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mullyman

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Everything posted by mullyman

  1. I'm in Shizuoka but I have a few friends down in that area. I'll ask them about this. MULLY
  2. Hi, louisebirkemose, I've been living in Japan since 1991 and geocaching since 2011. My first question is where are you going to be in Japan. Japan may be a small country, but it's big enough to make a difference for your geocaching experience. I'm going to assume that you will be in the Tokyo area. If so, there are tons of geocaches to go after, BUT, you have to remember that Japan is very small, and packed together. You will mainly be going after urban nano's, micro's, and small's. That really shouldn't deter you from having a good time though. Some of the Japanese geocachers are very creative in their hides. As far as I know, they don't use lamp post skirts. haha!! Yes, you'll need to get a pocket wifi unit if you plan on being out caching. There are hot spots all over the city, but not as many as you would imagine there to be. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask. MULLY
  3. Thanks for the info, guys. I'll do that. MULLY
  4. I live in Shizuoka, Japan. Shizuoka runs along the coast just south of Tokyo. There is a cache in my area, right at the mouth of the river/ocean to be exact, and I believe that it is gone. Let me explain. 2 years ago or so there was a massive typhoon that came through this area and there was pretty bad flooding down in that area. I know of 2 caches that were actually lost during that storm. Anyway, since the typhoon that cache has logged 7 DNF's, it's a 1 star difficulty mind you, and the owner doesn't respond to messages. I've mailed him at least 3 times over the past 2 years asking if he could check to see if the cache is still there. I don't like hounding people and would prefer to never send a message to anyone so it's not like I mailed him 3 times in a week, it was over the course of a few years. Anyway, the description of the cache is in native level English so I'm suspecting that the cache owner is a foreigner, like myself, and that he's probably not in Japan anymore. Either that or he got into Geocaching and it didn't stick for very long. Anyway, what action can I take to get this cache disabled? Or at least get someone official to contact the cache owner and get him to verify if the cache is there or not......although I'm 99.9% positive that it isn't there. Thanks in advance, MULLY NOTE: I went to the cache owners profile and he hasn't hid or found a cache in over 2 years
  5. Hi, Sushi Wushi. I live in Shizuoka, Japan and would be more than happy to help you out. Drop me a line privately either here or at mully5150@gmail.com and I will give you my address to send it on. FWIW, this will by my second time doing this for a member here at GC.com. Matter of fact, it was that person that pointed me to this thread. Talk to you soon, MULLY
  6. I don't think my 37 finds and 3 hides are going to make this list anytime soon. :+) MULLY
  7. I've purchased from you before and I took your online survey. I'll probably be placing another order with you very soon. MULLY
  8. Guys, the new Tomei expressway opened in April and immediately caches started popping up in the service areas. I'm totally fine going to look for a cache at a SA, but some of the locations of the hides makes me wonder what the person was thinking. There is one that is in such a spot that it makes it almost impossible to go after it unless it's the middle of the night. It's on the side of the main building. There is a metal staircase that is directly in front of the parking, windows, and smoking area. There is a door at the top and the bottom of the steps and staff randomly come in and out of that door without warning. Not to mention that there are cars parked, literally, within 4 meters directly facing the stairs. I've gone for this cache twice already, which hasn't had an FTF yet, and both times I was sitting in the smoking area waiting for over an hour for a good chance to go poking around. It was impossible. The only way to go after that cache is late at night when no one is around. If you have children you could probably get it by having them go play by the steps. No one cares about kids playing around. An adult poking around there would be extremely suspicious. BTW, the hint says that this cache is magnetic and the GPS location shown on the screen makes it so that staircase is the ONLY spot it can be in. There is nothing else there that a magnet would stick to. The worst part of this cache hide is that there is PLENTY of space and places around this SA to hide something. Why this person chose this particular spot is beyond me. So, to all of you that hide caches in Tomei service areas, please look around and THINK about location. Stop hiding the caches next to the buildings and behind Coke machines where people aren't supposed to be walking. Thank you, MULLY
  9. You got it. I'll throw a flag down at the entrance to the steps. MULLY sorry for the late reply, haven't been around much lately NOTE: Waypoint for the steps added.
