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For me, one thing the satellite image or Google Streetview tells me is whether or not I want to look for the cache. If it looks like a lamp post cache or is in a seedy neighborhood, I'll pass. I'll also use it to plan a route in a park with multiple caches. No sense crossing a creek 6 times when twice will do. And it also helps me estimate how long the trip will take in time and walking. Its not cheating, its using your head for something more than a hat rack.

"The log is under a log." Yup. It was under some fake dog poop. Had me turning over tree limbs and old railroad ties for 30 minutes before I spotted the faux turd.

I'm not sure if I exactly understand what you are trying to say, so let me see if I can summarize: Using a USB cable (Factory ??) the GPS will charge and it shows up as a mass storage device on your desktop computer. Using the same cable ?? it may or may not charge, but it always shows up as a mass storage device on your netbook. If the above is correct, I suspect the USB ports on the netbook are not capable of supplying enough power to charge the battery. If the GPS battery is very low and the netbook won't charge it, but it charges when the battery is close to full, this would pretty much prove my theory.

The ones that require a blood donation. This was from a Dificulty 1.5 Terrain 3.0 that was only 120 feet into a wooded area from the parking lot. See the photo in the log entry. GCRWQX

Wooden surveyor's stick / flag. I totally overlooked it about 6 times until I re-read the hint. Duh!

Sounds like the Colorado needs a calendar instead of the clock display.

So if we do the math, we can figure out how many tiles are used by the various built-in maps on the 400 series?

You must be fairly new to the sport. There are many very extreme caches around -- that require water crossings, climbing gear, etc... Just look up the caches in your area and find one that has a 5 for terrain and go check it out.

Sorry, the link that brought you to this page seems to be out of date or broken.

If there is room in the cache, I will leave a fresh log in a new bag. Otherwise I will leave a piece of paper with my sig. In any case I let the CO know there is an issue. Sometimes they fix it, sometimes they don't. I've seen several people rescue, scan and post the log sheet with their log, which is cool also. I typically carry a couple of decon containers containing the spare logs, bags and pens, but I hesitate to deploy them if I can't find the original cache or pieces thereof.

Exactly what I was thinking. When I was GPS shopping, the Magellan looked pretty cool until I read all the horror stories online and in the forums. Lets hope Garmin is not headed down the same path.

Some of their policies are rather goofy. I spend a dollar or two with them, and recently I bought a second MP3 player for the wife. Between the time I ordered it and received it, the price dropped about $8. I called them about it, and I had to fight tooth-and-nail to get a 'one-time' customer accommodation to get an $8 credit. Any retail store will gladly issue a credit rather than risk a return. Wonder why they think they don't need to promote good will?

D. B. Cooper?

Up being able to click the main forum link from the http://www.texasgeocaching.com/ sight and getting to http://www.txga.net/forum/. When it was hosed, clicking the link took you to a placeholder from either the hosting company or domain registrar. Apparently domain or hosting issues. I see they recently had to renew their domain registration, so it probably has to do with getting their domain name / IP address sorted out with all the DNS servers. Since different ISPs use diffferent DNS sources, its possible it works for one person, and not another.

I worked at a YMCA camp one summer, and at the end of one session, some bully kids turned the ChemCan over with the fat kid in it. Naturally, it was the day before it was due to be serviced. Handed a new bar of soap to smurf-kid, told him to get in the shower, take off all his clothes and throw them away, and to keep washing until he ran out of soap or I told him to stop. Sent the bully kids to retrieve little boy blue's suitcase and lug it back a 1/4 mile up a steep hill. Had to explain to the parents the kid was now short a set of clothes, but hopefully clean and sanitary. Glad they required a tetanus shot for the campers. Three solid months of porta-potty use during an unseasonably hot Texas summer makes me appreciate indoor plumbing.

For me, the forums were hosed, were fixed, now hosed again as of this post.

I agree. I'd be much more excited if there were developed an open system for developing computer-based, real-world adventures. I like the concept of Wherigo, but don't like the limited platform and proprietary scheme. If it were created in, say, Java so it would run on a java-powered Palm, I've got a bluetooth GPS I've used with TomTom for coordinate input. ...or Wherigo for the iPhone anyone? I've done a Wherigo cache, and written a few simple cartridges to see what its about, but its kinda flaky and you really have to play around with it to get it to do what you want without crashing. I'll stick to regular caching.

Caches are also disabled so they don't show up in the searches. They can be disabled because they have been reported missing, there is an issue with the placement or permission, or if they've been muggled / damaged and the cache owner needs to replace or repair the cache.

Google Maps is your friend. Especially for LPCs.

Not much of a deal. I checked their service in my area. The modems range in price from free to $100 if you do a 2-year contract, or $100 to $200 outright purchase, with a month-to-month plan. For $40 you get 50 megs a month, or $60 for 5 gigs a month, plus 25 cents for every meg you go over. I can buy a cheap GPS for $100 or less and cache for free. Talk about a no-brainer.

Yeah, I see Garmin has recently added that option on their website. Originally it was a one-time update on the Nuvi models, if I recall correctly, probably to push new old stock off the shelves. What I'm wondering is, on the handheld models, if you have to buy the map, then pay for the lifetime updates as well?

If I make a sincere effort to find a cache and don't, I log a DNF. If I'm just taking a quick look on the way to work, I don't. I agree that logging a DNF, along with DNFs by different cachers *should* alert the CO to a problem, but sometimes they just figure they are that good at hiding them. Sadly, we have a few COs around here like that, although I suspect some of them simply replace a missing cache and indicate in the log it was not gone.

Also need to watch for unfriendly neighborhood dogs. There have been several pit bull attacks in Dallas of late, with the victims being elderly or children. We were out with our dogs (on leashes) in a local park one morning, snagging a few caches that the wife had not found yet. From out of a hedge, bounds a huge, black dog growling and barking at us. He had barked at me once before from his back yard, but apparently there is no fence between there and the park. Anyhow, he got within about 25 yards, still showing aggression. I was not armed due to this being an urban family park, so my only choice was to stare him down, yell, draw my backup knife, and hope I got a good shot at him if he attacked. The yelling and the sound of the knife snapping open seemed to give him second thoughts, and he retreated back into his yard. Either that or he decided I might let go of the leashes if he got closer.

Yup. I bought a windshield mount for my eMap and the lever would not suck the mount down to the windshield for some reason. I called Garmin, explained the situation, and they sent a whole new mount no charge. Didn't even have to return the defective one. After receiving the new one, I found the problem with the old one, sorted it out, and passed it on to someone else with an eMap.

Nah, you need to have some fun with it. Hide your GPS and walk over, and say, 'y'all lose something?' Proceed to make it awkward for them for a few minutes, then pull out your GPS.