CYBret

Merging this thread with the previous one about the same event. There is no need to create a new thread. Just post any new information into the one that's already running. Bret

The Happy Bunny Dance

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Here's hoping you can still laugh when you see him, in spite of yourself.

It might have been this one. There are a few archived caches in that area.

VERY cool! Just what I needed! Thanks, Prime!

I suppose this is as good a place as any to share a story. My son Connor is autistic. In fact he's pretty severe on the "spectrum." The local geocachers have really taken to him and are always asking about how he's doing. I've taken him to a few events, but he has to be constantly watched and since many events are held near woods and water, that just becomes problematic. Still, the few times I can get him out people love to take turns walking him and playing with him on the swings. He really loves the attention too. About a year ago I got an email from a cacher who was taking part in a charity race to benefit an autism charity. He let me know that he ran in Connor's name. That was really cool. Another local cacher is a quilter and a few years she assembled a quilt with pieces of material that were signed by other cachers. She attached a travel bug tag to it and took the quilt to events for people to log. A lot of people offered to buy the quilt off of her, but she wasn't about to sell it. Then she and her husband decided that rather than sell it they would raffle the quilt and give the money to be used for Connor. When all was said and done they had collected enough money to pay for one semester of speech therapy for Connor. My wife and I were absolutely floored at the generosity. My point is this: they did it without the promise of a smiley or a cool new icon. They did it because they saw a need and wanted to help meet it. Given the opportunity I believe most people would do the same...and many of them are geocachers. Just because events aren't about social awareness, don't assume that cachers aren't socially aware. Many I know are very involved in different causes and make a huge difference in people's lives. Personally, I like it that way. And if you bought a ticket on the quilt, Connor says "thanks." (His sisters say "thanks" too)

This is exactly the problem I cited earlier; a responsible owner who disables his (or her) cache is being punished. That's why I refuse to do so until Groundspeak changes their policy. This is a symptom of a larger problem with not thinking through policies and guidelines thoroughly, anticipating potential issues. Poorly-thought-out guidelines have led to the explosion of lame urban microcaches; poorly-thought-out policies like this lead to caches not being disabled when they need to be. So instead you're punishing the cacher who filters disabled caches out of his pocket query and finds himself searching for your cache that's not there because you don't have time to maintain it and won't disable it? That makes sense. If you can't get to it, post a note letting the reviewer know. Every reviewer I know understands the time limitations we all live with. Trust me...reviewers are KEENLY aware of time limitations. I've received my own share of generic reviewer notes about my disabled cachers. Sometimes I've had to respond that I needed a little more time, but more often than not I've gotten off my butt and fixed the cache. Either way, I don't take it personally.

A few months ago I headed out on a Saturday cache run. I had found about seven caches (all micros) when I realized that I hadn't walked more than 50 feet from my truck for any cache...I hadn't even felt the need to shut the truck off. It really bugged me. That's not what I started playing this game for and the realization really hit home...this isn't fun. I ended up driving about 15 miles out of my way for an ammo box in a state park and had a blast finding that one. Nice walk, fun terrain, cool find. It made me all the more appreciative of those caches. There are a lot of those little roadside micros around here. For the most part I'm just ignoring them and letting the numbers build. If I'm by myself, wanting some time out those caches just aren't fun to me. However, I've talked to a friend of mine and we've decided to make a day out of knocking them out. We always have a blast together no matter what, so it should be a lot of fun. Fun is what you make it. If something's just not fun then just don't do it....or find a way to make it fun.

Closing at OP's request.

As always, let's be sure to play nice. If you've got any problems that don't concern this forum or this site please take them to PM. By the way, your event is the weekend after GeoWoodstock VII...hopefully that won't conflict with people's schedules.

This issue has been brought up a couple times before: Stone Walls !? Stone Wall Caches I think for the most part we're in agreement that this isn't a good place to put a cache. You might want to post an SBA note or send a note to your reviewer. It might have simply been an oversight. Bret

Dittos to what Mrs. Schmeni has to say. I was in Bloomington this past winter and the whole town was in desperate need for cache maintenance. Like she said, watch the DNF's, but you might need to keep an eye on a few of the "finds" you see too....they weren't all actual finds when I was there. It's a real shame. It's a cool town with a lot of neat historic locations. I did find a couple neat virtuals there and managed to find this: I had no idea he was even sick.

I even wish I was in IndiANNER

The Journal

Since there's already a long-running thread on this topic over here I'm closing this thread. Thanks, Bret

Congrats! If I get some time this afternoon I might head over and find that one. That's a big "if" though.

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear about your bad experience. The event started at 9:30 and was due to be over by 12:30, so 11:30 seemed to be a great time to give away the prizes. In fact, we had a few late arrivals registering and getting their tickets (and prizes) during the give away. Like lakedawgs said, the table up front with the guy yelling really loud would have been the place to go. Next time feel free to ask around. Geocachers may be a few bricks shy, but few of them are really shy.

Hey it's your call, but for me that's just the way the game goes. A smiley's a smiley, but a good story....wow...you can't beat that. For every thousand easy walk up and sign the log book kind of caches you find you maybe get one or two incredible stories. The fact that you're there...the cache is right within your reach...but you can't get around the beast with two backs makes it all the better. Almost a Herculean task!

Excellent idea! And it looks like it's really helped. Closing this one for the new thread in the NW forum.

See, to me the story is a LOT more funny if it's a DNF....just adds to the......frustration.

Indiana DNR permits aren't that difficult to get. By getting one and hiding a cache you'll be giving sometihng back to the cachers in your area whose caches you've enjoyed. People will thank you for giving them a cache to hunt, stories will be told at events about how great your caches are, folk songs will be written about you. Really. It's worth it. You can find the Indiana DNR guidelines for geocaching here and the permit here.

They count individual patties. 858 total...that includes a few veggie burgers that SOMEONE brought with them. By the way, GREAT log on the event! You had me rollin!

Oohh, c'mon, Star....you know he's just as cute cranky as he is when he's not cranky.

I think I can almost say without risk of hyperbole....Capt. Blackbeard, we couldn't have done it without you! Thanks to everyone who did their part. There's been some great pictures posted on the event page. Hopefully I'll get around to posting my soon too....like this one. That's my nephew and his son...er...something like that.

C'mon, you've got to post SOMETHING about GEOCACHING in INDIANA. Otherwise the moderator gets cranky.