lifechooser

Seriously though... I'm gutted about the timing of my bug launches, but they're in fairly busy places, so should move once the weather warms up a bit. I've got a few local caches and bugs on my watch list and I've only had one or two alerts since it went cold about 10 days ago. Seeing as the first flakes of snow only appeared around here yesterday, I think that most cachers are fair weather only. Certainly for the ones I'm watching which are cache'n'dash or short walks only. I've grabbed a couple of city nano's when I've had time to kill, but I've not gone out searching for anything more rural, I can wait until the weather improves.

I launched my first travel bugs, just before the cold snap started, and so far, in two weeks, the combined mileage is 0. None of them have moved, and it's just not good enough - move my bugs! I even posted one to someone in scotland, and it hasn't been placed in a cache yet. I suppose that person is going to start whining, and moaning about it being -25C, 1m of snow and permafrost, but I don't care. Get on with it! To answer the main question. No, I've not found any recently, it's been around freezing here, and I don't like going out when it's chilly.

Got Smart? - GC1C0WH

Snow on the roof can be really bad though. At some point it's going to fall off, possibly under braking over the windscreen, and possibly around a corner taking out a pedestrian. Most likely though at 80* mph on the motorway. It's easy to brush off, and if you have a huge car, stand on a wheel and hold onto the inside of the door, or roof rails. *optimism. Don't ya love it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/roa...ce-warning.html

How excellent. A pointless arguement and lots of name calling over the rules of a game which doesn't really have rules. Isn't the internet wonderful. How the game is played varies from person to person, and cache to cache. Some want to drag otherwise unwilling people into beautiful places, others want to set puzzles, but what is happening here is that someone who wants to bag as many as possible, is meeting someone who wants a cache to be a real challenge. to the challenger, anyone who doesn't overcome it is cheating, and to the bagger a challenge is a frustration. Neither is wrong, but both people are going to cause each other annoyance as they assert their own rules. My 2 cents is that a cache owner should be able to add any special rules that they like, after all, they own the cache, and put the effort into creating it. Everyone has their reasons for creating a cache and if that reason is to set a challenge to others, then those others should respect that, and complete the challenge. Geocaching.com is purely a place for them to advertise and log the challenge that they've set - not the definer of their rules. In this instance, signing the log is a necessary proof that the challenge has been met. It does not mean that all logs in all caches must be signed and checked - I've skipped a few due to lack of pen, space in the log, dampness etc, however they were all cache'n'dashes where no-one really cares about a signed log. When I visit a 5/5 with a mostly empty book, then you can be sure I'll sign it properly as proof. If you are the third visitor in 2 years to a challenge cache, then you can only expect that the owner demand proof.

Looks like somewhere near Port charlotte, but could be blummin anywhere.

Indeed! I only started geocaching because of the competition.

I've had a quick look, and from what I can work out, Geocaching is good for you*. By GPS, the report means satnav. In other words, people who simply follow the satnav, and don't use the spacial awareness part of their brains, don't exercise it enough and lose that ability. Geocachers will use a lot of their spacial brain to find the caches, and generally navigate without simple "turn left now" instructions. *it's exercise innit. Must be good .. apart from my dog bite obviously. ... and sprained ankle.

The latest update is that the owner was very polite, very upset, and not my stereotype of thug dog=thug owner. My next update will be weeks away, when they decide whether to go to court, or issue a caution. It sounds 50-50 currently.

We'll see what the police decide. There is a likelyhood of the dog being destroyed, or at the very least, the owner will be forced to take measures to control it.

The owner is due to give a statement at the Police statement at 7pm. Until the police investigation is concluded, I don't think that there is anything I should do. I also would prefer to remain anonymous. Possibly a major stereotype, but dangerous dog = dangerous owner IMO. I'm not going to make contact in an attempt to gain a small amount of compensation.

I'll be back. I'll probably park where you say, and do 7.2, 7.4, 7.6 and 11. It's lucky that the path with the dog is not needed as there are many others to choose from.

Less than me = Noob without a clue. More than me = Obsessive without a life.

I'm a noob, so these are my first entries. All taken with my ageing camera phone, all on the same day. Obelisk 1 Obelisk 2 (both from GC21730) Rescue bug (TB3EWPZ) which I placed near the M40 I know this is a third one, but I class it as funny rather than good.

