careygang

Hi All It's been a while (several years) since we've posted here in the Forums, but a Message Centre arrival last night, regarding one of our Multi-caches has prompted me... Incoming Message read: Regarding RAF North Witham - Twyford Woods (GCVMXJ): Could you please send the coordinates for 2 and 3 using What3Words? I am trying to teach my daughter how to use a multitude of navigational aids while maintaining a fun and enjoyable day out. Thank you. To which I politely replied: I have no idea how I can or could even do that. It you know how to do it, feel free to do so. and the conversation continued... Please use this website as you know the coordinates. Thank you. https://what3words.com/products/batch-converter So now I'm thinking, What on earth? If they want to use What3Words, they can do their own conversions. My Response: Well here's the thing..... Since you have the ability to convert a set of Coordinates into What3Words, I suggest that you .... A - Give your daughter the What3Words for the initial coordinates B - When you have found the 1st Stage and obtained the details, you can use the same facility to convert the coordinates for Stage 2. C - Repeat B at the 2nd Stop to find the the 3rd stage together. That way I know you've not just cheated and gone direct to the Final Cache and you'll have had a wonderful day out together. Oh, and that What3Words convertor doesn't work with the coordinate format used on geocaching.com Kind regards They then came back with: Thank you. We have already found the first clue which gave us the coordinates for the second clue; however I cannot get the coordinates to convert to What3Words. Do you have the coordinates in DMS and not digital degrees please? So they knew that decimal coordinates couldn't be converted on What3Words, but sent us the link to use it.!! I'm about to send a final response telling them that if they want to mess around with What3Words, that's entirely their concern, not mine. They can easily find a website that will convert Decimal to Deg/Min/Sec Has anyone else had such strange incoming messages, to all intent and purpose simply asking for a way to bypass the stages, whatever the 'excuse' given??

Just curious as to why it only does it when logged in? What's different in the page coding that it should change like that?

Apologies if this has been flagged elsewhere, I took a look and didn't see anything. When I'm logged in on a Computer, the Google Ad that is on the Right hand side of a cache listing is too large. It happens whether using Firefox or Edge, and has been like it for months. it doesn't happen on pages when not logged in. Does anyone else have this problem ?

Of the 3 years we spent living in the USA, for 2 of them I had TB markings in the rear window of my Chevy Truck. It only got logged twice on the road and I had a 40 minute drive each way for 5 days a week. When we left the USA I turned it into a regular TB but it soon left the USA for Switzerland and for 18 months now has been in the hands of a Swiss national who appears to have stopped caching . TB26XYG

The discussion about the revised guideline wording was well underway weeks prior to Careygang's "inquiry." Similar questions arose elsewhere in the world. Thanks - so that confirms that Careygang most likely helped tip the balance. Well done for doing the UK's bit. Any chance that Groundspeak in future might consult, before launching some ill thought out guideline? We could have had this discussion ages ago and come up with something that actually conveyed the meaning rather than cause immediate confusion. No thanks needed; I came to this topic late having been away from the forums for ages. Once it became clear that the Mods wished us to contact GS directly, rather than them be the gatherers of national feedback, the only option was to contact GS. I'm sure plenty of others were doing the same. The suggestion that GS issues revisions for consultation is eminently sensible. Give us a few weeks to discuss a proposal and then there wouldn't be the need for all this frustration building up. GS put themselves in difficult positions unnecessarily. Once a revision comes out, the Mods are duty bound to enforce it, no matter how poorly thought out they see it (or not as the case may be). Then all this angst has to take place, while GS are trying to work out how to extract themselves from the mess; not admitting meanwhile that there is anything wrong. Of course, the previous wording could have remained; if GS has simply told all the Mods around the world that it was to be read as stated, and not have some picky over-interpretation applied. Still that's probably the end of this particular issue; unless the UK Mods have any words of wisdom for us all?

I don't have a high tolerance for sloppy behaviour, sometimes it's an advantage, sometimes it's not. Depends who I'm dealing with. Equally, I was presumably dealing with an American; culturally they are more aggressive as I learned when living out there. It took me a while out there to understand that they often don't respond to the British reserved way of doing things. I spent 3 years banging my head against a wall of bureaucracy with utility companies and the like, and don't even get me started on the levels of intelligence displayed by the Nevada Dept of Motor Vehicles, even the locals hated them!

Guideline has been changed! I had a response back from GS To which I am going to send a nice and humble response. I suspect that at the time Cathy previously contacted me, either the Guideline change was lagging behind her message, so she believed it to be changed but it had not, or else my PC had cached the page and did not provide me with the latest version. Either way, the rule, sorry, guideline, now reads:

Let's see what, if anything, comes back in the coming week(s). Well in response to the above message to GS, I have just received the following short reply. What a pathetic response! "make it easier to understand"; clearly not, otherwise it would not be discussed here and over in the main forum, nor would I have written to them!!! I have now sent a second message! :mad:

Good to know that somebody has been in touch, though not good to know they just confirmed that any puncture of the plant's surface is no longer allowed. GS have always publicly supported the Reviewers, so not surprising a single query would get such a response. Clearly needs a few more emails to point out the problem. I guess it's one of the problems with communication, particularly with English. In this case they have used a phrase which, whilst technically serving their supposed intent to describe "Breaking the integrity of the plant's surface", has a common and accepted usage which is somewhat different i.e. "dig up land so you can plant crops or build something". Bit of a linguistic issue here I think. Either that of the person drafting it isn't actually a Geocacher so hasn't a clue of the practicalities of actually placing a Cache!