  10. I think the one thing that everyone here has neglected to mention is the adventure of going treasure hunting. In my opinion, Geocaching stirs up those feelings we had as kids. Myself, along with what I mentioned above, I'm a couch potato that needs exercise. Geocaching gets me up off the sofa and out into the fresh air. Not to mention that in just the short time I've been doing this I've seen places that I have passed by for 20 years without giving a second look to. I'm with whoever it was that said that I don't go a day without at least thinking about Geocaching. I'm totally hooked. MULLY
  11. I have a small bag with micro containers, pen, notepad, leatherman......and I think that's it. I also carry a camera bag with a hi-def video camera, a Canon DSLR, and 2 lenses. Sounds bulky, but my camera bag for hiking is like a messenger bag so it doesn't get in the way. MULLY
  12. Ron Jeremy has commandments? On Topic: Personally, I'd like to have an FTF just to say I have one, but I sure don't care about it enough to get alerts on my phone at 4:00 in the morning so I can hop up, run out, and snatch it up. But, my caches have a gift for the FTF'er. In the future I'd love to get some custom poker chips with a cool FTF message on them. MULLY
  13. I hate to say it but 20 bucks seems awfully cheap for a 1095 day streak. How can you prove it anyway without someone actually checking every single log at GZ to make sure that person was actually there. I know I've logged on the site here without logging in the log book, because I was an idiot and left the car without my pen......another reason Mrs. MULLY needs to be with me at all times. MULLY I'm going back to sign the book sooner or later
  14. In my immediate area there are only like 50 total caches, probably less, I haven't counted. What I mean by immediate area is something that I don't have to drive more than 30-40 minutes to get to. So far the majority of the ones I've found have been urban micros. This is Japan so it's kind of understandable that most of them are urban. I've only had to go off the pavement once, had to walk up a small mountain, and I enjoyed it immensely. I guess I don't really have a favorite at this point because there really aren't that many around. On the other hand, I've checked the map on caches back home in the States and have to say that it looks pretty boring. There seems to be a dot on the map every other step. Not many here, and that bums me, but at the same time I think I'd prefer this over a whole ton of them. The cool thing is that this gives me the opportunity to be King Cacher as far as setting them goes. Hopefully after I get a bunch of them out there they will draw people from outside....and they'll leave some along the way. Mine are definitely going to be cool spots with cool caches though. MULLY
  15. You are absolutely correct about knowing what you're getting yourself into. It is clearly stated in the description that there is a fee. I still feel like I don't want people walking away with a DNF though. Here is my vision for the caches that I put out.... 1. I want them to be somewhere that the person looking for them can enjoy the surroundings or learn something cool. I'm currently preparing a multi that will run the length of an old rail system. The rails are no longer there, the town has been built up, but there are landmarks that you can pick out, if you look close enough, that give evidence of the old train line. This will cover about 4km from start to finish. I'm really working on the planning of this one so it turns out really cool. I'll probably go out this weekend and ride my bike over the course looking for good spots for hides. If all goes well, this should turn out to be a really cool multi. Hopefully I can do this with small/medium containers and fill them up with things relating to the deceased rail. 2. I want my caches to be found, but I don't want to just give them away. I don't want anyone walking away thinking "Man, that was too simple". But at the same time, I don't want them walking away with a DNF.....if possible. I'm really putting a lot of thought into where and how I want to hide things. As you may have seen in a previous thread I have an entire section of Japan, 3 cities actually, all to myself. There isn't one cache on the map. This gives me an excellent opportunity to not waste any hides by just putting something out there because I can. Thanks for all your guys input on this thread. MULLY
  16. Thanks for that info. I will look closer at screen names from now on. Either way, the guy that reviewed my cache was quick. He did my first cache too. He had a few suggestions of things for me to change, laid them out for me, I made the changes and it was published. Couldn't have gone smoother. I hope he does all my hides. MULLY
  17. Consider it done. I didn't even think about parking for the other side. I'm heading out that way today as a matter of fact. I'll check around and see what the parking situation is like down there. It's possible that it's a pay by the hour parking lot. Thanks for opening my eyes to this. MULLY Thank-YOU! The steps were placed as the original access to the site...and they are done that way for a reason. Tokugawa Ieyasu did not attain his status simply nor easily, so visiting his shrine should not be a trivial matter. Looks as if there is NO official parking spots for this temple at the bottom of the steps. The best advice I got was "if you come by car, park at a gift shop or restaurant, buy something in that particular shop, and they'll let you leave your car there while you go" The only other option would be a bus. One thing to remember is that Japan is pressed for space. Parking isn't always a given. It's tough sometimes. I'm a little surprised there's no parking for this temple though. MULLY
  18. Yeah, I guess you're right, I shouldn't lay everything on one DNF, but at the same time, although I clearly wrote in the description that it costs roughly 10 bucks to ride the rope-way, I didn't really consider anyone paying that then walking away with a DNF. I surely don't want that to happen very often. Granted, whoever goes after this one will have a fantastic time at GZ and walk away with a wonderful memory, but logging a DNF will probably skew that just a little. I'm going to put some spoilers up but I want to do it in a way that it's not just "one click/done". I don't want anyone that doesn't want a spoiler to run into it by accident. MULLY
