Western Mass Clan

"Yesssss ... my TB tags have arrived from Groundspeak!!! Now where did I put that blue bear??"

Hey Chief! Given any thought to an icon yet? If the firehat is too difficult to recognize when reduced, perhaps this one might be appropriate? Expecting any hardware soon? Matt

Wow ... looks like you guys were setting up the Multi from Hell.

NOOOOOOOO!!!! NO NO NO NOOOOO!!! HOW DARE YOU DEFLATE THE VALUE OF MY GEOCOIN INVESTMENT!!!! Kidding of course. If there's demand, go for it! Matt

Woo hoo! Thank you Easter Geocoin Bunny! I was just packing up to leave campus tonight when I decided to check my email and discovered that The Easter Geocoin Bunny had visited my son's cache on the Holyoke Range!!! So, I decided to make an impromptu midnight ... ummm ... "cache maintenance run" ... yeah. Actually saw a trio of coyotes in my path on the way to the cache. They startled me when my light reflected off their eyes. They ran off when I whistled at them and yelled, "Hey!" What I won't do for my kids ... My son's cache is A Nice Hike for Kids and Grownups ... (He named it himself ... he goes by "Big Brother" in my logs) The family was asleep, so no body is the wiser that I have the coin. I think I'll keep it a secret for a week and hide it along with the rest of his treats on Easter Sunday. I'm sure he'll be extremely excited when he finds it! I'll post pictures of his reaction. He loves to find geocoins as much as I do. He's already caught the geocoin collector bug. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of Dad's midnight dash to the cache. Again, THANK YOU EASTER GEOCOIN BUNNY! All the best ... Matt (Western Mass Clan) At the cache (sorry for the mispelling ... it was late!) A closer look

I think the one below is easiest to see. When designing an icon, you don't want a person staring at it wondering "what the heck is it I'm looking at?" The top icon, when taken out of context, is difficult to recognize. The bottom one isn't as much. Just my 2 cents. Matt

Here's my contributing. We cache with our two kids "Big Brother" and "Little Sis" of the Western Mass Clan. Thanks for the thread! Taken just today at "Boba's Base" The "Opening of the Cache Ceremony" Little Sis is First to Find with Daddy!!!

Great news! Looking forward to seeing them! Do you have any pics to post? All the best, Matt Granby, MA (formerly of New Palestine, IN)

Hi Chief, The coins look great. Glad to year they're coming soon! I will purchase 2. One for me and one for release into the wild.

Very neat concept. If you are taking reservations via forum reply, I would like two of the coins in the black nickel ... one for me, one for release. All the best. Matt

So, after a nice, pleasant teaser week in which most of the snow melted away, temperatures reached the jacket range, and caches were once again becoming more accessible, we in New England and the Northeast get socked with another 12 to 15" of snow with more expected tonight. *sigh* Today's "PC and Pixel" hit a little close to home for me. Cabin Fever has officially set in. The additions are mine. My insane wife was happy to get more snow. "I Love SNOW!!!" she exclaimed. Grrrr. I love snow too .... IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER!!!! I'm ready for hiking weather to show up again. I know .... I know .... WMC

I must confess that I frequently "cheat" the hint process by decrypting and reading the hints up front before I even leave the house. Why do I do that? Well ... because I frequently cache with my 1 1/2 and 5 1/2 year old children. My 5 1/2 year old son has a somewhat low tolerance for the traditional "poking about behavior" that most cachers seem to master by their second cache. He flat out refuses to hunt for micros with me (no swag). In his mind, once we arrive at Ground Zero and the GPSr tells us "We're Right On Top Of It!!!!" (his favorite caching phrase), then the cache should simply pop up and say, "HERE I AM!!" if we haven't found it within the first 60 seconds. The "love of the hunt" has yet to take root in his kindergarten brain. Instant gratification is the name of the game for most kindergarteners I find. On the other hand, my 1 1/2 year old daughter is oblivious and is simply happy to be in the woods on an adventure with Daddy. Of course, that doesn't stop her from tearing into the cache with her brother once it's found. Sometimes making sure we don't lose any small swag amongst the forest cover is a challenge! So, in order to cut down on the grousing and complaining (which quickly evolves from "Where IS it???" to "Dad, why haven't *YOU* found it yet???" when the cache is hard to find) I simply decrypt and read the hint before we even head out the door. I find decrypting a hint while also keeping one eye on my son and holding my daughter to be nearly impossible anyway. Simply decrypting up front makes my life easier and cuts down on the complaints when the kids have been walking more than they really wanted to. Matt Western_Mass_Clan Just my 2 cents, Matt

We are interested in getting both editions. Thanks!

