tahoeberne

Originally posted by Davros: Another thing to remember.. Nobody has ever smoked a few cigarettes then got in thier car and killed someone as a result..... ______________________________________________ There have been numerous--possibly hundreds or thousands--of documented cases where drivers admitedly were distracted by dropping a cigarette, lighting one, or many such other distractions causing both serious and/or fatal vehicle collisions. It doesn't take much thought to figure out that inattention to the demands of safe driving will yield perilous results David Berne [This message was edited by tahoeberne on April 22, 2003 at 07:10 PM.]

I double posted, so the response below is the real one! [This message was edited by tahoeberne on April 22, 2003 at 07:08 PM.]

I think it is important to both respectfully praise and criticize caches in your posts. I have taken suggestions and made improvements. I have also disliked locations, views, etc. of caches and always respond so the owner gets honest feedback, and can make improvements. I have also received responses when I criticize that the cache owner was sorry that the cache wasn't to my liking, but others had not negatively commented about it. David Berne

I have found it much slower, especially on Sunday. I wonder why 9% of thosed surveyed have not found it to be slower at all. Any responses to that? David Berne

When an Israeli was asked by a visiting American how does he cope with the threat of terrorism in his country of Israel, the Israeli replied, "Where I live there is typically peace with chance periods of terrorism." The Israeli then questioned the American by asking, "How do you live within the pervasive terror in your country, especially the big cities, where one has to fear the terror for one's life of being a homicide victim." The American stood and thought. With this, I offer U.S. governmental facts that support the rampant rate of fire-arm related violence. Something to ponder for the firearm carrying advocates: http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00046149.htm During 1950-1993, the overall annual death rate for U.S. children aged less than 15 years declined substantially (1), primarily reflecting decreases in deaths associated with unintentional injuries, pneumonia, influenza, cancer, and congenital anomalies. However, during the same period, childhood homicide rates tripled, and suicide rates quadrupled (2). In 1994, among children aged 1-4 years, homicide was the fourth leading cause of death; among children aged 5-14 years, homicide was the third leading cause of death, and suicide was the sixth (3). To compare patterns and the impact of violent deaths among children in the United States and other industrialized countries, CDC analyzed data on childhood homicide, suicide, and firearm-related death in the United States and 25 other industrialized countries for the most recent year for which data were available in each country (4). This report presents the findings of this analysis, which indicate that THE UNITED STATES HAS THE HIGHEST RATES OF CHILDHOOD HOMICIDE, SUICIDE, AND FIREARM-RELATED DEATHS AMONG INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES. In the 1994 World Development Report (5), 208 nations were classified by gross national product; from that list, the United States and all 26 of the other countries in the high-income group and with populations of greater than or equal to 1 million were selected because of their economic comparability and the likelihood that those countries maintained vital records most accurately. In January and February 1996, the ministry of health or the national statistics institute in each of the 26 countries were asked to provide denominator data and counts by sex and by 5-year age groups for the most recent year data were available for the number of suicides (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision {ICD-9}, codes E950.0-E959), homicides (E960.0-E969), suicides by firearm (E955.0-E955.4), homicides by firearm (E965.0-E965.4), unintentional deaths caused by firearm (E922.0-E922.9), and firearm-related deaths for which intention was undetermined (E985.0-E985.4); 26 (96%) countries, including the United States, provided complete data *. Twenty (77%) countries provided data for 1993 or 1994; the remaining countries provided data for 1990, 1991, 1992, or 1995. Cause-specific rates per 100,000 population were calculated for three groups (children aged 0-4 years, 5-14 years, and 0-14 years). The rates for homicide and suicide by means other than firearms were calculated by subtracting the firearm-related homicide and firearm-related suicide rates from the overall homicide and suicide rates. Rates for the United States were compared with rates based on pooled data for the other 25 countries. Of the 161 million children aged less than 15 years during the 1 year for which data were provided, 57 million (35%) were in the United States and 104 million (65%) were in the other 25 countries. Overall, the data provided by the 26 countries included a total of 2872 deaths among children aged less than 15 years for a period of 1 year. Homicides accounted for 1995 deaths, including 1177 (59%) in boys and 818 (41%) in girls. Of the homicides, 1464 (73%) occurred among U.S. children. The homicide rate for children in the United States was FIVE TIMES HIGHER than that for children in the other 25 countries combined (2.57 per 100,000 compared with 0.51) (Table_1). David Berne