I realise I have come to this discussion a bit late, and I take Deci's point. However I stand by my view that this is an over interpretation of what is a poorly written 'guideline'. It is clearly poorly written since it has lead to a discussion over interpretation. It's a pity the Prime Minister isn't a Geocacher; he'd love to rant on about bureaucracy and red tape impeding and stifling the activity. Well taking Deci's advice, I have now emailed GS, so lets see what comes back. I realise that only a minuscule number of Cachers use the Forums, but perhaps if a few more email them it might get a response. For everyone's info, here's what I sent: Let's see what, if anything, comes back in the coming week(s).

When we're down in Devon we often use our daughter's dog for caching purposes, though we have been in trouble for making her loose weight before now, since a 6-8 mile walk for us is probably a 10-12 mile run for the dog!. Just last week, it did prove to be a problem for us though, since we had to leave a cache behind, because there was a large husky/wolf/alsatian (called Wolfy) living just a few yards down the bridleway/lane and we couldn't look for the cache while his owner was out. We left it 5 minutes and went back towards the cache; lo and behold, out comes Wolfy again! Gave up when the puzzled owner came out again.

Not sure about that, and anyway the guideline doesn't prohibit such caches. It's about burying caches. Sorry you seem to have misread the Guideline Anything which penetrates the Ground, is breaking it. The wording seems very clear. Anything which is," pushed into the Ground., "Breaks" the ground. Deci Hi All I've not been around these forums for quite a while, but happened to stumble into this discussion. I wonder if the UK Team have sought clarification on this from GS? I'm with HH on this and I'm looking at this from 2 angles. Firstly, GS are American and having lived there for 3 years I know there are a great many subtleties in our respective use of the English language. What an American writes or says is not always the same as what a Brit reads or hears. It's the whole 'Tomato', 'Tomarto' thing. So perhaps their use of 'Break Ground' is not an ideal choice of words. Secondly, I'm a H&S professional (yes you can all groan) and I spend my life fighting inappropriate over interpretation of quite sound regulations. All those crazy stories of banned flower baskets etc are caused by officialdom (usually local authorities) over interpreting the core reason and meaning of the regulations. 'Break Ground' has a clearly defined and accepted meaning in the English language which is to dig up land so you can plant crops or build something. While I am fully supportive of the excellent work done by our Reviewers, to over interpret this wording as anything more restrictive is simply on a par with all the barmy H&S stories so beloved of the Daily Mail. I'm afraid IMHO, Deci is being too selective in his use of bold to highlight the word break from the actual quote of break ground. GS have clearly used the phrase break ground. They have not used 'Break the surface' or any similar term.

Hi All - I've just been browsing the forums to get a bit updated on UK caching after our time away in the USA. I can't believe we have 15 reviewers for the UK . I know the density is quite good compared to some places in the world, but we just spent 3 years in Nevada where we only had one reviewer for covering all of Nevada and Arizona! RoadRunner He'd even find time to attend Event Caches, though I see from his personal profile (Moose Mob), he's currently working in Afghanistan, so definitely not at risk of reviewing in his own backyard. So a belated 'Hi!' from me to everyone who's become a Reviewer over the past 3 years!

I wouldn't lose hope so quickly. The cache has only been in place since May last year, but 239 trackables have been logged in and only 25 are currently in situ. Sounds like a pretty good turnover rate. Which is pretty strange stats for a MICRO. I've done several Clay4 caches and without checking I would say the vast majority, if not all, have been Bison Tubes, and the roadside ones are usually in mile marker posts, fence posts or cattle grids. However all 25 of the trackables in the MICRO have been placed there by the same person???? It's very strange that a couple of Canadians fly from Nova Scotia to Las Vegas (about 2700 miles), drive about 120 miles out of the city to get only about 120 caches and then back to Vegas to fly back to NS, all without doing any caches in the Vegas area??? And why drop 25 trackables in a Micro? In my book very strange....

