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Team Neos

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  1. So you want the ability for cache owners could lock the log to only the "found it" logs dated after the archive fate on the cache. Why? I can't imagine that there is a problem with people accidentally logging finds dated after archival of any magnitude whatsoever. If there are any at all, my guess is that it's a case of the logger not changing the date on before logging. If they are the dread "cheaters" (my, how I am becoming weary of seeing that word!), they will no doubt backdate the logs to be less conspicuous. And of course, there will be the people who find a cache after it is archived, but before it is picked up. You say that that this option is only for owners who have already picked up the cache, but people being how they are, at least some owners would just go ahead and add the lock without really going out to get the cache. What happens when those same owners drift away from geocaching altogether?---We get geolitter with even less incentive to go after it. I agree with the others who say this is not needed, and may even be counter-productive to good cache stewardship.
  2. They show up in your Waymarking profile.
  3. Where did this come from? I'm not following your train of thought. If you are talking about the idea to use the canal, I agree that it would make more sense to talk about ALL of the canals built in Indiana See: http://www.indcanal.org/ http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/publ...s/canalmap.html http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/publ.../canalsind.html http://www.franklinchs.com/PPP/places/Whit...ewatercanal.htm The canals were the interstate of their times, and connected all of Indiana, decreasing shipping costs ten-fold and allowing Indiana folks to ship goods at a profit for a twenty year period around the time of the Civil War. Indiana was slow getting into the canal building craze, probably because parts of northern Indiana weren't really very well settled until the 1840s. The railroad eventually took the place of the canals. I would like to consider seeing the railroad story in Indiana depicted, also...or even the more general term of the state motto Crossroads of America" A website on state mottoes provided this: About the Indiana State Motto The year was 1937 and the motto certainly suggests that the intersecting of important roads, railroads and waterways of the nation occurs within the boundaries of the State of Indiana. Indeed, Indiana was on the path west by many settlers coming from the northeast and east central states. The first major road to cross the state was the historic Cumberland, or National, Road, now labeled US Route 40. This road was built in the early 1800s. Many railroads provide freight service in Indiana and the Lake Michigan ports of Burns Harbor, Buffington, Gary and Indiana Harbor provide connections, via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway for oceangoing ships from around the world. Smaller ports, Southwind and Clark, are found on the Ohio River, providing access to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. The Indiana Department of Administration states: "'The Crossroads of America' signifies the importance of waterways, railroads, highways and other transportation facilities in the state, viewed by many as some of the finest in the nation." As to Charlestown state park... I don't want to open up that can of worms again, because it still rankles. However, I do want to remind anyone who is new to geocaching in Indiana that when those caches were placed, they were "legal"--the DNR non-rules regulations were changed later. Thankfully, most of the other DNR facilities chose to handle the change in the rules differently than the way Charlestown responded. Although the National Forest area is awesome, it's less than 1% of Indiana's total land area, and not really representative of the state as a whole. In fact, you are hard put to find one spot in Indiana that does represent the whole state--there are areas that are prarie, rolling farmland, woodland, and wetland. The bedrock geology varies as well, there are karst regions, places that have been sculpted by glaciers, and places that glaciers have never touched. I think we should stay away from promoting any of the parks systems on the coin. I'm sure everyone will have their favorite. I'd rather see the parks honored with a series of geocaches somehow. But that's for another thread, isn't it?
  4. That happens all the time--the owner hears from someone that a stage is 'missing' (because they can't find it) and doesn't bother to check it themself or perhaps they do check it and because the stage has migrated a bit, they don't find it where they left it. The owner will be happy to find out the stages are all there. I suppose you have already emailed them with the good news?
  5. My local park only puts the bases out for games. Earlier in the day, the park caretakers do a quick sweep of the baseline with the trimmers if needed, put out the bases, & neaten up the park while the boosters get the concessions ready. Last coach having a team play that night puts the bases away.
