tands

If we hadn't been there it would have been all over. Strong voices on the committee for the bill are Senators Knotts, Lourie, and Sheheen. Any of their constituents would be wise to contact these legislators. Also, Mescher did not attend the hearing for unknown reasons. - T of TandS

I went to the meeting today along with several other members of the Geocaching Community. Rep Ceips was given the opportunity to present the Bill to the Committee. There was much discussion among the Senators who jokingly asked if anyone wanted to speak against the Bill. When Sissy raised her hand, the Committee was made aware seemingly for the first that there might another side to this issue. Against strong protests from Senators urging the Bill to be sent to the full Senate, the Chairman recognized our right to be heard and sent the Bill to Subcommittee for public comment and review. That Subcommittee Hearing has not yet been scheduled. We discussed the Bill with the State Archaeologist and the DNR Enforcement Head in the hallway while the Committee considered other matters. Several Senators came out into the hallway, having heard our elevated discussion level, and asked us about our position. They were very surprised to hear that we had disabled all of the cemetary caches as soon as we were aware that they had offended anyone and asked us if Rep Ceips was aware of that! So that is one thing to focus on. We have been very responsive as SC Geocachers. We have acted in good faith and have shown a willingness to work with anyone who has any issue with Geocaching. We are passionate ambassadors for the Natural and Historic Treasures of SC. As geocaching is being pursued in SC now, is there need for legislation? This is especially true in light of there having been an issue that we truly and strongly addressed without the need of any laws. - T of TandS

Took some folks here yesterday: Deliverance.

Here's another strategy. Pal up with other crazed FTFF (First To Find Freaks) and agree to go for them together. That way if it's a puzzle cache you can work together on that and meet up to share the find. S and I fired up a cache right at the end of one of our Geoholic Meetings that was pretty tough and let everyone who attended work together for the FTF. - T

How about this one? CRAZY HORSE Darn thing almost never gets re-hid in the same place. - T

We don't dash out instantaneously (but within 2 hrs or so) because we are just so nice that we want others to get FTFs every now and then! So we throttle it back just a tad. - T of TandS

I just go to my account and click on 'Newest in South Carolina' about, oh, every 2 hours or so every day. An FTF opportunity lasts at most 12 hours in our area. Many are found within 2 hours of posting. Most of our FTFs required either heading out at bedtime (when new caches are born, usually!), or getting up at 5am, or remembering that Dentist Appointment (yeah that's it!) and leaving work. These tactics have been good enough to make 10% of our finds FTFs. - T of TandS

One of The Star's main purposes in Columbia is to serve as a publisher of legal notices for the city's legal community. It is definitely a targeted media to the attorneys, many of whom are legislators. If The Star is willing to present the other true side of this issue to balance the article that would be a very professional act. However, if this article stands untempered, calling the paper's advertisers and informing them that they will be boycotted by law-abiding consumers who make up the geocaching community will get attention. Twenty phone calls to each of the paper's advertisers will not bode well to the bottom line. But this should be withheld until the paper has an opportunity to set things straight. Also, what message does such an article send to technology businesses considering locating in South Carolina when users of technology are vilified and ridiculed as 'geeks' in a newspaper published in the state capital? Does this portray a job market rich with technically capable staff? - T

The Columbia Star came out today with a huge front page photo and article that was obviously taken word for word from Rep Ceips' slanderous position. The headline reads 'High Tech Game Players Invade Hallowed Ground,' and begins the story by detailing how a downtown Columbia church now has to lock its cemetary because of geocachers. It also includes at least one photo not taken in SC. The online version of the Star hasn't been updated yet but I expect that will be done soon. - T

I find that completely uncalled for.

I use a Lexar 1 Gig SD card bought at Sam's for $71. I'm pretty sure it's the cheapest thing out there. In a Lexar 3-in-1 reader bought at Wal-Mart for $20 I regularly transfer 200 meg files to and from the reader in 15 or 20 seconds. So... How much faster do you want to go? Speed in digital memory mainly pays off in latency between the read and write cycles. This is usually most important in Digital Photography where a photographer wants to shoot a series of high-res images back to back real fast. - T of TandS

I freeze plastic water bottles to take on long hikes. So does about every cycler I know. - T of TandS

