white_owl

quote:What I'd like is to hear from fellow Geocachers that have been at this for about as long as me. I just want to know that I'm not "unusual". As with any other hobby/passtime/sport/activity, there are people who have no interest, others come and go and yet others who's interest is unwaiving. In my mid-twenties, I was an avid stamp collector. I lost interest and gave away my collection. Geocaching is new and I think that in 20 years, you'll find this pattern. Those who are still around will recognize names from way back in the first few years. Then ask the question "What ever happened to ....?" This is a fun and relaxing hobby. It is good excersise, harmless and (after the purchace of the GPS) relatively inexpensive. Yet it is not for everybody. My father-in-law was curious so I brought him on a cache hunt. He was satisfied and understood why I enjoyed it so much but didn't develope an interest himself. I wouldn't worry about your friend's reaction. In fact, I would wonder if nobody reacted that way. Keep on Geocaching as long as you enjoy it.

quote:Originally posted by Scouterkevin & Family:Can someone explaine the reasoning behind all of them starting at the same point? It comes down to a simple matter of math. Take this scenario for example using the city co-ordinates provided by Garmin. A bug released in Vancouver has to travel 4441 km to reach Halifax. If I release a bug here in North Bay and require it to hit the 2 coasts, it has to travel to Vancouver (3244 km), return to North Bay (3244 km) then on to Halifax (1250 km) for a total travel distance of 7738 km. This increases its distance by 3297 km almost doubling the distance of travel of the bug realeased in Vancouver. This puts anyone in central Canada at a huge disadvantage over anyone living on either coast. To be fair, all bugs have to be realesed from the same point. This could be anywhere in Canada as long as all bugs have the same distance to travel. I hope this answers your question. White Owl

WOW! This is a hot issue! There is nothing that I can say here that hasn't already been said and I agree with everyone that this is a NOT FOUND. After all, isn't the whole object of this game to find the cache box, not just to get close to it?

TO: WCoaster Would you be willing to take on the position of 'chair' or 'head honcho' or 'bugeye' or whatever title you want to give it. As I have stated, I kinda feel that that duty is falling onto my shoulders since I got this thread started but I really don't want it. I'm willing to help out as much as I can though. I'll start by seeing what I can do to get an East Coast cacher to work on the end point. I will also contact Groundspeak about prizes. If we can get enough people participating, they will be making a lot of money on TB tags so they may be willing to throw in a few items for prizes. 1st place 2nd place 3rd place TB who has visited the most caches TB who has travelled the greatest distance It doesn't have to be much. Just a little something for an extra incentive. To Boreal: Anything on that web site that we can drool over yet?

Things seem to be shaping up but I don't think that a 2003 race is realistic. This should have a start date of around April 1. I think that we should look at a 2004 race. What does everyone else think? I still haven't heard from anyone saying that they were working on this. So far, we have a web master and a west coast start/finish person. Anyone else want to volunteer? There is still a need for people. Hey! What about you? This project could really use your expertise! The 'chair' position is still up for grabs.

quote:Hope I'm not playing a childs games. :-) But it doesn't seem so. Rob A while back, on the 'Canada' forum, the question was asked 'What motivates you to Geocache?' My answer was 'High tech hide-and-go-seek! I get to play an old fashioned kids' game AND play with the big boys' toys!' Are you playing a child's game? I would say yes and may it always remain that way I'm 46 going on 15

For some reason, this thread has been sticking in my mind. After some thought, I think that I understand SkidiverBC's point. He's not saying that there is anything wrong with McD's and the dollar stores. But if someone is going to take a t-shirt, they should leave a quality compass (or something else of comparable value). I agree with his point. The harder-to-get-to caches may be set up as a high yield by the owner and I imagine that, he too, would be upset to find all of his $15-$25 items replaced by dollar store trinkets. Those who put in the effort to place and find the more difficult caches deserve the rewards. The rest of us who are "challenge-challenged" can go for the easier ones and those rewards are simply to find the cache. That's my "dollar store trinket's" worth anyway.

Now where was that thread??? Maybe I dreamt it. Anyway, there seems to be some interest in this so I'd like to get a dialogue going to see what we can do. I'd like to stress that these only preliminary ideas. I'd like everyone's input. I don't know if we have time to get this going for this year but if not, there's always 2004. Here are some ideas: 1) A travel bug may be placed in any cache as it's start point. 2) The winner is the travel bug who visits the 10 provinces (and 3 territories?) first. 3) Travel bugs must travel by Geocachers (no snail mail) 4) Racers may ask the help of other Geocachers to help move their bugs along but may not use the help of non-Geocachers. (But if your brother across the country owns a GPS and wants to register, then that's great. Another member!) 5)Does the province of origin count as the first province visited or does the bug have to leave that province then come back? 6) If a bug goes missing, can the owner replace it and continue the race? I think it's like stock cars. Once you crash into the wall, that's it! 7) Racers may register travel bugs that are already in circulation but only those provinces visited after the race start date will count for the race total. 8) Are travel bugs owned by non-Canadians allowed? I think they should be. We should have a web site to log the bugs progress. Nothing fancy here. Something on one of the free web space would be enough. I can do this but I don't really have the time to dedicate for this. If someone wants to jump in here and volunteer then great. What about prizes? I think that corporate sponsorship is counter to the Geocaching's commercial free policy but could we get Groundspeak to throw in a few hats, t-shirts, etc.? So that's all I have for now. Now looking for input from everyone else. Ideas, suggestions, volunteers, anything ....

