akindofmagick

Our user name, akindofmagick, is 13 letters - and I've seen much longer ones. On micros, we simply sign with the date, and the initials "AKOM". Then in the online log entry for the micro, we note that we signed with our initials (for example: this one). If you love your original name, and it's your persona all over the web, why not simply sign as "FF75" on logbooks that are too small to take the whole 12 letters of "faeriefyre75"???

This is really cool - an amazing accomplishment and clearly a tremendous amount of work. Congratulations!!! Hopefully we'll be able to pick up a few next year!!

Erm, it's entirely possible, from my observations, which are admittedly somewhat brief.

Your cache wasn't approved by the reviewer, so altering it shouldn't be an issue??

I once had a very long stare down with a large groundhog on a narrow trail. I was the one who finally first blinked, and then took a small step in its direction.... whereupon it let out an unbelievably ferocious growl before disappearing into the brush. Seriously impressive noise volume - and stopped me in my tracks long enough for it to make a dash for safety, which was clearly its intent.

Found my first fish line cache today.... and it was on the ground, detached from the line. Reading back thru 2 years of logs, the same thing has happened at least twice before, plus once the container disappeared entirely. Cool concept, tho!

Shortest distance was 0km for my son's travelbug The Kozzy Bug-gy that we placed last august. Path5inder found it a few days after we placed it and he has not been logged since. Try ZERO miles/km!!! Disappeared from cache where first placed, and not logged by anyone. Grrrr!! Okay, enough whinging!! LOL!!

We sent out our very first two TBs a couple of weeks ago, hidden at the same time, in the same cache. At the last minute I decided to make "avatars" of the darling unicorn and dolphin, as my daughters were reluctant to part with them. WOW! am I ever glad I did this! Winter the Dolphin has been moved once, to NY. Sirena the Unicorn, however, has disappeared, without ever having been logged as leaving the cache she was placed in. Grrrr. Told my nine-year-old DD#2 tonight we would wait 30 days, then if there was no word of her, we would create another Sirena avatar. Lesson Learned!! Thank you, Photoshop!!

This is the HAPPY August thread!!

The August challenge has been extremely good for our family. It's taken us places we've never been before, both locally and further afield. We've lived here 9 years, and never knew there was a dinosaur park right in town where you can KEEP some of the (non-dinosaur) fossil samples you find?! We've danced in a stone circle, watched dragon boats race, met new friends, introduced old friends to geocaching, and a sibling spent part of yesterday wandering Brussels in search of a first geocache not so swarmed by muggles that it could actually be approached. We have our first two geocaches under construction, and plans for 4 more. We've released our first trackables into the wild. Would I prefer it if, on 1 September, all 31 of our souvenirs went Poof! and just one souvenir took their place: "The 31 Days of August GC Streak"? YES. I hope that happens. Regardless, I'm very glad our family accepted this challenge. We're headed out the door right now to go to Mt Vernon - FINALLY. Which will get us a new State souvenir, as well. Win-Win!!!

What a hoot!! Gotta give the guy/gal bonus points for creativity: beats pooper scooper for hire gigs any day!!

Does it have an o-ring seal? If it's roomier than a match container, and watertight, it could be part of a great cache. You don't have to bury it in the ground. You could build it attached it to a PVC pipe and a base set on the ground so the container's 3 feet above ground. Or repurpose it, paint and camo so it's a creative hide other than a "sprinkler" (paint it just right and magnetically attach it to an old locomotive in a park, and you may have a winner). Look at all the "I'm Bored" topics around here, and you'll know that lots of people want to find something new. Yes, it has an o-ring and a screw top - designed to keep keys dry. It's also only $2.97 at Lowe's. Bigger than a magnetic key box, and roomy enough for a sizable log, small swag, and small TBs. Can easily be repurposed.