In response, yes, magnetic compasses of the analog variety have done this also, today. But the response is much much less. Electronic compasses are 'flux gate.' There is something in them about inducing a field and measuring it's deflection by magnetic field vectors. Anything that conducts electricity close to them can goof them up I'm pretty sure, and since the wires in my hand are nice and small they don't need much juice as far as emf to excite them. I don't know what's in there, but it is absolutely happening. Another theory could include induced fields in the small wire used for such things created by interaction with the reference signal in the gps. It's pretty common for gps units to goof eachother up if too close to eachother. This might even have something to do with WAAS which is terrestrially based and uses a radio signal if I've got it right. For jollies I'll take some pictures of the phenomenon when the wife gets home for the skeptics. - T of TandS

I couldn't figure out why my Etrex Vista would work outstanding sometimes and other times point hundreds of feet in the wrong direction all in the same day. Yesterday I figured it out while running in the forest scouting a cache rampage. I broke and dislocated my right wrist 2 years ago. I guess the pins and metal stuff they put in my right wrist throw the compass off on the Vista by about 45 degrees. Left hand is dead on. Also holding in right hand slowed signal lock! Really! Tried it 10 times cuz I couldn't believe it. Gonna have to go southpaw on GPS use now! Even in the car with the compass on holding the unit in my right hand throws off the arrow noticably. Something to consider while using your GPS. Change hands and see if it helps. - T of TandS

It seems to me that if it does anything in terms of raisingmoney, it does so by getting people into parks that charge admission. All of the state parks in SC charge an entry fee. Personally I've always purchaced a park pass, but for those who doesn't spent a lot fo time in state parks it's helping the SC Dept of Parks and Tourism more than anyone else around here. -S of tands

T=41 S=28 TandS=2.5 months (married Feb 19)

I know better than to leave food or drink in a cache, but.... How about bottled water? No smell, sealed, plastic bottle won't blow up if it freezes... So, I'm just tossing it out as an idea, and since it's water, I'm not afraid of flaming. -T of TandS

Yep, like I said, it was a way way bigger than the pileated ones I'd seen. And besides the white bill there was amazing color. I just couldn't believe it could be true. BTW I'm going to report the sighting to Cornell. And thanks for the info about where to report it. My wife was excited when she saw the report about the ones they found because she remembered how moved and amazed I'd been when I described the bird I'd seen. - T of TandS

Three years ago I saw a bird that 'couldn't be' in an extremely remote forest in South Carolina. Like the NPR article I said "Lord God what a bird!" I'd seen Pilated Woodpeckers before, and this bird was at least half again as big. And an Ivory colored bill. I only told my wife about it because she believes me even when I say things that sound crazy. Now I know that I might be able to believe what my eyes saw. What a blessing it is that Nature can be so resilient. - T of TandS

GH28's birthday was yesterday, y'all. Hope you are having fun. But now this forum should be used to announce the organizational meeting for a subcommittee of the SCGCA. Call it the Legislative Information Committee. I propose setting a date and getting some officers going on this committee. Next week would not be to soon. I volunteer to be cook and bottle washer -T of TandS

The main problem in our area of the Southeast US is that SC_Reviewer has just made it impossible to ever do a better job for anyone else. And I'm not even suckin up on this. He regularly drives from Virginia to attend our local meetings in Columbia, SC. So unless you're that insane (requiring a doctor's letter as proof) you probably don't qualify. - T of TandS

I lost a cache for 15 minutes when I placed it and then walked 5 feet away to check coords. I really think it's harder to find a brightly marked container when it's sunny outside than it is to find a plain old green ammo box whose unvarying color is unnatural looking. -T of TandS

It's occurred to me that what we are facing has happened before. Technologically savvy groups of people have been singled out throughout history as scapegoats because it is convenient. Ms Ceips' villification and disrespect shown to geocachers who in good faith attended the Subcommittee Hearings brings to mind the following phrase: 'Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Geocaching Community?' She has done much to incite and anger us, but as reasonable folk we can choose not to rise to the bait. That is one of the best statements we can make. -T of TandS

DEET! Tastes awful! (to me) Less Unfilling! (to bugs) We went for a cache last weekend on the Palmetto Trail that goes up from a swamp to some 'almost mountains' called Palmetto Trails - High Hills. The men wore a bath of DEET, and my wife wore lemon eucalyptis repellent. I was the only one of us to be bitten by a mosquito even though they were so thick that we had to breath through our noses. I accidentally breathed about three of them through my mouth and they had a great time stuck in my windpipe. -T of TandS

Dear Mad Cat, Personal attacks get us nowhere fast. I suggest you recalibrate your 'manners' compass. Also, There's a calendar for today, April 29, and nothing's scheduled for today. Pretty much the first thing coming up is a reception next week, then a day or two of concurrent resolution stuff. Just because there's a calendar for a day doesn't mean they're meeting. You have to look at the calendar's dates. The first day of any activity is May3. - T