honeychile

They're not available in the Groundspeak store, just online. BTW, I added three new buttons last night. I plan to add new ones each week - and custom options are always do-able. Thanks for looking!

Sissy and Grizzly John are right -- it's supposed to be like "honeychild" -- years ago when I started selling stuff on auction, that name was taken so I settled for "honeychile" (which is how it's pronounced in the south, anyway). I never knew how confusing that would be down the road. Lots of people think I'm from Chili or ask me what kind of recipe mixes honey and chili.

Thank you, Pater! That's high praise coming from another buttonhead I really wanted to offer something reasonably priced that could be used as fun trade items. I've been making buttons as cache loot for about a year, and I like the way they're small and flat, easy to fit into most caches. Regarding the artwork, my background is marketing/communications, so I really enjoy that aspect of it. BTW, many thanks to "R.A." my first customer tonight! That was so encouraging!

. . . also helps. I put a few tablespoons in, let it sit a while, then flushed the bladder. It helped quite a bit.

I'm very susceptible to poison oak/ivy. My doc says that the urushiol in the "poison" plants really isn't poison at all, but that it causes your own immune system to tremendously overreact. When I came in last year covered in the stuff, she said, "Congratulations. Your immune system is working just fine." Usually the treatment for a really horrible systemic case (where it's popping out all over, including places that couldn't possibly have come into contact with the plant) is a round of steroids to quiet the immune system down. Zanfel is pricy (about $40/tube), but does the trick for me by getting the urusiol released from my system and washed away. My understanding (admittedly limited) is that the urushiol bonds to the keratin in the skin and is hard to get off. A little bit of zanfel goes a long way. Other precautionary measures work, too, like bathing as soon as I get home, and washing everything I wore right away. My hands are pretty tough and I don't usually get poison ivy there, but my doc said that lots of people get it on their hands from shoestrings which drug through the brush and poison stuff.

Johnny, I think your idea sounds great. Why not post it as a single event cache instead of several temporary caches? When you post an event cache, it also shows up on the geocaching calendar, which might be helpful in getting the word out, too.

I think the section in the FAQ referring to "temporary" caches is being misread (or at least misunderstood). If you read the entire paragraph, the thinking is that a cache may indeed turn out to be temporary if it begins to affect the environment or if it's plundered, but this section does not endorse the placement of intentionally temporary caches which might be here today and gone tomorrow. Throughout the geocaching.com site (over and over, in fact), we read that geocaching is a community effort. Temporary caches open to only a few people (such as birthday party caches) or caches that expire after a brief period of time (such as christmas light caches) tend to squander geocaching's site and approver resources to benefit a few instead of the entire geocaching community. (Even with these examples, some accomodations have been made -- for example, christmas light virtuals that feature annual, extraordinary displays have been approved -- please - I'm begging - let's not get into christmas light caches - it was just an example). Event caches (featuring activities that promote geocaching) are the only "temporary" caches currently permitted. I don't know anything about Johnny's seminar, but just for the sake of discussion, let's say that he and his local caching group planned an educational seminar about geocaching which was open to the public. Let's say that they planned to place some temporary caches that day for the group to practice finding. That would easily fit under the event cache type. As mentioned by someone else, other types of seminars might be commercial endeavors which are not permitted. Finally, I think Jeremy envisions a very flexible site which embraces as many aspects of geocaching as possible, with as few constricting rules as possible. Easy to say, but difficult to do! Unless you're careful you will either have chaos or a rulebook 10" thick. It's quite a balancing act that is, amazingly, pretty successful.

. . . gosh, Johnny, with all the trouble you're having with the approvers, how'd you get six caches approved in the past 20 days? And four in February and five in January? Those mean ole approvers sure are giving you a hard time with their secret guildlines and all.

. . . they just cache out.

1. How did you find out/start geocaching? I was searching on the web for something else and ran across a comment by someone (that I didn't know) that they wanted to get into geocaching. I did a search on the term and found geocaching.com 2. Who/what got you started geocaching? Reading the geocaching.com website and seeing that there were so many caches close by. The "treasure hunt" aspect was (still is) so intriguing! 3. How often you do it? As often as possible -- every weekend, weather permitting. 4. How long have you been doing it? Almost a year. 5. Spending amounts: a. Price of GPS Which one (haha). I bought a used Garmin 12 from an acquaintance and within a month or so, picked up an eTrex Legend for only $100 on an auction site. b. Placing a cache I try to hold it to under $20, including cache container. c. other equipment and prices (lights, ropes, etc) I mostly plundered my scout camping equipment for geocaching use. I bought a small, lightweight backpack with water bladder (about $30), a decent compass (less than $10), and a lightweight walking stick (about $30). I always pack a flashlight and sometimes carry rope depending on the cache description. Good luck with your project!

