Search the Community

@Goldenwattle I see you are also a TomTom user. Seems most here are using Garmin for automotive. PM me (or better, email) sometime if you like and perhaps we can talk about getting the best use in a caching environment. Depending upon which model you have (we have nearly all of them in test here), might be able to make helpful suggestions. I recall vividly my earliest attempt to find geocaches after a friend introduced me to the hobby in 2008. I didn't own a purpose built handheld and phones weren't any good for this sort of thing, so I tried to use my TomTom GO 720 to find caches by reading the coordinates off of the display. At that time, I didn't appreciate the 'road snap' function of these devices that attempted to correct for rough coordinate fixes by making assumptions about your position being on the nearest bit of road, assuming you were anywhere near one. What was weird (and later changed, largely at my request to the developers) was that the displayed coordinates on the satellite page weren't the 'real' ones, but rather, the assumed 'road snapped' coordinates! Talk about frustrating! Soon got that sorted, realized it wasn't going to work, and went out to get my first Garmin, and old and trusty Summit HC.

Thank you for the reply. I have asked that question to the head office and got no reply yet. I wanted to install the app on my phone but didn't know if there was a cost to do so. All the feed back talk is about how it cost so much to use your phone with the app. I'm not real Tec'y ,so I need help with it all. Thank You Again

+1 here When I have hosted an event, I made sure to talk to everybody--at least to say hello and thanks for coming. As the event progressed I made sure to talk to those who were not sitting with a group--if they are just hanging on the edge of a group and not participating in the conversation I may not notice that. But if I'm not the host, I talk to whomever I want to--usually this is a person by him/herself because I do better in a one-on-one than in a group conversation (poor social skills ya know). Mostly people talk to others that they know; that's just natural and it's not a "clique" at all, though it could look like it to someone who wants to see it that way. Cliques deliberately shut others out; all geocaching event group conversations that I have seen include newcomers. But if someone is going to sit apart and wait to be included, that's not likely to happen. The person who wants to be included has to make some effort to be included.

It would be nice if someone from geocaching HQ would read this post and say something. Even, "no thank you, we're happy with the way this is" though I'd prefer "thanks for the feedback, that's an interesting idea and we'll talk about it". I think it's a great idea as a software engineer, and helpful to integrate labs into the mainline game. Anyone from HQ listening? Hello?

Hello geocachers! Greetings! This is the first time I create a topic here. I am a brazilian geocacher (and, by the way, I welcome you all, inviting everyone to know my country by looking for the caches spread all over Brazil! :) But besides being a geocacher, I am also an academic researcher. And today, that is the reason why I am creating this topic. (I hope I am not breaking any forum rules ... but if I happen to be, please let me know, so that I can correct my fault). Well, right now I'm starting to study about the experience of players playing while traveling (or traveling while playing). More specifically, players who, while playing, can explore or go on tour over various environments (cities, countries, rural locations, nature areas, and so on). So, I am thinking of developing an analysis over this subject, starting from the observation of two specific games. One of them is Geocaching, for the reasons mentioned above. The other game is yet to be defined, but it must be (necessarily) an Open World type (due to the possibility of exploring and touring on virtual worlds, using maps and/or GPS, and so on). Therefore, I would like to count on your participation, opinion or support. Do you (or someone you know) play Geocaching AND ALSO other classic digital games* ? * (In this case, I refer to the classic digital games as those referring to worldwide renowned series, such as Grand Theft Auto, Assassin's Creed, The Witcher, The Elder Scrolls - Skyrim, World of Warcraft, and the like). ----------------------- To sum up: the idea of this topic is to talk a little bit with you here, about the subject of "Games & Travel", taking into consideration your experiences/adventures as Geocaching players and [insert name of Open World game you play here] players. To those interested in the subject, wherever in the world you are, I thank you very much for your participation! (and sorry for the long text :) Hope to talk to you all! Until next time!

For anyone interested, here is the episode of Challenge Talk where we discuss the idea of fully theming challenge caches. Seems like there is a general consensus that theming the challenge final cache itself in some way is much more enjoyable than just a run of the mill cache that signing is more like a smiley technicality.

