or impossible to find, I would have known I was doing something wrong. Apparently I did okay though. I watch all of my finds until the next finder also. If there is a problem with the next finder I try to understand if it was something I did wrong. If there are no finders in the usual amount of time for that cache I revisit it to make sure it is still there. Once someone else logs it then it is their problem. BTW, you won't find me in the watch number. For my purposes an email wouldn't do any good. Either it is found/problem which I will see when I bring it up manually or no one has tried it in which case I wouldn't get any email but I would still need to check it manually to know for sure. In any case I review all unfound past caches every few days (as of today that's only 3). The "All Caches Finds" page from the "User Stats" tab makes it easy since they are sorted by your found date and includes last found. I have a bookmark that takes me directly to that page.
  18. mloser “Hey, you missed me!..” Nope. Page 1 below the fold. Tennessee Geocacher “..that is what it’s all about..” Yep. And just like a brass disk, it isn’t always what it appears at first glance. 2oldfarts (the rockhounders) “..I'm gonna' take my toys and go home..” You don’t have to. It looks like you can just make your own rules here. It’s only a game. Play any way you want and don’t pay any attention to those who think it might be serious. evenfall Yep, it’s been a long time since I did it for money. We didn’t have GPS or computers. We didn’t even have calculators. Oh, we had something called a calculator that we used all the time but it was a big ol’ multiplying machine larger than a lot of today’s cash registers. And the office only had a couple of window air conditioners so we would go drive stakes for a while and then sit in the shade and do some calculation. Then back out in the sun. I don’t think we ever did more than 300 feet in a day and that was with a 3 man crew. raouljan “Dude, it's a game…” Ok, I thought it could be a benefit to someone besides myself. I was wrong. TUPPERHUNTER “Is that realy a web page?” As raouljan said it’s one of 100,000 or so newsgroups which are like forums. I use Forte Agent The free version is all most people need to do news. Google is easy but FreeAgent is very fast and powerful once it is set up. Razmataz “At least everyday people are out there hunting for these long lost markers.” YES!!! The information that could be provided by even 5000 people regularly searching for benchmarks could be tremendous. But if they are just playing a game then the quality is such that it might be easier to just go find the BM yourself than to spend the time to read between the lines. From my prime number searching I’d rather have 10 people searching and reporting valid finds than 1000 people reporting possible finds. It takes too long to recheck questionable work. But if a little education can produce 1000 qualified finders… Teeds “As one of the lurkers in this forum…” What? There are lurkers reading this stuff and benefiting from different viewpoints? If I’d known that… 254 county courthouses? Wouldn’t it have been simpler and less expensive to fly to a state like Rhode Island? It you have the persistence to do all of Texas you sure have the persistence to find benchmarks. Go for it. OK, that’s all for now (and forever on this topic?). Beer for the house except for TG. I said earlier that jeff had to drive me home but that was wrong. I forgot that TG volunteered to be our designated driver in here. Can I buy you a Pepsi, TG?
  19. cacherats said - That indicates that TPTB knew where the other cache was. We have 2 caches around here that are only a few hundred feet apart because the senior cache is a mystery cache with the listed coordinates about 5 miles away. The junior cache placer didn't know the other cache was there and evidently neither did the reviewer. This leads me to believe that the reviewers don't have a magic list of the locations of final multi's or mysteries. They depend on the published coordinates just like us peons do. If that is the case then your point is well taken. Cacherats placement would not have disapproved unless there were published coordinates showing the other cache being close. I have little sympathy for someone who doesn't do their research. You may not like the rules and you can argue to change them but as long as the rules are there you have to follow them. Them's the rules. P.S. Notice how I gracefully steered the posting back toward the topic without insulting anyone before the thread got pushed to Off Topic? What does censoring have to do with Geocaching?
  20. Evidently I must look scarier than you. On my second cache I was having trouble with muggles so I went out at 6AM. Tramping all over the place in the tall grass under a major bridge to a tourist area right before a big summer holiday. I finally look up from the ground and there's a police car out at the street just sitting there. There is no reason for a cop to stop in the street at that place. I figure the jig is up so I start walking out of the weeds toward the police car to explain why I'm down here near the bridge supports at 6AM. As I went behind a bush to get to the sidewalk the car speeds off. Evidently the cop was in no mood to confront terrorists alone at 6AM. I expected a group of them to come back and rather than leave and make them hunt for what I might have left I figured I'd just go back to searching for the cache. Spent another 20 minutes looking and still didn't find it but the cops never came back. The SWAT truck must have been hard to start that morning. BTW, a piece of advice; if you're a drug dealer doing a drop, stencil Geocache Game Piece on the package and carry a GPS. No one will bother you.