I drive a "65 Mustang". Hey, pal, I drive a "56 Corvette", so you're outpowered. Sounds better than I drive a car. Thus I convey an egotistical identification that confers status, power, personal identification, machismo, and other bonuses. Likewise, Webermdi typically expresses the same: I carry a "Sigsauer 9mm". T.Shuffle says it tongue-in-cheek style that he carries a LIGHTER. Makes sense to build a fire for warmth than killing a bear and crawling up inside its gooey hot innards. If all those adhering to Nellamit's life view that the "world is a dangerous place", well maybe those adherents should take the opportunity of frequenting your urban ghetto and crime infested areas. You surely could fufill your world-dangerous quota and satisfy that need to be armed to the teeth. Well said by one respondent: this whole thread speaks, or should I say, reeks, of "Inappropriate Risk Assessment". Might it be that we have increasingly developed a killing culture compounded with an obsessive love affair with weapons stemming from fear and ignorance, based from a mentality superiority and arrogance? TahoeJoe--and probably many others still retaining their senses, me included--earnestly question this thread as being a geocacher's issue. I encourage the armed cachers to post on an NRA, gunclub, Soldier of Fortune, Militia or similar website. Ponder it. David Berne

Praise to you Coupar-Angus. We need more cache stashers like you who put care and consideration in making a cache placement a work of art, beauty and a memorable outdoor experience. Too often I have lamentably visited caches that are near run-down houses, in ugly suburban lots, sitting in a pathetically viewless area, and placed where heavy traffic makes it almost impossible to open the cache without someone suspiciously eyeballing you prowling in an area with a mysterious metal box. No one wants to feel like they are perceived as a lurking criminal, pervert, or worse. In response to stolen caches: Two have been absconded from me, so I have been highly satisfied in placing virtuals with a great view and some historical value that I share. How can you beat a no-maintenance, theft/vandalism-proof cache? David Berne

Two thumbs down for the decaying responses of this thread. The smug, flippant, catty, inane remarks and jokes can only be encouraged by those who aren't in the starlight glamour of the media and now can hide in the shadows of anonimity and let their words reveal their envy, jealousy, fear, and ignorance. Being rich, famous, talented, enigmatic, eccentric, generous, and both highly admired and despised appears too much to grasp by some. But no worry, Michael would pay no attention to this, just me. David Berne

After almost a year of taking advantage of the great features of geocaching.com, I figured I would contribute my membership fee with open arms. Jeremy and others work hard,long, fair, and unobtrusively to produce a quality website. And yes, no pop-up ads are a blessing. I am actually surprised there are not more charter members considering what you get for your fee. Giving is getting. What goes around comes around. David Berne

Bill: Well, the road is clear, so let's get that cattle guard cache. Bob: Righto, Bill. I'll just pull over here and we should bag it in no time. Bill: Ha, dumb cattle. They could easily cross this if they stepped carefully. Silly animals. Highway Patrol: Well, what's this up ahead. Two males in the road loitering around Farmer John's cattle guard. Looks suspicious. Dispatch, this Officer Cody approaching guard 32 with a possible 843 in progress. Request backup. Over. Dispatch: Unit 14 is proceeding to your location. HighwayPatrol: Hmmm. Those two sure stepped out of the way quickly as I approached. And...what are those black devices they are holding in their hands. Officer Cody draws his gun and levels his aim in readiness. Highway Patrol: Freeeeeze! Drop the weapons. Bob: Sorry, Officer, but we ah..were...ah...just geocaching...and uh....that's a GPS, not a gun. Bill: Yes, officer, sorry. We're not armed, but there is this geocache. Officer cody: Get out of the road immediately and walk with your hands in the air to the side of the road with your backs to me. Bill and Bob: Yes, sir....sorry to alarm you sir but we were just---- Officer Cody: I heard you the first time. What were you doing snooping around and peering into the cattle guard? Bob: There is a geocache, and uh..we were just looking for it. It is a game and we use GPSs to locate it---take a look here. Officer Cody: Looks like an ammo can or such. You planting explosives or something like that? On the ground. Hands behind your back. And you can figure out the rest of this scenario.... David Berne