Perhaps it's because the cache is a gift from the CO to the community, and the way we have of repaying that gift is to share our experiences through our logs whether that experience results in a precious smiley or not. Besides, if we didn't log our epic DNFs, what would there be to talk about at events? Points well taken - the only way we have to see activity on our hides is by the logs, and perhaps by communications at events or via the message center. Seeing unlogged activity (as defined by the OP) is problematic on many levels and is not likely to ever happen: How do you know they are searching for the cache? I use the app, at times, to check to see if I am too close when I am looking at a potential hiding spot by choosing a cache nearby and hitting Navigate. I also hit the Navigate to check distances to several that may be in the area - to help plan our spontaneous walk in the park, what's nearby? cache outings. That will not mean anything to the CO. And giving folks access to the detailed distance and time factors, I agree with Max and 99, that borders on creepy! More accurate logs are what will give the CO the best idea of activity on his/her hide whether that is a Found It, Write Note, or DNF. Detailed logs are even better!! And those logs you get from folks who use the official app, other apps, and plain old GPS units to search for and find caches - a much more accurate picture of what's happening with your cache.

Perhaps it's because the cache is a gift from the CO to the community, and the way we have of repaying that gift is to share our experiences through our logs whether that experience results in a precious smiley or not. Besides, if we didn't log our epic DNFs, what would there be to talk about at events?

I started Geocaching about 5 years ago. I only found a few easy caches, then didn't pick it up again until recently. It seems like my GPS unit is only accurate to within 10-15 feet. Is this normal? I guess that''s why people talk about "Ground Zero", right?

Not allowed to talk about it but I use an app that lets me see archived caches easily. I'm not surprised about the error though - having trouble today getting the mapping function to work AT ALL for lists. (Off to find where to post about that...)

It's fine to talk about a church's history, architecture, etc. on a cache page. They are interesting spots to visit, regardless of whether it's a mosque, synagogue or country chapel. It is a beautiful building regardless of whether Presbyterians or Baptists constructed it. There is no reason to get into a discussion of the religious beliefs celebrated within the building. It's fine to talk about hand sanitizer, too! I am the OP's reviewer. Another option is to create a cache page with a number of physical waypoints (i.e., multicache) for the general location of 10 churches, and submit that page for a coordinate check. That is a good way to become aware of conflicts with puzzle solutions, multicache finals, etc., before going through the trouble of obtaining permission and placing the cache in its hiding spot.

My approach would be to try to use leading zeros. If it's doing an alphabetic sort instead of a numeric one (not unreasonable, though you'refree to ask which of these steps is sorting them at all) "02 ... 09 10 11 12 ... 19 20 " will do what I think you're asking for. An alphabetic sort of that same sequence without tthe leading zeros would put 10 11 12 before 2. You may have too much software involved. Can you just copy the GPX file straight to the device and land it in whatever device directory it expects to find such things? I can't recall if 2597 mounts like a disk drive and reads GPX or if it was of the generation that wanted to be a camera and only talk through a protocol that didn't respect folders/directories. Goopd luck.

That's crazy talk!

The short answer is "no", and I don't want you to get your hopes up. But to some degree, it works as you hoped. *If* you get the AL loaded *and keep it loaded*, you can visit each stage and the AL with remember that you were there even though it can't get on-line to confirm your answer. You can even tell if your answer is right because if it isn't right, it says so, but if it is right, it puts up a spinny wheel so you know it's accepted your answer and is trying to register that fact with the wide world. The problem I've had is that even if I load the AL in advance, the app tends to time out if I don't actively talk to it. Then when I wake it back up, it has to reload the AL, so if I'm out of touch, I'm screwed. In addition, sometimes when it tries to register my answer on-line but fails, it will hang altogether so I have to shutdown the app myself, leaving me the reload problem again. If you won't have any connectivity, then forget it 'cuz you'll never get started. But if you can go into the nearest cafe to get on a wifi from time to time, you might be able to pull it off.