  6. Gadgets are cool, and laptops have their place in my heart, but not on the trail. I run PQs of the caches in the local area I am likely to want to do, filter them with GSAK, and load them into my PDA and gps. I always have 500 local waypoints in my gps (can have 1000) and I currently I have only 1500 caches in my PDA, with much room left. Now that I have the set-up tweaked to my liking that takes me all of about five minutes. My gps holds some basic info about the cache: the size & type, the D/T, the GC number, name, who hid it, and a few words from the hint. I can use the map on the gps to see where they are in relation to each other and where I am. My gps has both topo maps and street maps loaded for the local area. The PDA has the full information on the cache, including encrypted hints--one click decrypts them. The only problem with my PDA is that I can't house images on it. I can pull them up on my cell phone, however or just print those out if I know I will need them. I could write my logs into my PDA and upload the logs to the computer when I get home (thought I don't--I prefer to just type in my logs when I get home). I do make note of what I trade in the PDA. I suppose I could log caches on my cell phone, although I haven't tried that yet. In the field, once I have found a cache and am ready to move on, I select "nearest caches" on the PDA and it shows me the 10 nearest caches (that number is flexible, 10 works best for me)--it's easy to click through them to see if there is anything interesting. I can also see that info on my gps. If I prefer to "cache my way home" I look at the caches marked on the map on the gps and see which ones are along my route.
  7. Cachemate is good, I use it now. There is also Plucker and Spinner. They are free and relatively easy to figure out -- plus there is a step by step set of instructions here.
  8. Most cachers don't particularly care for "needle in a haystack" types caches--so most cache owners don't hide that kind of cache. Your first challenging cache can certainly be frustrating. Ours was one we actually tried the first day we went out geocaching. It took us a couple of trips to figure out where it had to be and another trip out to the cache with the proper tool to extract it from the container. Some hints for this one of yours: Read the cache page again. Read all of the logs to see if something someone has said makes sense now that you have been there. What is the name of the cache? What does it specifically say about the hide? There might be clues in there that went past you before you saw the spot. For some strange reason, you may walk right up to it the next time you go to look for it. It will be exactly somewhere you are sure you looked the last time. Turn on the gps at least 15 minutes before you start your hunt. A gps that has been allowed to acquire satellite locks works better than one just turned on. Try in the daylight. Micros often are easier to spot in good light. Try in darkness. If it is metal, a flashlight may find it before your eye sees it. Have lots of time to look for it. Rushing makes it more difficult to find a cache. Think about the container you are looking for. Did they really call that a micro? If they are talking about the flip case that holds about ten cigs, I would call that a small---so pehaps there is something to the container size or shape that you aren't thinking of that will help you decide what places in the landscape are large enough to hide that container? Set you gps down, still turned on, while you begin to look around. After five or ten minutes (if you haven't found the cache already) go back to read the gps again. If it still indicates you are close, then great--if it suggests somewhere 30 feet over, move to there to look--leaving the gps where it is (If that is safe to do--if not, move it with you and set it down again). Looking under rocks isn't digging a hole. Lots of caches will be under rocks, sticks, leaves, etc. Get yourself a pair of gloves. If it turns out that you are really going to have to turn over every rock, decide if you really want to find that cache that much. You can just walk away if you prefer.
  9. Adds about $1.65 to the cost of each coin (if 1000 coins are minted, the $150 icon cost paid, and the $1.50 cost-per-coin fee is paid)--Did I figure that right? Does all that have to be paid up front? Will that slow down production until you get some magic number of preorders? I had thought about drilling a hole in one of mine from last year and putting a TB tag on it. I've read in the coin forum that drilling a hole in the coin helps prevent coin collectors types from keeping it. Of course, if we made this year's coin trackable, having it already activated in my name would help that too. I figure it probably isn't as much fun to hang on to someone else's coin. Maybe I shouldn't run my mouth about that part of this, though--I am just not manic about the coins like some people I know, but won't mention any names, Jim It really doesn't matter to me if they are trackable. If they cost more because they are trackable, I'll just buy a couple less than I would if they were less expensive, or pay more, whichever mood I'm in that day Some people may not buy them because they cost more, but probably some people won't buy them if they aren't trackable--so that may even itself out?
  10. We started out with Garmin eTrex Legends because they had all the features we really needed. We recently got a Garmin 60cs and a Garmin 76cs because they had more bells and whistles that we wanted. Happy with all of them.
