Sue and Bernie

Going back to the original theme - reading the original entry brough a smile to my face. Here's a story about dangerous geocaching: During a recent trip to Canada, I dragged a GPS owning but Geocache virgin out on an expedition. We found ourselves at a deserted lake-side campsite in deepest Alberta. Only 1/2 mile to the cache! The woodland was very dense and, off the paths - getting hard to penetrate and traverse. After a short distance, I found my companion dragging his heels a bit. He explained that he was feelling uncomfortable. A pain? a twisted ankle? what? No he replied - the bears! I had forgotten all the warnings and was merrily charging on as if I was in deepest Epping Forest. We kicked that one, and some others like it, into touch. Quadbikes and big guns are the norm for caching out there - as a sheepish couple of urban Brits later found out. Canadian wilds geocaching difficulty factors do not take Bears into account..... so watch it if you fancy rooting about in the woods of Canada.

Although it is long past now, Safeways did push out a special offer of an A4 laminator for just under £25. We got the last one at our local Swaffham branch (in fact a staff member coughed it up)! We've moved since but keep your eyes open, they may push them out again...

We have never understood why you all would want to "do" so many caches in a single day! We take exactly the opposite tack and usually do caches one at a time. Sue & I use the caches as destinations for summer cycle rides (or now and again, for walks out with visitors) and, at 40 miles for the round cycle trip, it is usually a day trip. For example, last year we cycled to "dizzy@Felbridge Hall" and deliberately did not go for the nearby "Keyring Cache". We will do that one this summer. With a few sarnies and some cans of drink in the carriers and with umpteen pubs to choose from, it makes for a fine outing - with the caches providing the variety for our trips. Are we the only ones who enjoy caching in this manner? or is everyone fixated on getting high "scores"?

Ho! Ho! Ho! Consider yourself lucky to be able to buy your memory modules and other GPS stuff at US prices. If you want to see expensive - visit the UK. Dollar prices become Sterling prices at one-to-one exchange rate even thought there is $1.76 to the £1 (GBP). I know our rip-off government whacks an unhealty wedge of tax onto the price but Garmin & Co also know how to squeeze the customer. Needless to say, when we visit the North American continent, we buy lots of expensive kit.

You haven't been taken shopping by the two Sue's! Even my Sue's sister will not go shopping with them!....and she is a girlie and a pretty heavy duty shopper in her own right No! Trev & I have well developed self-preservation circuits - we do not shop with the girls - even in Germany!

Us ditto! We were in a bit of a special case as we remained tax-resident in the UK so we had the best of both worlds. We paid the lower direct income taxes of the UK and, when we were shopping, the lower expenditure tax of Germany. Nevertheless, we still found that back then money went further in Germany. One of our benchmarks when visiting Germany was the cost of a 500cc tin of Diet Pepsi sold in the Plus supermarket. Year in, year out it was DM0.65. Go back 5 years later - and its still the same price. I don't know how the Euro impacted because only Sue went on the shopping expeditions for the past 2 years (being a bloke, I just cannot hack the pace of the high intensity shopping - Trev & I, the other bloke, stay home and let the wives loose on the continent on their own ).

Sue & I label our CDs and DVDs with pre-cut, sticky-backed labels after printing on them. You know the type, Neato and Press-It spring to mind. The process of labeling our stuff results in lotsof leftover square labels on the sheets. The plain paper ones we employ simply as address labels or to re-use jiffy bags. The glossy, photo quality labels we use to make stickers for geocaching using our avatar and a few words. We have different sizes and layouts to suit the various forms and sizes of the logbooks we may encounter. The finished photo label is, of course, as good as any photograph. Had some nice comments from a couple cache owners in Canada after a recent visit. Another good use is to print family photos onto the labels and then put them on Christmas and Birthday cards to personalise them. Better than chucking them in the bin...