My mistake then. I thought when the 'call for orders' went out that meant that production was underway. The tip-off should have been that no photos of the finished coin have been posted. No rush I suppose.

Have these coins started to ship yet? I ordered 3 back on Jan 28th (or so) and have yet to receive anything. Just checking. Thanks! Matt

Western Mass Clan

Hi Chief! Hey! The coin looks great! I'm happy to see that there is another local Western Mass cacher coin to look forward too. Sorry, I can't help you with finishes ... but I wanted to chime in anyway and say "Great work!" Perfect coin for you. Now all we need to do is find an FTF to go after together in the middle of the night in the rain and maybe I can help you place your first on in the wild! Matt Western_Mass_Clan

I almost hesitate to post this here because, honestly, I'm really not that interested in getting involved in mailing/trading my nickels as a hobby … I simply do not have the time. However, I do collect sig-items and enjoy trading for them face-to-face or finding them in caches. I think having signature items that you've found in the wild or from people you know personally makes them a little more special. That's just me I guess. Does that make me a wooden nickel snob / purist? ANYWAY ... I do like to share my work with others. I made my signature nickels myself. I have a 2006 edition (all gone, sorry) and a 2007 edition. I call them the "WMC JUMBO WOODEN NICKELS". Here is the recipe: 1) Buy 2” diameter wooden blanks from a website like bearwoods.com. I purchased mine in bulk …. 300 blanks. 2) Purchase a 1.75” diameter seal stamp from a website like iprint.com … you can upload a custom graphic to it, but make sure the graphic is “stamp friendly”!!! 3) Purchase 1 2/3” diameter round laser Avery labels and have access to a color laser printer. Label number 5293 to be specific. They come 600 labels to a package. 4) Create a graphic in Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro and copy it to the Word template for that label. The Avery labels come 24 to a sheet. Print a bunch out. Doing it this way I got my cost per jumbo nickel down to $0.28 each. Obviously, the next time I buy 300 blanks, my cost per nickel will decrease since I already have the stamp and labels in hand. The BIG PLUS in my mind of doing it this way is 1) I have creative control over my nickels and can change the design whenever and as often as I like … I just need to print more labels!! … and 2) The 2” diameter JUMBO size really makes them stand out amongst their peers which are typically 1” to 1 2/3” diameter. They have been well received. I’ve even made some commemorative “You Found It!” nickels for some of my caches to be taken as souvenirs for the finders. Let me know what you think. Really …. I’m not interested in getting involved in mailing a bunch of these all over the country as a hobby, but if you feel these are a MUST HAVE for your collection, I will set aside TEN of them and will mail them on a first come, first serve basis. If you want to trade, I really prefer home-made signature items over signature items that you order and have somebody else make for you (sorry … I guess that DOES makes me a sig-item snob.) Please allow some time for delivery ... it may take me a few weeks to make the time to package everything. I'm currently working on my dissertation proposal defense, so time is at a premium for me. Thanks! Matt Here’s the picture of the 2006 (none left) and 2007 edition. Don't let the numbers fool you, they are not trackable ... yet ... though I do plan on putting something in place for tracking this year. 2006 Edition ... sorry none left to trade 2007 Edition ... I'll set aside ten for trade if you REALLY must have one

Looks like the cat's out of the bag anyway as I see some of my fellow New Englanders in the reply list. For the record, when the Patriots aren't playing the Colts, I root for them with as much enthusiasm as I do when the Colts play. Besides, I want to be able to take my kids to games someday and Indy is a bit of a haul from Western Mass. Such is the life of a transplanted Hoosier football fan. I'm even on the Patriot's season ticket waiting list ... *GASP* . There's no law against having two favorite teams, right? Errrr .... right .... geocaching forum. Ummm .... So, how 'bout those lame Walmart lamp post micros, eh? To each his own I say. Heh heh. *ahem* Matt

I'm sorry that this is so far off topic, but I was wondering if anybody recorded the AFC Championship game between the Colts and the Pats. I live in Massachusetts but am a Colts fan and am afraid to post this request in our local Southern New England Forum, snegeocachers.com (I'm sure you can understand why). ;-) When I recored the game, I accidently put the VCR on 2 hour mode vs. 6 hour mode, so I only got up through the first half. Would somebody who recorded it be willing to make a copy for me? I will pay postage. That game is an instant classic. We now have "The Comeback" to add to the ranks of "The Drive" and "The Catch". Errr ... so ... how to get this on topic so it's not closed ... Ummmm ... Hey! I was in Indianapolis a few weeks ago visiting family! Took the kids geocaching on the eastside of town to land our first Indiana caches (started the hobby back in June '06) I found a couple IndyMagicMan puzzle caches, took two stabs at the infamous Shelter III. My favorite had to be the micro at the Monument Circle in downtown Indy. I love the town and the monument is one of my favorite places!!!! Recently ordered a few of the new 2006 Indiana Geocoins! Fun stuff! *Cringes in anticipation of being hit upside the head with the Admin Brick* If anybody is going to be in Western Massachusetts I'd be happy to show you around, or at least give you an idea of where the best caching is (e.g., Holyoke Range and Skinner State Park). All the best, Matt Edit: Typo