  19. No offense, my friend! As I said, it looks like a great cache. If it was seen, then right, there's no need to disable it. The other suggestions you can do what you want with. I have no emotional investment I'll say this, though... the terrain rating should include how tough it is to get there, not just how hard it is once you're there. Riding a cable car is more than a 1.5 any way you look at it. I still don't get WHO looked for it and didn't find it. Interesting....about the terrain rating. I was under the assumption that the more difficult, physically, it is to get there the terrain rating would go up. Just my opinion, but there is no effort exerted buying a ticket and riding a rope-way. There are some steps to go up and down but nothing more than average. Of course if you come up that ocean side climbing the 1156 steps then you're talking a much higher rating. BUT, I will take your advice and move the D/T up to a 2. I respect your guys opinions on these things and there seems to be a majority saying they should be higher. I'll make it so. Also, I came up with a grand idea......I think. I'm going to make a video showing exactly where the cache is and leave a link to it in the description with a "MAJOR SPOILER" alert on it. People with net access on their phone will be able to access it....and this is Japan, EVERYONE has a smartphone these days. I'll also add some photos showing closer to the area to look for it. As for myself, I feel horrible that that guy spent 10 bucks to get across that gorge then went away with a DNF. Honestly, if I knew him, or if I ever run into him, I'm giving him his money back. I don't want my hides to be the impossible finds, but at the same time, I don't want to just give them away. Although, with this particular one, since it does cost to ride that rope-way, I should make it a little easier on the cacher. Thanks a lot for all the feedback, everyone. I am sincerely taking all these comments/opinions into consideration. MULLY
  20. Your new cache looks great. I hope it has lots of finds and hopefully some Favorite points too. This is rather off topic but I add it for your interest/amusement. I was recently watching this Youtube of an "interesting" climb in China and was wondering if anyone had thought of placing a cache at the end... You'd certainly earn the smiley MrsB Holy mother of God!! You couldn't pay me to do that. Maybe not a good attribute for a cacher, but I'm really afraid of heights. Just watching this makes me uneasy. MULLY thanks for the vid though
  21. It's there. No mistake about that at all. There was a log that someone found it. That log was a friend of mine, who was with me when I hid it. He was there this afternoon and thought he'd joke around with me by leaving a found message. I told him he wasn't getting credit for FTF and then he realized, he said "Oh God, I didn't even think about that. I could ruin this for someone" so I told him I'd delete it, which I did. I also contacted the guy that left the DNF, explained the entire situation to him and told him that the FTF is still open if he decides to go back, and yes, I apologized up one side and down the other to him. If he was here I'd give him his 10 bucks back for the rope-way ride. As for the D/T rating, I went exactly by what was written on the page explaining how to rate them. It is a simple hide, all you have to do is lift up a rock. Also, as for the hint, that's where it is, at the top of the steps. Once you get to the top of those steps that rock is sitting right there on the right. It's right at the top of the steps. The only other thing I could say is that it's at the top of the steps under that rock that you look at right at when you get there. hahaha!! I've found caches rated the same as this one that were much more difficult. Anyway, thanks for the advice, guys. For now, no reason to de-activate it because it's been visually verified as being there just this afternoon. MULLY One other thing, I'm not trying to be argumentative, not my style at all. I don't want this post taken in the wrong way.
  22. Ok, I put a cache out at a really cool place on top of a mountain in Shimizu, Japan. The first person to go after it logged a DNF. This person is someone that has quite a few hides that I've gone after and he's someone that I respect in the Japan GeoCaching community. Well, he went after mine today and logged a DNF. At first I felt excited that I hid it so well that someone like him didn't find it, but then I started wondering if I should be proud of myself for hiding it so well or if I should probably give a few more hints. Now, let me say that it's not really hidden in an impossible spot. Since none of you will probably *EVER* go after this cache let me fill you in. There is a set of hand laid stone steps leading up to an open area with a view over the ocean that is just incredible. Right at the top of the steps there are some old stones pushed off to the side. Honestly, I just lifted up one of the stones to see what was under there and believe it or not, there was a perfect indentation underneath it that my small tupperware bowl fit right into. I laid it there and put the stone down. I even lifted the stone up again to see if it was crushing the tupperware bowl, it wasn't. So, you see, it's not really in an impossible spot. But, I also have a feeling that the Japanese cachers aren't going to disturb things like that. It may not even enter their minds to lift up one of those stones. So, what say you? Should I pat myself on the back for that DNF and leave everything as is, or should I maybe give a few more hints? Let me also say that it costs about 10 bucks to get over to where the cache is hidden, you have to ride a rope-way across a pretty large gorge. I surely don't want to be responsible for people having to shell out 10 bucks each time they go up there. If it was free I may feel a little different. MULLY
  23. That is a very good point. But, for my big self.....it's the ropeway. haha!! All kidding aside though, you are absolutely right. If people are able to climb those steps I suggest giving it a try. That's how it was done so many hundreds of years ago. We all should try to experience it the way it was originally done. You may actually get something out of it doing it that way. Best of luck to you and to anyone else that may attempt it. MULLY
  24. Consider it done. I didn't even think about parking for the other side. I'm heading out that way today as a matter of fact. I'll check around and see what the parking situation is like down there. It's possible that it's a pay by the hour parking lot. Thanks for opening my eyes to this. MULLY
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