yumitori

Um. here's the questions... So Team GeoMacs got what they asked for; someone's thoughts. At least Dear Dora didn't call them a poor sport, well not in so many words. And it reminds me to try and be more specific when I post about something that irritates the heck out of me... (Have we totally derailed this discussion yet?)

Hmmm. The coin belongs to moun10bike. I don't think that comes as a big surprise, since it says so on the coin's page. Moun10bike is not the one selling it, and he did not approve of the sale. What's it called when you take something that does not belong to you and give it to another person in exchange for your debts? What's it called when they in turn try to sell it? Pretty basic issues here; it would be nice if the original poster made sure to provide the entire picture. Just for clarity's sake...

What did the cache pages say? Unless they spelled out violations of the guidelines, how would the reviewers know there's a problem if you don't tell them?

I have a friend who's a librarian, so I discussed the idea with her and she set up a meeting with the library director. I brought in the container I planned to use, ready to go, so she could see it, answered a few questions, and that was it. They even placed a label on the spine so it would blend better. They considered adding it to the card catalog, but since they are part of a multiple library system they were afraid someone at another branch would see and request the 'volume'. One thing I tried to be very clear about was that it should not lead to any disruption or additional work for her staff, and I tried to emphasize on the cache page that folks should not bother the librarians, though they were all informed of its presence.

I take it you are not familiar with the idea of family heirlooms? "Dear, this is your Great-Grandma Ida's silver. You're the eldest daughter so it goes to you on your wedding day, and you'll pass it on to your daughter when she gets married. We wish you and Joe all the happiness in the world!" So when the marriage fails and Clarissa sells the silverware on eBay, do you think the rest of the family might be just a little bit miffed? These coins are sort of the geocaching version of family heirlooms. They're yours, and yet they're not. Some of the volunteers have already commented that they are retaining ownership, so you aren't being gifted the coin, you're being gifted the possession of it. The owner remains the person who's name shows up as such on that geocoin's page and they can place rules on possession if they wish. And as for the ones that have been transfered to someone else's account, well, the fam..., uh, the community is feeling a bit upset that Clarissa isn't respecting the traditions regardless of what the law says. It's good you're upfront about your feelings, so there's no surprises down the line for anyone who might consider gifting you with the possession of a geocoin. And for those who think my analogy sucks because it's not necessary to tell the blushing bride to not to sell off the family's antiques she got at the wedding, let's just say you've never met my family...

I produce FTF prizes that are cache specific and include the GC#. Unless I know what it is in advance then I can't do this so I disagree with what you've just said You can create a cache page without enabling it. If you're concerned that your reviewer is so on the ball that they'll list your submission in the few seconds it takes you to disable the page, submit it with useless infor such as coordinates in the middle of the Atlantic or something. Then edit the page at your leisure. Enable when the cache and the First To Find prize is ready and in place... In this instance, 'Submit to Reviewer' is another way of saying 'Enable so it's in the Queue'.

Hmmm. I don't know if you can or not. It sounds like you're pushing an agenda, and the folks in charge tend to frown on such things even when they're for good causes. That makes sense, since otherwise they'd have to spend all their time deciding which causes were 'good enough' to list and defending those decisions. I prefer site improvements personally... You better run the idea past your local reviewer first, before going to all of the trouble to set it up. Maybe a special gift (not an FTF) only available to first-time finders would be a good idea instead.

Because it's a valid response, if too strongly stated. The original poster called people cheaters. That's quite a slam, too. I personally think that several of the responses to the thread could be toned down a bit. If the person hiding the cache wants friends or family members to find it first to test it or for whatever other reason, that's their choice. You don't have to agree, you can call yourself the 'real' first finder if you wish, whatever. But if your enjoyment of the cache truly is destroyed because someone signed the log before you, perhaps you do need a real life. But what do I know? I obviously need one, too...

We figured we'd leave that for their Mom. But finding them really added to an already great weekend...

Just so long as you don't blow a fuse if someone else hides a cache in 'your' park and come onto the forums whining about it, I think you'll be just fine. Oh, and you might want to spread out your submissions a bit so the reviewers don't think you're 'saturation bombing' the place...

We found a couple dozen morels at a cache location a few years back. Since our special birthday weekend geocaching camping trip for Peggy was getting seriously rained out, we decided to stay at a hotel instead and cooked our dinners in the room over my backpacking stove. The sauteed mushrooms were a most excellent and memorable addition to our meal. Sadly, the spot was too far from home to re-visit.

