HartClimbs

...I'd picked up some animal repellent (aka pepper spray) after I got spooked by what I thought was a feral dog (it was actually a coyote). 5 bucks well spent for piece of mind. "If someone did you a favor - something big, something you couldn't do on your own, and instead of paying it back, you paid it forward to three people...and the next day they each paid it forward to three more...and the day after that, those 27 people each paid it forward to another three...and each day, everyone in turn paid it forward to three more people...in two weeks, that comes to 4,782,969 people." - Pay It Forward

I disagree completely. Anyone associated with suggesting, refining, or refloating the idea should be flogged with a wet noodle. OK - I think it's a good idea, but it's really up to TBTB to see if they'd want the additional administrative workload. Personally, I think it would make 'ownership' of a cache mean more than 'who got to the park first to dump a tupperware container'. I'll take credit for the 'retrieval' idea (where caches that are not renewed are marked 'retrievable' and the next finder should grab the cache and dispose of it (or adopt it). Did I mention I also invented the internet? "If someone did you a favor - something big, something you couldn't do on your own, and instead of paying it back, you paid it forward to three people...and the next day they each paid it forward to three more...and the day after that, those 27 people each paid it forward to another three...and each day, everyone in turn paid it forward to three more people...in two weeks, that comes to 4,782,969 people." - Pay It Forward

Quick TB-related question: If I come across a travel bug that has as a goal "travel as many miles as possible", is it bad form to log it in/out of multiple caches as I'm traveling? For example, if I pick a bug up in Jersey with this goal, can I log it when I'm in California finding a cache, log it out again and bring it back to leave in a Jersey cache to rack up some round-trip distance (or should I just leave it in sunny California?) Being relatively new, I figured it was worth getting people's opinions..... "If someone did you a favor - something big, something you couldn't do on your own, and instead of paying it back, you paid it forward to three people...and the next day they each paid it forward to three more...and the day after that, those 27 people each paid it forward to another three...and each day, everyone in turn paid it forward to three more people...in two weeks, that comes to 4,782,969 people." - Pay It Forward

Thanks for a good chuckle this morning. Nice to have company in the 'knuckhead addicted cacher' support group! Well written account and funny! "If someone did you a favor - something big, something you couldn't do on your own, and instead of paying it back, you paid it forward to three people...and the next day they each paid it forward to three more...and the day after that, those 27 people each paid it forward to another three...and each day, everyone in turn paid it forward to three more people...in two weeks, that comes to 4,782,969 people." - Pay It Forward

...turn off your T.V. Anybody else get the feeling that the media's role has become feeding abject fear and paranoia? Hours and hours of news filled with no real information - rampant speculation and rumor mongering. (Although I thought I saw a picture of Geraldo geocaching in Afghanistan?) I just hope our troops come home soon. "If someone did you a favor - something big, something you couldn't do on your own, and instead of paying it back, you paid it forward to three people...and the next day they each paid it forward to three more...and the day after that, those 27 people each paid it forward to another three...and each day, everyone in turn paid it forward to three more people...in two weeks, that comes to 4,782,969 people." - Pay It Forward

quote:Originally posted by EscapeVa:>snip< The Dr infact identified the tick as a Deer tick and gave me two pills to take that day [Doxycycline). Now I sit and wait for 30 days to pass and hope I don't get any unexplained fever or the bullseye rash. >snip< The good news is - it's more likely than not that you didn't get lyme from your little hitchhiker. I've also only had a few ticks grab hold in my many years in the woods, but my son (who we've always checked closely for ticks) had gotten Lyme and been through the antibiotic regimen. For me at least, the benefits of enjoying the outdoors far outweigh the risks of Lyme, West Nile, Tetnus, hantavirus, etc... Good luck! - HartClimbs If someone did you a favor - something big, something you couldn't do on your own, and instead of paying it back, you paid it forward to three people...

quote:Originally posted by The BeeGees:2 days - 2 caches - 2 ticks! They're my new signature item. I've left some near every cache I've found in NJ!