I don't think there's a need to skip over the identity of the person/category leader in question here. He's not an ogre, nor a mean and vindictive or vengeful person, just cantankerous, as many of us are becoming. For some reason he's just unwilling to come and say "Hi". I feel no antipathy toward him and I suspect that most people here feel likewise. They'd rather just have the opportunity to understand his point of view. I believe he's here, listening and watching right now. What say Possum Man? Could you come and talk to these people? Keith Addendum: OOPS!! I have been apprised that the Possum Man may not "come and talk to these people". Displaying my ignorance here. My apologies to all, including the Possum Man. OH CRAP - I've done it again. How do I get rid of the stuff below?!?!

My assumption was that reviewers might only do this when they happen to know the exact location, e.g. probably not all that often. I don't really know how much responsibility any individual reviewer has to enforce any particular rule, so I perhaps wouldn't go there. Well no, I was assuming the multi was blocking large area, as that was the premise. (somewhere between a single waypoint and an entire town) Addressed in my premise: "unobtainable to most cachers for a reason that isn't related to the location (e.g. a run-of-the-mill T5 tree climb near a waterfall) ". There's also been talk of "dumbing down" things, which I haven't perhaps properly addressed after that premise, but I did mean unobtainable in a fairly literal sense here. The argument wasn't for popularity at all costs, and that wouldn't be an argument I could ever see myself supporting. Take your example puzzle cache, almost anyone can go look some letters in a sign if they choose to; it's just that some don't want to. But the skill and gear for T5 climbing or scuba diving, or the intelligence/domain-specific knowledge required for certain types of puzzle present a barrier that can't be overcome by simple choice. In fact there's probably a very finite set of people in any area that can ever do those caches. The few hour hikes and boat caches that don't require an actual seaworthy boat and skill fall somewhere in the grey area in my mind. I'm still healthy enough to do that kind of thing fairly effortlessly, and I kinda like doing them, so I might easily come to think that anyone could. But that might be biased. It will but the reviewer wouldn't normally even know what the container is. So what was the scenario you imagined that this would come up in? I imagined a perhaps inexperienced CO asking the reviewer, typically a more experienced cacher, if their container of choice was fine, and getting an answer like "that container type has the following known issues: [...] so it might be a good idea to consider something else if those issues apply to your hiding place." I'm getting the idea that you think reviewers shouldn't be able to talk about this kind of thing at all, so I thought it relevant to point out that the example you chose is something reviewers were arguably meant to enforce at one point. E.g. that the "allowed topics" can change. Of course now that it's been agreed that PTs are ok, individual reviewers have to stick to that. If that's trivially possible, then I guess the location isn't completely blocked. I guess I'm assuming either the reviewer would notice that and not ask, or the CO would notice that and point it out in their response to the reviewer and that would be the end of it. I own a multi, the last time I found a multi was today. But my premise to this was "Ignoring remote locations for a while, is there any merit to this type of targeting of unpopular caches in otherwise busy caching areas?" And I said I have not decided what my own opinion on this is, but acknowledged that I'd play the devil's advocate if need be. So if you'd like to discuss this further, could you perhaps do it without making it be about me personally? I was taking "leaving almost no space for anyone else" to entail that there in fact is someone else. From this response, and your many others, I understand this generally doesn't seem to be the case in your area. So if these were the rules and I were a reviewer in your area, I probably wouldn't think they apply. (As a side note, that kind of location would have been great use of one of the new virtual caches.)

Keystone is exactly the correct person to talk to. You can get all the opinions you want here, but ultimately he is the one who you will need to get approval from.

In the words of Adrian Monk, here's what happened: I'm browsing waymarks, and see a new Wienermobile waymark in Oklahoma, where I was JUST was, at a Homeland, where I was just at. Drats. I missed it by that much! So I look up the Wienermobile tour, and what????? It's in Yukon today! I yell to Max, "Do you have time for a trip to Yukon". Yes! I grab my coat and we're out the door. As soon as I leave the driveway, I text Snowdog to let him know of this opportunity. Turns out he was there hours earlier, and about to submit the waymark. He was kind enough to wait until I was ready, then we both submitted our waymarks. I remember this thread very well, and knew that we could both waymark the Wienermobile, which is why we didn't turn around, just continued driving to Yukon. It was so much fun to visit. I got a Wiener Whistle, took lots of pics, and even posed with the Wienermobile. I asked questions, and had a nice talk with the driver. Sure wish I could have stepped inside the Wienermobile! So cool. They're always hiring.

