SeekerOfTheWay

This too! I grabbed a few micros while my far was in the shop. I was super happy there were there. They were at a Wendy's in a tree. I love getting fast micros at interstate rest stops too. My Hubby takes forever at those and now it gives me samething fun to do!

I agree with most of your post but to me the logic in the quote above is flawed. Having items I may have purchased in less lean times does not mean I could afford to make those same purchases today. I may have bought a laptop last year but it could be now I have to trudge down to a wi-fi hotspot for internet. I may have started a two year contract for my smartphone last year but the early termination fees could make it impractical to downgrade to a basic phone until the service agreement is expired. There was a time earlier this year where I had all the items on your list but I could not afford to renew my PM. There simply was not an extra $30 in my spending account at the time my renewal was due. So sometimes things are not so obvious. This is where I'm at. I don't have a computer or internet. No money spent there. I have a smartphone that I use for internet, banking, pictures, email, calls too. I have some time left on my contract so I cent cancel now. But I may have to when it is up, and go with a basic phone. I don't mind, and I'm not saying I deserve PM benefits without paying them. My situation has changed and I cent fit it into my budget. That's all I'm saying really. By the way, I don't mind the comments about my picture. Although I didn't know it would get so much attention (as I was just trying to make a point about fun micros) I'm not naive either, and I enjoyed the attention. Thanks. Also, how much can I earn if I cut your lawn wearing the shirt in my tree pic? That's worth a couple PMs, right?

My Android is as accurate as my Garmin Colorado 400t. Just not nearly as durable or long lasting. So I almost always use the Garmin. Plus the Garmin has a backtrack feature that I use quite a bit when I'm off trail in the wilderness.

I agree that telling friends or family about geocaching is the best way to promote it. That's how I learned of it too. It's best that it not become mainstream. Most things are ruined that way

D'oh!

No mouldy swag in micros!

I love taking pictures of my caching adventures! I usually take pics of myself, scenery, trails, trees, cache containers that ARE NOT meant to be tricky. etc. I don't take pictures of cache containers that are meant to be tricky. Any picture that is a non spoiler goes with my logs. I also took a few pics that would give away the cache location. For these, I upload them to a log of an archived event. That way they show in my gallery still, but aren't on the cache page as a spoiler.

Make sure it will not get muggled!

BlackBerry has an awesome geocaching app called Geocacher Navigator. It is $9.99 one time fee. Android has an awesome app called c:geo. It is free. I've used both, and much prefer Android, and c:geo. I'm with Verizon Wireless and use an HTC Thunderbolt. Another option is to skip the smartphone and just get a less expensive handheld GPS unit. You can get a nice one for $50-100.

It would be bad form to archive all micros.

You have that on Copy & Paste, don't you? That was quick! Some topics come up so often, and the OP doesn't bother to search first to find them, that we have a whole set of canned responses ready to go. Same 'ol topics, same 'ol answers. Great idea!

I did have one cache deleted because it was in my yard and became unsafe. Otherwise, I'm not ashamed of my past caches at all! I just like seeing active cache counts for me, and other players, and not a total that includes archived ones.

Yeah....what did you say? LOL! And thanks, GOF and Bacall for the link to those pamphlets! They will come in handy.

So, that would be.... ummmm... (let's see... 14 minus 6 = 7 9 <counting on fingers> ) ok... got it now. You have 8 active hides. LOL! Well, no actually. See, I was separating them. My total cache hides say I have 20. But I have 6 of those archived. Wait, what does that leave me?

With pictures of you climbing trees hanging around here in the forums you just might get yourself a PM gifted to you soon. Have any other pictures.. wait, that crossed the line. Scratch that last one. hmm. Picture taking is hard work just like cutting a lawn... Is my picture titled, "Wading Required" enough for the free PM?

