Syndam

Boy, briansnat, your sensitivity is overwhelming! Perhaps you should avoid activities which annoy you...like not reading the posts and not being a moderator/reviewer. I have to empathize with first cache placement troubles. It takes much more than 30 seconds of research. Besides, you obviously don't geocache with kids. Kid are easily disappointed and the process is definitely NOt a slam dunk for newbies. I have kids, and I think I have to side with briansnat on this. Do some research and teach your kids to do some research. Learn the rules and follow the rules. It's a good learning experience. At first it may take a few minutes to research info, but the OP should have put a few minutes into research before spending many hours looking for the perfect spot. The answer to placing a cache in that spot was "No". The OP should have done some research to find out why it was rejected. Turns out, as far as I can tell, it was because they where measuring the distance along the route they took (maybe not the route I would take), and not in a straight line. Lack of research. How much sugar coating does a response to that need to have? His kids are disappointed because of his failure to do a little research, not because this sport is so difficult.

I have an opinion and I think I'll share it here. I'll be sharing opinions on some of the other threads later. I hope it won't be to upsetting for anybody. First off, hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaa. I really enjoy comments like "I don't like the forums for "insert personal reason here", I'm seriously considering giving up the 'sport' completely." How exactly is Geocaching so directly linked with this site that if you cant do one then you cant do the other? Is that supposed to be a threat of some kind? If you don't play my way I'm going to take my GPS and go home.... when do you turn 6? If you can't handle the banter and posturing, just go. Why announce it? Or is this what you really meant: Hey, look at me, look at me, look at me, I'm important, at least more important than all of you, I need attention, you have to do things my way, I set the standard for good Forum behavior, I think everybody cares whether or not I participate, I am so needed here that this place will fall apart without me, and if you don't like it I wont come here anymore. I couldn't leave without broadcasting it because I know you will all miss me.

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. I am having the same problem with my first cache. I cant find a spot I like that isn't to close to another cache.... that isn't my reviewers fault. And yes I do enjoy the days I get to go adventuring outside. The guideline/rule is a 528 foot distance (straight line from cache, not how you decide to walk it.). There are two caches in that area that are only 1049.55 feet apart, so the mid-point, right where you want to place your cache is at best 525 feet from either cache. I know 3 feet seems very very petty, but if the guideline/rules get bent for 3 feet then someone will expect them to get bent for 5', then 6', 8', 10', 132' and finally 527'. Why not just play by the rules. I hope this might help you for your location. Restricted Zones:

Might be possible a Muggle brought the cache in tho the PD. Or a parks worker collected it as trash. If a LEO was called to the park by a muggle, he had to collect it. They can't keep everything in storage at the PD. If it isn't part of an investigation then it isn't evidence and it isn't needed. It's just taking space and is destroyed/thrown out or sold to make room for real evidence. If the OP is a LEO, then I think it was nice of him to take the time to post here. It's way more than he is required to do.

Make a pointed statement, get a pointed reply. If you actually read what I wrote, "If I can't find one but I think it's still there and I believe I may have some useful info for future cachers, I would leave a Note saying so", in other words I still might post on the Cache Page, just not list it as a DNF. If I stop on my way home to check an cache and I have very little time, or it gets dark, or muggles chase me off I should log a DNF so the owner may have to take the time to go check the cache? Why not just post it as a note?

So you tell everyone if you succeed but no one if you fail. By logging a find I am "Telling everyone"? I didn't realize my logs where e-mailed to everyone. Since there is no "Winner" in this game and we aren't competing against each other, no I don't log my DNF's. I have 2 caches I was unable to find so far if that makes you feel better. The only person that it should matter to is myself, why do you care? Should "Everyone" start caring how many caches you have found and the difficulty of those caches? Logging a find is something you do to show you found it, to let the owner know it's still there. I look at it as fun whether it's a Find or a DNF. If you feel you have to look at a "Find" as a success, good for you. If a person needs to brag about how many caches they have found then yes they should log DNF's.

I don't really agree with you on this, I think this game should be about helping each other. My common sense is usually pretty good, I tend to get in trouble when I make assumptions though... Thanks for every ones opinion on this.

What kind of electronics? Take a look at this: I think its pretty dadgum cool and even a post-911 moron could not mistake it for a bomb. I found these pics HERE, Page 29

I would only post a DNF for a cache I was 100% sure was MIA. I have posted one DNF on a cache I that I'm sure is still there. The only reason I posted was to let others know the road conditions (it's winter), I later realized that I should have posted it as a note. If I can't find one but I think it's still there and I believe I may have some useful info for future cachers, I would leave a Note saying so.

Can somebody make a button that will do my laundry, I don't care if I need Firefox to make it work.

After finding a cache with a wet/ruined log book I started carrying a spare log and spare pens when caching. I haven't needed to use the log yet, but it occurred to me on my last cache hunt, what do I do with the old log? If it's full, do I just drop a new one in the cache and leave the old one? If it's wet should I take it home and dry it out or leave it where it is? I know that there are so many variables here that there is probably no one set rule, but any general guidelines would be appreciated.

