ValleyRat & TillyMouse

Try this: This error may occur due to a bad registry value from a previous version of the GARMIN Unlock Wizard. You can resolve this by going into your REGISTRY EDITOR and deleting the improper key. Please DO NOT go anywhere other than what is describe below. Errors made in your REGISTRY EDITOR can cause other problems with your pc. To get to the REGISTRY EDITOR: 1) Go to your START menu, then RUN 2) TYPE regedit, then click OK 3) Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER and click on the + to the left of it to expand the folders 4) Go to the SOFTWARE folder and click on the + to the left of it to expand the folders 5) Go to the GARMIN folder and click on the + to the left of it to expand the folders 6) Find the UNLOCK WIZARD folder, click on the folder and press DELETE on your keyboard. You should get a message asking if you are sure you wish to delete this folder, answer YES. Whenever changes are made within the REGISTRY, you must shut down your computer and restart it. Once this is complete, you should be good to go. WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system.

We love finding a cache and don't really give a big RA what cachers before us left there; we always leave something better that we take. I'm guessing that geocaching is not really for someone so objective. If you decide to stay, however, welcome!

Just give him coordinates that are 10' off, then as he's looking there, pick up the cache and say, "Sorry, you were looking in the wrong place." Of cource, that means you will each need your own GPSr.

Since we started leaving our "We Brake for Geocaching" bumper stickers, and always logging that we did so, we've seen more finds logged. When there's room, we usually leave more than one. The bumper sticker is always the first item taken.

I've seen those same messages many times and wondered why there wasn't a button to RETURN TO SEARCH RESULTS. Sure would be nice.

We've found Micros in the most impossible locations. Some of the best: 1. An eye-hook screwed in at eye level (or above) on a tree; matching hook on the top of a 35mm film cassette. We used to always look DOWN ONLY when searching. No more! 2. A 3x8" piece of magnetic material with what appeared to be an electric company Identifying number, attached to an electrical box. After five trips we decided to use a fingernal behind the material. On the back was a printed info and log sheet. It's a good thing we couldn't find the hider on this one. 3. Film cassette wedged tightly between boards under a park bench. 4. Cyclone Fence post with a removable top cap. The cap had a string hanging down inside the post with a film cassette on the end. 5. Film cassettes in many other impossible places. We now use these tricks to confuse searchers. Thus far, all of our DNF's have, with perseverance, become Found It's. You probably already know this, but most GPS's have a WAAS feature that uses land-based transmitters to improve their accuracy. Check that your WAAS is enabled and. . . Keep trying.

Here's an excerpt from Streets and Trips HELP menu Search for Latitude Display latitude and longitude coordinates On the Tools menu, click Location Sensor. Point to any place on the map. The Location Sensor displays the latitude and longitude coordinates for the place you're pointing to. To stop displaying latitude and longitude coordinates, click in the upper-right corner of the Location Sensor. Related topics About latitude and longitude

We have a similar contest going between a couple of Valley Geocachers. Those who participate consider it unfair, though perhaps not unethical, to divulge the coords before the cache is approved and listed. But then it's just a game. . . Try taking steroids For conversion from Decimal Degrees to Degrees/Decimal Minutes, try multiplying the decimal figure by 60, e.g. .482 times 60 = 28.92 thus W76° 28.92

If there's a general outage or extensive position uncertainty, it's almost sure to be due to solar activity. If you want advance notice of predictions, you can send a message to majordomo@sohomail.nascom.nasa.gov The subject line should be empty The message text should be this: subscribe sohonews You will then receive predictions of upcoming problems in RF communications systems. If you don't want to subscribe, for up-to-date info go to the NASA SOHO website and click on What's New or the other links in the Left-hand frame. BTW, on Dubya's orders, we Texans have started poking pins in geocaching voodoo dolls to screw up all visiting geocachers' GPS receivers down here. Seriously, if you're concerned that there may be a Government-directed shutdown or "selective availability" program on the GPS system, you can go to the FAA Notices To Airmen Website here and click on the most-recent date to see if any changes are occurring. Changes WILL NOT BE MADE without informing pilots on this website.

