Did My First Wally World Cache

[Sadie]

I like lame micros. Even the wally world kind. If I have an extra 30-60 minutes I will go finds a couple lame micros as a distraction to daily life.

 

So, you're saying that in order to be a distraction to daily life it has to be a lame cache? You can't get satisfaction from a decent cache?

I must be missing something. A lame micro is a decent cache. Someone made thier best effort and put it there for people to find it.

 

What makes you think it was their best effort? It could have been just the lack of caring or just wanting to put up numbers. Or it could be that people keep hunting them and therefore they think it's a good cache.

 

El Diablo

Folks seem pretty darned sure that it wasn't. I'm sure your childeren wrote perfect cursive and took pre algebra in 1st Grade. Not everyone is as perfect as that. If you are going to insult people and call thier efforts substandard, please don't do it here. There are a lot of good things going on in the forums and the whining is getting old. As far as I am concerned, this geocaching community is for everyone, not just those that meet "certain standards". Heck, if you looked, there are probably web sites that will give points for judging harshly.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

I like lame micros. Even the wally world kind. If I have an extra 30-60 minutes I will go finds a couple lame micros as a distraction to daily life.

 

I do not insult those that place them, they feel they are doing good things. I will not insult them by insinuating they aren't.

 

I growl at those that fail to see the positive side of lame micros.

 

Actually, Sadie, your statements are apparently not true, unless your "Sadie" account is a sock puppet or unless you do not log most of your finds online or log them under some kind of team account. Your Sadie account shows only three finds in its history, and they were all back in 2005, and none of them were micros.

[+clearpath]

I like lame micros. Even the wally world kind. If I have an extra 30-60 minutes I will go finds a couple lame micros as a distraction to daily life.

 

So, you're saying that in order to be a distraction to daily life it has to be a lame cache? You can't get satisfaction from a decent cache?

I must be missing something. A lame micro is a decent cache. Someone made thier best effort and put it there for people to find it.

 

What makes you think it was their best effort? It could have been just the lack of caring or just wanting to put up numbers. Or it could be that people keep hunting them and therefore they think it's a good cache.

 

El Diablo

Folks seem pretty darned sure that it wasn't. I'm sure your childeren wrote perfect cursive and took pre algebra in 1st Grade. Not everyone is as perfect as that. If you are going to insult people and call thier efforts substandard, please don't do it here. There are a lot of good things going on in the forums and the whining is getting old. As far as I am concerned, this geocaching community is for everyone, not just those that meet "certain standards". Heck, if you looked, there are probably web sites that will give points for judging harshly.

 

I don't know ... for some reason, insulting someone for hiding a cache in the Wally World parking lot doesn't bother me.

[+headybrew]

 

What makes you think it was their best effort? It could have been just the lack of caring or just wanting to put up numbers. Or it could be that people keep hunting them and therefore they think it's a good cache.

 

El Diablo

Folks seem pretty darned sure that it wasn't. I'm sure your childeren wrote perfect cursive and took pre algebra in 1st Grade. Not everyone is as perfect as that. If you are going to insult people and call thier efforts substandard, please don't do it here. There are a lot of good things going on in the forums and the whining is getting old. As far as I am concerned, this geocaching community is for everyone, not just those that meet "certain standards". Heck, if you looked, there are probably web sites that will give points for judging harshly.

 

Easy guys! It's supposed to be fun. I think the problem is that some folks like quick finds and some don't. Some folks like micro's in general and some don't... etc. etc...

 

I have found a few micros that I thought were really well done. I have found others that were just easy to spot and seemed (to me) to be a waste of time. I don't think it's the micro-ness that makes it "lame" or not. I think it has something to do with how well/cleverly/etc. it was hidden.

 

Some hides do take more effort and creativity than others.

 

The problem is that there is no good way to tell from a cache page if it fits your personal definition of "lame" or not. Maybe you like quick park and grabs. Maybe you don't. But how can you tell from the cache page which it its? It's nice when a hider states "this is a quick park and grab" or gives some indicator of the devilishness of the hide. Also somtimes other's logs will be an indicator.

