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Spot check

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Posts posted by Spot check

  1. Most gadgets are so fun! When they work. As it is with this new geocaching hobby of the family. It's so satisfying! When we can find it.

     

    Hence the frustration. We've been unsuccessful more often than successful. I have a Garmin etrex Legend Cx. Color. WAAS enabled. I know how to download the coordinates. The gps gets me to within 10 feet and it turns out the cache can't be within 50+ feet because I'm in the middle of a dirt parking lot! Yet I know I'm in the right spot. I look around and there's nothing. The nearest possibility puts the gps at 50-70 feet. This has happened often.

     

    Am I using the gps wrong? Even if I use my eyes (and the others' in the family too), the cache manages to remain hidden after 30 minutes of searching. What other suggestions do you experts have (besides reading the FAQ again)?

     

    Thanks! It's so fun to find these treasures that I'm not ready to give up!

     

    Also GPS units seem to work best when held flat, with a clear view of the sky. Unless yours has a compass in it keep it pointed in the direction you're moving. Sometimes it helps to let them sit still a while until they can get a more accurate reading. Also what everyone else said (difficulty ratings and they can actually be off by a lot)

  2. I've only been caching since April, but I find that any time someone asks me to go somewhere (ex: upcoming camping trip at Rend Lake, IL), I find myself looking for caches in the area as soon as possible. Is this odd?

     

    Hello, my name is BigHef32... and I'm addicted to geocaching. :D

     

    You should see me driving a road trip. "Oh my detour is just one state over. And besides, we haven't found one in that state yet!"

  3. I try to look casual while I'm caching. But what if somebody thinks I'm up to no good and calls the police? Or what if they start yelling at me or telling me that I shouldn't be doing whatever it is I'm doing?

     

    Just openly search and if someone asks say "I'm looking for something I lost ("what?"("none of your business"))" or, if you are feeling chatty, explain geocaching to them.

     

    If they are copping an attitude for no reason or yelling at you I would advise you to confidently tell them to stop harassing you, it's a public place, and you'll call the police. (or beat them up, lol)

  4. I had valuable replies to my question on paperless caching. Now I am thinking of using a cell phone (Verizon) to cache. I have Vista on the computer. Any suggestions, recommendations or warnings? Thanks.

     

    I have a T-mobile G1 (aka: google-phone) and it works so well I gave away my GPS unit to a friend who wanted to start caching.

     

    Anywhere I am I can just search for nearby caches instantly and start hunting.

  5. I use a t-mobile Sidekick II and it has always worked really well for me caching.

     

    I export html from gsak and host it myself because it's a little faster and only contains the ones in my gps, but I can search and log from the geocaching.com website fine on it too.

     

    Also handy because it's a phone and camera and aim and email.

  6. This is because I can't imagine anyone would care that I didn't find it unless 1 or 2

     

    The cache owner cares. First off you don't KNOW if its missing or not. A pattern of DNFs will let the owner know that either the cache is more difficult that he rated it, or that he needs to go out there and check on the cache. If people aren't logging their DNFs the owner will not have this information, or it will take longer for him to obtain it.

     

    If I see 2-3 consecutive DNFs for one of my caches it means there might be a problem. So if Cacher A comes along and doesn't log a DNF, Cacher B does, and Cacher C doesn't, as far as I know as an owner is that there is 1 DNF, when in reality there were 3. I really should be out there checking on the cache, but I won't because I only know about the 1 DNF.

     

    Also if people are not logging their DNFs, I will look at the logs and assume that my 1 star difficulty rating is correct. If I see DNFs sprinkled through the logs I'll know that I should raise the difficulty a bit.

     

    The way *I* go about it I think my 2 guidelines usually cover when this would be useful information (I'm very stubborn so practically all my DNFs are memorable, and I do take patterns of DNFs into account when deciding if I think a cache might be gone), but you're right, I can't be 100% sure if it's there or not when I don't find it. Perhaps I should be more stringent in my DNF logging. I never thought about how useful it might be.

  7. Just curious, if you set out to find a cache and don't... do you always log it as "did not find"? In my first ten searches, there have been a few that we didn't find. There's been one we found on the second try, and one that I searched for twice and still haven't found. Most of these I expect I haven't found because I'm still new at this and just may not be "seeing" it.

     

    So I was just curious, for the one I visited twice in two days and didn't find, should I be logging "did not find's" for those visits?

     

    So far we've only logged the actual "finds" because I fully expect (with some repeat visits) to find the others.