I did some caching on Sunday, which didn't go so well. Of the four I went seeking, I found one, failed one, had the wrong co-ordinates of one, and ran out of time for the other. However, it was a lovely walk, and I was quite upbeat as I went back to the car, which I'd parked by some houses at the start of the path. The start of the path was a little strange. It went down the edge of a garden of a new build house before leaving the grounds via a style. There was no fence around the path or the property, and it really did feel like walking through someone's garden. There was however a big wooden "footpath" sign. It had 2 notices nailed to it, the first was "please keep your dog under control", and the second I can't remember, probably something about sheep worrying, or walking around the field edges. All this is best explained with a photo; http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source...,83.96,,1,10.43 Now, since google streetview took that picture, the house has neared completion and the red netted fence has gone, however the rest is the same. In fact it's scary how similar it is. The 'footpath' sign is clear to see, however so is the large dog (laid on the footpath, near the far end of the red fence) and it's owner (I think - near the stable/shed structure at the rear of the property, about 100m further away from the road than the dog). So, I'm sure I've set this up so you can guess the rest. I was heading back to the car, hopped over the style into the garden area, and saw the man tending to a horse in the small stable. Next to the stable is a static home, and as I was walking past that, I saw the dog, guarding the footpath. It growled, barked and approached, and it's owner seemed unaware. It looked a bit like a rottweiler, but slightly lighter, and without the light brown patches. Rightly or wrongly (I've no idea what to do in this sort of situation) I slowed, but continued towards my car, on the path. Very quickly the dog came right up to me, barked once again and bit me on the hip, drawing blood. It's owner yelled at it, and it ran towards him, then after only a couple of seconds started walking back towards me, so I made as quick an exit as I could without running (I've been taught that prey runs). I got in my car, and the dog was right there with me - the land has no fence, so I left. I was more pissed off than in pain. I phoned the local police and reported it, and went to the walk in centre to be treated. I'm now on high strength antibiotics which are playing hell with my digestion. On Monday I went to the police to give a statement to a PC who hadn't heard of geocaching, but had spent a lot of time letterboxing on Dartmoor in his youth. He's a possible convert... Anyway, a morning off work, several phone calls, the expense of visiting a hospital (petrol, parking, prescription fee), a crappy digestive system, and now waiting for the policeman to get back to me, and what I really want to know is; A) What if I was (with) a small child? Why the dog was allowed to guard a public footpath. There should've been a fence, lead, muzzle or whatever. There is no excuse at all. I'll feel bad if the dog it put down, it was guarding its territory as it has been trained to do so. I hope it's owner feels the full force of the law for not defining the territory better with a fence - after all he has just built a substantial house. Thanks for letting me rant. I thought this was a bit long for "things which you hate while caching".

I was bitten by a dog whilst geocaching on Sunday, the police got involved and I had to give a statement. The inevitable question of "geocaching???" came up. I gave a brief description before the PC* took me by surprise by saying; "Oh, you mean letterboxing?" It turns out he grew up 100 miles or so away near Dartmoor... home of letterboxing. I have a strong suspicion he might be a new convert. *Police constable, the UK version of a Police Officer.

You've got a PM from me too.

Couldn't you put a note on the new cache stating that the bug is there, and that whoever finds the bug will have to grab it from it's virtual location of an archived cache? Surely as soon as someone logs the find the problem will be solved?

Ah, I get it - when I come to log it, it will appear differently if it is in someone's hands, to if it is logged as in a cache.

As a fairly new cacher, this post baffles me. If I went to a cache and found a bug, I'd take it, and log it at the earliest opportunity. Why does this make me rude, or an idiot?

Thanks everyone for the offers everyone, but it's all packaged up and ready to go to Edinburgh.

Thanks Let me know if you ever need one launched down south.

I have a pair of travel bugs, one of which is a lock, and the other is a key. The aim is to get them to meet each other somewhere, and make their way home together. Obviously this won't work if I start them both them near each other, so I'm looking for someone who is happy to launch the key, a long way from home. I'm in Southampton, so anywhere at another extreme of the country would do, as long as it's in Britain. Send me a PM if you can, when someone has I'll edit this thread closed. Thanks Richard *Now sorted, thanks*

I've put the co-ordinates from the GPS into google maps - and you're right, they're out too now, so I guess it's fixed.... ... although all my old data will be 113m out. Never mind, better than losing it completely and at least I can cache properly now. Thanks again for the help