Team Taskmaster

We have posted fewer than 20 times in seven years, but this one caught our eye. The Taskmasters read this thread with interest and added their support. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

The Taskmasters generally prefer to stay in the shadows, but we must come out in support of TrailGators' proposal. Speaking with regard to North County (and Temecula), we are seeing exactly what NYPaddleCacher predicted: lots of barely thought-out caches by new cachers (meaning, roughly, 2006 and after) who "grew up" on such things and don't really know any better. They then go out and place caches whose only intent seems to be to pad numbers, and it's the Dumpster-behind-the-McDonald's or the dreaded LPC all day long. They stick an Altoids tin with a scrap of paper in a location with what I consider no redeeming value or interest...because it's all that's available...because there are so many quickly placed, poorly conceived caches out there. I would like to be able to ignore certain cache-placers because a) I find no art in their placement of what are essentially doorknob caches, I see no challenge in their supposedly difficulty 3.5 puzzles, or c) because they specialize in putting out simple caches so their friends can "beta find" them and claim a first-to-find, which is a terrible form of nepotism that never should have found its way into geocaching. A different thread there, I know. ☺

We are taskmasters, or so our students tell us. When we were starting back in summer of 2002, we thought about a lot of different titles, but this one seemed to capture who we are the best. There are six of us, so for some sports, we could form our own team; thus, we are Team Taskmaster. We're the kind of parents who drag their kids around UCSD for hours straight until midnight to complete Wizard's Chess. "There's no resting in geocaching!" The King and Queen part is for the parents, and the Juniors are generally identified by their characteristics: Matthew is the tallest camper, a reference to the story "Tajar," if anyone knows that. [He's taller than I am now and bound to overtake the King soon!]; Jordan is the girliest or nerdiest, as she is the only girl Junior and quite a nerdette; Charlie is the loudest because he has NO volume control; and Brando is the littlest Taskmaster because...well, he is the littlest, but everytime he lags behind, he explains that we all have long legs and he is the littlest. We've even named my dark grey Quest The Tank and the King's Expedition is The Beast. Someone stop us before we name our GPSr!

I'll say it's underutilized. The last posting was Nov. 26!

Thats all great but you haven't logged the find yet! Somehow I suspect the Queen can't reveal the extent of her torment without making the cache easier for the next cachers. Thus is the frustration endured by a puzzle cacher. The truth of it is...I fell asleep on the couch while the King was watching the U.S. whoop Norway in a World Cup friendly. That last waypoint was a taxing one for me. Made Snakes and Ladders seem like a walk in the park...which it was, but nevermind that. But I must agree that it is difficult to convey how fun yet painful this cache was. I want to do it justice without spoiling the joy for those who follow.

We're tired, we're road-weary, and the Queen may have hypothermia, but we have been to the Mississippi River and lived to tell the tale. It's a good thing TucsonThompsen isn't in town anymore; he would have some competition for the head evil cacher position! Dan-oh put in quite a showing with this one. We've spent the last hour being amazed at the time, effort, and resources he put into this cache adventure. Thanks, Dan! The whole Team loved it, and Jordan is honored you felt her story worthy. Some spoiler photos, including the ones of my cut up legs, will be coming to you via e-mail or the B.V. Express soon! CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

Actually, there is a link for nearest waymarks down toward all the other links on the cache listing page! I've been denoting nearby caches in my waymark postings, and if I find the time, I will go and post notes in caches with extremely close waymarks. CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

Team Taskmaster is not so much closing in on the Mississippi River Cache as bungling and fumbling their way toward it. You would think that with the author in the family we would have an advantage, but noooooooooo. Confidence is high for a find tomorrow, though. Okay, maybe not "high" so much as..."marginal." Today, we ended our hunt with Brando, the littlest Taskmaster, throwing up in the car. Now, I'm not saying it's Dan-oh's cache, but it's an odd coincidence. Actually, this is a great cache, and I hope the rest of the SD puzzle hounds take up the journey. He put in a lot of hard work on this one. CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

I signed on to remind everyone what a gorgeous city/county we live in and what a great geocaching community we have. This has been highlighted for me by our current trip to New York City. Geocaching is, to use a gentle term, undeveloped here. It's mostly 1/1 kind of stuff, and a lot of those turn up as DNF on a regular basis, but that's no surprise. In general, though, the caches are uninspired. While we are not cache makers ourselves, we truly appreciate all the willing and clever souls who design, plant, and maintain the bounty of geocaching opportunities in the SD area. I don't know if TT, Dan-oh, and The Cow Spots are three different people or not , but I have a great respect for their work, and I encourage them to keep it coming. Bottom line: I'd rather do a 1/1 in the SDRP than Times Square any day of the week. Looking forward to returning.... CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

Norbu, if you have not found transport for it yet, we are going to New York on the 15th. That might be a good hub from which the TB could grab an international flight out to Egypt. Contact us if you have placed it, and we will try to fetch it this weekend. Dan-oh, thanks for the heads-up on the Pasadena event. We may check it out, also. [The Taskmasters are currently in post-school year recovery and taking a little break from geocaching, so we apologize for the delayed response to these postings.] -CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

How is it no one has jumped on this yet? I cannot believe this went uncommented for so long. I agree with Dan-oh. Just plan it and see who shows. Geocachers can't resist getting together. You will get a good showing no matter what date and place you choose. I mean, think about the places we venture for caches. It's not like we're too picky when it comes to location. Cece, Queen of the Taskmasters

He's evil, and there's no two ways about it, but we love him because he makes delicious puzzle caches, quotes Shakespeare, and strikes just the right balance between letting us dangle and giving us gentle nudges in the right direction. Of course, he teases us mercilessly, but it's all worth it in the end.

That is THE best news I have had all day, I think. I can't wait! Not sure what "soon" means, but it sounds promising, and I need time to recover my sanity from Punkte und Spuren, anyway. It looks cool, very "Myst." Looking forward to it, Parsa, and Dan-oh. CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

Yum. That was fun. Thanks, Flag Man, for a profitable alliance. Now, when are Dan-oh and Parsa coming out with their collaborative effort? We are waiting, anxiously, for the challenge. CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

Ouch! Well, it sounds to me like you have one half of the puzzle, and we have the other...Isn't that always the way? CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

Dillon Gang-Technically, I was just on a scouting mission. I do not have clearance from headquarters (read that as: my doctor OR the King) to be geocaching. Got many stern looks and a good talking to for going after "Short Round" by Dan-oh earlier in the week, so this was strictly investigate-and-report. Next time, I will intro myself, I promise. FlagMan-It's not gibberish. We are sure of that. We understand what the message is, in its essence, and how it is encoded, but we need the clues from the waypoint to finish transcribing them. We are going down this afternoon to scour the location, and I imagine we'll run into other cachers! CB, Queen of the Taskmasters

The Team agrees on that translation, and we too have not been able to search the waypoint to gather the "clues" left in the enemy's wake. Dan-oh mentioned in a note to the cache that he has "one translation but not the second" and something about "the key". Is the key at Mission Bay? The Queen went to the site, but it was lousy with people searching for the clues, and she decided to remain anonymous and not partake in the hunt. There are only four accounts watching the cache at the moment, by the way.