     

    Driver Carries Cache

    (madmike)

     

    I generally only log them if;

    1. I beleive the cache is missing

    2. It was a memorable trip anyway

     

    This is because I can't imagine anyone would care that I didn't find it unless 1 or 2 (above)

  8. Though "you can ignore it", "I believe ___ and I don't have a problem with it", etc.. do not address the guidelines, they are the product of non reviewers expressing their feelings toward the caches in question.

    Though they have no official standing, they have a right to their opinion.

     

    Yes I know people have a right to an opinion.

    And I have a right to point out that it might not constitute a valid counter-point.

    And you have the right to point out that people have rights.

    etc.

     

    There is a rule on the forums about respect however, and I think a few people in the thread may have overlooked it.

     

    As far as the guidelines, the fact hat the caches that JV linked to and numerous other similar caches have passed the review process is proof that they are compliant.

     

    That makes a very strong case that they are compliant.

     

    I don't beleive Johnny's post that I agreed with mentioned non-compliance.

     

    Nor are his post and the idea of compliance mutually exclusive, especially if compliance is dictated by the judgement of reviewers (which is how it works I believe).

  9. I agree with Johnny.

     

    I also find it admirable that he made his point short and sweet without attacking anyone else (or the religion in question)

     

     

    Requiring a person to read a bible to find a cache is pushing a christian agenda. I do not care how you want to sugar coat it, that is what it is.

     

    I think it's humorous however that many who answer him:

     

    * project feelings of fear or hurt onto him (that he never claimed),

    * try to read his mind (telling him he is anti-christian or he would not object to xyz), and

    * routinely take parts of his sentences completely out of context (he didn't say "requiring a person to read the bible" he said "requiring a person to read a bible TO FIND A CACHE"; big difference for those who like "put a gun to your head" analogies),

     

    all the while keeping a tone that JOHNNY is the one who needs to lighten up, or has somehow gone to far.

     

    * "You can ignore it" is not a logical argument that something doesn't violate guidelines.

     

    * "I am so super-secure in my beleifs that this is not a threat to me" is not a logical argument that something doesn't violate the guidelines.

     

    * "My religious beleifs are ___- and I don't have a problem with it" doesn't even adress the guidelines!

     

    Johnny's point however, was a pretty logical argument, and didn't attack anyone. (tho many responded as if attacked, while advertising how secure they are)

     

    No matter how you feel about religion or how appropriate this cache is, you should all take a page from Johnny's book and maybe theres a chance your point will be taken seriously in this ocean of emotional mudslinging. Props to Johnny for logical argument instead of the ad-hominem he received in return.

     

    First off you aren't required to read it. You can pass. I know of caches that require that I watch a certain movie. Not interested, so I pass.

     

    Johnny LIGHTEN UP!

     

    No one is "requiring" you to do anything. You don't have to find this cache if you don't like it. Nobody is putting a gun to your head to find the cache.

     

    Just because the Bible is used as part of a puzzle doesn't disqualify it nor does it violate the guidelines. No where in the cache listing does it solicit or promote any agenda. Can you for just one moment, overlook your hang ups on the Bible and look at it as a just piece of literature. Would you be as worked up if the text used were Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species", a book on Numerology, or even Michel de Nostredame's Quatrains? Probably NOT.

     

    If some religeous nut-job where to make the same argument against the use of any of these texts, you probably would be singing a different tune.

     

    Try keeping an open mind and you may learn something about literature and the similarities the Bible has with other books. No one is asking you to believe or "buy" into anything it as to say.

     

    Ok. So making me go to the library to read Edgar Allen Poe would be an agenda also. Where does this end? You're the one that has an agenda and it is against Christianity, not the other way around. I looked at those caches and they are not pushing an agenda. You can find an agenda in anything if you look hard enough, but I think it's pretty clear that the cache owner was not pushing his religion on you.

     

    Let's all relax.. If you don't want to do the cache, then skip to the next one.

     

    First off your are not required to find the cache or even look for it, so if it is your wish not to look in the a book (the book) to find the need information so be it. Go find another cache....

  10. don't be afraid of being seen as rude.

     

    theres nothing wrong with coming right out and saying "I don't meet strangers from the internet alone in the woods" and that is more likely to make him drop it.

     

    "meet me at an event" let's him think he has his foot in the door. (and he probably was at the event, watching you)

     

    It's hard to say if it's stalking behaviour or just interest if you haven't said "leave me alone" yet :)

     

    Criminals advice was great, always go with your gut. if it feels wrong it's probably wrong.