  11. Is it a series, or a multi? I know of series that have 30, 50, 100 caches in the set, each with it's own cache page and chance to log a funny story (and, yes, get that smiley). If each cache is the exact same thing --For example: get the key holder off the back of the guardrail or get the magnetic log off the back of the sign---then I get bored after a few, and might not finish the series (unless they also take to me really nifty places, in which case I will likely do them all when I can). If it's a multi, I rarely do them if they have more than 3 legs. I had a few bad experiences with them and quit part way through several multis. I usually don't even start them now unless someone else has done them and recommends them to me. The reason I don't do them is many people tend to do the "same ol same ol" in their multis and that bores me to tears. By that I mean the multi consists of "show up at the parking lot coordinates and get the cords for a match box 100 yeards away, walk the trail to the match box, get the cords for the next matchbox, and the next, and the next, and the next, until finally reaching the ammo can hidden in a stump" If I could at least be treated to a different kind of hide at each stage, it would be more entertaining. As it is, I am just annoyed at having to stop ten times just to get the cords to an ammo can in the woods. In that case, it doesn't matter how scenic the views at each stage because I am going to stop to enjoy the scenic views anyway, making me look for another matchbox just takes away from the time I have to enjoy the view.
  12. I like the 3-D effect. I suppose it would depend on whether you can run down a nice clean image. I've seen some images of mule teams hauling canal boats, but they are all pretty busy--lots of houses or town in the background, or people milling about watching, etc.
  13. I think this sounds like a pretty reasonable idea. All you sock puppets better get busy. N1
  14. I had to resort to defragging the computer (that takes 7 hours nowdays!) and working on some genealogy (sorting boxes of documents). Oh, and I waxed the computer table. It was harrowing.
  15. I'm sorry you felt that way also. I love to read other people's logs. I truely enjoy reading the logs on my caches, even the ones that aren't glowing. It helps me ot see my caches through other's eyes--and that helps me place better caches as I go along. Some people are too sensitive. They usually don't last long, I have noticed (although they are a pain while they are around!). Some people are too blunt in their logs. If that describes you, well, you don't have to hash out all the gritty details every time. You can just say "Found it. That makes number 101 for me" and leave it at that. Other people are not very skilled at on-line communications. They sound upset when they really aren't, or they come off as sarcastic when they were going for dry humor. For every person that disliked your logs, there may have been three who liked them---We have a tendency to only pipe up when we dislike something, after all. In any event, I feel sure that there are going to be people in your area who will miss your logs (even if it's just that they don't have them to complain about anymore )
  16. I'm honest, but I try my best not to be make sure I am not rude with my comments. If the cache was just uninspired, I try to find something interesting to say about the hunt. Locals do indeed learn to read between the lines, and really anyone should understand that my saying nothing about the cache itself means there wasn't anything to say, really. Someone else may love it, but it didn't thrill me. If there is a clear hazard, I'll mention it, politely. Posion ivy, too close to a busy road etc--I try to use humor, or to phrase the concern from my perspective by saying something like "I was just sure that I would trip on the curb and fall right into traffic" or "Posion Ivy must be the state flower of Indiana" I also send a short polite note to the cache owner if I think the hazard is something that wasn't there when they placed it (or if they are new, something they might not have thought important). And if there is a problem that anyone could fix, I will try to fix it myself. Log full or soggy log? I'll slip a strip of water resistant paper into the cache. No swag? I'll drop in some extra. Glass all over? I'll pick it up if it's safe, or at least push it away from the cache area and out from underfoot with my trekking pole. Busted lid, leaky container? I'll swap you for one of the extra ones I carry if I have one like it.
  17. There ya go, Torry. When you mint the, I want one, too.
  18. I created Dad's Journey in honor of my father's life. I have gotten positive comments about the TB. Some people have said they plan to do something similar for someone they love. Some people have written to say that just seeing it in a cache, helped them deal with a similar situation in their own life. Actually I suspect there may be people who might think it is odd, but no one has complained to me or in the logs so far, so apparently it doesn't offend anyone--or people are just respectful and tactful about the loss of a loved one. The TB has helped me deal with the loss of my father. Every time I start feeling really blue --like this past Father's Day --someone sends a notes about Dad, and reminds me that he really isn't gone as long as someone still remembers him.