Rip-off Britain is still alive and well! This is slightly off-topic but I didn't start that! The Exchequer must lose a fortune from people importing stuff directly. Sue & I take a shopping trip to Germany once a year to splurge out on expensive stuff - which are all a lot cheaper over there. The tax goes into the German economy instead of ours! When in the US or Canada, I pick up the latest DVDs and electronic gizmos for a fraction of the price. Latest one was an 128 mb MP3 player with 3 extra 128 mb cards and an external FM transmitter to use it wirelessly with the car system. Total cost about £100. The 3 memory cards would cost at least £60 - £70 even on the web in this country (good ole eBuyer). So Gordon, if you are a geocacher on the side and read this - cut tax rates, collect more when people spend more - make everyone happy. Easey-peasey!

The basemap is fixed in the eTrex series. However, you can load the internal memory of the Legend (8 mb) or Vista (24 mb) with detailed map data from any of the Metroguide or Road & Recreation discs. These data discs are very expensive (especially in Europe) but will all work with the eTrex series. Certainly in the UK, the software price simply changes from dollars to pounds when the box crosses the Atlantic! That's a good 50 - 60% price hike. A more realistic and pragmatic solution for the temporary visitor would be to find a friendly local and get a download for that area while in town. When you leave, restore your Vista to normality with your own software. Of course, should this "criminal" act cause any tension or stress - it should not be attempted!

Well, this new regulation will snooker the taxi-cab industry - and I hope the police will be fervently booking themselves whenever they use their radios too... Sue & Bernie

Went there, did that one and you were right! Weather was brilliant, no bugs and the views were excellent. Thanks for the pointer. We experienced hot, yes, hot weather in mid October for our first 10 days, some snow, some really brisk winds and more sunshine. Cracked a few other caches but, being a stranger in a strange land and only being used to an environment where dangerous beasts have been totally eradicated, skipped a few of the caches out in the wild, deserted areas. It was unnerving to visit places like the recreational parks round Cold Lake that are obviously teeming with people during the summer but totally devoid of human life in the cold weather. We did feel isolated - just 20 miles out of town! Thank you for taking the trouble, should you venture to my locale, I would be delighted to return the favour. Cheers... Sue & Bernie

...We would still recommend you fork out the additional folding stuff and go for the Vista with its 24 MB capacity. Garmin MG Europe uses laaarrrge map tiles (compared to the single country MG or RR titles). These fill the Legends 8 MB quite quickly. For example, the tile that includes Colchester extends down and gives you half of Kent too! While this will not bother you too much when you use the GPS for cycling, when you spread out into using it in the car too, this will become a factor. You will end up upgrading...like wot I did! You've been warned! Sue & Bernie

Hi John, I can provide you with a neighbourly answer, we live in Norfolk too and cycle around using a Garmin Vista to navigate all the little country roads in our area. The MG Europe software use 2 map tiles for the Nofolk/Suffolk region named "Cambridge" and "Norwich". Together, they take up only 2.9 MB. This will easily fit into a Legend's 8 MB capacity. Sue & Bernie

Whow! Far too difficult! Get "Roboform" from: www.roboform.com ...and get on with something more interesting. You do have to remember and use a master password that is enterred on first use each logon but after that the program will fill in all your passwords and forms for you... except for the Nationwide site. They insist on random digits via dropdown boxes from an eight digit password. I back up the (password protected) file of all my logon and stuff to a flash drive and copy them in one go to my laptop too. Easy-peasey! Sue & Bernie

Like Chris n Maria, we too have worked our way through a number of GPS units as we have learned more about their features and capablilities. We have ended up owning two, the StreetPilot 3 (v. expensive but brilliant in the car) and a eTrex Vista for the open air work. A basic yellow eTrex will do - but as pointed out, you have to add the cost of the cable to connect it to a PC. You will inevitably want to do this. This will then lead you to wanting to use the high definition mapping and route generation capabilities of the PC software. I ended up buying and selling my way through the range so, in short, you are better advised to go straight for the Legend or Vista units. Oh! Note that these two units come with a PC data cable in the box. I also commend the handlebar mount for the eTrex if you like to cycle about. It makes cycling in the great unknown a real pleasure without having to constantly consult maps. Sue & Bernie