Bruce Dern, who lives in the South Lake Tahoe area, signed my friend's cache at Lily Lake. He is an avid runner and I have seen him running, and have even talked to him. David Berne

The 'Frivolous' should have warned you. Should Jeremy ever pose in his underwear, I'm certain that someone will comment on it. wcgreen Wendy Chatley Green ________________________________________________________________ Well, alright, Wendy. Maybe I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. I am glad the forum won't let me--or almost anyone--get away without a comment. David Berne

Jesus, are we going to come up next with, "What color underwear do you prefer Jeremy wears?" Let's not idolize, mythologize, or idealize Jeremy......uh....that is......much more than we already have.... Since Jeremy has closed the topic on Condoms in Caches, he deserves the highest praise, and I am confident he will continue to be the watchdog of censorship for any other degrading, useless topics that pop up. David Berne

Geocaching.com's hide a cache suggestion is this: "Some GPS units have the ability to do averaging, but if yours can't, the best suggestion is to take a waypoint, walk away from the location, then return and take another waypoint. Do this around 7-10 times, then pick the best waypoint (I've done this with a Garmin eTrex on a cache)," More specifically, I walk away from the location in all ordinal and cardinal compass directions (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW), and walk out a distance of at least 75 feet in theses directions, then return to the location and wait 1 to 3 minutes (depending on satellite acquisition--more time for less acquisition). Repeat this until eight directions have been noted (bring a pencil and paper to jot it down. Do the math for averaging and....voila! Time involved: 10 to 30 minutes. David Berne

REI....ahhhhh. The glamour of myriad selection of the finest outdoor paraphanalia. It's irresistable. REI, it must stand for Relinquish Earned Income, because that is what happens to me. I look. I spend. I look some more. I spend some more. But I love it. What a great addiction. I have more to say, but I am compelled to go: My new REI catalogue just arrived. David Berne

quote:Originally posted by Jacksons: Those that can,do; those that can't,teach; those that can't do or teach, manage **************************************************************** I am a teacher. "I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor and an A-feel like a slap in the face if the student did not do his or her very best. I can make parents tremble in fear when I call home. I can make kids wonder. I can make them question. I can make them criticize. I can make them write, read, and spell definitely beautiful over and over until they never misspell either one of those words again. I can make students understand that if you have the brains, then follow your heart...and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you pay no attention to them. You know what I can make? I can make a difference. What about you." source: anonymous. David Berne

If yellow jackets habitated exclusively in agricultural and non-populated areas going about their business of eating worms, flies, etc., then farmers would be happy and so would many others. This is not the case. These opportunistic scavengers constantly invade picnics, schools, and outdoor social events. Those in their way are frequently attacked and stung. In in the Lake Tahoe area the forest service will close beaches due to their unrelenting attacks on people. At our Tahoe schools, and others across the country, several children are stung daily as these critters are attracted to sugared foods and such. Other species of wasps and hornets have no interest in human type foods and typically forage open area in search of insects. Tragically, their rating as a health threat ranks high on the health threat chart: Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people die each year from allergic reactions to their venom, as reported by a Kentuckian entomologist. Compounding the allergic reation potential is fact that yellow jackets, which often frequent manure and sewage areas, pick up bacteria on their stingers and abdomens and inject--like a hypodermic needle--organisms which cause blood poisoning. Add to that there extremely aggressive and dangerous behavior All pest control agencies and businesses rank include the yellow jacket as a major health threat. Yellow jackets will also build nests in homes and chew their way through walls, posing a direct threat to occupants. My personal experiences with 45+ years in the outdoors has resulted in not one bee, hornet, or other-type wasp sting, but I have been mass attacked three times and stung, as well as being attacked and stung two times by a single yellow jacket. Others report similar incidences. The limited beneficial reasons of yellow jackets is far outweighed by these serious outdoor pests, so I support an even more aggressive eradication position when all is considered. Keep the bees, the hornets, and all other wasps, but not yellow jackets. David Berne