Your reviewer seems to be @Keystone based on your previous posts and I'd talk to him about it. I'd tell him what your idea for this series is and ask if there are any potential issues he can help you head off. Talking to my reviewer is always my first step in hiding a cache.

This is horrible. All the talk of "hide as a noun" brought to mind that line "Tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred" and now Rolf Harris's rendition of "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" is stuck in my head.

Our reviewer does not talk to people. You ask any questions and you get some type of computer generated response.

Wow! Talk about learning something new! All these years I never knew that those Cache Names were clickable and would give a list of all caches included. (Except GPS Adventures Exhibit)

Nope, I still doubt it. He's claiming the FTF because he sees himself as the FTF, just like 1400+ times before. That doesn't mean that one FTF is important to him, it's just a fact. Even if he said, "HAHAHA, another precious FTF to add to my prized collection," I'd still think that was just how he logs FTFs, not that FTFs are so important he'd go to the trouble of carrying spare containers all the time just to be sure he gets one more. I just think the image of the halo over his head is a much bigger motivation than the +1 that no one will notice. So if you talk to him, sure, go ahead and rib him about being a numbers fiend, but if you want to stop him from dropping throwdowns, talk him him about why throwdowns are not a good idea. He won't listen if you say it's just because it makes him look like a numbers fiend.

