texasgrillchef
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Everything posted by texasgrillchef
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Your getting me confused with another geocacher poster here that is having a simliar problem with his cache/hide that is placed in a business park. My wifes is in a simple small garden maintained by the city. As far as the new hiking trail. Currently there are 8 cache/hides on the new hiking trail, One of the Eight is the Final location for a multi. My wife & I have 4 more waiting on the reviewer to publish. But like I said in a PREVIOUS post. Sure she find another spot. Lots & lots of other fantastic spots in "The Colony" to place wonderful cache/hides. The problem though would STILL exist. At least anywhere on city property with the SAME landscaping company handling all the mowing & gardening etc for all the city parks, etc... I see your in Allen TX, Just right down the road. Have family in Allen. Come on over check out a few caches. You will notice that not just my caches, but a couple of other caches in our area are also LOCKED down wiht padlocks and chains! To help prevent the landscaping crews (as well as other muggles) from removing these cache/hides. TGC
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The Only muggles that can see it &/or find it, are the muggles who do the landscaping for this area. However, that still doesn't mean that it would be a bad spot or even a good spot. EVEN So.... & To those that suggested moving the cache to a new area.... OR communicating with the land owner.... Where 95% of landscaping crews speak spanish as their first language and in most cases as their ONLY language. Even if we DID place it somewhere else in the area, or even in another area of DFW, Texas. This problem would STILL exist. Some areas more so than other areas. That is why I asked about the Bilingual Stickers. In this day & times at least in Texas. More & more business are adopting bilingual menu's & signs etc... In some areas with larger caches (Small & Regular) many of us in our area of DFW are starting to use the "Lock N Key" approach as well. Yes, it can still get muggled, removed & even stolen. But it does provide deterance. Especially for those muggles who are just collecting trash. Most people won't think something is trash if it's locked/chained up. TGC
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Easier said than done sad to say. Since they are contracters contracted by the city. Communication from the city to the owner of the landscaping company then down to the actual crew, including translation from english to spanish & explaining what geocaching is all about is a process that is full of issues. I have spoken with the city employee that deals with landscaping companies.... Even they say that getting the word out is close to impossible. They are the ones that originally suggested a dual language sticker. I did get permission to use "Lock N Key" to attach it to a bush or a pipe in the garden. Providing that I did it in a way not to be destructive to either the plants, The garden, or the pipes/structure. TGC
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Your title sounds racist without further reading. It sticks out in the topics like my crooked pinky finger. "WOW" Super Racist........this just shows that the "Amigos" are doing their job. Removing Trash, in your case "Geo-Trash"..........do you have pic's of who grabbed the cache? it could have been some of those little green guys, or perhaps the purple ones , even a white or black one who knows......."Assumption" We are not racist. We have nothing against anyone of any race, relegion or nationality. Just stating facts that I do know. 1. The landscaping company that has the contract to take care of this garden is in fact all hispanic. Even the name of their company is hispanic in nature. They are in charge of maintaining the garden area including removing all trash that is the area as well. I have seen this same company working that same garden every week for the last several years. This year I have noticed that the same crew has worked this garden for the last few months. I have no problem with hispanic people. I am glad they have a respectful job and are supporting their families doing something legal instead of many others who are on welfare or doing something illegal to support a family. Since my wife did a very good job HIDING her cache. So much so that she even received several DNF's for her cache, & since she told me where she hid it. No one BUT the landscaping crew cleaning up trash would have found her cache. 2. We aren't angry or mad that her cache/hide & container went missing. Sh*T happens. What we are trying to do now is to lower the chances of it getting muggled again. Since the landscaping crew more than likely doesn't speak &/or read english,(90% of landscaping crews don't speak &/or read english here in the DFW, TX area) we thought that if we put a dual language geocache sticker on the container, that it might help REDUCE the chance that one of the grounds crew picking up trash might throw it away. 3. Yes, it is very possible that the cache/hide COULD have been muggled by SOMEONE else OTHER than the landscaping ground crew. Odds are though, because of the place it was hidden, that it was in fact the landscaping crew. Either way.... a DUAL LANGUAGE sticker would still be beneficial in an area that has a HIGH level of spanish speaking individuals. This is what we are going to do when we replace the container: 1. Put a dual language sticker on the container. 2. Put a dual language NOTE inside the container. (The "Default" note that geocaching.com has for us to use) 3. I will attach via a cable & padlock (Lot my other cache/hides) to a bush &/or pipe. This will be done in a non-destructive way. Many other cache/hides in our area by a few other geocachers are also under "Lock N Key" as well. After talking with them, the "lock & key" have reduced getting their containers muggled by almost 98%! It doesn't protect the content. It does though prevent (To a certain degree) the container going missing or being moved. One other CO in our area has had his cache/hide under "lock n key" for a few years in a high muggles area & has not had any issue of missing containers since he put it under "lock n key". One thing is for sure. It will prevent the person who is picking up trash in the garden to do so inadvertantly. Again... we aren't upset about it going missing for the 3rd time. We do realize that it happens. What we want to do is LOWER the odds of it going missing. As much as a pain it is to replace a cache/hide, it's also a pain for those who hunt for a cache/hide and dont' find it because it has gone missing. Thanks TGC Edit: P.S..... I realize now that my title should have said Spanish speaking muggles.... instead of hispanic muggles. As the problem is with those who do not speak &/or read english. Not with ones nationality, religion or race. My APOLOGIES for this mistake. It was NOT my intention to be derogatory in any way. Unline being able to edit posts, it isn't possible to edit thread titles. If it is, I don't know how.