 

If the hider doesn't give some indication on the page, then all you can do is find a few of that same hider's hides, and decide if you like his/her style or not.

 

Of course, others may disagree... That's their perogative.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Actually, for a different perspective on lame parking lot micros, you may wish to consider the following theory:

 

My sister has a master's degree in Special Education, and works as a Special Education consultant for several school systems in New Jersey. Although she is not a geocacher, she is always fascinated when Sue and I tell her caching tales while we are up in NJ visiting her; we often tell her tales of our moronic and slightly dangerous exploits in seeking extreme caches with high terrain ratings. One day late last year, my sister asked the inevitable question: she asked if all geocaches are as interesting as the extreme caches and brilliant puzzle caches in our tales, or if there are some really dull ones too. Sue immediately explained to her about the strange epidemic in the USA of parking lot micros and guard rail micros.

 

My sister smiled, and explained that it all made perfect sense to her! She said that we must remember that intelligence and creativity are distributed across the population according to a bell-shaped curve. Thus, some people are very bright, some are very creative, and some are both, and these folks are out at the right-hand end of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities. She went on to explain that some folks are at the center of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities, meaning that they are "average", and, of course, some people are at the far left side of the bell-shaped curve in terms of creativity and intelligence, meaning that they are rather low. She posited that it is these folks on the extreme far left (low) end of the bell-shaped curve who place those lame urban micro hides. She remninded us that this is all they know how to do, and that they cannot do any better! This view offered by my sister helps me have some compassion and forgiveness for folks who place these things, as I can understand that they are only doing the best that they can with what God gave them. God bless them too!

[+clearpath]

This view offered by my sister helps me have some compassion and forgiveness for folks who place these things, as I can understand that they are only doing the best that they can with what God gave them. God bless them too!

 

I think someone needs to ring their bell ...

[+El Diablo]

I like lame micros. Even the wally world kind. If I have an extra 30-60 minutes I will go finds a couple lame micros as a distraction to daily life.

 

So, you're saying that in order to be a distraction to daily life it has to be a lame cache? You can't get satisfaction from a decent cache?

I must be missing something. A lame micro is a decent cache. Someone made thier best effort and put it there for people to find it.

 

What makes you think it was their best effort? It could have been just the lack of caring or just wanting to put up numbers. Or it could be that people keep hunting them and therefore they think it's a good cache.

 

El Diablo

Folks seem pretty darned sure that it wasn't. I'm sure your childeren wrote perfect cursive and took pre algebra in 1st Grade. Not everyone is as perfect as that. If you are going to insult people and call thier efforts substandard, please don't do it here. There are a lot of good things going on in the forums and the whining is getting old. As far as I am concerned, this geocaching community is for everyone, not just those that meet "certain standards". Heck, if you looked, there are probably web sites that will give points for judging harshly.

 

Much like you are insulting me for giving an opinion? What you consider whining, I consider being honest. Unless people say they don't like these caches we will continue to see thm placed. There is nothing wrong with a micro as I've stated earlier. There is something wrong with ill thought out cache, wether it be a micro or an ammo can.

 

El Diablo

[+Renegade Knight]

Actually, for a different perspective on lame parking lot micros, you may wish to consider the following theory:

 

My sister has a master's degree in Special Education, and works as a Special Education consultant for several school systems in New Jersey. Although she is not a geocacher, she is always fascinated when Sue and I tell her caching tales while we are up in NJ visiting her; we often tell her tales of our moronic and slightly dangerous exploits in seeking extreme caches with high terrain ratings. One day late last year, my sister asked the inevitable question: she asked if all geocaches are as interesting as the extreme caches and brilliant puzzle caches in our tales, or if there are some really dull ones too. Sue immediately explained to her about the strange epidemic in the USA of parking lot micros and guard rail micros.

