I've used the "cell phone" technique. I also cache with 2 small dogs so bending over for a pat/scratch allows a look under benches and it also allows me to stall until the muggles move away.
I use the maps to plan all my geocaching! I use IE 7 and XP. Nothing but problems. Slow loading maps when they load at all. Lots of crashing. Very frustrating. I was just about to give up. Maybe the problem will be fixed in a month or so. Good thing I checked the forum. Just Downloaded Firefox. The maps now load quickly I can scroll without a problem. Seems that I should be able to choose my browser though.