Celophane? Now THAT really dates you. How about going to the movies for 9-cents at the New Isis theater in North Ft. Worth? How about going next door to the theater, to buy a package of itching powder (two cents) to sprinkle off the balcony? How about stopping by the magic shop to buy -- for a nickel -- a little Luckies-size box with a hole in one side and a picture of an ear, indicating that you should listen here. A strip of celluloid (plastic not invented yet) hung from one corner. By running your thumbnail down the celluloid, you could hear FDR (picture on the other side) saying, "Remember Pearl Harbor!" But remembering "better times?" Sorry guys, but I remember them as harder times. I was born in a 12' "house car" -- there was nothing recreational about that vehicle. Helping dad on his rounds fixin' machines (the sewing type) -- "Howdy, ma'am. My name's Buchanan and this here's my boy Bucky. If you have a machine that needs fixin', we'd be obliged to have a look at it. No money? That's all right, if you've got a dozen eggs or a slab of bacon, we'll take that." A "Guess What" -- package of candy with a prize inside cost a nickel, but I didn't have a nickel. Seeing dad return from a day of no customers, carrying a cardboard box for packing Mama's treasures. "Where to this time Buck?" "Don't know, sweetheart. Just light a rag and I'll follow the smoke!" Next morning we were off for a new anchorage, one where all the sewing machines hadn't yet been fixed.

We have a saved Street Atlas map with all caches in our planned cache-hiding area shown as waypoints on that map. We always update and print that map prior to going out cache-hiding. It's an easy exercise, requiring five minutes for the original map, then a minute or so to update. All map programs that permit inputting waypoints will allow this kind of manipulation. We prefer this paper or on-screen laptop map, to cluttering up the GPSr screen with so many waypoints. BTW we always carry our laptop on a specially built table between driver and navigator. The dash-mounted Garmin Street Pilot tells the Street Atlas map on the laptop exactly where we are. By running two sessions of Street Atlas map on the laptop, we can switch back and forth between the "existing caches" database and our "planned hides" database. After we arrive near the planned location, TillyMouse's eTrex Legend becomes the tool of choice. Here's another BTW: we recently purchased the E2000-PC hood for our laptop from Hoodman USA . It's an eyesight saver when driving in bright sunlight.

Before we moved to South Texas, my behind got cold in October and never warmed up above freezing until May. On Christmas morning Donna, Texas, where we now live, suffered a 3" snowfall. It was the first measurable snow in 109 years; first white Christmas ever; our tomato plants survived due to careful covering. We spent that 50° Christmas day in the house where it was 72°. Junk science, global-warming fanatics, please explain that one to me. Next day it was 65° -- following day it was 70° -- yesterday it reached the normal December temperature of 82°. It's now (0700) the coolest time of the day: 69°, so it appears it will be another perfect cache-hiding day; we've found all the in-place caches within 75 miles of home. We planted three yesterday, have four more ready for today. Fellow Valley residents and visitors, have a look at these: Venetian Ducklings Sky Soldiers Hangin' Tree And one in Progresso, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande. Brown Pride Tatoo

In our case, it's mostly common sense that guides us. On one occasion, we found the cache on the ground in the open, where it had apparently been dropped by a muggle. We re-hid it at the indicated coords and informed the owner that it was in "The hollow in the elm tree at the posted coordinates." Yesterday, we located a well-hidden cache, but as we were picking it up for examination, a muggle saw us. He stopped and stared. In this case, while he was watching, we took the cache to the truck and drove away for lunch. Returning an hour later, we replaced the cache about six feet from the original location -- still within the accuracy range of the GPSr. Upon returning home, we emailed the owner with our actions, so he could go back and place it in the original location if he wished -- they live a short distance from the cache. I believe the most important point is that if you move it, be sure you have a valid reason, then always inform the owner with an exact location -- not just the coords, something like, "It's now under a large rock, 38" east of the largest fence post."