Thank you, GeoGern, for the information. Here's your answer to the random question, Wumpus: Suppose you want to make a random number. Here's how to do it: Define a variable in the builder and call it whatever you want. I will call it "Random" for this example. Next, define whatever event you want that will be dependent upon the random number. For purposes of this example, I will keep it simple. This step will show you how to create a character who will give you a random number every time you talk to him/her. The character will then tell you if the number is low (<50) or high (>=50 to keep it simple). To create the character outlined above, to the following: Select "Characters", click "Add", and give the character a name. Next, look at the bottom right-hand corner under "Commands". Create one called "Talk". After that, click the "Events" tab and you will see "When talk occurs". Select it and click "New". -- I originally typed this post to display two message boxes, one to show the random number and one to tell if it is a higher or lower number. However, showing two message boxes one after another does not work well. It'll show the boxes, but the first will give way to the next without requiring user input. Instead, we'll create one message box to display and it will say the number AND if it is a higher or lower number. -- Let's first begin with defining PART of the message where the character tells you the number: -- Add an if-then-else block. In step one, select "Compare an Object" yadda-yadda-yadda. For each of the three arguments, in this order, specify the following: the Random variable, "Greater than or equal to", and the value 50. The line should now read "If Random Greater Than or Equal To 50". Click "OK". --We're back to the programming block screen. Highlight your if statement and click "Add an action". This is what happens if Random is greater than or equal to 50. Select "Show a message to the player" and make the message say " is a higher number" (space included). Now, create another message to the user that will say " is a lower number". Don't forget to highlight "else" before you click "Add an Action". Now, we're going to edit the code directly. Hacking time! Click "OK" until you're back to the main screen. Save your cartridge. You don't have to close it. Open your .lua cartridge file in Notepad. First, type the following line at the top of the file: requires "math" WARNING: You will have to insert the above statement manually after EVERY TIME you save your cartridge. It keeps losing that statement, which was the cause of my confusion. Odd, but it happens. Now, do a search for the string " is a higher number"--what you typed for the character to say to you. You will see the following: Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=[[ is a higher number.]],} Remember that variable you defined to hold the random number? Change the statement likewise to mimic the following: Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=Random .. [[ is a higher number.]],} In Lua, apparently, ".." is the equivalent to "&" in VB and "+" in C#. String concatenation. Do the same thing for the lower number. Look at your "if" statement and be sure it reads like mine. I didn't have an operator in mine and had to edit it: if Random >= 50 then And, now, the last step. Include the following code above "if" statement. This is what assigns the random number. The first digit is the lower bound and the second the upper bound of your random number. Both numbers are inclusive: it will return a 0 or 100 within the random number set. Feel free to use other variables if you'd like. Random = math.random(0,100) Save the file and reload it into the Wherigo Builder application, compile it to your machine, and run it in the emulator. Here's my test code. There are other things in it, but pay attention to the code under the function "function zcharacterRandomGuy:OnTalk()". Copy this to a new text file and name it "test3.lua". Using my file, which has a lot of other test junk in it, move the player's position to the closest zone, right off the road. You'll see a character listed called "Random Guy". Talk to the character multiple times to see different random numbers. From this example, you should now understand how to insert a random number into the code. If you have any other questions, it seems the Groundspeak crew are very eager to answer them. Compliments to them for treating us, the innovator market group, well. I'll be hanging out around here and will perhaps come out with a test open source cartridge for people to learn from it. Seems like I have another programming project other than the Statbar Modifier to work on. ================================================= ================================================= require "Wherigo" require "math" ZonePoint = Wherigo.ZonePoint Distance = Wherigo.Distance Player = Wherigo.Player -- #Author Directives Go Here# -- -- #End Author Directives# -- cartTest3 = Wherigo.ZCartridge() -- MessageBox Callback Functions Table used by the Builder -- cartTest3.MsgBoxCBFuncs = {} -- Cartridge Info -- cartTest3.Id="c183a2f5-6ec4-45c0-b164-6af81985f473" cartTest3.Name="Test 3" cartTest3.Description=[[A time trial along the trail]] cartTest3.Visible=true cartTest3.Activity="Puzzle" cartTest3.StartingLocationDescription=[[]] cartTest3.StartingLocation = ZonePoint(36.1423999945323,-79.8561833063761,0) cartTest3.Version=".01" cartTest3.Company="Ranger Fox Adventures, Ltd." cartTest3.Author="Ranger Fox" cartTest3.BuilderVersion="2.0.4704.3539" cartTest3.CreateDate="1/4/2008 3:43:54 PM" cartTest3.PublishDate="1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM" cartTest3.UpdateDate="1/4/2008 4:53:37 PM" cartTest3.LastPlayedDate="1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM" cartTest3.TargetDevice="PocketPC" cartTest3.TargetDeviceVersion="0" cartTest3.StateId="1" cartTest3.CountryId="2" cartTest3.Complete=false cartTest3.UseLogging=false -- Zones -- zoneParkingarea = Wherigo.Zone(cartTest3) zoneParkingarea.Id="52fa9078-04ca-4e40-8607-2c6d88cd3fba" zoneParkingarea.Name="Parking area" zoneParkingarea.Description=[[Park here]] zoneParkingarea.Visible=true zoneParkingarea.DistanceRange = Distance(-1, "feet") zoneParkingarea.ShowObjects="OnEnter" zoneParkingarea.ProximityRange = Distance(100, "feet") zoneParkingarea.AllowSetPositionTo=false zoneParkingarea.Active=true zoneParkingarea.Points = { ZonePoint(36.14225,-79.85592,0), ZonePoint(36.14243,-79.8558,0), ZonePoint(36.14272,-79.85629,0), ZonePoint(36.14259,-79.85649,0) } zoneParkingarea.OriginalPoint = ZonePoint(36.1422499974569,-79.8559166590373,0) zoneParkingarea.DistanceRangeUOM = "Feet" zoneParkingarea.ProximityRangeUOM = "Feet" zoneParkingarea.OutOfRangeName = "" zoneParkingarea.InRangeName = "" zonePlankbridge = Wherigo.Zone(cartTest3) zonePlankbridge.Id="2373f3e4-0eb3-4849-9450-db9c5f317962" zonePlankbridge.Name="Plank bridge" zonePlankbridge.Description=[[]] zonePlankbridge.Visible=false zonePlankbridge.DistanceRange = Distance(-1, "feet") zonePlankbridge.ShowObjects="OnEnter" zonePlankbridge.ProximityRange = Distance(10, "feet") zonePlankbridge.AllowSetPositionTo=false zonePlankbridge.Active=false zonePlankbridge.Points = { ZonePoint(36.14279,-79.8563,0), ZonePoint(36.14307,-79.85607,0), ZonePoint(36.14323,-79.85622,0), ZonePoint(36.14298,-79.85649,0) } zonePlankbridge.OriginalPoint = ZonePoint(36.1427833398183,-79.8562999725342,0) zonePlankbridge.DistanceRangeUOM = "Feet" zonePlankbridge.ProximityRangeUOM = "Feet" zonePlankbridge.OutOfRangeName = "" zonePlankbridge.InRangeName = "" zoneRailroadSign = Wherigo.Zone(cartTest3) zoneRailroadSign.Id="7cbfc5d9-094b-4cd6-a4ef-17a1bcbdf798" zoneRailroadSign.Name="Railroad Sign" zoneRailroadSign.Description=[[]] zoneRailroadSign.Visible=false zoneRailroadSign.DistanceRange = Distance(-1, "feet") zoneRailroadSign.ShowObjects="OnEnter" zoneRailroadSign.ProximityRange = Distance(10, "feet") zoneRailroadSign.AllowSetPositionTo=false zoneRailroadSign.Active=false zoneRailroadSign.Points = { ZonePoint(36.15314,-79.855,0), ZonePoint(36.15305,-79.85531,0), ZonePoint(36.1533,-79.8555,0), ZonePoint(36.15349,-79.85524,0) } zoneRailroadSign.OriginalPoint = ZonePoint(36.1531333287557,-79.8549999872843,0) zoneRailroadSign.DistanceRangeUOM = "Feet" zoneRailroadSign.ProximityRangeUOM = "Feet" zoneRailroadSign.OutOfRangeName = "" zoneRailroadSign.InRangeName = "" zoneAquifinaArea = Wherigo.Zone(cartTest3) zoneAquifinaArea.Id="94701d65-d574-44ff-a8a4-d45dd5e48944" zoneAquifinaArea.Name="Aquifina Area" zoneAquifinaArea.Description=[[]] zoneAquifinaArea.Visible=false zoneAquifinaArea.DistanceRange = Distance(-1, "feet") zoneAquifinaArea.ShowObjects="OnEnter" zoneAquifinaArea.ProximityRange = Distance(10, "feet") zoneAquifinaArea.AllowSetPositionTo=false zoneAquifinaArea.Active=false zoneAquifinaArea.Points = { ZonePoint(36.15193,-79.85451,0), ZonePoint(36.15215,-79.85462,0), ZonePoint(36.15208,-79.85485,0), ZonePoint(36.1518,-79.85459,0) } zoneAquifinaArea.OriginalPoint = ZonePoint(36.1519333362579,-79.8545166651408,0) zoneAquifinaArea.DistanceRangeUOM = "Feet" zoneAquifinaArea.ProximityRangeUOM = "Feet" zoneAquifinaArea.OutOfRangeName = "" zoneAquifinaArea.InRangeName = "" -- Characters -- zcharacterRandomGuy = Wherigo.ZCharacter{Cartridge=cartTest3, Container=zoneParkingarea} zcharacterRandomGuy.Id="525cc893-ac19-4e1c-9bba-e87031422b94" zcharacterRandomGuy.Name="Random Guy" zcharacterRandomGuy.Description=[[]] zcharacterRandomGuy.Visible=true zcharacterRandomGuy.Gender="Male" zcharacterRandomGuy.Type="NPC" zcharacterRandomGuy.ObjectLocation = ZonePoint(36.1424918494855,-79.8561522764714,360) zcharacterRandomGuy.Commands = { Talk = Wherigo.ZCommand{Text="Talk", CmdWith=false, Enabled=true, EmptyTargetListText="Nothing available"}, } zcharacterRandomGuy.Commands.Talk.Custom = true zcharacterRandomGuy.Commands.Talk.Id="03330ea2-27d2-4242-92b2-33122efaee47" zcharacterRandomGuy.Commands.Talk.WorksWithAll = true -- Items -- zitemRandom = Wherigo.ZItem(cartTest3) zitemRandom.Id="5ac3fd70-474b-497d-b8d1-aa84678f6ba5" zitemRandom.Name="Random" zitemRandom.Description=[[]] zitemRandom.Visible=false zitemRandom.ObjectLocation = Wherigo.INVALID_ZONEPOINT zitemRandom.Locked = false zitemRandom.Opened = false zitemRandom.Commands = { GetRandom = Wherigo.ZCommand{Text="GetRandom", CmdWith=false, Enabled=true, EmptyTargetListText="Nothing available"}, } zitemRandom.Commands.GetRandom.Custom = true zitemRandom.Commands.GetRandom.Id="9d38f63f-760f-4fad-baeb-2a3e19ef9857" zitemRandom.Commands.GetRandom.WorksWithAll = true -- Tasks -- ztaskFindtheparkingarea = Wherigo.ZTask(cartTest3) ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Id="4259783b-c0c6-492b-9690-96456bd8bec9" ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Name="Find the parking area" ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Description=[[]] ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Visible=true ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Active=true ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Complete=false ztaskFindtheparkingarea.CorrectState = "None" ztaskFindrailroad = Wherigo.ZTask(cartTest3) ztaskFindrailroad.Id="a12be009-b3fe-40f4-9459-980b244dec34" ztaskFindrailroad.Name="Find railroad" ztaskFindrailroad.Description=[[]] ztaskFindrailroad.Visible=false ztaskFindrailroad.Active=false ztaskFindrailroad.Complete=false ztaskFindrailroad.CorrectState = "None" ztaskFindAquifinaarea = Wherigo.ZTask(cartTest3) ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Id="58653b15-4628-4d77-a6ae-f3a95420f32c" ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Name="Find Aquifina area" ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Description=[[]] ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Visible=false ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Active=false ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Complete=false ztaskFindAquifinaarea.CorrectState = "None" ztaskGettotheplankbridge = Wherigo.ZTask(cartTest3) ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Id="59095708-f9e8-466e-8ef5-0cb5f689ac34" ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Name="Get to the plank bridge" ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Description=[[]] ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Visible=false ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Active=false ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Complete=false ztaskGettotheplankbridge.CorrectState = "None" -- Cartridge Variables -- Random = 0 TimerExpired = false cartTest3.ZVariables = {Random = 0, TimerExpired = false} -- Builder Variables (to be read by the builder only) -- buildervar = {} buildervar.Random = {} buildervar.Random.Id ="763ea73a-b54f-4ac2-bf1c-a5d230b4f292" buildervar.Random.Name = "Random" buildervar.Random.Type = "Number" buildervar.Random.Data=[[0]] buildervar.Random.Description=[[]] buildervar.TimerExpired = {} buildervar.TimerExpired.Id ="0dfd5fe7-7c9d-4d09-b9b4-9a6fd9e61da3" buildervar.TimerExpired.Name = "Timer Expired" buildervar.TimerExpired.Type = "Flag" buildervar.TimerExpired.Data=[[False]] buildervar.TimerExpired.Description=[[]] -- ZTimers -- ztimerStopwatch = Wherigo.ZTimer(cartTest3) ztimerStopwatch.Id="2d6873df-7ed9-4608-88d7-4768c6b35ac4" ztimerStopwatch.Name="Stopwatch" ztimerStopwatch.Description=[[]] ztimerStopwatch.Visible=true ztimerStopwatch.Duration=600 ztimerStopwatch.Type="Countdown" -- Inputs -- -- -- Events/Conditions/Actions -- -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------Builder Generated functions, Do not Edit, this will be overwritten------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- function zoneParkingarea:OnEnter() -- #GroupDescription=Enter the parking area -- -- #Comment=Enter the parking area Comment -- ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Complete = true Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=[[You found the parking area. Now, go to the railroad sign.]],} zoneRailroadSign.Active = true ztaskFindrailroad.Active = true zoneRailroadSign.Visible = true ztaskFindrailroad.Visible = true zoneRailroadSign.Visible = true Random = math.random(0,100) end function zoneRailroadSign:OnEnter() -- #GroupDescription=Player enters the railroad zone -- -- #Comment=Player enters the railroad zone Comment -- Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=[[Good. You