 

My sister smiled, and explained that it all made perfect sense to her! She said that we must remember that intelligence and creativity are distributed across the population according to a bell-shaped curve. Thus, some people are very bright, some are very creative, and some are both, and these folks are out at the right-hand end of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities. She went on to explain that some folks are at the center of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities, meaning that they are "average", and, of course, some people are at the far left side of the bell-shaped curve in terms of creativity and intelligence, meaning that they are rather low. She posited that it is these folks on the extreme far left (low) end of the bell-shaped curve who place those lame urban micro hides. She remninded us that this is all they know how to do, and that they cannot do any better! This view offered by my sister helps me have some compassion and forgiveness for folks who place these things, as I can understand that they are only doing the best that they can with what God gave them. God bless them too!

 

Well said. I have found that IQ and Wisdom use that same bell shapred curve though they are seemingly not related to each others. Someone with a high IQ can be rather unwise and I have known people that are dumb as a rock who had my utmost respect because their wisdom was profound and came to them so simply. They had the gift of clarity.

[Sadie]

<snip>

Much like you are insulting me for giving an opinion? What you consider whining, I consider being honest. Unless people say they don't like these caches we will continue to see thm placed. There is nothing wrong with a micro as I've stated earlier. There is something wrong with ill thought out cache, wether it be a micro or an ammo can.

 

El Diablo

Yes, I feel you are whining.

[+El Diablo]

<snip>

Much like you are insulting me for giving an opinion? What you consider whining, I consider being honest. Unless people say they don't like these caches we will continue to see thm placed. There is nothing wrong with a micro as I've stated earlier. There is something wrong with ill thought out cache, wether it be a micro or an ammo can.

 

El Diablo

Yes, I feel you are whining.

 

When you get a little more experience come back and tell me that.

 

El Diablo

[ParentsofSAM]

While I will admit that finding endless lamp post and guard rail micros can get old, don't you remeber your first one?

 

When we went out for the first one I stood there in that parking lot by the lamp post saying to my husband we must have done it wrong there is nothing out here and then he had a thought a lifted the skirt and there it was a magnetic key box! We were amazed that some one had thought of that!

 

You know what my daughters still feel that way about everyone of those we find. We let them jump out of the car to grab them now. Our oldest has said she feel like Kim Possible (a sercet spy cartoon girl) when she has to jump out to grab and replace while being unnoticed.

 

So what is lame to some is amazing to others. Quality is in the eye of the beholder. Some people may think that going on a 5 mile hike for a box of moldy tupperware is lame.

 

Different strokes for different folks....isn't that what they say.

[+Renegade Knight]

<snip>

Much like you are insulting me for giving an opinion? What you consider whining, I consider being honest. Unless people say they don't like these caches we will continue to see thm placed. There is nothing wrong with a micro as I've stated earlier. There is something wrong with ill thought out cache, wether it be a micro or an ammo can.

 

El Diablo

Yes, I feel you are whining.

 

When you get a little more experience come back and tell me that.

 

El Diablo

 

You are whining.

[+Renegade Knight]

... what is lame to some is amazing to others. Quality is in the eye of the beholder. Some people may think that going on a 5 mile hike for a box of moldy tupperware is lame.

...

 

Don't we all know people who's idea of 5 star camping is a 5 star hotel?

[CoyoteRed]

Actually, for a different perspective on lame parking lot micros, you may wish to consider the following theory...

 

If only this were true. Then there would be as many as Tube Torcher, Brady's Bottom, Panther Tail Perch, [insert whatever spectacular cache you wish], etc. as there were lame caches. So, why does the lame caches seem to outnumber the great caches by orders of magnitude?

 

I'm willing to bet that few cachers who place the trashy caches are incapable of placing a decent cache.

 

No, there is more to the dynamic than intelligence and it's an artifical outside influence.