Well if you really want to know which came first, throw away that static view of a modern egg and chicken. Every chicken and egg contain some slight genetic differences. Now, if you turn the clock back multiple generations, both the chicken and the egg will progressively appear different. Now the hard part: At what point do the great-great-great-grandparents of our so-called modern chicken or egg, look less like a modern chicken and more like some other animal? Same for the egg. Eggs can be rubbery (like some snakes), have spongy-clear exterior casings with the yolk in the middle (as some sharks), or a variety of other structures. As mutations, genetic recombinations, and other natural factors come into play I would be hard pressed to say, "Hey, now that chicken or egg has evolved to where I am satified that here is the generation I can absolutely call a modern ideal chicken...or egg." So I think if you make that call that a certain generation's egg looks "egg-ish", then fine. And if you make the call that a certain generation's chicken looks "chicken-ish", well, fine too. Gee, this was fun. "Why did the chicken cross the road? Someone egged it on." David Berne

A man gets a call that his friend is in the hospital with a gunshot wound in his butt. While visiting his wounded friend in the hospital, the man asks, “How the hect did you get shot in the butt?” The wounded friend replies, “Don’t tell anyone, but I was getting it on with a married woman in her bedroom, and wouldn’t you know it, her husband shows up and surprises us by busting into the bedroom—-catching us getting down and dirty. Then he pulls a gun on us and fires off a shot, and since I was on top of her, the bullet him me first right in the butt." The man says,”Jesus, that’s horrible. You are one unlucky guy.” The wounded man replies, “Actually, I am very lucky. You see if that woman’s husband would have busted into the room ten seconds earlier, I would have been shot in the head.” David Berne Who DID put Ram in Rama-lama-ding-dong?

Now what bugs me to the core are those drinking fountains that dribble water when you're hot and thirsty, and darn, you just can't get a drop. That is...unless you put your mouth on the ever-growing-green-slimed-used-to-be chrome spout that must harbor more bizarre germs than a New York landfill. On top of that, they always make the spout with these wide-spaced, weird looking double prongs that serve no purpose other than to make it appear that you are looking Leon Spinks straight in the mouth. Yuk. C'mon America: make a decent shaped water spout, and for God's sake, turn the water flow up so we thirsty cachers can get a decent, and germ-free drink for crying out loud David Berne

Now what bugs me to the core are those drinking fountains that dribble water when you're hot and thirsty, and darn, you just can't get a drop. That is...unless you put your mouth on the ever-growing-green-slimed-used-to-be chrome spout that must harbor more bizarre germs than a New York landfill. On top of that, they always make the spout with these wide-spaced, weird looking double prongs that serve no purpose other than to make it appear that you are looking Leon Spinks straight in the mouth. Yuk. C'mon America: make a decent shaped water spout, and for God's sake, turn the water flow up so we thirsty cachers can get a decent, and germ-free drink for crying out loud David Berne

quote:Originally posted by dthigpen:I move for MrSnazz to be banned from the forums. He has shown himself to be a bad person in general. Further more, I move that people must be charter members to be able to even post on the forums! Yeah! On top of that, you should have to pay $5/thread for read privilages to these forums. FURTHER MORE, You should have to send in all responses to thread topics to Groundspeak in writing within 72 hours of posting for verification or your response should be deleted! Doug [This message was edited by dthigpen on November 03, 2002 at 05:11 PM.] ________________________________________________________________ dthigpen, Don't you think it's overkill to suggest banning Mr. Snazz for expressing his opinion on a subject that has many responses both pro and con? Mr. Snazz---a bad person? Please back that statement up with an example. I have found many instances where I disagree with him, but banning, c'mon. Free speech, the American Way, Bill of Rights, etc. and we are here to have fun...and argue.....and disagree....and agree.....but banning on this issue--no way. How does it sound to you if I use your approach and suggest that YOU be banned? Now I do support you on your ideas about people being charter members to post, and maybe even popin a few bucks to post on the forums; good idea. Even the verification of response might be worth considering. David Berne

I agree with BrianSnat. I am the one who originated this topic for the purpose of receiving input--and a surprisingly rich input is what the forum generated. The cache puller received threatening email and vitriolic criticism. A case could be made that this level of reprimand is sufficient. David Berne