  21. My local Army Surplus. 30cal (small) $4 including tax. 50cal (medium) $6 including tax.
  22. Love puzzles. Love long hikes. Seriously dislike micros. Am indifferent to multis. I'll hike one way through 2 miles of knee deep water for a good view and full sized cache. I'll do a micro if it's within a mile of me and not in a very public area. I'll drive to a garbage dump 50 miles away for a good puzzle. No one in their right mind enjoys the same type of caches that I do. So do your cache your way. If lots of people log it and that is what you are looking for then you win. If lots of people find it too easy and that isn't what you wanted, make it harder (archiving and starting over if necessary). If you make it too hard to begin with and no one finds it, just change the description to add more clues. Make a single 6 micro to full multi. If it doesn't attract the clientele you want you can always archive it and put out 7 individual caches. Personally I wouldn't do a single 6 to 1 because the loss of any of 7 different caches blocks the entire cache. But if you want to do the maintenance go for it. I certainly haven't figured out what people want yet. Around here we have busy P&Gs and busy mosquito infested swamps. We've got a busy micro near an ignored micro. Just do the best cache you can. If people don't log it that's their loss. P.S. I forgot one thing - NO HYDROS!!! At least if you want me to try it.
  23. Most people around here seem to use tupper-ware style. Just make sure it is good quality. There is some cheap stuff at the dollar store than doesn't seal tight. Yesterday I bought an ammo-can for $4 including tax at the local Army Surplus. Do check them well first. Some were dented and weren't going to seal right. Pay special attention to the seal, of course. There should be a sharp pattern down the center of the seal. The one I bought can barely be opened now and smelled like fish inside when first opened. Leaving it open for 24 hours has caused the smell to completely go away. Personally I much prefer to find the 30cal ammo can with the fold down metal handle to tupperware. You can grab the handles to pull it out of holes and once closed you don't have to worry about it popping open while concealing. It depends on the location whether a 30cal or 50cal can is better. The 30 will fit a smaller hole but the 50 will hold more. The price is about the same. Totally forget tin cans. I like Woodyk's idea of enclosing the can in a plastic sack but you're still going to get condensation inside because even if the lid is water tight for a while it isn't air tight. It's still going to rust inside the sack and have to be replaced in a few months. I also don't like the idea of stealing some tupperware from the kitchen. There's a thread here somewhere about cleaning tupperware to get the food smells out so the animals don't go caching. Seems to me the consensus was that it wasn't possible. If you do go with tupperware, PLEASE paint it! There is nothing more obvious than a big white tupperware bowl in a dark brown forest. Maybe you can hide it well but will the FTF do as well? How about the 10thTF.
  24. Specific replies: (page 2) Spoo - If you get down this way be sure to look me up because I’d like to buy you a beer. evenfall - I want to buy you a beer also. 1000 feet of road in one day? Is that hyperbole? Well at least you didn’t say you had intersecting vertical curves through multiple cross streets. “This is a game to some and an engineering challenge to others.” But should we all just sit back and let it remain that way? PFF – “More than you wanted to know.” Nope. More facts to reinforce my point exactly. Thank you for taking the time. 2oldfarts (the rockhounders) – “It is just a game…” Then you don’t need any standards. Question answered. “…who asks in a polite manner.” I thought I did but when you hold up a mirror you can never tell what the other person will see. Black Dog Trackers – “All this noise and fury about intersection stations!” Hey, maybe I just wanted to get some of you turned in the right direction before bringing up disk logs. “…take a picture of the mark…” If I ever log marks on this site that is what I had planned to do for the reason you gave plus others. GEO*Trailblazer 1 - “I did not know there was a STANDARD for fun,for one's hobbies.” There shouldn’t be. Colorado Papa – “..your approach in getting it over was not good.” Really? You have to go back 2 months in this forum to see a new topic posted with as many total replies (and that one is going to be behind after I post this). And I generated them all in just 2 days. Talk about someone just interested in count. Almost everyone has commented on topic for the most part. This isn’t about what I think or don’t think about how logs are posted and monitored. I wanted to understand what the community thinks about how logs should be posted and monitored. I think I’ve done pretty well so far. “Since you usually do not search for caches with camera in hand…”Typo. The correct phrase would be “Since