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My wife has replaced twice her cache she has at a garden. This garden of course is maintained by a Hispanic lawn & garden maintnance crew. We had a green "Official Geocache Site" sticker afixed to the container. The sticker is one that we purcahsed directly grom Groundspeak.com. Of course the sticker is in 100% english. No spanish at all on the sticker. In the DFW, Texas area a good 90% of the hispanic lawn & garden crews DON'T speak OR read english. So I know the crew disposed of our container both times as though it was TRASH. I have seen the crews in the area picking up trash before prior to doing any mowing or other lawn & garden maintnance. We aren't mad or angry, we fully understand that missing cache/hides happen. We just want to reduce the chance of this happening again & maybe try to get our hispanic community interested in geocaching as well. So I am asking... Has anyone seen stickers that are DUAL language? That have BOTH english AND spanish printed on them? OR.... even a SPANISH sticker? Our container was large enough to be able to afix TWO stickers to it. One in english one in spanish. When we replace the cache/hide we will put a cable and padlock on it. (AS I & other CO's have done in our area with some of our lager & nicer caches.) IF no one has... then I would request that Groundspeak.com or others who are printing "Official Geocache Site" stickers consider printing some with dual language &/or in spanish as well. I am sure that in the Southwest states of Texas, NM, CA, AZ as well as a few other states spanish language geocache stickers would be of GREAT value! Thanks TGC
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One persons bad cache is anothers adventure & vice versa! TGC
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Dangerous Locations -What do you do?
texasgrillchef replied to OKH's topic in General geocaching topics
Well.... In the State of Texas if a CO puts a cache in a Toxic Waste Dump (Or any other obvious or not so obvious NON-natural dangerous area) & doesn't alert the potential geocacher that the cache is located in such a place. The CO could be held civally liable for any injury that the geocacher would get. It's the same approach that restaurants must warn customers that their COFFEE is Extremely HOT. When a restaurant doesn't PROVIDE such notice they CAN BE SUCCESFULLY sued for 12 million dollars. It has happend. As much as you want to say its "Freedom of choice" our government sees fit to PROTECT those people who don't have common sense enough to make the right choice. The same thing applies with ILLEGAL drugs. A person should have the freedom of choice to FRY THEIR BRAINS with drugs. But we the people of the USA & our government see fit to make certain drugs ILLEGAL to hopefully protect those who are too STUPID to realize that doing drugs is STUPID! Obviously even though some drugs are illegal, people still do them & we pay the price for their stupidity. Same thing applies to Cache/hides. While a CO may NOT be criminally liable. A CO COULD be held civally liable under certain circumstances if a geocacher happens to get injured in a hunt for the CO's cache/hide. As far as the OP goes.... I would log it as a found/DNF (Whichever the case was) and note in my log that this place isn't fit for children & could be unsafe for geocachers hunting the cache by themselvs. TGC -
HELP: will the reviewer believe me?