I can haz PM now? In bed by 8PM, unless I work til 930PM. It's more that I just don't like lights on inside at night. Not really to save money. I just don't have a lamp because when it's dark, it's dark. As for date night, I'm not sure I've ever been on a date with my Hubby. We've been married 13 years. You are right about vegan food. Is is super expensive. I try to eat foods that are naturally vegan, and inexpensive. Like pasta etc. Even so, my choice of diet (vegan and healthy) is number one priority to me. Very important. Which is where my money goes, and why I'm so skinny. Ha. I figure I'll save on health care costs down the road! A digital converter box isn't cable. It's a box that we got free vouchers for when TV signals went from analog to digital. So, basic channels. Ok, now I'm out. Too many personal things are being talked about! Awkward! I have other circumstances that I don't want to discuss, so I'm going to not reply any more. It's been a good thread and talk, thanks!

You have to drive slower, and accelerate evenly to get better gas mileage. In any case, I did reduce my driving significantly. You can see in my stats that I recently went 34 days (around that) without caching, for this very reason. I drive to work and home. I did have to drive a long distance to visit family last week. I'm not making excuses for people who complain about Premium Membership. Having a PM has a ton of awesome benefits! I don't even care if COs make their caches PMO. That's not in my control. Besides, they are missing out on my pictures and good logs. There's plenty of non PM caches. I'm just trying to say that not everyone can afford one. I am budgeted so closely that I simply cannot. And I'm smart enough to accept that. It seems like a small cost, and is IS. However all those small costs add up and it's best to live within your needs. Making light of someones financial situation isn't necessary, nor is lecturing them about how they could afford it or telling them to stop whining. Life gets pretty sad when you're just trying to survive. Caching is a nice escape from that, and is mostly free. I have detailed spreadsheet of all my expenses and outgoing. It's just a fact that you have to make cuts in your wants here and there to get by sometimes. I'm confident no one can look at my finances and find any wiggle room. I'm great with money! Geocaching is great because it IS free. I do support Premium Membership to help the cost of the site. I just get annoyed at the condescending remarks made here about being cheap. I think that all of us are on some sort of budget. The thing is, I don't log on to the local country clubs web site and call them all a bunch of snobs because they won't let me play their course for free. Maybe I should just drive down to the marina and demand that some rich guy take me on a voyage on his yacht. I understand that not everyone can afford a premium membership. I renewed mine just a few weeks ago and it was especially hard to budget it in this year. When people can't or won't buy a PM and then come here and call me an elitist snob because I managed to scrimp enough together for mine, I am offended. I've spent most of my life hovering around the lower rungs of the ladder, yet I have never looked at those above me as snobs and I have certainly never looked down on those that have less than me. I understand. I'm not sure why you quoted me as I haven't called anyone a snob, elitist or any other name.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." -- Gandhi Hide caches that are the kind you would like to find. Find caches that you like, and leave good logs on them. I'm here to say, that sadly, doesn't seem to help. How can it not help? If you don't find the kinds of caches that you don't like, and hunt for caches that you do like, then you'll be happier. And if you don't search for, let's just say, micros in lamp posts, then it doesn't matter how many of them there are. There are still plenty of good caches that aren't micros in lamp posts. Good post. This is it! My geoworld is full of ammo and and lock n locks! I forgot that LPC even existed!

You have that on Copy & Paste, don't you? That was quick!

Micros ... the cache that killed geocahing. Join the latest ongoing discussion about the evils of micros in the thread above! I just checked my scheduler, and no, no it is 3 weeks early!

Welcome to geocaching, and the forums guys. There's a lot of great info posted in these forums. Be sure to search for threads if you have questions. Some very useful posts are even years old! Happy caching!

That's another really good point! I did a Kayaking cache that was a micro. It was easy to find, but it had to be tethered to a tree because it was deep in mangroves, where flooding is routine. An ammo can would be swamped there and/or washed away. Edit to add: LOL! I thought that picture was confined to Page 1 only!

^^^ I like this one! I will keep it in mind!

I like that the reviewers are so mysterious. It's exciting.

This entire thread is so interesting, I read it twice! Geocaching Growth. I think it disproved your assertion that geocaching was killed!