THEY…” “I can join in your frustratation…” Then do. “No, we are not a private club and welcome any newcomer who wants to to try to raise the standards.” Funny, I must have misunderstood that in your previous post. “…contribute to the group by sharing experiences and thoughts…” Funny, I thought that is what I was doing. Maybe I misunderstood my previous posts. The Leprechauns – In any battle there is always the possibility of collateral damage. To you I say don’t run – join the battle. Anything worthwhile isn’t going to be free. Do you really care that much about what strangers might think of you? Just looking at this thread you can see that if I were to trash your find you can count on dozens coming to your rescue including TG. (I SURRENDER!!!) So far not one person has supported my belief that the 2 tank finds are marginal calls. So? That’s my problem, no one else’s. It means I might be wrong. So? It isn’t the first time and it certainly won’t be the last. evenfall – Now I want to buy you a sixpack. jeff35080 – Ok, I’ll buy you a beer also. But you’re driving me home! Did I miss anyone other than TG? (I’m in hiding until the rage subsides.) Did I misquote you or take your comment out of context? Let me know. You know I’m always happy to discuss differences. Ok, enough rambling for now. Hope everyone has a good BM today. OH, LOOK OUT!!! HERE COMES TG AGAIN!!! WHAT DID I SAY THIS TIME???
  25. Specific replies: (page 1) jeff35080 - “..if your binoculars can let you examine the beacon…” Nope. No way could anyone KNOW from 3 miles away. WxMaker - “..since when did this become a contest?...” That’s my point – it shouldn’t be but that is the way it is being administered under the current “standards”. “…but you can only issue judgement on the quality of YOUR finds.” Nope. It is or is not the correct marker that was found. This fact is not subject to judgment. If I have information that disproves (or proves) the accuracy of your “find” then IMHO I not only can but I have a responsibility to issue my judgment on your report. Black Dog Trackers - “That's an odd way to start in this forum.” Sure was, wasn’t it. “…we aren't expected to climb…” Agreed. I wasn’t clear. It isn’t climbing I was advocating but knowing. You can’t go on vacation and know no matter how much you might think. Especially in hurricane country where towers come and go. “…If you want a decent challenge…” That’s why I didn’t question any of the local disk finds except the one I specifically verified that couldn’t have been found. Until I have more information (usually from a personal visit) I have a much easier time believing you really saw what you think you saw. Might be destroyed rather than found (hurricanes have a habit of eroding monument supports and they lean a little which to a “layman” is a found but as far as being usable is destroyed) but I’ll give anyone the benefit of the doubt – I might sometimes act perfect but I do know that I’m far from it. jeff35080 - “..if terraserver or lostoutdoors had a 'live' feed…” Nope. You could never see a 10 degree angle to the monument which would be the difference between found and destroyed. Black Dog Trackers - “..The person is now banned..” See I knew you had to have some honor. California Bear - At last someone shows that they get it. But… “the finds are legit” Ok, we have an honest disagreement. In California you might not have the storms but you have construction and demolition. If I came to your town do you think that I would be able to just look at a tower and know that is the same one that was there 40 years ago? mloser - “..accidentally deleted it..” I HATE doing that. And I’m a real rambler. I pretty much agree with everything you said except “There are no tests to post here…” Shouldn’t there be? Isn’t this more important than caches where there are tests? “There is one long thread…” Is that Bogus Logs? Colorado Papa - Have a nice day. 2oldfarts (the rockhounders) - Please look up the definition of hyperbole. The Emporer of Hyperbole doesn’t kid very often. Create a caricature? Yes, Kid? No. ArtMan – We may disagree on the permanence of towers and masts but at least have something to talk about. Who were the two old men selling wine? They said “Thank you for your support.” jeff35080 - …”speaks in a civil tone and doesn't hurl insults…” At last. I’ve been hoping I could find something we could agree upon. seventhings - “Welcome..” Thank you. “..very high standards among the hardcore” I was aware of that. My problem is with all the softcore standards being displayed. “…digging a hole in a poison ivy bed in the middle of a swamp…” And after setting up you have to hold still long enough to take a reading which is what the mosquitoes have been waiting for. Been there done that. “…is typical of someone who has not had the opportunity to find many benchmarks or observe many intersection stations…” Sorry. Just the opposite. I’ve had too many found its that have turned out to really be destroyeds.
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