I had much the same problem. I can't say I was impressed with the difficulties involved in figuring out the hoops I needed to jump through to make the software work properly. I finally got my coins ordered, but I'll keep this in mind when I'm looking for places to produce my coins. It's just not good business...

I really don't like looking for caches clearly associated with businesses, especially ones inside a building. I get enough advertising in my life without someone, however well-meaning, interjecting it into my recreational time.

Bison Capsules are available from lots of vendors, and there are many imitators. In my experience, though, the cheap knock-offs aren't worth wasting your time with since they do not seem to be waterproof, even when new. The Groundspeak store also sells a somewhat larger version with the geocaching.com logo.

I can think of numerous reasons why you might not place a permanent cache at an event site - * The park isn't comfortable with this whole caching thing, but okayed it just for the day. * There's a really cool spot that's too close to an existing cache so it can't be listed permanently. * The temporary caches are too close to one another. * The event location is too far from home for folks to maintain caches at. I'm sure there's plenty more. But I agree that I would prefer that caches be hidden for long-term enjoyment if possible. If they can't be, then I've gotten my smiley for finding them when I log the event. There's nothing wrong with this at all. Folks often bring travel bugs and geocoins to share and to pass on to those who can help them with their goals. I've often seen a table or a box set up for collecting them in one place.

You're reading too much into my post. You offered a solution; I simply pointed out that it was not a valid one for everyone. It could be, if it was possible to communicate with the people running the site. But since that's not the case... The rest is just a general comment on the behavior of some folks on the forums here. They whine about geocaching.com, they whine about Waymarking.com, they whine about letterboxer.com and it's not even launched yet. I'm saying in response to the whiners that in my opinion the existing letterboxing 'solutions' are lacking compared with geocaching.com, so I look forward to seeing what the same team comes up with for letterboxer.com since I enjoy the letterboxing portion of our sport and would like to be more active in it. If you're not one of the whiners, that second part of my post was not directed at you. If you are a whiner, Well...

Sadly, letterboxing.org is of limited use to me since I cannot access my account any longer. Attempts to contact the folks running the site have been lost or ignored. While it is popular to rip apart geocaching.com, its staff or its volunteers, folks with issues can at least communicate with people who will answer their questions. Presuming that this will be the case with letterboxer.com as well, I can't wait...

I'm not sure if I understand the basis for such a strong declaration. The Tallest is a letterbox hybrid. Using coordinates and a pretty standard 'get info from a sign' puzzle you find the container a short distance away. The letterbox version uses clues to get folks to the starting location, and then also makes use of the sign to the lead folks to the box in a traditional letterboxing manner. I would call this a multicache if there was no letterbox hybrid option, but I think the latter is a much better designation in this instance.

Since you are specifically asking about terracaches, you are posting this to the wrong forums.

I think you'll find your answer in the guidelines - "Solicitations are also off-limits. For example, caches perceived to be posted for religious, political, charitable or social agendas are not permitted. Geocaching is supposed to be a light, fun activity, not a platform for an agenda. Some exceptions can be made. In these rare situations, permission can be given by the Geocaching.com web site. However, permission should be asked first before posting. If you are in doubt, ask first." Sounds like an e-mail to Groundspeak is in order if you want to pursue this. edit - <sigh> Too slow again...

Congrats to Cat-aholic!! And to cerulean_2 for hitting #200 on the same cache on the same day...

Please always put the ziplock or other watertight bag inside the container. Attempts to put a container inside a plastic bag to keep it dry has the opposite result. The bags develop holes, tear, and otherwise quickly lose their integrity. Water ends up trapped next to the container and finds its way inside past the seal.; the contents end up mildewed and ruined. I've seen it happen time and again... Save the bags for inside the durable container.

That might be an older one. They don't list those anymore because people abused the idea. ('I threw a tennis shoe in a bush; e-mail me the brand to claim a find.' No, I'm not making this up.) And containers folks used to think were too small regularly have logbooks these days. I remember coming across an ancient (in geocaching terms) magnetic keybox that the owner thought couldn't hold a log because it was 'too small', so they had another system for verifying a find. Hands up; who here has signed a log in a magnetic key box? I think the idea of what is 'too small' gets revised as owners become more innovative. I suppose a really small container could still hold the coordinates to a log elsewhere, if the goal is to show off how small one can get with their nanocaches. Otherwise you are essentially creating a way to get around the restriction on virtual caches, intentionally or not.

I discovered that, too. Sorry about misleading you. I'll see if I can find out what's up.

You want to head over to the Portland Geocaching site and check out the recommended caches there. They have them broken down both by area and by the type of cache (best puzzles, best scenery, best for families, etc.) something we have found to be very useful on our trips there.