macdonr

The proposed Former Schools category has been sent to peer review. Click here for the Peer Review link page. Your support is appreciated, as are any ideas for how we may make the category better. I think this category has great potential, given the large number of former schools that exist around the world, either abandoned or serving a new purpose. Many thanks! macdonr.

My School Daze group welcomes new members for the purpose of moving toward peer review of a proposed "Former Schools" category. To join, please click here, or contact me for an invite. The category would be for Waymarking former school buildings. These may include abandoned buildings, or those that have been repurposed as public structures of another type, as businesses, homes (posted with permission), or former school buildings moved to historic parks; essentially any use other than the original purpose. All interest and support is greatly appreciated!

I appreciate the feedback I've received here and via e-mail. I'm leaning toward "Former Schools" as a category, if that is of interest. It would be more inclusive (and less confusing) than my original idea of "Repurposed Schools" -- and possible to waymark in even more communities. Is there sufficient interest for me to proceed?

I've looked through the Waymarking categories, and have searched the forums, and haven't been able to locate a category for schools. I understand that there is a reluctance to include a general schools category (or at least this is how I feel, as school officials may well look askance at people approaching their buildings uninvited, and possibly taking photographs), but I wonder whether there is sufficient interest to create a "Repurposed Schools" category? (I found a couple of short-lived Waymarking threads on related topics, but those did not seem to result in development of a schools category. The closest I found was the Colleges & Universities category.) The idea would be to Waymark / celebrate former school buildings that have gained renewed life as public structures of another type, or as businesses, homes (posted with permission), or that are included in historic parks. Perhaps abandoned schools could also be included, if the grounds are publicly accessible. For example, in my city, there is a grand old elementary school that sat vacant for a number of years before conversion into a community medical facility. Our county historic park has a one-house school building moved to the grounds -- another possible Waymark candidate for this category. One reason I like this idea is that these school buildings are found in many communities around the world. New Waymarks should include basic information about the building, including its period of service as a school, grade levels, the new purpose it serves, and other interesting observations about the site. Is it open to the public? Is there an admission charge? Is there an associated website for the original school or for the organization now using it? At least one or two photos should accompany each new listing, including (if available) a historic photo / postcard image of the school. Is there any interest in this proposal? I'm rather new to Waymarking, so I hope I'm doing this appropriately. I appreciate any suggestions.

Yes - this is Florida's state coin. The icons (second-generation copies, not as clear as originals):

Less than thirty minutes before the pre-sale of the Florida Landmarks Series of five geocoins! Please see my original post in this thread for a link to the ordering page and details about the coins.

Just a reminder: the Florida Landmarks Series geocoins will be on pre-sale tomorrow (Fri Feb 10), at the times announced in my original post. Thanks to everyone for the e-mails expressing interest in the pre-sale; these promise to be attractive coins!

Announcing a pre-order for a new set of geocoins. The coins are being supplied by thecachingplace.com -- this is information from their website, with a direct link to the coin pre-order page: - - - - - - - - - - - Florida Landmarks Series Geocoins 2006, GC Trackable with Icon Click here for the pre-order page. The developers of the Florida Landmarks Series Geocoins 2006 are macdonr & Mac. of Lakeland, FL. The five coin set is GC trackable with a unique icon. The antique silver coins are 1.75" and the set includes a black drawstring bag. This series is exclusive with only 200 sets minted, and only 180 sets are available for purchase. The series includes the following Florida landmarks: + Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine + Tampa Bay Hotel, Tampa + Union Bank, Tallahassee + San Pedro Shipwreck, Florida Keys + Crooked River Lighthouse, Carrabelle Cost for the five coin set is $38.75. An additional shipping cost is based on the actual weight and there is a $2.00 handling fee per order (not per coin). Preorder starts on Friday, February 10 Central European time 6:00 pm Greenwich Mean time 5:00 pm USA Eastern Standard time 12:00 noon USA Central Standard time 11:00 am USA Mountain Standard time 10:00 am USA Pacific Standard time 9:00 am Shipping Date: February 28, 2006 - - - - - - - - - - -

I appreciate the feedback. Including off-forum discussions/e-mails, the trend is about 10-2 against the idea of activating coins before distributing them, either by sale or trade. The arguments in this thread make sense to me; I wondered whether there were good arguments on both sides of the issue. I suspect if I create a coin, I will only activate a couple of coins to use as personal mileage loggers, and leave the rest unactivated to be enjoyed by others.

