[Why No Good Trade Items?]

I'm pretty new, but I thought the whole point (besides the search, which is the part I like anyway) was to take a piece of crap and replace it with a different piece of crap. There is NOTHING in the FAQ-type info on Geo-caching.com that explains that people actually expect to find something useful or semi-valuable. From this thread I see I should upgrade the quality of my swag, so I guess I will.

[Rating System?]

I searched for this topic and found nothing. Is there a "rating system" for finders to rate others' cache hides? I thought I saw "rate this" the other day as I was entering a log, but now I don't see it anymore and don't see any ratings. Don't laugh too loud if I'm overlooking the obvious!

[Disappointing First Time Out]

dadndotter's problem happened to me when I was really green at this game. Middle of the road search. Then I realized I was standing on top of a tunnel!!! You can figure out the rest.

[Tslssl]

I've searched everywhere, but cannot find a description of the acronym TSLSSL. Can someone enlighten me?