Hi All It's been a few years since I've posted in the UK Forums, since we've been in the US, actually living in Las Vegas for 3 years. Although we know the guys concerned Clay4 and Whtwolfden, I would caution attempting this trail in the summer and looking at the ruckus it is currently causing, we'd definitely stay away. But for those of you who might consider it still, here's a few facts. Southern Nevada has temperatures above 100F for what they term the 100 days of summer, from Memorial Day (May) to Labor Day (Sep). The region is typically over 3,000 above sea level, that's the height of Mt Snowdon. Humidity is typically below 10%RH and the UV levels in the summer are such that you will burn in about 10 minutes. We thoroughly enjoyed our caching in the US and having a 4x4 used to cache the desert dirt roads (I use the term as Nevadans would; UK bridleways are better quality than some Nevada dirt roads)but please don't underestimate the logistics of such a trip. Check out the log on Feb 13 on ET 1021, it's quite an honest opinion. Here

Sure were How I wish this info had been in that little booklet they call an 'Owner's manual'. Now wouldn't that be a novel idea. Thanks for everyone's help. Berni

Well this is part of the answer. I did all the stuff on the website and it gave me a list of the caches found, in order. What it hasn't done is show me the few notes I made about dropping TBs, which caches required a NM Log for any reason etc. But the info is there because the same file that I uploaded to the website, if I open it with Notepad has the Comments Logs in it. So for some reason GC.com is not displaying it.

Apologies if this has been posted before, I couldn't find anything. Been out today with my brand new Dakota 20. We used to use a Vista HCx with a PDA for paperless. Not too bad a day, but some problems. The Owners Manual is useless for explaining the various menus. When you find a cache and use the LOG ATTEMPT button and then FOUND, it then gives you an option to ADD COMMENT. I used that but where are the comments? I can't find any menu to retrieve the comments? Second problem, the Vista used to store the found caches in the calendar in order of finding. It seems the Dakota stores found caches in relation to distance from current position. What a useless system. Why would any cacher want to know that? We all need to know the order we find our caches. Can this be changed? Apart from that all seems well, but I'll be annoyed if I have to use a pen and paper to record the order I find caches and where on earth do those' Comments' disappear to??? Berni

Hi All Not been in the forum for many months, but couldn't help but notice this topic. Was in Miami today and had no problems, but then Satellite 15 doesn't appear to be serving this part of the world. I had 07, 08, 11, 17, 19, 28, 48... Back to Nevada tomorrow, perhaps I'll notice it then

I've had a Yellow etrex for about 4 years, used it in the UK and out here in the Nevada temps of 100f plus for a summer, it's still stuck solid. The new VistaHCx I got just over a year ago... the band is sliding all over the place after just one summer of Nevada. We never use sun lotion on our hands, so that excuse is a load of bull, it's really only come loose this past 3 months, which is the coolest time of year. the glue is weeping out all around the sides, so I'm going to get double sided tape, clean all the glue off with alcohol (not fuel as that could ruin the plastic and will make it stink!) and reassemble it! I got a feeling it's the newer build that have the problem.

I've seen a few bad and trashed caches, where cachers have made comment, posted notes etc and the owner ignored them, because they haven't made a NM or NA log. I post a NM log and then get a stressed email response. So if I think it is justified, I will go straight for the NA, like the time I got chased off a motel property by the duty manager, I went straight for the NA because the owner had placed it in the parking area at the back of a motel, without permission. Our reviewer out here let it ride for a few weeks, posting a reviewer comment log, then another cacher was chased off the property so it got archived, with no response from the owner. Basically irresponsible owners get what they deserve.

We wondered where you'd gone - this green & pleasant land awaits. Without question it is the precisely the refusal to embrace the Just live with it. philosophy that opened up swathes of the countryside, has kept public footpaths open, gave us the right to roam, defeated the crown in Richmond Park etc etc - the list is quite long. No - I (and others I hope) will not just live it. We will challenge it, confront it, debate it and finally we hope - change it. As usual in these forums, selective quoting, remarks taken out of context to suit one particular point of view. My full point was... Just live with it. Re-assess in a few years perhaps, but there are many more things worth getting upset about. Far too many people wanting to confrontational about the subject rather than 'softly softly, catchy monkey' or whatever the phrase is In the 2 years before we came out here we managed 187 caches, in the 2 yrs since we got here we've gone at it fairly sedately, but we're now nearing 700. I'm going to miss driving gravel roads for 50 miles just to get a few caches, or caching at 10,000 ft, but we are looking forward to coming home. Might even do some London Parks I set myself a rule when I first joined in the forums that I should keep my posts below the total number of cache finds, thus keeping some balance, I did actually exceed that at one point, but I am now back in credit. Best I get out caching this week to increase the bank!

I've not been on the UK forum for about 5 months... its disappointing to see that not a lot has changed I've just read all 3 pages of this topic and feel the need to have a big sigh Just give it another 2 years and see how restricted London is for caching. As has been pointed out here, there are great swathes of the US that are off limits, principally National Parks where just a few Earth and grandfathered Virtuals exist. Just live with it. Re-assess in a few years perhaps, but there are many more things worth getting upset about. Now I'm going away for a few more months. We come back to England in about a year. It'll be nice to cache back in the wet and green again! Is it my imagination or does this forum get more heated and debating when the winter draws in?

When I have those sort of issues with my Vista HCx, I usually find a Compass Calibration sorts it out.

Perhaps it's a left over snag from the Server issues last week?