  19. Welllll, you could try it, but ... People are bad enough about logging TBs in and out of caches correctly, if they didn't even get credit for the move, well, they might be even more lax. Notes get lost or wet, and then your item would be just so much more swag. The tag lets people know that the item is supposed to travel--it sets it apart from the other items in a cache. Plus, the tracking tag has the advantage of at least giving you some idea of where the item has gotten off to now and who to contact. It also helps the people who pick it up track down where it is supposed to go if the instructions get separated. It's waaaaaay more fun to track the travelbug online. Your whole family could watch the progress of the travel bug, and know when it was getting close so they could plan a trip to retrieve it. Travel bugs are everyday items that have the traveltag attached to them. You buy the tag and attach it to whatever item you want. You could tag a Santa hat. The tags cost less the more you buy. A pack of 4 is only $20 here-and that includes shipping-an 8-pack is $34 Whatever you do DON"T send out precious family items that would break your heart if they got lost or damaged.
  20. They speak the truth. Another thought: While you are making a new account and relogging everything, you may want to give some consideration to multiple accounts. I say this because you said "we"--if you are using the royal we, please ignore the suggestion. Seriously. There may be times when you aren't caching together. My husband and I cache together 97% of the time, but he drives for a living and I go to conferences, so we have had chances to cache separately. We each have a separate account that we log all our finds on. It would be a lot easier to make the second account now, while you have fewer caches.
  21. usafknine, I should have mentioned that some people are also very anti-PMOC. There once was no such critter in geocaching, but it was added as a feature at one point by request of some paying members (Can't say when, it was before my time). Apparently, the change didn't sit well with some people, who thought it was the end of the promise made by Groundspeak that geocaching would always be free (but membership would have it's benefits). It hasn't done that, but people do like to complain. Some new players are upset by PMOC because they feel excluded. Most geocaches aren't PMOC. To give you some idea, in my area there are more than 500 caches within 5 miles of my house--5 of them are PMOC. Your area may have a larger proportion. I know that in areas where they have problems with caches being vandalized, people often try putting out PMOCs to discourage the problem. As for PMOCs having better quality trade good, well, all caches degrade over time. In my experience, after a month or two, the PMOCs don't have any better swag in them than any other caches. I am not trying to discourage you, just trying to make sure that you don't think everything will be just peachy just because only premium members visit your cache. I had forgotten about the page audits, because I have never had a PMOC. I suppose that would be interesting. Keep in mind that you still won't be able to see everyone who looks at your cache--the people who only view your cache through GSAK and other programs like that won't show up in the audit. Bottom line is it's your cache, and you need to do what works best for you. If you still don't have enough information to make your decision, a quick search of the forums will no doubt turn up many, many heated debates about the virtues and pitfalls of PMOC. Whatever you choose, have fun!
  22. Um, it's not working for me.
  23. Hey Referee, You are very welcome. So glad it helped you. Enjoy your first cache!
  24. I think almost all of us here agree that we have the right to post our opinion, even if we are wrong, about a cache. If you go back through this thread you will notice that most of the people who didn't care for the log merely commented on the way it was done. You can be honest without being unkind. It's possible to give good criticism without being critical. It's easy to go a bit overboard without meaning to (or to sound that way) when you are posting in this faceless electronic medium.
  25. May I ask why you want to make them member only? There is no real protocol, per se, for PMOC (premimum member only caches). Some people make all of their caches PMOC for some amount of time (to encourage others to become PM, or because they want paying members to have first crack at FTF, etc). I know one couple who do that just because they prefer the first few finders to have at least a little experience at caching, hoping they will get better feedback. Later they convert them to regular caches. Some people make all of their caches PMOC and leave them that way (Usually to deter cache theives, sometimes "just because they can", other times to encourage others to join or because they want to stock them with more expensive trade items and want to reward other paying members). It does keep away most of the non-paying members. Some will still come to the caches with friends who are paying members. There is a loophole that will allow non-paying members to log your PMOC. You might want to decide ahead of time if you will discourage that and post it on your cache page to avoid hard feelings from someone who finds it and then learns that you don't want them to log it. It may cut down on the visits you get to your cache just a tad. That can help keep maintenence runs down (another reason some people choose to do PMOC caches, although few will admit to it publically).
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