You should have taken the time to invoke their gods for the geocaching community; I'll take all the help I can get!

Our in-team cryptographers -- TillyMouse and JoAnn from DallasAndJoAnn -- are really pretty good, and following the decrypting of WollieBear's four new puzzle caches in 78537 yesterday, we headed out for the area of McAllen International Airport --- found 'em all BTW. Ring for Rita Elementary my Dear Watson Flight of Fancy and Poly-Gone-Wild One of the caches was hidden behind a big prickly-pear bush. Being a shorty with all the attributes of people who carry that designation, my arms just weren't long enough to reach the back-side of the bush without stepping into the middle of it. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of living in cactus country, I'll provide this fact of life: anytime you step into the middle of a prickly-pear bush, you can be sure that one of the nopales will slap you square in the Butt! To make this long and boring story shorter, the climax of the hunt was a picture of TillyMouse picking cactus spines from various parts of my anatomy. NO, I won't post the picture; it's been banned from publication. Dallas managed to stop laughing at my plight long enough to re-place the cache; he's 6'2".

In what form; Popups? Banner Ads. Premium members can opt out of the feature? Too broad a question to answer NO or Yes. It may not be up to us, however. When the forum owner decides to do it, he has that right.

I suggest going to an "Advertising Specialty" store. Just go in and ask if they have any mis-prints or other seconds they want to sell. They should have thousands of items at about 4-10 cents each. They're happy to get rid of them and the items are far beter that the junk we often find in caches -- TNLBumper sticker. They may have mis-spellings -- usually on the name of the business -- and such, but no worry. We recently boght about $100 worth of stuff like this for ONE DOLLAR in a garage sale.

I also write fiction, even sometimes present it as fact, but as Mark Twain said, "I used to remember everything, whether it happened or not; now I only remember the things that never happened at all." I enjoyed your account of the event, and may use it in one of my spy stories; you shouldn't waste such good ideas. Sell them! Thanks for the idea, anyway. The advice that followed your recounting of the event also reminded me of a preacher from my rural Texas childhood: Brother Henry was said to always eat fried chicken and poop platitudes. Buck

A point that's not often mentioned in these carry/don't-carry threads is that every Concealed Carry Permit holder has his/her background investigated prior to issuance of the permit. It's a requirement in Texas and in the 29 (last time I checked) other states that recognize a Texas permit. Most police officers know and understand that a CHP carrier has passed that investigation and is more likely to be law-abiding that others he stops. They appreciate (and it's suggested in Texas classes) that CHP holders present their DL and CHP when in a traffic stop. In the couple of occasions when I've been stopped for a traffic violation, I've simply handed both licenses to the officer. He asks, "Are you carrying?" when I answer in the affirmative, he says, "Keep your hands where I can see them."

Works just like my Jack Armstrong Code Ring. Enjoy

Got mine last night. SonRon, who's in Tikrit right now, called to say, "Hey, I'm all right. See you in February."

MSWord has a template for business cards. Just go to TOOLS|ENVELOPES AND LABELS and select the labels tab, then OPTIONS and scroll down to Business Cards APLI-1612. If you use this template, print a few on plain paper before using an expensive sheet of cards. You can hold the printed sheet in front of a bright light, with a sheet of blank cards behind it to confirm alignment. Pagemaker OR PrintShop are much better than a word-processing program for doing this. Want your customer/geocacher-friend to keep the card rather than throwing it away? Print a 3-column heading on the back that says: NAME................EMAIL ................PHONE ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

Why would anybody ever want to find his Brother-in-law?

When your main reason for going Yard-sailing is to buy more cache-booty and tupperware.

Yepp, it must an american thing. It is forbidden to carry weapons in my country, and the risk of running into a maniac is quite low, since they are also forbidden to carry weapons And we all know that maniacs never break the law.