found the railroad sign. Now, find the Aquifina rest stop.]],} ztaskFindrailroad.Complete = true ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Active = true zoneAquifinaArea.Active = true zoneAquifinaArea.Visible = true ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Visible = true end function zoneAquifinaArea:OnEnter() -- #GroupDescription=Enter the Aquifina area -- -- #Comment=Enter the Aquifina area Comment -- ztaskFindAquifinaarea.Complete = true zonePlankbridge.Active = true zonePlankbridge.Visible = true ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Visible = true ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Active = true Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=[[Great! Now, it's a time attack to the plank bridge. You have ten minutes.]],} end function zoneAquifinaArea:OnExit() -- #GroupDescription=Exit the Aquifina zone -- -- #Comment=Exit the Aquifina zone Comment -- ztimerStopwatch:Start() zoneAquifinaArea.Active = false zoneAquifinaArea.Visible = false end function ztimerStopwatch:OnTick() -- #GroupDescription=Timer expires -- -- #Comment=Timer expires Comment -- TimerExpired = true Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=[[Too late!]],} ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Complete = false end function zonePlankbridge:OnEnter() -- #GroupDescription=Enter the plank bridge -- -- #Comment=Enter the plank bridge Comment -- if ztimerStopwatch.Duration > 0 then Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=[[Great! Good job.]],} ztaskGettotheplankbridge.Complete = true end end function cartTest3:OnStart() -- #GroupDescription=Start cartridge -- -- #Comment=Start cartridge Comment -- zoneParkingarea.Active = true zoneParkingarea.Visible = true ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Active = true ztaskFindtheparkingarea.Visible = true end function zoneRailroadSign:OnExit() -- #GroupDescription=Exit railroad sign - hide the railroad stuff -- -- #Comment=Exit railroad sign - hide the railroad stuff Comment -- zoneRailroadSign.Visible = false zoneRailroadSign.Active = false end function zitemRandom:OnGetRandom() -- #GroupDescription=Get random number -- -- #Comment=Get random number Comment -- Random = math.random(0,100) end function zcharacterRandomGuy:OnTalk() -- #GroupDescription=Talk to random guy -- -- #Comment=Talk to random guy Comment -- Random = math.random(0,100) if Random >= 50 then Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=Random .. [[ is a higher number.]],} else Wherigo.MessageBox{Text=Random .. [[ is a lower number.]],} end end ------End Builder Generated functions, Do not Edit, this will be overwritten------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------Builder Generated callbacks, Do not Edit, this will be overwritten------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --#LASTCALLBACKKEY=0#-- ------End Builder Generated callbacks, Do not Edit, this will be overwritten------ -- #Author Functions Go Here# -- -- #End Author Functions# -- -- Nothing after this line -- return cartTest3

Assuming it was logged into the cache, then obviously retrieve is the right log. You did remember to drop it in the cache, right? But maybe something else happened, or maybe he just used grab by mistake. The only one that knows is the person that has it. That gave you a good reason to contact the geocacher right away to ask, so you can certainly contact him now to ask about that and about his plans for it now. But I think what you really want to know is how quickly you can ask about a TB someone's holding. The basic answer is "it depends", but the more general answer is, you can talk to someone holding your TB whenever you want as long as you're polite. Demanding he place it in another cache is not polite. Asking what his plans are for it starts a conversation and has the happy side effect of reminding him he took it in case he forgot. To improve the side effect, mention the cache and where it was to help jog his memory, if he needs it. After talking it over you might, depending on what you learn, decide to request he move it along now. Or you might decide it's in good hands and you just need to be more patient. As I say, it depends. So that's my advice, and it applies to all cachers, newbies or not. But having said that, newbies are, by definition, not the best cachers. It's OK to imagine that because of a newbie fail, things are not good for your TB and you may not even be able to learn its fate. But try to avoid injecting those thoughts into the conversation. After all, if he made a mistake, you want him to learn from it. We *all* want him to learn from it. That's less likely to happen if he feels like he's being berated for his mistake instead of being given advice about how to geocache better.