paul.blitz

Heck, there's a FAR simpler solution: Use THREE GPSr units, each with one of the 3 waypoints. Then wander around until the 3 units show the correct distances (ie manual solving of a simultaneous equations). Paul

I have a couple sitting in my garage (Winchester) if anyone needs some & can come by to collect. I suspect that OMally may have some left too, but not sure if they are small or larger ones. If People want ammo boxes, and are coming down to the Winchester bash in Jan, let us know, and I'll have a word with OMally and see if we can source some. Paul

A while ago, when visiting mum's house, I found a hardly-used, simple, cheap, deep-fat-fryer in the loft.... she let me take it. On arriving home, I was greeted with "why do we need THAT, we have a pan with fat in it....." Its interesting that Debbie's attitude changed after using it a few times, discovering that it was ACTUALLY easier to use, and made chips that were cooked properly without being burnt! Roux sauce? that's EASY... just start with some butter and melt it on a gentle heat in a small saucepan......... (ah, so THAT's why it's called a saucepan!!)..... Hmmm.... coming back on topic... I wonder if anyone has ever used a deep fat fryer as a cache container? Paul

The nice lady there did say that they can manage vegetarian options.... Paul

well, no need to beef about it :-)

The next Winchester Late Xmas Cache Bash will be held on Sunday 30th January, 2005. The pub this year will be The Cart and Horses at Kingsworthy, about 100 yards from the A33, and is approx 2km north of M3/J9 ("Tescos Roundabout", which is where the A33 / A34 meet the M3). What I have organised is: - We will have exclusive use of the carvery from 12:00 to 1:30 AND NO LATER (they need to serve their "locals" too!). - We will have use of the adjacent "Function Room" (ok, so it's really "The Skittle Alley"...), so after eating, we can go in there & chat / drink. - You can also sit in the pub too.... - The carvery seats about 40, so I'm sure the early arrivers can eat up quick and let others take their seats - Or you can take your roast & sit in the Skittle Alley & eat it (it seats about 40 to 50, I think).. or even into the pub. - As long as we give them good custom (ie you all have lunch!), they are happy to waive the normal £40 charge for the Skittle Alley. - The Carvery Roast Dinner costs £8.95 for adults, and £4.95 for a child's portion. - Choice is of Beef and "one other".... usually ONE of Gammon, Lamb or Turkey. (As we are gonna be eating a lot, and can let them know in advance, we can "influence the choice"... personally, I fancy Lamb! I think we'll all be HATING Turkey by then!!!) - Other kids food available.. The standard kids menu shows a main course for £3.50: gives a choice of Sausages, Burger, Jumbo Fish Finger, Spagetti Meat Balls, Cheese & Tom Pizza or Chicken Goujons, along with fruit, b-beans or veg, plus chips / garlic bread, mash or crisps (Heck, I may just scan in the A4 sheet!!!) - They would like an idea of approx numbers, plus an idea of how many want to eat which meat, so that they can work out how many cows and sheep to put in the ovens!!! - Pub normally opens at 12:00, but they ware willing to open a tad earlier, at say 11:45, if that helps us get there, and ready to eat at 12:00! So, what I need from you lot is an idea of who will be coming, and your choice of food. There's not a panic as I won't be passing the details on till after Xmas! (If a few of you know you can't make it till after 1:30 (eg long journey), and still want some lunch, then let me know, and I'm sure you could be fitted in with the "normal people" ) Paul Blitz

As others have said, whether to use a bike or not depends a lot on the terrain. When I've done the night-caches at Crab Wood, I went out on my bike to work out & drop off the caches, and then also to finally go & spy on the cachers (and kept getting lost, despite GPS & map!!!) If ever you go to the Netherlands and intend to do any caching, then DEFINITELY take the bike! Its so flat, and thus so easy to cycle in the woods etc. paul

I just had a nice email asking if we were planning to have another (our 3rd) "Winchester Cachers & Friends Late Xmas Cache Bash" again, in Jan 2005, as they needed to book holiday (now THAT'S what I call keen!!!!) The answer is a big YES: I've already pencilled the date of Sunday 30th Jan 2005 in to my diary for this annual event..... I'll create the event cache nearer the date. Not sure where we'll go yet, but the general feeling is that the previous pub was rather slow with the food, so I'm not planning to go there again. But it will be in the Winchester area somewhere. Paul

But a piece of paper "disappears" rapidly when it gets wet!!! Paul

A big man with a big heart is gonna leave a BIG hole! Apart from that, I can only echo what everyone has already said. Paul

let's hear it for the trees!! ... I mean, when was the last time you stood behind your PDA to take a pee? Now lets please TRY to make an honest comparison.... 1) Paper is MADE FROM trees 2) PDAs are made from silicon = sand. I have been know to take a pee in the corner, with sand about...... maybe not as often as against a tree though. Paul

So, the question is: does having good understanding of maths help with caching? The reason I ask is that, as Michael just scored an "A*" for his maths gcse (taken a year early) do you think it will help him beat me to finding the caches when we are out together??? Well done Michael!!!!