As Lance mentioned above, the size of the bug is important in getting it moved along promptly. Last summer, because of construction, one of my caches had to be archived. It was a large ammo box. There was a bug inside that had been sitting there for quite a while. When I retrieved the cache, I found out why. It was a hard rubber toy about the size of a man's fist. It traveled with its own logbook, and a camera, for crying out loud, all in a gallon size baggie. Trying to be helpful, my poor daughter grabbed it because she was going out of state on a caching trip. Unfortunately none of the caches she visited could house this behemoth. She received several impatient, ugly emails from the owners before she finally found a cache big enough for this big bertha of a bug. I'm sure none of the missing bugs in this thread had this problem, but I just wanted to chime in for those reading who might be planning to release a bug. Choose something smallish that can fit in the average small to medium cache and it will likely move along more quickly.

. . . as the first stage in this cache. The rock I have has some kind of butterfly or bird or something on the other side, but you can still use it anywhere you can conceal that side. I have a slip of paper in it with the coordinates for the next stage. I got mine at the dollar stores, too. I put it near rock steps in a public park. There were other rocks around and I just snugged it up near the outside bottom of the steps along with a few other rocks. The one I have is about fist-sized and the hole in the bottom is for a key. I noticed that the rock steps were in bad repair with quite a few rocks missing (I thought about tucking this fake rock into one of those holes, but was afraid it would look too obvious). Later, when I came back to check on this one, I found that a rock mason had done repairs on the steps, but left my little rock in place.

Geocaching was banned from NC State Parks for a time, but is now allowed under very strict (and expensive) terms. See the thread here. I don't believe too many caches have been placed in NC State Parks since these rules went into effect (I only know of one personally) because of the $25 fee which is only good for a maximum of 3 months. Discouraging as this is, it is better than the ban that existed before. I have had positive contact with Dr. McKnelly and plan to follow up in the spring. I don't believe the park officials understand how small a geocache can be (and usually is) and how short a distance from the trail it can be effectively hidden. What we need :: are some park officials who take up geocaching! It's interesting to see what other areas are doing to permit and even encourage geocaching while preserving and protecting our natural resources.

They're at the dollar store (dollar tree, etc.) in our area. One side is just a rock; the other side might have bees or flowers on it. I used this as the first stage with one of my caches, just turned the "decorated" side the other way. For $1 (and no shipping/handling), it was worth it.

...totally Inspector Gadget meets Indiana Jones with multiple stages and things like finding the hidden lever that releases the gizmo that raises the platform; or turning the knob that works the pulley that . . . you get the idea. And the hoot is that I'm the most mechanically challenged gal on the planet! -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

There was an upbeat article about geocaching in our local newspaper today. I didn't know the cachers they interviewed, but was surprised to see that the "test cache" they hunted was mine! I couldn't help but snicker a little to read that they miscalculated and had to start over, but heck, been there, done that, too. Here's the article, but I don't know how long it will stay online, so the text follows below. * * * Mon, January 13, 2003 Hide & Seek Cache hunters go global (positioning satellite) By Michelle Johnson JOURNAL REPORTER Cross a scavenger hunt with the sophisticated technology of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), and the result is geocaching, of course. Geo-what? All it takes to go geocaching is a handheld GPS unit, which can cost from $100 to upward of $1,200; an Internet connection; and a sense of adventure. GPS technology has been around for a while. But until a few years ago, the federal government degraded the satellite signals, limiting the accuracy of consumer-grade GPS technology. In May of 2000, the government, citing the importance of GPS technology for civil and commercial uses, ordered the signal degradation to end. Shortly after that, someone hid the first cache outside Portland Ore., and geocaching was born. Since then, more than 38,000 caches have been hidden in 157 countries. Jeremy Irish, who runs www.geocaching.com, the official Web site of the game, said that the rising popularity of the game and the enthusiastic support of gamers have surprised him. "Kids enjoy going out and finding treasure, and so do, secretly, adults," Irish said. "It's a mini-trip, a mini-adventure, and it doesn't involve a lot of time." Dozens of caches - think of them as troves of buried treasure - are hidden around the Piedmont Triad. They boast such names as "Happy Camper Cache" and "The Devil's Cache." Getting to some of these caches requires taking a hike in the woods. Others caches such as the "Hanes Park Hide-a-Way," are hidden in city parks. The treasures inside the caches are usually just trinkets such as toys or coins. Each person who finds a cache is asked to take something, leave something and write in the logbook provided inside the cache. Tim Kute is a cancer researcher at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and an outdoors enthusiast. He started playing the game after his wife, Staples, gave him a GPS unit as a gift. "The way I see it is, as you get older you can't run, but you can go out and walk, and you walk with a purpose," Kute said, explaining the lure of the hunt. The Kutes have hunted for treasures in the wilderness of Mount Rainer and in downtown Louisville, Ky. They even buried a cache in Ireland when they vacationed there. Kute keeps track of visitors to the cache, provided that they log onto www.geocaching.com and post a note to him. Occasionally, he rounds up a group of friends and neighbors to go in search of hidden treasures close to home, such as the "Spring into Action" cache, which is described on the Web site as "an easy-to-find cache hidden in a tiny little park." But "easy-to-find" depends on whether the exact coordinates - latitude and longitude - are entered correctly into the GPS. To determine the coordinates of the cache, Kute had to solve a puzzle provided on the description of the cache. Once he entered them into the handheld computer, it instructed him to leave the park and head down West End Boulevard. The expedition members trooped along behind him, through a vacant lot, down a ravine, across the railroad tracks and into the heart of the industrial area along Northwest Boulevard. The kids whined a little, but Kute was unfazed. Finally, after at least a half-hour of walking, he stopped in front of Hanes Dye and Finishing Co. According to the GPS, the treasure was right in the middle of the building. The group turned around and headed back to Spring Park, deciphering the puzzle during the walk back. Once they got back on the right track, they quickly found the cache. Kute's 5-year-old neighbor, Luke Leahy-Higgins, scrambled down beside a footbridge; soon he hoisted the green metal box above his head. The children began eagerly sorting through the trinkets inside, deciding what to take and what to leave and quickly forgetting the discomfort of being lost. "It's a fun game," Kute said. • Michelle Johnson can be reached at 727-7305 or at mjohnson@wsjournal.com * * * -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

