Zoboomafoo

Paul Ag's gag (I'm a poet) reminds of a book I heard about some years back now. A guy would write these long letters to corporations, movie stars, etc, asking them the most ridiculous things. I can't remember the title or author at the moment, but the book was a riot.

Good points Brian. I wonder how those new paint jugs with the screw on lids would work?

I've got more than a few church keys laying about, but it had never occured to me to use a paint can as a cache container. I guess if you attached the church key (lanyard maybe?) to the can, it would help those "lesser prepared" cachers (as I've been guilty of in the past). A nifty idea.

quote:Originally posted by SLCDave:I have a large papercutter at work that I have access to, so I cut the bottom 1/3 or so off a pocket spiral notebook to fit in a 1-quart paint can. Follow up question... though sort of off topic. I'm hoping to hide my first cache in the near future and I'm curious about your 1-quart paint can mention. Is it one of those cans that require a screwdriver to open or one with a screw on top?

I'm in, though mine isn't very interesting.

My wife and I are heading up to Door County in a few weeks and I want to introduce her to caching. So what caches in the Door are can't miss caches? Nothing too difficult, since she's a newbie, but something with a little challenge to it would be nice. TIA!

I bought a Brunton 26DNL Pioneer model before my last canoe trip in the Boundary Waters. It's my first compass. Usually only one of us in our group of four brings a compass but I wanted to learn how to orienteer while I was on this trip. I'm really happy with the Brunton and it was only around $17.

I was encouraged to reply so I will When I first started caching and registered I needed a name and of course, I hadn't thought of one before registering. My son, who was about 2 at the time, loved the show Zoboomafoo, on PBS. If you're not familiar, Zoboo is a leaping lemur and the show is all about the outdoors and animals. So that, coupled with my hope that my son will soon join me on a few of the easier caches, resulted in my alias. I'm thinking about changing it to Team Zoboo though, because I'm going to introduce my wife to geocaching when we go up to Door County WI in a few weeks. Would she be Zoboomafette?

quote:Originally posted by Mark 42:I have a degree, so now they call me eccentric instead of just weird... I just started caching, but here are some of the things I either use, or intend to use to help me keep track of my GPS: 1. I used a piece of brightly colored miniature climbing rope (about as thick as a shoelace) through the lanyard ring and put a small carabiner in the loop. 2. I only put my GPS on my windsield, sitting on the wiper to keep it from sliding down, with the lanyard clipped to the wiper or the antenna. That way, I will see it, and if I don't see it for some strange reason, it will stay attached to the car. 3. I intend to sew velcro (hook) on top of my hat and glue velcro (loop, pile... the soft part) on the bottom of my GPSr. That way I can put it on my head, and it will continue to receive without me having to carry it. I don't like the idea of carrying it in a case, or on my belt because I want it to continue tracking. 4. I intend to put a lanyard loop on the TOP of my gps so that I can hang it in a tree and it will be oriented with the antenna up. 5. I intend to get strips of surveyor's ribbon in bright orange and in yellow, and tie them to the lanyard loop so if I do leave it in a tree, or drop it, it'll be easier to find. (It'll look festive too!) 6. I will get a telescoping pole (like a trekking pole, but longer) and put a spike on the bottom and an attachment point for my GPS atop the handle so I can stick it into the ground and have my GPS up off the ground so it can continue to receive sattelite transmission while I'm hunting the area of the cache, or tying my shoelace. 6b. I can then use the pole to hold the GPS up high and get better reception. I'll hold it up high for a while, then bring it down and read the data. 7. I'll probably buy a re-radiating antenna, and put it on a very long telescoping pole so I can get up higher (if you're on a forest service road, even 20 ft higher can give a large increase in the angular projection of the slice of sky you can "see" with the antenna) 8. My Magellan SporTrak Pro Floats! If it didn't, I'd get one of those soft http://www.magnummarine.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MB&Product_Code=KEYFLOAT&Category_Code=A1 from a boating store (or Walmart) and attach it to the lanyard. _ "I'm not Responsible... just ask my wife, She'll confirm it" _ [This message was edited by Mark 42 on August 26, 2003 at 12:30 PM.] Can you post a pic of that monstrosity?

quote:Originally posted by DavidL: quote:Originally posted by Zoboomafoo:[That's surprising. I never let people review my articles before they're published. I'm been in a bunch of different trade magazines and the person doing the article always honored my request to review it. Good thing too since there were times I would correct what was written based on their interpretation of what I meant. Especially if someone isn't familiar with a specific topic, having someone knowledgeable review it is beneficial. So maybe you ought to consider that next time. Or do you write for the National Enquirer? I'm one of those rare breeds of reporters who actually do their homework before starting an article in which I may not know as much about the topic as I should. And I can proudly say I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to write a correction this year (twice for minor errors).

