Joe Smith

being that it is called Groundspeak, we have an idea

Thanks for the offer, I think the problem was in the pocket queries or GSAK. Personay i found it easier and less time consuming to just do it with GC.com maps, so that's what i did. I like PQ's, for getting updated local information. For caches along a route, the easiest (for me) is still the gc maps Thanks, Joe Smith

A while ago I would have read the post, paused a moment, then passed on. Now it takes on a while different meaning because I am in the same boat. Last wed. My mother in law went in for "routine" surgery, and it went fine. For a while. Soon she was back in the OR to fix some staples that had "blown out" as the doctor put it. She was holding her own until we got a call last Saturday to come in. From the conversation we had nobody expected her to be alive when we got there. It turns out she has a very severe staff infection that tried to shut down her lungs, kidneys, and immune system. Thankfully she is beginning to recover. It has been one week, and the fever is almost gone, and her vitals are creeping back into "normal" range. We are hoping to have her off of life support by Monday or Tuesday, but i'm not holding my breath. The nurses are doing a great job taking care of her, but the doctor is beginning to make us mad. When you have a patient in critical condition I would expect a phone call every few days. he promised to call us on Tuesday, still waiting She is listed as "stable, but critical" meaning she could still do a nosedive on us, but it's looking okay. On the bright side, she is in one of the coolest beds I have ever seen. The Rotoprone. They were flipping her over for a few hours a day, but her lungs are getting better so she's just been rocking side to side. I understand your want of privacy, but I don't care. She's in Allegheny General on the North side of Pittsburgh. 3rd floor Surgical ICU. On another sad note, my cousin just went in on Friday after a car accident. His knee was shattered into over one hundred pieces. I'm sorry if I overpowered your post, i just needed to get everything off of my chest. I don't really have a big " support network" so I end up keeping everything buried deep inside. It feels good to get it out. I consider the geocaching community to be a network of friends, so thank you for taking the time to read this. I will add prayers for your family into the large quantity I have been saying . Joe Smith

Ditto. Double ditto. It seems like a bit of an "Us VS Them" going on here. On one side you have the cachers who are looking for the most updated resource for cache restrictions. i Can understand that. Had I known abut the site I would use it myself. However I can also see it from the reviewer's perspective. Unless you know the person behind the website it is hard to do business with them. Both sides are now at a bit of a standoff. In a perfect world I would like to see 1. Policy Editor come out and say " This is who I am" 2. The Admin's say "Thank you, here's a link" then we can shake hands, and everyone's friggin happy. So i'm going to bed. Joe Smith

If you're looking for any Garmin mapping products, I have some to get rid of. email me. So far I have: Topo US Metoguide US Metroguide Canada Don't PM me or reply to this thread, because knowing me I won't look and you'll get no reply. Oh, I have TONS of gmail invites too. Joe Smith Sorry, i thoight I put this in the Garage Sale forum. If a Mod comes along, could you please move it over there? Thanks, Joe Smith

I vote for paypal. It saved my butt when I bought a necklace and it didn't come. I had the byer's protection and got my refund. It actually did come, a month late. On top of that it was fake! So horror stories aside, It's still the best way. Joe Smith

Because some people feel the need to "baby" the gps. The same thing really bugs me about SUV's. people will spend all that money on an H2, and keep it in the garage for the winter. They don't seem to know that it can handle a little snow, just like a gps can handle rain. I would buy one for extended use on a boat. Other than that, it's worthless.

EXACTLY! I was trying to find a way to say that and you hit the ail right on the head. Thak you!

When reading over the "caches along a route" thread i decided to try out some ideas. Using a few PQ's, GSAK, mapsource, and S&T I was not having too much luck. I found it much easier to just follow my route using the Geocaching.com maps and pick the ones that looked good. The biggest setback was the small size of the map screen. If it were larger i would have been able to cover the area in less time. So could we make the GC.com maps bgger? Joe Smith

We have one nearby called WWJC (what would Jesus cache) and for a while I was slightly offended. I doubt Jesus would be a cacher, he had more important things on his mind like healing the sick, taking away your sins, yada, yada, yada... I see no problem with it as long as it is not elitist. Meaning there is a rule that it can only be a certain religion's "items" to trade. If it is a religious theme it would have to include everything. Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and I would include some native American religious traditions as well. Go ahead and place the cache, but don't get bent out of shape about it. Joe Smith Oh, as for "offensive" Any group of people who try to convince me to change my personal beliefs based on the fact that I don't fit their profile of a "good, clean" person is offensive to me. I recently had someone come to my house and insist that because i don't go to church, because I don't believe that every word of the bible is true, that i don't believe that Jesus is the only god that I am going to hell and I NEED to come to their church, if I would ever be "saved". I find that offensive. Very offensive. Another story. Back when we were more active in the church, my father got selected to represent our area of churches (don't remember what it was called) in the big meeting in California. After hearing of what goes on behind the scenes I will never belong to an "organized religion" again. The people who represented the entire country's churches were people I would NEVER want in control of anything larger than the griddle at McDonald's. It's great to have faith in something. I know I do. Just make sure that what you believe is the same thing as your religious leaders. make sure you really know what you are supporting. And try to place a cache that follows your values, while having respect for other's.