So you're telling us that there was a bomb scare and the evacuation of an entire plant but yet the news has nothing to say about it? Very doubtful (the police cant hide that). I found nothing in any of the local papers or on the local news. Also how can you be so sure with what REALLY happened? Are you even in the Portland area? I live about 10 miles from that cache. I watch the news every night and it hasn't been covered at all. It is possible that the news stations missed it, but they usually report every little thing that will draw viewers.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahaaaaa ha OK, the cache container was a bad idea but... I read the logs on the cache. I really liked: Go JayBee, who says you are a respected member of the GeoCaching Community? Beside yourself, I mean. I also really liked: How exactly did it cost thousands of dollars? Does the Bomb Squad in Milwaukie only get paid when they find a bomb? In actuality it cost very little more than gas money to take car of this. The bomb squad gets paid by the hour not by the bomb. They get paid whether they are sitting at Bomb Squad HQ or out in the field. And again, the container was a poor choice. While you have never made a bad decision in your life, try to get over it and move on.

I'm not sure that "Buttload" and "Fun" should be used in the same sentence... This is a great thread. I have been reading a lot of posts and have formed mental pictures of a few of the members. Now that I have an age to go with my mental picture, I was a bit off on a few of them... Closing in on 38 here. Syndam Jr. is almost 10 Symdamette Jr. is 12. She doesn't cache... yet. I'm guessing it just isn't cool enough. Mrs. Syndam just looks forward to having the house to herself while I am out caching.

I thought that was obvious, but apparently it was not. Sorry I was not clear. The answer to your question about my opinion would be, all of them. Let's assume for the moment that you weren't trying to shamelessly twist my post to suit your personal needs, and treat your concern accordingly: Would it be a detriment to the game to make BillyBobNosePicker get explicit permission for his Appalachian Trail Trailhead parking lot cache? Would it be a detriment to the game to make BillyBobNosePicker get explicit permission for his Wally World parking lot hide? In either scenario, a confronted cacher could easily direct those doing the confronting to the person that allowed the hide. Hey CF, I just checked and there are no geocachers named BillyBobNosePicker. Now I need to find that thread that was "How to change your user name"...

You have summed up exactly why I don't watch the news. Now wait a minute here, are you insinuating that the news has some agenda other than the news???? I thought they where always honest and correct.....

The big problem I see with "interpreting" the rules/guidelines is that it comes down to personal belief. If I believe a bridge on a Highway (Just for you Starbrand) is really cool and a great place, then I am going to decide it is OK for me to place a cache there. Others may not see it that way. Don't interpret the rule, read them and take them at face value. And I have yet to see "Unless you are a Law Enforcement Officer, because obviously rules do not apply to you" Caches may be quickly archived if we see the following (which is not inclusive): (This sentence means "Do Not Place Caches Here." *Caches near or under public structures deemed potential or possible targets for terrorist attacks. These include but are not limited to highway bridges, dams, government buildings, elementary and secondary schools, and airports.

Yes, drop the Cache Owner a note and see if they will move it. Be ready to accept a "No". Sometimes that is just how it goes. Everybody feels that their caches are better than everybody else's... Sorry, someone beat you to that spot, but just respect the rules. Sooner or later someone else will feel that they have a better cache idea for that location than you do. Should we change the rules for them too, or just when you want a rule change? If little exceptions are made for everybody, pretty soon there won't be any rules.

WOW! I may have to make a special trip for that one one of these days. As for when is there an appropriate exception... never, at least in the world we live in. In a perfect world, the Cache Owner would be completely honest about his/her cache and the Reviewer would be familiar with the area and the placement. A good decision could be made. Some differentiation could be made between acceptable and unacceptable bridge locations. In a perfect world, other cachers would understand why one cache was acceptable and another was not. But back to reality (and my opinion of human nature), people will understate a location or downplay a breach of guidelines to get a cache placed. Reviewers aren't perfect and they must rely on the information they are presented (by the cache owner). If a reviewer allows one to be placed on/under a bridge then there is an expectation that he will allow others. Also if a cache is place on a bridge with the approval of a Reviewer and it turns out to be a legal problem for someone, isn't the Reviewer at least partially at fault for allowing a known breach of the guidelines?

Worldwide Whereabouts Apparatus

Is it possible that somebody placed it and hasn't activated/registered it? Was it logged into the cache by some one else?

I bought my Garmin GPSmap76 for $199. About $25 buck more than the VentureCX. If I had it to do over, I would buy a VentureCX. They have similar features and performance with one big difference... No Color Screen on the GPSmap76.....

How many caches can you really maintain and what is a reasonable number of caches for any one person to place? There is a person in my neck of the woods that has over 250 traditional caches placed. If they where to visit each one once per year, they would have to visit almost 5 per week. Can this really be done? If there was a reasonable limit to how many active caches each person could have do you think it would help to improve the placement and overall quality of caches? I realize that "A reasonable number of caches" is a different number to everyone.

Absolutely the best plan. But if I need an excuse to be in a public area... A nice digital camera works. Nobody questions why you are taking pics of trees, flowers, birds or unusual buildings. Linger as long as you like with a camera in hand.

Great Avatar. I haven't seen the Flaming Carrot for years...