Squealy.... I really don't think any of the cachers here who have spoken to the media are doing so to become geocaching celebrities. In my experience, and I speak from experience because I'm a journalist who has also written a story about geocaching (which is up for an award coincidentally), that's not the case at all. When I did my story I went to our local geocaching group and asked for potential subjects for an interview and to seek a cache with one day. After touching base with a couple of local cachers I found one whose schedule would work with mine. Typically it is the same people who do this. Maybe it's because they're more comfortable speaking to the media. Maybe it's because they're the most vocal among their local groups. But to suggest that cachers are actively seeking out media attention for a scant 15 minutes of fame on a local lever is somewhat misguided in my opinion.

quote:Originally posted by DavidL: For folks that might do interviews in the future, I always ask to review the article prior to release and they typically comply with the request. That's surprising. I never let people review my articles before they're published.

quote:Originally posted by Manager:In the article in the Wisconsin State Journal of Sunday 8/24, it showed geocaching activities in areas that were illegal for the public to enter. I am concerned about disregarding the law to pursue this activity when there are limitless areas that are legal to enter. In any activity, if the participants get a reputation for causing problems, whether it is deserved or not, or whether it is only a small minority, restrictions usually follow. I think it benefits any recreational activity if the participants cooperate with landowners and local agencies. Spoken like a true geocacher eh? Anyone else notice this was Manager's first post ever??? A disgruntled land owner perhaps? Not that I'm saying he or she shouldn't have a say in matters like this, but instead of coming here in a huff and coldly espousing his or her opinions, why not take Brian's approach?

Lone Duck I was wondering if that was you! I'm a frequenter of CCBB as well though my moniker is not the same. I remember your signature there is now your avatar here. To the question, I just got back, last weekend, from the Boundary Waters. We did four days up there and as we're getting ready to enter the wilderness at the last minute I decided to leave my GPS behind. I didn't really have a good place to put it and truthfully, I didn't want to have to fuss with it. Instead we relied on map and compass like we always do. I might take it with next year though.

quote:Originally posted by flask:a well-known hiking trail crasses the road near my house. i've been working on putting together a large ammo box that will have nonperishable food and little necessities in a large ammo box, along with another box for empties. i'm working out the particulars. i thought it would be cool to make it a sort of cache, but i can't figure out how to get around the no food rule. the idea is that the cacher should leave somthing sealed and useable for a thru hiker. i'll keep the container clean and stocked. things to go in it: packets of tunafish beverages candy cookies mixed nuts energy bars dried beef bandaids moleskin lighters light cord needle/thread emergency poncho waterproofer anything else i should put in it? Couple of thoughts: Potable Aqua tablets and neutralizer extra shoelaces a bandana waterproof matches DEET spray cheap, small flashlights those sanitary wipes

quote:Originally posted by team travel pig:ah, the life of a reporter... "can't punctuate, poor sentence structure, yap yap yap..." listen people, consider taking every cache placed by anyone who heard about this through newspaper, tv or magazine out of the mix, and see how many you have left. you can't have the publicity until it suits you, and then wish it away. have it, or don't. and whether you like it or not, you have it. As yet another one of those d**m reporters I couldn't agree more. I did a story on Geocaching for our paper and it was very well received. And I found out about the sport through an article I read in a different publication. Many of us wouldn't be here if we hadn't read about it in a newspaper or seen it through some form of media. Granted, there are some lazy *** reporters out there who will butcher a story from time to time, but there are a select few of us who take our responsibilities quite seriously. [This message was edited by Zoboomafoo on August 22, 2003 at 03:51 PM.]

Erin beat me to it. Glad you liked the article Erin. It was a lot of fun to do (it's not everyday you can go geocaching and get paid to do it). I hope everyone else finds it interesting and accurate. And thanks to you Erin, and Genius as well!

Indeed the article should run soon, I'm finishing it up today, and I"ll be sure to post it when it shows up on our Internet site. Had a lot of fun with Loci on the cache. And I know what you mean about Thorney Glen Markwell. I never found that thing and now it's been archived. I'll just have to wait till next year I guess.

That leaping lemur! I needed a username without any sort of ties to previous internet aliases (because none of them seemed fitting for caching) and since lemurs are found in the wild, and I want caching to become a family activity, I grabbed Zoboomafoo. Plus it makes for a nice pic to go with the name.

is correct. Here in Illinois you can't use the tollway systems automated toll collector in Chevy vehicles without a special unit that mounts outside the vehicle. No surprise then that your GPS has troubles in the Venture.

I was hoping to find a Lake County geocacher to hutn with... but talkign to you via phone would be nice for a bit of perspective from other "local" cachers.

I was hoping to find a Lake County geocacher to hutn with... but talkign to you via phone would be nice for a bit of perspective from other "local" cachers.

And I hope it pleases my fellow Chicagoland geocachers. I didn't reveal this at first because I wanted to experience caching and benchmark hunting on my own (turns out I love it like I expected I would), but I'm also a member of the media. The only thing I look for more than caches are story ideas and this one's a great one. So to that end I'll be hoping to talk to a few of you for a story that I've been assigned that is due Oct. 17. Additionally, I'd like to bring a photographer along with me, and one of you, on a cache hunt. If you're interested, drop me an email at the address in my profile, jjking54@hotmail.com. Markwell, I'll probably want to talk to you too!

And I hope it pleases my fellow Chicagoland geocachers. I didn't reveal this at first because I wanted to experience caching and benchmark hunting on my own (turns out I love it like I expected I would), but I'm also a member of the media. The only thing I look for more than caches are story ideas and this one's a great one. So to that end I'll be hoping to talk to a few of you for a story that I've been assigned that is due Oct. 17. Additionally, I'd like to bring a photographer along with me, and one of you, on a cache hunt. If you're interested, drop me an email at the address in my profile, jjking54@hotmail.com. Markwell, I'll probably want to talk to you too!

I'm planning on searching for several caches tomorrow morning if the weather isn't too bad. Old School and Ulysses are both on my list.