WebChimp

I've never heard of it happening, either, but I'm surprised that it hasn't happened. I've seen lots of lamp skirts lifted that had exposed wiring under the pad, usually in older, less less affluent strip mall parking lots. Never hurts to excercise caution.

It depends on how they are constructed. Some just cover a square metal base, while others have a significant gap (2" or thereabouts) between the plate and the base. A lot of times there will be exposed wiring in that gap, so always look carefully before shoving your hand in.

How could you tell?

I hate to drag this thread back to the original topic, but............. I don't find them annoying. I pretty much know what they are when I look at them on the map. To me, these are "caches to do while on the way to other caches". IOW, I won't drive across town for one, but if I'm passing one on the way across town, I'll stop and log it. What does concern me is some of the wiring I've seen under these skirts when I lift them. I'm surprised nobody has yet had their socks knocked off by a poorly insulated wire under one of the skirts.

Glad you're involved. You'll have a lot of fun with this!

No. The rules for federal wilderness areas have already been referenced. The ranger was doing her job, and she did it in a polite and professional manner. The CO has added his take to the discussion, and he has requested, very nicely, that others stay out of this process. The best thing we can do is comply with the CO's request.

Amen to both points. The CO and the ranger who contacted him are the only ones who should be involved with this.

That's one of the V2 finds I deleted from my account. It wasn't a cache, didn't have a location that could be visited, it was "answer the riddle, get a smiley". When I read Miss Jenn's post, I deleted that find. Know what I'd be interesting in knowing? I'd be interested in knowing the find count on that cache the day before Miss Jenn's post vs. the find count on it now. I'd guess the count today is much lower than it was earlier.

Not always. We went after one that was outside a newspaper office, on a Sunday. Just as we were running hands along the bottom edge, the front door unlocked, flew open, and the general manager stormed out wanting to know what we were doing to "his box". I explained what we were doing, and he told us flat out that if someone was hiding things on "his box", somebody was going to jail. We told him we must have been mistaken, and left as he glared at us the whole way out. That, of course, was when we spotted the other paper box around the side, found the cache, and got out of there. It was tense for a minute or two.

I love these forums. Where else can one person say "I think Belugian caviar is too salty for me.", and the discussion turn into the history of the rise and fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the moral failures of the czars, and the political eventualities of Yeltsin's tenure as president?

Implicit. That's a pretty good word. The colloquial definition for the way the word is used here would be, I guess, "So obvious that I shouldn't have to point it out." I'm glad Miss Jenn took time to write her essay on why virtual armchair caching is wrong. I'm kind of ashamed I hadn't figured that out without it. Over time, I had collected a few of those virtual smilies, in other countries. It was kind of neat (at the time) to see other countries pop up on my "found" map. After reading the above, it dawned on me that these V2s (i.e., Virtual Virtuals), which I had thought of previously as just harmless fun, weren't that at all. They were (as it was put earlier), just plain wrong. I've deleted those virtual finds from my list of cache finds. Oh, I figured out what the right answer was for each, got permission to log it, etc. But, I was missing a critical component: I hadn't actually been to the cache location. Well, that's fixed now. I had become aware that those finds weren't exactly kosher, but they had been there so long, and they looked good on the map, so.............. I fudged. I left them there, until last week. I remember a story from long ago, about how a camel would slip his nose under the edge of the tent, and how if you didn't stop it as soon as it started, eventually the whole camel would be inside with you, and the tent would be uninhabitable. These V2s were the nose of the camel for me, and it feels pretty good to say the camel nose has been thumped. I also took that as an opportunity to clean up a lot meaningless stats from my profile page. (Nobody cares if I found more caches that were 3/3 than 2/5 in August of 2006. I don't care, so I'm sure nobody else does. Why waste storage space to display stuff like that???). I don't know Miss Jenn, but I'd like to thank her for her clear manner of stating that which should have been obvious.