yes, waypoint your car. After a few more finds you begin to gain what some peole call "the force". This is because many cache hiders tend to use the same kind of camoflague. If you are in the woods, check around downed trees, stumps, hollow trees, rocks, or anything that will hide at least one side of the cache. Look for the UPS, and UPR's. READ THE HINTS! Pick up a compass, or get a gps with a built-in. You may want to use it to take a bearing. When at the site, don't look at the arrow too much, focus on the distance. And if all else fails, maybe ask for an exra hint. There is nothing wrong with getting help from a hider. Many people have the same "style" so if you find one, you have a better idea of where to look for the rest. I have more but it's too early. I'll leave it at that.

So far the cold does not seem to effect it one bit. Last month I left the 60cs in the car overnight when the temps dropped below zero. i powered it up around five degrees the next morning and the display was a crisp and fast as ever. the unit seemed to perform normal, but i' not sure how it would handle it over the long run. Given how rugged garmin units usually are, I would say go for one of them. just my two cents, after using a TFT screen, i will NEVER go back to an old LCD again. hope this helps. Joe Smith Edit: oh, just saw you are from pittsburgh too! The legend C is a good option due to the sreen. However the 60c/s has an option for an external antenna. You could keep that out where it will get a good signal and keep the gps nice and safe in a pocket. Also if you are going to be climbing, the 6ocs, and the vista c both have barametric altimeters to keep track of elevation data.

I like to go light and multitask 1. Garmin 60cs- gps, car navigation, compass, watch, altimeter, and record of found caches. 2. Cell phone- (nokia 3200) Wireless geocaching, communication, watch, camera, flashlight, radio, unit converter. Sometimes I grab the camera (hp photosmart 435) I have a wireless card for the laptop that I might use for a webcam cache, but I hate bringing the laptop. Not too geeky. Usually just the gps and cell phone Joe Smith

After you fins a wreck close by, check outTHIS LINK to get some more info on it. It puts a bit more of personal feeling to the site. Joe Smith

my university issued emails with your initials, and the last four of your social. Being many places use only the last four for identification issues I was not too happy about that. Eventually they switched to a random number.

true, I would personally love to visit a crash site, but if there are still personal items around, I would pick a site that does not have any if you can find one. Joe Smith

I didn't think it was THAT pointless, and if it is, then 30 people have an opinion about a pointless subject. It is still open for two reasons, 1. It does slightly pertain to geocaching 2. I have yet to check the "lock this thread" button I have seen worse things to talk about

All the older gpa units use a serial port. the legend is a fine unit, and I hope you get used to it. The easiest way to connect it to the computer is to buy a usb to serial adapter. If you are looking for a new unit, the new garmins use usb. Joe Smith

not too bad I guess

As many people will notice, any website that requires a unique user name will eventually begin to use up the more desirable ones. AIM, Hotmail, and others are suffering from such use that it becomes very difficult to find a reasonable name. Is the same happening for geocaching? I was lucky to get a short name, and I am beginning to see the names getting longer, containing more hyphens, and using more subtle changes to make them unique. How long until we run out of good names? If I would have signed up next year would my name have to be: Joe_Smith_the_geocacher_from_Pittsburgh_using_a_60cs Joe Smith

I had a color cie too and the sun did wash it out. You need a black and white, or if you want color it HAS to be one with a TFT screen. Most Pocket Pc's have them, and some of the newer garmin gps units. I'm sure that the palm units have them too, but it might be a bit more expensive. Joe Smith

I finally got the time to clean out the jeep. I decided o use some cheap "slider" bags in the kitchen. After filling 3 of them with spare parts like bulbs, fuses, screws, and the like. not a single one lasted opening and closing five times. Joe Smith

you can't go paperless in the true sense with a 60c/s but there is a way. i have the notes set up for d/t , waypoint, type, and container. If I start looking and need a hint I can pull up the wireless site on my phone, type in the waypoint number and bring up the page, hints, and cache logs. I have about 6-10 caches I would not have found otherwise without this method. It's not as "fancy" as paperless, it's a little slower, but it saves me from hauling alot of gear with me because I always have my gps and cell phone. This only works in places you get reception, but most providers have a good deal of coverage, and it works for most caches. Mainly for those spur of the moment type of hunts. Joe Smith Oh, as for battery life. I personaly would like a way to turn off the altimeter. I do use it but not too much. The electronic compass is what really comes in handy

I got an external antenna for mine in the car, so if i go anywhere it's usually turned on. and it's at 2916 from christmas. I really miss my old legend. After I updated the firmware it reset and I lost a road trip to Missouri, and a flight to alaska. Very impressive numbers. Joe Smith IT KEEPS GONG UP!!!!!!!

I like that look, we should go back. Plus those B&W pics have a bit mre of a "raw" look that I enjoy