texasgrillchef replied to chrisrayn's topic in General geocaching topics
On another note.... I personally would wait to get all the "Issues" cleared up with everyone concerned before I even considered placing this cache. Right or wrong, I don't wish to put any cache hunters in harms way, nor do I wish for them to be unnessarily harrased. Only YOU the OP can decide for yourself if this fight is worth it or not. If it is... Fight for it... Go "SMOOZE" the farmers... Call Code enforcement for the area. Once the "farmers" are "Educated" about the legal ramifications as well as "Educated" on the advantages of geocaching and the CITO program, they may infact not have any issues with it going on. Personally, I beleive that the TWO biggest issues we have today in our world of confrontation is a LACK of communication & a lack of EDUCATION. Communicate & Educate (sp?). TGC -
HELP: will the reviewer believe me?
texasgrillchef replied to chrisrayn's topic in General geocaching topics
Just make sure that you can shoot back. At least in Texas.... We CAN be licensed to carry a concealed weapon. I am... and I do! TGC -
HELP: will the reviewer believe me?
texasgrillchef replied to chrisrayn's topic in General geocaching topics
And Sometimes it is.... Just depends on what it is WORTH to you. What you & both perceive value is different. To me... if this issue was mine. It would be worth fighting for. Taking the time to "SMOOZE" the farmers if need be, & or get the code enforcement department to take action. Reminds me of a neighbor I had once... Legal posted speed limit on the street was 35mph. But they thought it was to fast for the street. They would become a nusisance on the street giving everyone a hard time who drove above 25mph. The speed they thought it should be posted. Eventually they got arrested for being a "Public nussance" and harrassing people. However, nothing happend until a few people stood UP to them and made complaints to the local police. If you don't stand up to your rights... YOU WILL get walked on.... TGC -
HELP: will the reviewer believe me?
texasgrillchef replied to chrisrayn's topic in General geocaching topics
Exactly, absolutely... A person must pick their battles wisely. What's worth fighting for one person may not be worth the effort by someone else. I wouldn't have sued Micky D's for 12 million either for hot coffee.... but someone picked their battle wisely and won their 12 million for doing something stupid! Go figure! LOL BTW> Freedom isn't Free. TGC -
HELP: will the reviewer believe me?
texasgrillchef replied to chrisrayn's topic in General geocaching topics
My post discussion wasn't about what one should or shouldn't do. It was just on the legal aspects of what you could or couldn't do legally speaking. If you wanted to be truly PC you would go have a nice chat with those that put up the signs and explain very nicel that the signs are not legally posted or legally binding & letting the "Farmers" know what your intent and desire is. From the sound of it, the farmers don't want any "Partying" going on. An example of this is at a Texas State Park... Perdanales Falls State Park. On the opposite site of the river there are many many signs that say "NO TRESPASSING" when you go over to that side you can see the amount of trash left by the partiers. YET... the OWNER allows a geocache to be placed over there & allows geocachers to be in the area to hunt for the geocache. For reference... one side of the river is Texas State Park property, the other side is private property. When I was there.. I did the CITO... filled up 2 big garbage bags of beer bottles & cans! So maybe she can explain about CITO and push that on her cache page as well. TGC -
HELP: will the reviewer believe me?
texasgrillchef replied to chrisrayn's topic in General geocaching topics
If the signs are posted on PUBLIC property owned by the city, county or state & they are NOT signs posted by the city, county or state then the CO/OP CAN in fact legally REMOVE those signs. The OP stated that the property in question was in FACT PUBLIC property and NOT private property. However... you are correct. If the property is in FACT private property then the CO/OP CAN NOT remove the signs legally. But like I said... the CO/OP states the property is publically owned. ie owned by the city, county or state. In the State of Texas. State law says that any PRIVATLY posted sign on PUBLIC property can be removed by any individual. Example.... A Garage/Yard sale sign that is posted lets say on public right of way. (Side of the road, a road median) can be removed by anyone legally. The legal difference is if the sign is posted on private or public property. An illegal sign that is posted on private property can only be removed by a court order from the city, county or state. Such as illegal billboards. They are on private property. A Billboard that has been illegally built even on private property requires action directly from the city, county or state. A private individual can't legally remove an illegal billboard that is on private property. It is no different than If I went and posted no trespassing signs on the entrance ramp to I-35. Anyone can come alone and remove that sign legally. I am not for sure what posts you are refering too. I have never said to anyone that you can paint words on something you don't own or have a legal right to do so. In the state of Texas, graffitti (sp?) is illegal on any public owned property, or property that you don't own or have permission to do so. Of course I would never encourage someone to do anything that is illegal. But what I am suggesting is NOT illegal when it comes to illegally posted signs on PUBLIC property. Either way legal or not... The Denton County, TX Sherifs office wouldn't be making any arrests for removing illegal signage as described. In the area that I live. Code enforcement is very strict about signage. They remove all Garage/yard sale signs without notice if they aren't on private property. Code enforcement even ENCOURAGES you to remove signs that are known to be illegally placed, however you are required to turn in the signage to the code enforcement department if you do remove the sign. To verify everything I said here was in fact truth before I responded. I contacted code enforcement for my area and asked him about this. Code enforcement told me that I should tell the OP/CO that they should call their local city, county code enforcement office & ask them to have the signs removed &/or if they can remove them themselvs. To the CO/OP: To be safe. Call your local code enforcement office for the location in question & talk to them about the issue. They may go out and remove the signs, or they may tell you that you can do it yourself. Just give them a call. The main question is the signage posted on public property or private property owned by the farmers. If its public the farmers are breaking the law. If the signage is on private property then the farmers are legal. TGC -
New CO cache/hide opinions?
