CallMeCrazyKB

At risk of sounding completely dumb (well, I am admittedly kind of a dork, so I guess it's fitting), what's a letterbox?

I'm going to post a note for now and go back tomorrow in the daylight with my family to check for migration. If we don't find it I should be able to replace it right away and not have to disable it. And I'm definitely going to contact the previous finder.

I found an unlisted cache, I'm not sure *why* it's unlisted, if it was at one point listed, or never was listed, or maybe it's premium and I just can't see it, although from the previous logs it looked like it wasn't found often, and I wasn't sure what to do about it at all. I can't log it since it's not listed, but we found it while looking for a hide spot, so I almost feel like I should tell someone it's there to avoid proximity issues.

Well, it's not where I left it. It was originally tucked away so I figured it hadn't been replaced properly and the last finder just replaced it as hidden, but I looked all around, even elsewhere in the park, and didn't find it. It could still turn up, it was dark tonight when I was there and I want to go back with family during the day so they can help me hunt around in case somebody moved it, but it could have also been muggled. Although the way it was originally hidden, you would *never* have known it was there if you didn't have the coordinates, so if it's gone, somebody probably didn't hide it properly. Should I contact the last finder to verify the location they left it? Do I need to disable the listing or can I just post a note for now until I investigate further?

I only just placed my first cache a couple weeks ago and just got my first DNF. It's close to home so I'm planning to go out there tonight and check that it's still there. If it is, should I post a note that it's still there or pm the user, should I do this after every DNF, or should I leave it alone as long as the cache is still in place unless there are a bunch of DNFs in which case I might need to tweak the listing? What do most people do? I just want to be a good CO

If I find what I consider a 'good' cache (and my standards are pretty loose... container intact, contents not soaked or moldy) I will frequently leave a paracord bracelet or a keyring as I make these as a hobby (actually I sell them for charity, but I make way more than I sell). My intention is that they will eventually find someone who wants to keep them/wear them, whether or not they travel through other caches first. They don't have my name or anything on them, and they're all different colors. I figured cachers would appreciate the usefulness of paracord

I'm fairly new to the game too but this is the way I see it. If the cache is perfect, and you find it and sign the log, obviously you log a find. If the cache is there, but somehow imperfect - damp log, coordinates off, some sort of icky but not dangerous swag that you removed, nest of angry bumblebees nearby... log a find and note the issue you ran into in your log. I personally keep an eye on my most recent finds - if I noticed that the CO didn't respond or that other people experienced issues as well, I might go check on it again and log a NM. I just kind of think it doesn't hurt to mention it in your find log since technically it was there and you did find it, gives the CO an opportunity to fix it just from reading the logs. If you get to GZ and find a ruined or missing cache, or something dangerous like neighbors with shotguns, log a NM. To me that's a no-brainer. If it's smashed (or going to get you shot), it clearly needs maintenance. I will help a CO out with a new baggie, tape, pen, paper or replenish swag from time to time, but it's not my place to hide a replacement cache or check permissions. If you get to GZ and you can't find the cache... because you have to go somewhere else, because you're not a good climber, because you don't want to walk across the creek, because you just can't seem to find an area that fits the description of GZ, log a DNF and note why you think you did not find the cache in your log. I don't see a DNF as a reflection on the CO, but rather on me as a cacher - just my personal caching history, what I've looked for, etc. And if an attentive CO wants to double check that the container is there to avoid a possible NM, a DNF with a good description gives them that opportunity. If you get to GZ and the cache is obviously gone... as in, you looked everywhere for it, for a good amount of time, found what you were sure was GZ and there was nothing there, the cache very well could have gone missing. This is when I look at the logs before mine - did other cachers say it was a tricky hide, or lend any hint? Do the photos resemble anything I saw? Have there been previous DNFs? When was the last find? Depending on these things, I might log a NM. I have logged exactly one NM, and it was a cache that I searched for with my family last weekend, for a good long time and on parts of the terrain that I'm not sure everyone would've checked, knew I was at GZ by hints and pictures, and it simply wasn't there. When I went to log my DNF I noticed two prior DNFs (one newbie and one premium member with something like 10k finds if it matters) and that the last 'find' log was in November... on a suburban, not-too-difficult cache, I felt it was reasonable to assume that the cache was MIA - especially since even one of the previous finds noted that 'high water may be a problem' - so I logged a NM. I actually intend to go back with creekin' gear and literally search every nook and cranny that could even contain a nano (supposed to be a lock n lock) just because it's driving me crazy, if it's there I want it, but if I'm reasonably sure it's not there, I want to let someone know. My logs are never meant to reflect on the CO in any way, although I can understand how as a CO you might feel insulted that someone didn't like your cache. I think we all just have to remember to assume good intentions of each other - cachers assume COs don't intentionally let their caches fall into disrepair, COs assume that cachers log DNFs and NMs to help the CO and add to the experience, not as a personal affront. I mean, I opened a cache once and a dozen earwigs swarmed out... but that's not the CO's fault! The container had gotten a hole in it, and presumably we were the first to bring it to their attention (we didn't use a NM, we logged a find and noted the unintentional swag content), and they were appreciative. IMO it was a really good example of how the system should work. I feel like I should encourage everyone to hold hands and sing Kumbaya now.

I totally don't understand why druggies would put their drugs in caches... like seriously, don't they either want to take or sell them?? What are they gonna do, leave a business card in case you want more?

I don't like nanos/micros... really anything smaller than a 30-day prescription bottle (assuming you're not on 4 gazillion mg of giant potassium pills because that would be a huge bottle) just doesn't seem worth my time. I can't write small enough to write on the logs, there's nothing interesting inside them, and they're usually in boring, uninspired places like parking lots and the side of a road. I have seen a couple nanos/micros that made me smile... just because they were really creative hides. But otherwise, blah, don't even want to find it. That's just an irk though, what really drives me nuts is when people miscategorize the size of a cache, because sometimes I look for certain size caches (say, to drop a TB or something). If you post a small that's really a micro and don't note what the container is, I can't put what I wanted to put in it. If you hide a small (pill bottle/small lock n lock) size but list it as a micro, I'll likely never find it because I tend to ignore micros. I wish there were some larger caches around, I like to exchange swag, and if I come across a lackluster cache I'll usually throw in a couple things to 'upgrade' the swag. I've even got trinkets for pill bottles... that AREN'T pennies. Oy, I do not need pennies... unless they're like, super rare misprints worth a trillion dollars... that I could use.

First post, but I had to chime in. Recently we were looking for a place to drop off a TB, looked up a cache in a good location, and went to it... well, the pen had poked a hole in the lid and the cache was already full of ACTUAL bugs... earwigs, to be precise. Ick. Fortunately when we logged that the container was no longer sealed, the CO quickly posted a note that they were replacing it Also, this doesn't really count since it wasn't IN the cache, but last weekend my mom and I found a cache that must not have been found in a while, because a spider had laid its egg sac right by the lid, as in you would have to touch it to open the cache... so my mom went to scrape it off, and hundreds of tiny spiders scattered everywhere. She said it was the 'worst cache ever', lol. It was also at the top of a hill at an intersection and I fell in a drainage ditch twice, and contained a lincoln log, a lego, and a couple similarly useless things, lol. We put in a couple things to liven it up.

Forgive me if this is an obvious question, but how do you subscribe to the newsletter? For some reason I can't find it anywhere (although I'm admittedly probably looking right at it, geocaching overload today!)