I was sure that I had read somewhere about someone wanting to organize a Travel Bug Race in Canada. As I remember it, it wasn't a sure thing yet but rather a 'Would you be interested?' I have looked high and low in the forums and I can't, for the life of me, find this thread. (I hope that I have better luck finding the 'Box In The Woods' cache! Anyway, I wanna play. Anyone know anything about this? Thanks in advance White Owl

'It's not the destination but the journey' Personally, I don't care what is in the cache box. I go out just for the walk and the hunt. Once I find the cache, I call it a good cache before I open the box. Then I sign the log book. Lastly, I look at the items in the box. I usually bring Dollar Store trinkets and I take the same. But it's not about the trade. The last cache that we did, we brought along our 9 year old niece. She had brought a trade item but decided not to trade. Once we had the cache hidden back the way we found it and started our hike back, she looked at us and asked 'Can we do another one today?' I like her attitude!

If this kind of thing is allowed, then leaving a pack of cigarettes will be OK. Or a bottle of beer. The great thing about this sport is that it is family friendly. Let's leave it that way.

I was curious so I just went for a scoot over there. (The log, not the cache.) There is a (decrypt) at the end of that log entry and it works. The log was readable. So you don't owe anybody any beers but you can mail me a case if you want

Ok! So it seems that I was wrong. I consider myself put in my place. I was under the impressions that: 1) A travel bug name could only be used once. 2) This person registered these names before the tags were introduced. (Kinda like when the internet first started and people were registering URL's for free just for the purpose of selling them later. This happened at macdonalds.com for one example.) If this person indeed has a plan, then we are lucky to have a dedicated user as this to help promote the sport. We all benifit. Thanks to everyone for their responses.

Check out this link and tell me if I'm over-reacting: http://www.geocaching.com/track/find.asp?A=106882 This user has 33 Travel Bug names registered (most relating to "The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy" by Douglas Adams) but only has 2 bugs realeased. I can see someone wanting to put a few names on reserve for planned releases but does this seem like abuse? If every user reserved 30 names on a subject that interested him/her just because the name is "cool", there soon wouldn't be any worthwhile names left for those who want to release a bug.

quote:Originally posted by Night Hunter:My Garmin was ran over. I now have a data cable only used once. Bought for $35 will sell for $15 or trade for three unactivated travel bug tags. SOLD! I'll e-mail you so we can make the arangements. White Owl

quote: Is it the satillite or could it be something interferring with the signal in these areas? The variations are on the same coords each time. Sometimes the simplest explaination may be the best. I'm intrigued by your comment that the variations are always the same. Did you maybe change the map datum on your unit? I was once looking for a co-ordinate which I thought was in WGS84 but was actually in NAD27. The location was 84 meters off. Once I changed my unit to NAD27 and re-entered the co-ordinates, my reading was bang on. Hope this helps. White Owl

High tech "Hide and go seek" I get to play an old fashioned kid's game AND play with the big boys' toys!

I agree with wandering4cache. I too, did my homework and posted in the forums where my name intersected. (left me limited since 94 deg North or South seems to be on a different planet ) I had compiled a list of about a dozen cachers in the area of my required co-ordinates then decided not to go the spam route. Isn't the purpose of a discussion forum to reach a large number of people who fit a given area of interest without spamming individuals. And like wandering said, if you're not interested, just skip over it and move on to something that is of interest to you. I didn't think that anyone would be annoyed by these posts but to those who are, my sincere apologizes. White_Owl

Can anyone near the Great Plains area help me complete the Where's in a name cache Where's in a name Cache My name converts to co-ordinates 94 48.369 You can e-mail me at white_owl@sympatico.ca Thanks for your help

Well, I haven't been there and I don't plan to be! It's just too cold there for me. I like the nice warm weather were I am. This morning, it was -34C when I headed off too work. Hmmm... Maybe Mt Everest would be a little warmer But if you're interested, the summit of Mt Everest is N27 53.943 E 86 56.011

Can anyone near the Ontario-Manitoba help me complete the Where's in a name cache Where's in a name cache My name converts to co-ordinates 94 48.369 You can e-mail me at white_owl@sympatico.ca Thanks for your help

Can anyone in this area help me complete the "Where's in a name" cache Where's in a name cache My name converts to co-ordinates 94 48.369 You can reply to me at white_owl@sympatico.ca Thanks

Can anyone in the Midwest help me complete the "Where's in a name" cache Where's in a name Cache My name converts to co-ordinates 94 48.369 You can reply to me at white_owl@sympatico.ca Thanks

Voici quelque chose qui peu peutetre aider http://babelfish.altavista.com/ Traduction de Francais a Anglais Traduction de Francais a Almangne Escuse si mon Francais est pas tres bon Au revoir White_Owl