Personally, when I first saw the picture a few months back I did a double-take. After a close look, it's clear that it's not Photoshopped. I recall being impressed. Very creative idea. Good job! My submitted photo was of the Jeep climbing over large "GEO" related volumes at the UMass WEB DuBois Library .... entitled "Getting in Some Heavy Reading at the UMass Library" ... or something like that. When I took the picture I wished I had a GI Joe miniature toy ammo can to "hide" amongst the books. That would have made this pic much better. Congrats GarminArmin! Matt P.S. BTW, the Jeep is casting a shadow ... just a smaller one since it has a lower profile. Also notice the shuttle's shadow falls over both the TB tag *AND* the poster. That would have been very difficult to Photoshop. My take: Toys on a poster. Fun stuff. Edit: Added a few more thoughts

Thank you everybody for your replies. Some very good information. Also found this great thread after a search and a little digging: 60CSx meet the 76CSx My only remaining question: Based on your feedback, I'm now looking at Garmin's North America City Navigator, v. 8 (around $100). Based on the specs at the website, it looks as if it covers all of the U.S. and Canada. However, is this coverage limited to large metropolitan areas only, or will there be coverage of small towns as well? I live in a rural area and would like any software package I pick up with roads to include not only the major interstates, highways, and city streets, but also smaller roads, side roads, etc. like you'd find in small-town America. BTW .... I'm now leaning towards the 60CSx .... because, considering most everything else is equal, the user interface seems better suited to how I'd want to use it / hold it / etc. while caching. I think I'd prefer the "cell phone" grip vs. the "remote control" style grip. As you all said, the memory is the only major difference (and floating) and I'll probably upgrade eventually anyway. Thanks! Matt

Hi all ... I'm looking to spend some of my Christmas money and other cash I've saved up over the last 12 months for a new GPS unit. When family asked what I wanted for Christmas this year, I simply asked for cash that I could use for the upgrade. That money added to some money I've saved up over the last 12 months gives me a budget of $475. Currently at FactoryOutletstore.com, they have some decent rebates on the Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx ($450 base cost with $115 in rebates) and Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx units ($450 base cost with $50 in rebates). I'm also looking at some mapping software. I have a few questions I was hoping I could get some feedback on before purchasing my unit. 1) The 76CSx comes with 128 MB memory vs. 64 MB for the 60Cx. Other than that they seem pretty much to be identical units (though physically they look *very* different from each other). Can anybody who has experience with either unit share their experiences with it? I'm leaning towards the 76CSx only because it has more memory. If there are any compelling reasons to go with the 60Cx despite it having half as much memory, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Judging by the pictures, it's hard to tell which nterface is the most user-friendly. 2) Are the prices about right for these units (given the rebates)? 3) What kind of resolution comes with the basemaps? Road-wise, is the best "resolution" at the highway-leven (i.e. Interstates and Major State Roads with no minor / residential roads)? I would like to get complete roadmaps for New England and the Northeast. What are my options? I'm looking at MapSource US Topo CD-ROM for $100 or so (010-10215-02). Is that the best way to go? 4) Also, if I get the MapSource US Topo package above, does that come with detailed maps of cities such as Boston, etc. or would I have to buy those separately? Thanks for putting up with my questions. My current GPS is an eXplorist 200, which does not come with any real mapping software to speak of other than a primitive basemap .... and no USB connection. I appreciate any feedback on the Garmin units you could provide. I don't want to rush into a GPSr purchase and regret it later. Cheers, Matt [Edit : Correction .... the 76CSx only has a $50 instand rebate]

I have received the coins that I ordered - though I haven't activated them yet. So, I would imagine it wouldn't be long. However, yes, it did seem like an unusually long wait for them to arrive. Matt .... aka ~~ Western Mass Clan

Hi all ..... I'm a native Hoosier now living in Western Massachusetts with my family. I grew up in New Palestine where I graduated High School in 1990. Moved here in 2000 with my wife to begin grad school at UMass Amherst. My wife teaches locally and the area has grown on me. The topography of Western Massachusetts is somewhat rockier and taller than Southern Indiana - but the areas are reminicient of each other. Just thought I would say I've been watching this thread and look forward to when these coins come out. I will be sure to add a few to my collection. I'll be in Indianapolis for New Years and look foward to some Indianapolis caching for the first time. All the best! Matt