I once released a TB with a label on it on the chain (think of a home-made printed luggage tag, made of paper with some plastic in the middle to stop it tearing, covered in book-covering film). It was all in its own bag. Someone managed to break the tag, so the next person comes along, takes the TB, but leaves my tag in the plastic bag :-( You can't win! Paul

How about: "Put TB into a simple ziplock plastic bag with a note written on a piece of paper"? Paul

Peter! Many thanks to you, and everyone else, who has been involved in the many negotiations / discussions with the various people at the FC. I know that a lot of these discussions go on quietly in the background, and whilst they happen, there's not a lot you can report on, lest someone gets the wrong end of the stick, so to speak. The best bit of news in all this (and one that most are probably unaware of) is that FC were wanting to require "us" (GAGB? GeoCaching.com? Individual cache placers?) to have public liability insurance - but this requirement has been waived. (that was the main reason that nothing had happened regarding permission for caches in the New Forest!). So, VERY good news! And a VERY big Thank You! Paul Blitz GAGB

Have you considered byuying a "battery extender" for your iPaq? They are under 5 quid on ebay. You just put 4 x AA batteries into it, and plug it into your iPaq. Hey presto, it's charging the iPaq. I have one for my iQue, works a treat! (search for "iPaq Battery Extender") Paul

Hey, yeah, you kinda sit there staring, then it suddenly becomes visible to you....

I never had a PDA until I got my iQue. Shortly after getting it, we had a big crash with our exchange server... luckily I had also made notes of my appintments etc in my iQue, so had nor problems. Following on from that, any appintment now goes into BOTH exchange and my PDA. I don't sync to exchange, but just use my palm desktop. I recently had a need to have a list of member details... so we exported them from the database, via Excel, where I merged some of the details, then was able to import the data into my palm address book.... the end result is I have all the details on my PDA! I also use it to keep lists of "things to buy" and all those sorth of things. Not to forget the sat-nav, cachemate etc...... Paul

Don't worry, I too got caught out by that: I was up in Staffordshire for a couple of days, and wondered why there were no logs.... luckily I had my laptop & the files, so in the evening I re-loaded the info WITH the logs. Yes, its an odd default, especially when you consider that CMConvert defaults to 10, I think. Have you linked your PDA to your GPS yet? Paul

Team Blitz varies a bit. Sometimes just me, occasionally just Michael, often Callum & Debbie (=Mrs join in. When up in York, have taken my mum (Mrs B senior, 81 yrs old), also cousin Richard & his kids. Then, when at HBA conference, often take a couple of other attendees out for some fresh air. No 4-legged members though, but often seem to be accompanied by a few 6-legged creatures, some with wings. Paul

ah, phone bills and children.... its not worth the effort of understanding the whys and wherefores, coz you never will!! Just give her a good telling off, it's a LOT easier on the brain. (and the bill was probably caused by all those 2 hour calls to friends... but what you never realised was that her friends were using a MOBILE!) Paul

Nice one! I see you got my bits: did you like the "special" keyring I made for you? So, how did the event go? Paul

Well, I'll be darned.... I NEVER realised that GSAK had support for Cachemate.... they must have sneaked it in recently when I wasn't looking! Thanks for that useful snippet! Paul

Cachemate for the Palm is the probably the best bit of software you could get. And only $7! 1) install cachemate onto PC and then download it to palm 2) install CMConvert (part of cachemate) 3) download custom query from GC.com in XML format 4) use CMConvert to convert the XML to Cachemate format 5) sync up the palm, which will download the data to your palm 6) enjoy www.smittyware.com is the place to find it.... there is a demo version. Cachemate has a search facility, so just type in where you are, and tell it to find the nearest caches... paul

Hi As GAGB Chairman, I occasionally get emails from people interested in caching, and looking for someone nearby to show them what its all about. The latest request comes from someone in the Sandhurst / Crowthorne area. So, is there anyone in that area who would care to help out? If so, please email me at "paul.blitz@gagb.org.uk", and I'll put you in touch. Thanks! Paul