I rather doubt this would be an issue - the fake ones don't look anything like real sprinkler heads once you've seen one. Thanks for the input, all. True-the fake ones look different. There's still one problem; What about the real ones? I can buy a real sprinkler head and stick a bison tube, or micro in it. And for less than what you'd spend for shipping on the fake one. Anyway-lots of sprinkler head look different. Some people won't know until it's opened up. I already pointed out three reasons in my first reply why not to do it. Both Keystone, and myself, had said they are not allowed. I even highlighted where you said your own idea was not allowed. I get the feeling-and I may be wrong-that you are just wanting someone to say it's OK. Yes, you are indeed quite wrong. Again, thanks for the input. I asked because I WANT to follow the rules - and I actually READ the rules before creating a cache. Since we've found caches that apparently violate the in-ground rule, I came here for clarification.

I rather doubt this would be an issue - the fake ones don't look anything like real sprinkler heads once you've seen one. Thanks for the input, all.

We had an idea for hiding our first cache, and bought one of those "Hide a Key Sprinkler Head" containers. (Note that I am not an employee of Lowe's, nor am I endorsing this product.) However, in reviewing the Groundspeak "Hiding a Cache" guidelines, we came across Rule #3: which would seem to preclude the use of this sort of container.. which is designed to be pushed into the ground... which does not exactly require digging, but would result in it being partially buried. BUT - we've already found a largeish cache which consisted of a PVC pipe set vertically in the ground, masquerading as a garden drain - very cool - very tricky! So - being newbies - we need your thoughts. Is this type of container allowed? Tks!

Erm... No. Amazon has a 5 star system, as does iTunes. True, lots of times you'll see people write words to the effect of: "Horrid book/movie/app. I would have given this a zero but... the system wouldn't let me." This is not the same as a negative vote, however. Facebook has a Like button - but no Dislike button, despite the many hoaxes. So clearly, it IS possible to have one without the other. I would like to see a five star assessment system on geocaching.com - it would encourage COs to make better placements, and would elevate the hobby as a whole.

Okay - I realize we're all different,with different goals. Me - I'm a single mom of two elementary school kids, one of whom is not particulary keen on caching unless it's Harry Potter-related. If I'm looking for a quick grab on a particular day, I want something that's been found recently. If it's been a couple of months since it's been found, then I have to go read the logs... and if the last several logs are DNFs, then I'm not even gonna attempt to drag the kiddos out in search. On the other hand, if it's been a couple of months, but the last several logs were still "Found Its!" then count us in for the hunt. There's ample space on the pop-up for "Last Found", and it's right at the top when you go to an actual cache page. That piece of info, along with cache size and difficulty/terrain are the first things I look for. It would definitely be a time-saver to have the "Last Found" visible on the pop-up as I drive around with my handy smartphone app running. Note that I've been a member here since 2005, but have a low geocache found count. We were letterboxers cuz the kids were way more into rubber stamps for the longest time. Now we're doing the GPS thang. Muzzys, too (which bore moi-même to tears, but one kiddo dearly loves 'em). I'm sure for those folks who are far more dedicated to the nuances of this hobby than we are that indeed, this single piece of info isn't of major importance - but for our busy schedule, what with trying to keep the kids interested, and have fun and togetherness whilst avoiding poison ivy, lyme disease, and West Nile infected mossies - how hard would it be to add this info to the pop-up? PEACE.

ME!! ME!!! ME!!! I YEARN for this feature every blessed time I see the pop-up!

But a lot of virtuals ARE suitable for their location, to wit: Niagara Falls and The National Mall and Yosemite are all excellent examples. Putting a physical geocache in those highly trafficked locations is disruptive - think of the trampled flower beds, geotrails and potential bomb scares! A virtual doesn't measurably increase the traffic level in such a highly populated location, but DOES educate. And, it's the educational aspect of geocaching that needs to be considered when deciding whether to archive. Case in point: I've stood in front of that darn Smithson Mauseleum innumerable times, but never once took the time to fully peruse all the plaques and consider the implications -- until I took up geocaching seriously. Losing that virtual would be a great loss. ALLOW ADOPTION OF VIRTUALS - after due review of their value!!!