  11. Reward or target list? I think the over-reaction displayed in some of these responses answers that question.

     

    No matter what you actually say, or what the actual situation is, some people will completely ignore every detail mentioned besides 'ftf' and attack them for being hyper-competitive, ego-building ftf hogs, regardless of how carefully you explained the innocent situation of trying to spark interest in a very uncompetitive area full of first-timing newbs.

     

    I guess it's just too touchy a subject right now. I'd advise against what you planned or your new cachers you recruited are apt to get even more turned off should an overzealous do-gooder be too quick to admonish them.

  12. I have a sidekick 2 and it is great for caching.

     

    I use GSAK (geocaching swiss army knife) to export my pocket queries to html form, then post them on my own server like so:

    http://mattmeade.com/geocaching/

     

    That works a lot better for me than using the actual geocaching.com website, faster, and already filtered to what I want.

     

    If I feel like logging it asap I can also quickly hop to the actual cache page because gsak includes the link in its pages.

     

    Haven't prnted out a cache page in ages.

  13. Eh, you were kinda funny up until that. I said Groundspeak could take heat, not the whole internet. And I didn't say Groundspeak would even lose IF there was a civil suit.

     

    Thanks, that clarification was very important since "they will totally shut down the interweb for offhand remarks. ZoMg!1!" was obviously super-serious and literal.

     

    You are threatening bodily harm over a GAME.

     

    Only as much as your threatening legal action over a single comment on the internet..

     

    Threatening like that is about as childish as one can get.

    <snip>

    Go back to trolling school. :laughing:

     

    Trolling school?

    Is that where you learn to blow up offhand comments people make when blowing off a little steam? Or is that where they teach ad hominem name-calling about "children" in the "playground" makes a crushing point against immaturity? Please cite some specific laws concerning obvious jokes made online, I don't think this is ridiculous enough yet.

     

    Please let the mods do their jobs, you'll notice their warnings were appropriate and didn't spawn any new arguments, unlike yours.

     

    Everyone here was on the same page till you wanted to fight about this so who's the troll?

  14. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."

     

    Now that I think about it, theres pobably a good case legally against cachepolice.

     

    I was thinking "stealing" before which is a pretty weak case, but on second thought "stalking" is a pretty solid case.

     

    sneaking around, keeping tabs, harrassing emails, sabatoging your game.

     

    geocaching is just so behind-the-scenes,,,,, if you imagine him sabatoging a basketball game or golf in the same way, you see how ridiculous and harrassing it is.

  15. Scenario: Someone does just that:

     

    "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."

     

    Threats posted here can very well bite you in the buttocks in a trial.

     

    lol, are you saying beating someone up is cool, but just don't brag about it on the internet or you might get caught?

     

    I've studied a bit to become a PI. I think it would be much more interesting to just post his address, phone number, photo, and employer online with a copy of his nasty email.

     

    And Groundspeak might take heat too, for hosting the threats, regardless of their position on the matter.

     

    Is cachepolice a jerk? Seems like it. Just don't dig your own grave, and one for Groundspeak too.

     

    they will totally shut down the interweb for offhand remarks. ZoMg!1!

    in other news, the sky is falling.

  16. I'd be a whole lot happier if everyone could express their opinions without describing threats of violence. Nobody likes the behavior, but let's think of more eloquent ways to say what we feel. Thanks.

     

    But what if we're 100% serious and accurate

    not just exagerating how we feel? lol

  17. Or how about what's in the logs "My 412th find".

     

    I can't speak for anyone else but I just do that so I can remember what order I did them in when I'm being nostalgic. I think it's silly that the site goes to all the trouble to track activity but then only sorts by date and not time, which results in all my caches for a single day showing up completely out of order.

  18. Don't be too sure that this stuff doesn't happen...check out this TB I found that was spawned from similar activity.

     

    :laughing::laughing:;):D;):D:angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

     

    That's over the top. It's one thing to ask a cache to be archived if it needs to be. But this m@*^!$*$@#&r needs a little wall to wall councling. You don't just remove a cache because you don't like it. What a dillhole!!!

     

    Yeah no kidding.

    I was all set to do the ones I mentioned and the dillhole stole them all.

  19. I got up at dawn on a saturday and did them randomly all day and got 14 (with 2 other people along).

     

    This weekend I filtered a list to only do 1Diff/1Terr and I didn't even start till noon and got 22 (by myself).

     

    That's really going faster than I like tho so I don't do it very often.

    It's funner to really take everything in and take your time.

    I was just trying to reach a goal of mine this weekend.

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