texasgrillchef replied to texasgrillchef's topic in General geocaching topics
Who said I was upset? You know what happens when you assume.... 1. In my last post I was just stating my POV in regards to my so called "agenda" statement. 2. I had clearly stated that my "agenda" statement had been removed from my cache pages. As far as the log goes. all I was stating is WHAT I had actually REMOVED from my cache pages because BEFORE I did that I recieved several emails asking WHAT I removed. Therefore the log only states WHAT I had removed. 3. No where did I make a post as to making any complaint what so ever about removing it from my cache page. I had it removed within 24 hours of even the first person making the very first comment about it. 4. I refrained from making any comment or statement about removing the "Agenda" in question because it honestly really wasn't that big a deal to remove it. I don't agree as to why it should be removed. I personally feel like it's just a bunch of hypocritical BS. Just like many rules I have had to follow before I retired and was employed by various different employers. Many rules I had to follow were BS, but sometimes you have to put up with BS to keep those in "power" happy. 5. I finanlly only made comment about this issue once a few people I thought made very illogical reasons as to posting an agenda. Again I will state.... No one here is absent from pushing an agenda of some sort in one way or the other on geocaching.com Since... Most (but not all) people seem to have complained only about that "agenda" statement and made no other comment about my cache pages I guess I should assume they didn't have any issues regarding the rest of my cache/hide &/or page? I hate to assume though. A few people were nice enough to make comments, suggestions & advice regarding my cache/hides asside from the "agenda" statement. I found those comments to be very helpfull things to consider. The offending "agenda" in question has in fact been removed as far as geocaching.com & the reviewers don't have a problem with it being in the logs BECAUSE of the way it is stated. TGC -
HELP: will the reviewer believe me?
texasgrillchef replied to chrisrayn's topic in General geocaching topics
Go take the illegally posted signs down. I checked with a friend of mine who is a Deputy for Denton County Texas and he told me that he nor any of the other deputies would make an arrest for anyone removing illegally posted "No Trespassing Signs" provided those signs are NOT signs that have been posted by the City, County, or State. Example of a goverment posted sign will be one of major proffesional grade on a metal post. Similar to a "Speed limit" sign etc... Ie... or in other words... if the "No Tresspasing Signs" are those inexpensive signs that you can buy yourself at your local wally world/home depot/lowes etc... then simply go take em down. Once you do that... submit your cache to be published and don't mention that their is an issue with any "No Trespassing Signs" TGC -
New CO cache/hide opinions?