I don't know if the data is any different, but I have MetroGuide V3.00 (with Mapsource 4.11) and the largest single map in Kansas is a little over a meg (most of the more rural areas are under 500k!). So, if your version of Metroguide has much larger maps (and much bigger chunks), it may be worth upgrading. Also, make sure you've unchecked the AUTOROUTING box so you don't include that info when you download to the Rino. The Rino doesn't support autorouting so eliminating this data will make the downloaded map smaller without sacrificing any functionality. The maps without the autorouting data are sigificantly smaller. I have most of northern NJ Metro loaded into my Rino 120, along with a good portion of the state Topo maps. It's amazing what can fit into 8Mb. Good luck!

quote:Climbers can tell you that it is possible to establish a reasonable relationship with the NPS and other land management agencies. They can also tell you that places that have the worst access (ex. Hueco Tanks in Texas), usually can blame the root of the problem on a handful of folks who are absolutely certain that they have the "right" to do what they "want" on "their" land. Yeah - great example, but as a climber - I disagree with your premise. Plenty of good climbing areas are closed to climbing for reasons other than land abuse (I believe fear of lawsuits ranks high here). You can see how rampant bureaucracy becomes when people assume that permission needs to be granted. I much prefer the society where specific activities are regulated - and those not specifically mentioned are unregulated. You see both types of management on public land, but the point of your climbing example is bunk. Unfortunately, people in charge sometimes say no just because they can. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and oh yeah - mean people suck (how's that for philosophy applied to geocaching?).

I like it. Gives me an excuse to carry a Louisville Slugger while caching.

Great weekend for being outside....

quote:Originally posted by juliamark:I suppose it's human nature to make everything a contest. I say we multiply the cache difficulty ratings by the weight and height of the cache finder. We big guys have a tougher time gaining elevation and sink deeper while slogging through swamps so it's only fair to adjust the terrain ratings! Seriously (although it's tough to apply that word anywhere near this thread), Julia's right on the money - actually lending wisdom to this discussion! p.s. I still think anyone with less than 10,000 finds should be classified a 'newbie'. (although I heard there's a special bonus of 2,000 finds being offered to anyone who can fix the pocketquery constipation problem!).

quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat:0-5 newbie; 6-15 beginner; 16-25 novice; 26-50 intermediate; 51-100 journeymen; 101-200 advanced; 201-500 expert; 501-1000 Master; 1001-2000 Grandmaster 2001+ Nutcase With 45,000+ caches already hidden, aren't you setting the bar a little low? How about: 0 - Troll (or pre-newbie if you wish) 1-100 - Newbie 100-500 - Newbie with attitude 500-1000 - Newbie with a serious addiction 1000-5000 - Newbie with experience 5K-10K - Newbie with honors 10K-20K - Beginner 20K-30K - Intermediate 30K-40K - Advanced Intermediate >40K - Ok, you win and can stop looking. Plus, with everyone under 10,000 finds still counted as a Newbie, it might help prevent some of the class warfare that pops up on the message boards! Obviously the only true measure of a man (or woman) is a count of how many tupperware, 35mm film canisters, and ammo cans they've found in the woods!

Great weekend to be outdoors!

quote:Originally posted by coast2coast2coast:In Canada we use sawed off hockey sticks They work great Interesting - I have the same walking stick down here in 'Joisey'! After I cut off the blade, I drilled a small hole in the end and screwed in a metal spike to provide a point to dig into the ice with while walking. I'm hoping I never get asked by any authorities why I'm carrying a 'loaded' sawed off hockey stick!

Naw - my pocketqueries only come back sporatically as well. (and my query number are up around 8000!). I'd been using them for about a month - then suddenly days started getting skipped. Now, there's no quick turnaround, but I emailed contact@geocaching.com instead of posting and haven't heard back yet on what (if anything) the problem is. I'm hoping it's something I'm doing wrong - but they don't seem as reliable as I'd hoped. I'm sure things will improve with time.

My radio sounds much-improved. I don't know exactly what was done, but when I used the radio with my other Motorola FRS units, it sounded significantly better than before the RMA.

Will be out in California that week/weekend (sightseeing and playing golf at Pebble Beach - muhahahahaha!) - but would DEFINITELY be interested if a different weekend worked out!

..but it's my first (and only) GPS so I don't have much of a basis for comparison. What I can tell you is that I've been so impressed with Garmin's Customer Service that I would recommend Garmin without reservations.