Go to the Geocaching notification page and choose "Create a new notification" at the bottom of the page. (To get notifications on the three most common sort of hides, you'll need to create three separate notifications. One for Traditional hides, one for multistages, one for unknowns.) Enter your cell number in the correct format (see below). Repeat the process for multistage and unknown caches. The format info below has already been posted, but this gives a little more format info. T-Mobile Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ tmomail.net Example: 3335551111@tmomail.net Verizon Wireless Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ vtext.com Example: 3335551111@vtext.com Rogers Wireless Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ pcs.rogers.com Example: 3335551111@pcs.rogers.com Sprint PCS Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ messaging.sprintpcs.com Example: 3335551111@messaging.sprintpcs.com Cingular Wireless Format: 1 + 10-digit cell phone number @ cingularme.com Example: 13335551111@cingularme.com AT&T PCS Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ mobile.att.net Example: 3335551111@mobile.att.net Bell Atlantic Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ message.bam.com Example: 3335551111@message.bam.com Bell Mobility (Canada) Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ txt.bell.ca Example: 3335551111@txt.bell.ca Cellular One Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ mobile.celloneusa.com Example: 3335551111@mobile.celloneusa.com Comcast Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ comcastpcs.textmsg.com Example: 3335551111@comcastpcs.textmsg.com Fido Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ fido.ca Example: 3335551111@fido.ca Telus Format: 10-digit cell phone number @ msg.telus.com Example: 3335551111@msg.telus.com If for some reason this doesn't work for you, here is a list of email to text formats. There are several listings there for AT&T. (This borrowed, with permission, from www.DeepSouthGC.net)

I'm in. I'm in Mississippi, so I'm well away from ground zero.

Well said, well done.

Since this cache belongs to the CO, I'm wondering if the CO has talked to the ranger who left the note? She left a very nice note, her name, her contact info, and the reason why it was being removed. If the CO has already talked with the ranger, then all this discussion may be moot. Before anyone starts doing anything to get the cart ahead of the horse, we should talk to the CO and find out if this has already been addressed on his/her end.

They're on sale right now for $149. Of course, you could always just buy another five dollar ammo can.

Late middle? No, no, no............. Mid 50's is just reaching middle age. Middle age doesn't start until you stop denying the grey hair, quit trying to dress like you're 30, and get one of those little pill containers with one compartment for each day of the week. I've just now reached the start of middle age at 53.

Don't get the wrong idea about the forums, they are a good place to frequent. Someitmes there are differing viewpoints, just as in the real world, but we're quick to get past that and move along. Back to topic.......... I tried using Twitter, but really couldn't find any value in it. I think I made my decision to leave it alone when I realized my moment to moment activities weren't all that intersting, and when I relaized that i didnt; care who was drivign to work, who was in the grocery store, and who just had a thought. It was information overload of the most un-interesting sort. (Maybe my fiends and I lead dull lives.) Out caching, the only immediate info I ever want is the occasional life-line. It may be I haven't seen what the service can really do for me, but from what I've seen so far, I'm pretty okay with a cell phone and texting capability.

I agree with you, he should not need to. But, since forums threads take turns some folks don't like, it's good tool to have along.

Kids don't kill lunchboxes, bomb squads do.

What about an online log that is simply "SL"?

The OP was the one who noted "I'm not thick skinned enough to deal with.....". From a practical standpoint, thick skin and a "think before replying" approach is helpful in almost all public forums, not just this one. It would be wonderful if the forum atmosphere was such that it wasn't needed, but until we reach that point, durability is an important tool to have in your forum kit.

If someone is going to hang out in these forums, they need thick skin, they need to be slow to anger, and they need to not take comments personally. If a person is wired like that, then these forums can be very informative (and sometimes entertaining). The OP is certainly a newbie, and he may have had a good idea. I don't know, and won't be able to know, since he not only left the forums, but he also took his toys with him. "Group LiveCaching does not exist" is what his link now produces. Rather than being "chased away" from the forum, I think the OP just wasn't running on the voltage it takes to last around here. If KC's questioning of the OP's motives (and KC did say up front that he could be wrong) was all it took for the OP to fold his tents and take his toys with him, then he wouldn't have made it here for very long anyway. Sometimes people rethink their geocide, take a more objective view, and return to being involved. Hopefully the OP will learn from this, and do just that. IF KC's comments could have been worded more graciously, then maybe he will pick up a new view toward dealing with newbies, as well.

And you're not above the occasional Mafia puzzle.