. . . is my recommendation, if you haven't already done that one (click here). Although it might be a bit of a drive from Charlotte, it's one of my all-time favorites. There's a nice long hike in a beautiful area. The cache itself is challenging (it's small and sat reception is iffy), but not impossible. I think there's a micro-cache piggy-backed on this one, too, although we didn't know about it until later. BTW, congrats on reaching such a fine geocaching milepost! -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

Like I told my husband, the reason I bought another GPSr is the same as why I bought two bikes -- so I'd have a "buddy GPS" for when my friends come along! -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

They're pricey, but I would buy them for gifts or an extra special cache. They'd be fun for cache events, too. Regarding the "intrusiveness" of the logo on the photo, that's the point! Haven't you seen the "happy birthday" cameras? It's the same concept. Yes, it cuts into the photo area, but at least you'd never forget where THAT photo came from as you're shuffling through the stack in the shoebox ten years from now. -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

. . . on your thread, Markwell, to show off my latest travel bug. Maybe someone will compose haiku with my travel bug in praise of yours. -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

. . . that the logs are messed up is simple timing, especially when a cache is new and a lot of people are coming by very quickly. For example, I dropped off a travel bug at a new cache in our area, but before I could get home and officially place it there, someone else (my buddy Doc) came by, picked up the bug, got home before me, and logged it. That resulted in a "grabbed" log (and, unfortunately, it also cheated the bug of the mileage that would've accrued if I had beat Doc home!) That whole scenario encouraged me to pay attention when I pick up a bug and make sure to give the person who dropped it off time to log it first. Most of the time bugs sit in a cache for days or weeks at a time and it's no issue -- the "grabbed" problem only occurs when the bug is changing hands quickly. -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

I think this might be the pink crayon. Notice there is pink for "indoor use" (like eyeglasses) and blue for "outdoor use" (like ski goggles). -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

For the sake of new folks, one thing that I've found is that sometimes you should just follow the trail and keep an eye on your GPS. Generally the hider is no more eager to trek through the jungle than you are. There have been many times that if I'd just exercised a little patience and not been so eager to bushwhack, I could've reached the cache with minimum exposure to anything nasty. That isn't always the case, but it's worthwhile to scout around a bit instead of just plunging into where you think the GPS is leading. -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

Even if you don't think you'll be "that long," it's a good idea to pack a dose or two of medications that might be needed in the next few hours. Many times I thought I was on a hunt that would take thirty minutes only to be hiking out in the dark. And accidents can happen, too, that might extend your time in the woods. The whistle is also a good idea. Lots of times the cell phone can't get reception in some of the mountainous areas. I've got a piercing emergency boating whistle that takes up a tiny amount of room in the pack, but is good insurance. Although not technically a "safety" item, my walking stick is very useful in poking into crevices or holes where the cache might be (and where snakes and other critters might also be). It also helps me to climb and descend more safely. I've got a couple of sticks, but my favorite for geocaching is made of a cactus rib. It's super lightweight (about 8 oz) and very strong. I'm not as lithe and supple as I used to be (was I ever?) and find this stick invaluable nowadays. Final note - put one of those little rolls of camping toilet tissue in your pack. It's just not safe to use...uh..."make do" (or is that make doo?) items. -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`

Even if you don't think you'll be "that long," it's a good idea to pack a dose or two of medications that might be needed in the next few hours. Many times I thought I was on a hunt that would take thirty minutes only to be hiking out in the dark. And accidents can happen, too, that might extend your time in the woods. The whistle is also a good idea. Lots of times the cell phone can't get reception in some of the mountainous areas. I've got a piercing emergency boating whistle that takes up a tiny amount of room in the pack, but is good insurance. Although not technically a "safety" item, my walking stick is very useful in poking into crevices or holes where the cache might be (and where snakes and other critters might also be). It also helps me to climb and descend more safely. I've got a couple of sticks, but my favorite for geocaching is made of a cactus rib. It's super lightweight (about 8 oz) and very strong. I'm not as lithe and supple as I used to be (was I ever?) and find this stick invaluable nowadays. Final note - put one of those little rolls of camping toilet tissue in your pack. It's just not safe to use...uh..."make do" (or is that make doo?) items. -honeychile- '*+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_A joyful heart is good medicine!_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'`