Update - I overnighted (FEDEXed) my Rino to Kansas Tuesday night and I just checked FEDEX's website - my Rino's on it's way back scheduled for delivery by 10:30 am TOMORROW. 72 hour turnaround is unbelievable - I can't believe Garmin expedited the fix and is sending the unit back to me express overnight shipping. Even though I was happy with my Garmin Rino before (but a little disappointed with the recall), I'm now an even bigger fan of Garmin products. Their customer service is phenomenal! I would recommend them in a second - both for the functionality of the Rino's as well as their terrific customer service. In a world where most companies give lipservice to customer service (ie. call some companies and you sit on hold for an hour listening to "your call is very important to us - please continue to hold for the next available representative"), Garmin customer support was quick to respond, easy to reach by phone, helpful, and came through with results. (and no, this isn't a paid endorsement!)

quote:Originally posted by Mopar: Too bad BassoonPilot has stated elsewhere the newbie bar has been raised from 100 to 500, so you and I both have a was to go yet. Wow, I thought when I reached 10 finds it was significant. 25 was great - and 50 was pretty surprising as well. Let's not get *too* caught up in the numbers - I'm guessing Mopar was joking but there have been several forum posts where people obviously judged others by "find counts" (and weren't joking). Doesn't matter to me personally - but remember, we're all just keeping count of how many tupperware containers we've found in the woods! Very cool that this game's getting so popular - and it's especially cool that people are recognizing these milestones, but watch the elitism bug! I'm psyched to see folks enjoying the outdoors, either with 2 or 2000 finds. Ok - I'm off my soapbox (and I was just bummed Lake Dundee was archived)

Only in a few months of caching, I've come across two (really good) caches that had aspects of either clues or the actual cache hidden inside very public buildings (and I'm not talking about virtuals - these were conventional caches). I'm not giving anything away - except to say that both clearly wouldn't have represented a potential threat to anyone who happened across them and both gave me a real smile when I found them! 'Hidden in plain sight' is a powerful technique if used right (and neither of the two caches i'm thinking of will likely get plundered since they blend so well with their environments)! That said, I don't think leaving a camouflaged ammo can in a bus depot would be a good idea. The two caches I'm thinking about very clearly represented no threat and I would suspect if they were found by the building management - would have just gotten a puzzled laugh.

...but for the virtual cache idea specifically, I have a suggestion. I had come across something similar with an inspirational poem that I thought folks would enjoy. Instead of making it a virtual, I used the poem as clues to finding a TRADITIONAL cache. Here's the example: Harm Me Not Cache. I've only placed one virtual and am currently reconsidering how I could make it into a traditional cache (since I much prefer actually having a cache at the end of the search to find). I'm finding the virtual cache idea tends to get overused and many of the caches are a bit lame - this way, you get to bring seekers to the "cool spot" you were going to use as a virtual, but there's still a physical cache nearby to actually find. Of course, this wouldn't work in all places, but if there's a nearby spot to stash a physical cache (even a micro) - this might address the virtual approval issue. That said, ice cream comes in many flavors so I'm sure there are folks who much prefer virts to traditionals, but I figured I'd toss in a suggestion. [This message was edited by HartClimbs on March 13, 2003 at 07:03 AM.]

Congratulations!!! Seems to be going around! (and I'm hoping I'm counted as a 'young' upstart!)

quote:Originally posted by Kaniksu:What happens to the hundreds of caches that don't get renewed because their owners rode away into the sunset never to be heard from again? It seems like your method would lead to a horde of geolitter. At least now, an abandoned cache stays listed and in the consciousness of the geocaching community. That gives people a chance to remove it or adopt it. How's this for an idea. I like BP's suggestion of having to renew caches (an email verification once a year isn't a big deal for cache owners I'd imagine), but there *is* the issue of the old abandoned tupperware sitting under a rock someplace. How about having a new cache designation: 'NonRenewed' where the next finder would be asked to collect the cache. When he/she logs their find (on the NonRenewed cache) - if they've picked it up, the cache should THEN be archived. I wouldn't mind picking up old abandoned caches if it helped eliminate some of the garbage out there. Cache in - pack out! Otherwise, as others have already noted - it just becomes trash.