... in October this year, coming from the UK. I would like some advise on the weather that time of year and some recommended caches in the region. Cheers... Sue & Bernie

Well Alan 2, I hope you bought it from the same people I did. You'll be able to buy one for about $10 all in! ...and you only have to pay income tax at a flat rate of 15%. Just as well we have the weather now too... Sue & Bernie

Sorry, double post but the forum will not allow messages to be deleted!...so I have deleted the text and inserted this waffle instead. Sue & Bernie

People of Britain (and the other continental bits too)... If you need a 12v power supply for your eTrex, Geko or eMap, have a look at these people: http://www.stores.ebay.com/id=42698189 I have just received 2 from them for $26 - and that included $6 shipping. They are quick and have a high eBay recommendation - including me! It irritates me to say it but... shop USA for lower prices than Rip-off Europe. P.S: Oh yes! They are labelled eP3-20 and have the flat cable and plug (with the polarity groove). Seem to be the same units that Lynx Cable will flog you for twice the price... Sue & Bernie [This message was edited by Sue & Bernie on August 09, 2003 at 12:10 AM.]

Garmin Vista and StreetPilot 3 upgrades worked okay... Sue & Bernie

Ah! You're all amateurs at pacing yourselves. Sue & I have logged 16 caches since starting in Sept 01. How's that for inverse bragging? Of course, we usually do them one at a time - and cycle about 20 miles each way to do it. This gives us a new destination each time, indeed, a recent cycle to Cromer saw us visit Felbridge Hall but we deliberately ignored the nearby Keyring Cache. We'll get that another day. Our latest was an opportunity visit - we were at a Wedding in Las Vegas at the site of a virtual cache. It was too hot to cycle there anyway... Sue & Bernie

We had a Legend and "upgraded" to a Vista simply for the increased memory in which to store map data. Sue & I concur with Pharisee comments generally but we tend to use the Nav screen when in the car, using the small compass display. This enables you to have two data fields with large numerals, distance to go to the next waypoint at the top, distance to final destination at the bottom. The "bent" needle display as you approach each waypoint indicates the direction of the new leg. We use the map display when on the bikes, cycling to a cache. It enables you to see the route ahead - without being distracted as you travel. Note that the older, single country R&R or Metroguide data CDs are more suitable for the etrex series because the "maptiles" are smaller. You can get a better selection loaded compare to the huge maptiles of the European set. Sue & Bernie

Number 17 is the "Bernie" part of us, taken by the "Sue" part of the combo... Sue & Bernie

Yeah! Where have mine gone too? Sue & Bernie

I am definately getting old! I only want a phone to make calls to people - preferably as cheaply as possible! Don't get me wrong, the Sue & I have 3 mobiles between us and find them invaluable. The main one is Orange Everyday 50 - this plan gives you 50 mins off peak every day for 50p per day. It has replaced the landline for regular calls and therefore pays for itself. It is obviously too good, you cannot get it any more. The other mobiles are plain Orange PAYG and are used to receive calls from the main mobile and emergencies. Ever since mobile phones arrived, the telecos have been pulling the old 3 cup trick, making the punters concentrate on which complicated plan to choose rather than focussing on the cost. Rather: "Don't worry about the size of the pie, just look at how many ways there are to slice it". My children are both willing "victims" of these marketing strategies - the youngsters each regularly have monthly bills that dwarf the combined quarterly teleco bills for the Sue & Bernie homestead. Goodness knows where their bills will spiral to when they start to incorporate these additional "must-have" services. Sue & Bernie [This message was edited by Sue & Bernie on May 04, 2003 at 12:10 AM.]