I'm intrigued by the new category of personal geocoins trackable through geocaching.com. One thing that occurs to me, though, is that trading your personal coins away without activating them first makes them tough (impossible?) to track. I've e-mailed a few people asking their preference / opinion, and have spoken to a couple of other local cachers, but wonder what a wider audience thinks is most appropriate. I can see the logic in having the original owner activate the coins (e.g., Moun10Bike geocoins) both to facilitate the tracking feature he/she has paid for and because they are personal rather than club or other coins, but I also see the appeal as a collector (icon or coin) in owning various types of coins. Is it appropriate for the original coin owner to "own" all of his/her coins, or is it more appropriate for someone else to activate the coin?

It can be disheartening to arrive at a new cache site and find that the coords are incorrect, whether there for the FTF attempt or not.

I cached a bit in Chattanooga last summer - just a few finds - but this new earthcache is added incentive to return. If only there had been geocaching when we lived in Rome, GA! We had great fun exploring the Chattanooga area some twenty years ago.

For those of us who also consider Florida the Southeast, as of Feb 10 there is a new earthcache in Central Florida: Digging Phosphate in Bone Valley Earthcache

I just put out that fake drain. In middle of grassy area near lake. Stumped everyone so far! not any more kayak!! do I hear an oops? Nobody reads these forums...do they? Now I do, kayakanimal! I enjoy your hides ....

I just put out that fake drain. In middle of grassy area near lake. Stumped everyone so far! Hey! I represented that remark!

I'm always surprised when I find TBs in caches that have been visited a couple of times since a TB was dropped. I almost always grab a bug, with a couple of exceptions - I honor the 1:1 wishes of a TB hotel, and I do not log/take every TB that makes its way to a TB hotel I created this summer. I have also been to caches with multiple bugs and have not taken all of them, even if I can make an equal swap. But I digress. More often than not, it seems I find bugs without an identifiable goal, except for one online. By the time I have grabbed one like that, all I can do is try to get it going in the proper direction.

I'm considering creating a letterbox hybrid cache. Is it considered proper etiquette to also make this known through the Letterboxing North America site? I do not know how many geocaching letterbox hybrids also are accessible through the LbNA site, and am interested in knowing what others think about this. At the moment, I'm leaning toward only listing it on the geocaching site. Thanks! macdonr.

My Leap Year Day geocaching: Searched for seven, found seven.

I appreciate your insights, seventhings and GeckoGeek. As mentioned initially, I am hesitant to log things (as finds) that I cannot visually inspect/identify. Your points about seeking, locating, and reading a disk/benchmark are well put and well taken. For Geocaching purposes, it does seem most appropriate to log notes in situations like this. I am a fresh newbie at this, but enjoy the hunt! Thanks again - macdonr.

It's not the case that I cannot find the benchmark (or its location), but that it is not possible to dig at all beneath the surface to search. Here's a better example of what I have run into ... a benchmark that is marked as being under pavement along a bike trail: http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.asp?PID=AK7032 (See the images and description) In this case, the pavement has been marked (spraypainted) with the designation number, and a witness post exists. For this benchmark, a note was added rather than logged as found. By all accounts the benchmark should be in this exact location, but there is no way to verify that it is actually there, underground beneath the patched pavement. A nearby benchmark of this exact type was logged as a find. I have seen these benchmark locations and others on this bike trail, and cannot figure out whether to log them as found, or log a note that the exact location has been identified. Is finding a marked subterranean benchmark under these circumstances (with witness post) sufficient evidence that the benchmark exists? Enough to warrant logging a find, making mention of the markings/pavement? Thanks again, macdonr.

I could not find a thread on this topic ... my apologies if I have missed one. I have located a handful of local benchmarks / horizontal control disks, or rather, the purported locations of these benchmarks. In the official history of most is an indication that the benchmark is buried one foot underground. Here's an example: http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.asp?PID=AK7031 What is the protocol for logging these? Should they be logged as finds, or simply noted? I have seen it done both ways, and want to log them appropriately. I'm somewhat hesitant to log things I cannot visually inspect/identify, in case they have actually been removed, but I'd be pleased to log these as finds if that is appropriate. Thanks! macdonr.