texasgrillchef replied to texasgrillchef's topic in General geocaching topics
I have kept quiet on the subject that most everyone here has made some form of comment on, one way or the other. But after this... I can no longer hold my tounge. No one is ever 100% agenda free. Everyone has some form of cause that thier "Aura" secretly pushes. It can be in the "Username" you choose, to what, when, where, why & how you make comments AND logs. So basically what your trying to say... is that the ONLY agenda geocaching should push is the agenda of geocaching subjects. Yet, many geocaches/pages and geocachers have an agenda that pushes any of the following: 1. Math (as their are many cache hides that require you to have at least basic math knowledge. Even one of my requires that) 2. Pushes the agenda of being "Enviromental Friendly". Not that it is a bad thing. But it is still an agenda. 3. The agenda of making use of your City, State & National Park system 4. Any cache/hide placed anywhere near a business &/or church, or other orginization SUBLIMALLY advirtises that place of business or orginization. SUBLIMAL messages are again'st the law when they are put into movies & other TV shows. (Certain types (but not all) that is). I'm not saying that cache/hides shouldn't be on church property, or on business property. Just making a point that those that ARE on property like that ARE in fact sublimally pushing an Agenda. Now as I have said... I have REMOVED them from my Cache/hide pages. Yes, I put it in my log. But what I said in my log was simply "WHAT" I had just removed from the cache/hide pages, the logs will eventually scroll down and be unseen unless you view the entire log list. Just like a magazine where you don't want to read a certain ad, you can flip the page and not read it. Here is another point... if we want to be 100% agenda free.... with NO soliciting, or commercial purposes. Then "SWAG" with advirtising shouldn't be allowed. Such as Pen/Pencils with buisness/orginization logo's on them. Gift cards, Buisness cards, The list goes on. What about travel bugs attached to "Promotional Items"?? What about the "VEHICLE" travel bugs attached to COMMERCIAL VEHICLES??? Im sorry but if you really think anyone here is agenda free your sadly mistaken. One other point to make.... the geocaching.com regulations don't say anything about "Agendas" other than soliciting for commercial reasons FOR a buisness, political, religous reasons. A Loop hole that if it were in fact a written law would NOT stand up in a court of law in regards to my statement about the bank. But like I said it has been removed... again the only reason it's in the LOG is I was stating WHAT exactly had been REMOVED from the cache pages. BTW-FYI.... the reviewer PUBLISHED my cache/hides WITH the statment in place on all 6 of my caches. AND No one complained about my cache pages UNTIL I asked for an opinion. The opinions I had originally asked for had nothing to do with my statement/agenda that I had made. But whatever....So be it... TGC -
How to find camo duct tape?
texasgrillchef replied to chrisrayn's topic in General geocaching topics
Bass Pro shop here in DFW had it for a while. I haven't checked in ages though. It was like $8 for a 60yard roll. TGC -
New CO cache/hide opinions?
texasgrillchef replied to texasgrillchef's topic in General geocaching topics
That was actually quite insightful and helpfull. I have to agree that descriptions for my cache/hides aren't quite as informative nor are they that interesting to read. I simply stated basic facts about a few things & left it at that. I am always concerned about writing to much and giving away HINTS that might take some of the excitement out of the "Hunt". Personally... I love some of the surprises I get by a "Hunt" & usually don't read much on a cache page for fear of obtaining to much information. I don't even like to know WHAT TYPE of container I am searching for or even the size of the container. (Unless I have a DNF for that cache allready) Guess it's similar to when I was working search and rescue and would get very basic information about who we were searching for, or even in a few cases we never had an idea at all & had to determine that based on the equipment left at the 'Primitive' campsite of the missing people. I however... will work on editing my cache pages to make them more interesting without giving away additional hints. Again thanks for that insightful advice. I do apreciate it very much. TGC -
New CO cache/hide opinions?
texasgrillchef replied to texasgrillchef's topic in General geocaching topics
I didn't make that statement out of any disrespect for the geocacher with 10,000+ finds. I wasn't passing judgement on that person. Being new, I was just curious about it, as I was thinking that maybe there was something wrong with my cache/hide or something, being new at this. As far as being held to a standard or compared to others. We all do it, weather we want to or not. There was one person in this thread that with their opinion that I shouldn't be placing any cache/hides yet as I haven't had enough "Finds" yet. That is obviously showing a standard level and being compared. TGC -
New CO cache/hide opinions?
texasgrillchef replied to texasgrillchef's topic in General geocaching topics
Depending on the humidity when the container was last opened. Laying any airtight, watertight container on the ground can create CONDENSATION to result. So those containers that accumulated the moisture inside was a result of that CONDENSATION. There really isn't to much you can do about condensation. I have found the more "Insulated" a container is the less problem you will have with condensation. Size doesn't seem to make a difference as I have a waterproof container that has 4 cubic feet inside. Sometimes the condensation inside it can get pretty bad as well. If you live in a very humid climate area I would recomend getting "moisture absorbing" packets. Otherwise known as "Desiccants". I am sure you have seen these. They come packed with most electronic items, as well as alot of perscription drugs. You can get a bunch of them for a very affordable price from http://www.uline.com. I have found they work GREAT wonders at keeping down condensation & other moisture issues. They do work. If you only have a FEW micro &/or small caches to work with, I would SAVE the ones you get when you get your mail order perscriptions filled &/or buy new electronics! TGC