Edited March 28, 2006 by CoyoteRed

[TinyMoon & The Pumpkin King]

For the most part, I agree with El Diablo. Our neck of the woods is under a daily barrage of newly posted urban micros. I don't quite understand the thinking behind the attitude of "three cheers for every cache, no matter what!". Anyhoo, having said that, lotsa folks love micros, my guess is they are mostly the "numbers crunchers" folks. My wife and I don't bother with micros. We're only after the caches that will require a good hike over some crazy terrain, or a paddle across the water with our canoe, things to that effect. But nobody bothers putting out those types of caches in Upstate NY anymore.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Actually, for a different perspective on lame parking lot micros, you may wish to consider the following theory...

 

If only this were true. Then there would be as many as Tube Torcher, Brady's Bottom, Panther Tail Perch, [insert whatever spectacular cache you wish], etc. as there were lame caches. So, why does the lame caches seem to outnumber the great caches by orders of magnitude?

 

I'm willing to bet that few cachers who place the trashy caches are incapable of placing a decent cache.

 

No, there is more to the dynamic than intelligence and it's an artifical outside influence.

 

Okay then, CR, you really don't think I am gonna let you get away with airing such tantalizing and intriguing theories without specifics, do you?

So, out with it! Please tell me, what is the "artificial outside influence" that you have cited? Could it be any of the following:

• a vast conspiracy which seeks to unite the world under one evil malevolent New World Order dictatorship engineeered by the Rockefellers and the Bilderberg Group?
  
• the banality of our modern cultural values which value form and numbers over spirit and grace?
  
• a vast conspiracy involving the alien grays, reptoid reptilians and the Bavarian Illuminati?
  
• a vast right-wing conspiracy?
  
• an immense left-wing liberal conspiracy?
  

Thanks in advance for your reply!

[+Wandering Bears]

Speaking as both a scientist and a geocacher, and as one with both a high IQ and a Ph.D. in bioanalytical chemistry, my wife routinely tells me I am the stupidest smart person she knows.

 

 

 

... and I like lame micros. I like vigorous hikes in the woods better, but you usually can't hunt those after work in December.

[+shammond]

Bicker Bicker - Fuss and Fight.

I hid a lame Micro, on a cold winter night.

 

A micro in a lampskirt

A micro in a tree.

Everyone's so serious

More serious than me.

 

I'll hide em wherever I can

Like it or not if you please.

My next micro will be special

Containing limburger cheese.

 

This is a fun hobby

or sport if you will

But people get so angry

that gives me a chill.

 

So get your big sticks

and beat that great horse.

and when the thing dies

beat it some more, of course.

[+whistler & co.]

While I will admit that finding endless lamp post and guard rail micros can get old, don't you remeber your first one?

 

When we went out for the first one I stood there in that parking lot by the lamp post saying to my husband we must have done it wrong there is nothing out here and then he had a thought a lifted the skirt and there it was a magnetic key box! We were amazed that some one had thought of that!

 

You know what my daughters still feel that way about everyone of those we find. We let them jump out of the car to grab them now. Our oldest has said she feel like Kim Possible (a sercet spy cartoon girl) when she has to jump out to grab and replace while being unnoticed.

 

So what is lame to some is amazing to others. Quality is in the eye of the beholder. Some people may think that going on a 5 mile hike for a box of moldy tupperware is lame.

 

Different strokes for different folks....isn't that what they say.

 

You know, we like ALL kinds of caches. The only caches we have really felt were awful were those in areas filled with garbage, where there is no possible way for our kids to help search. It's a big thrill for a kid to find the cache on his/her own, and like Parents of SAM said "What's lame to some is amazing to others". I'll add, especially if the "others" happen to be four years old! Maybe if we lived in an area with a higher cache density we'd become bored with lame caches of any size, but at this point in time and in this place, we just appreciate the effort when anyone local hides ANY kind of cache.

[+Renegade Knight]

...If only this were true. Then there would be as many as Tube Torcher, Brady's Bottom, Panther Tail Perch, [insert whatever spectacular cache you wish], etc. as there were lame caches. So, why does the lame caches seem to outnumber the great caches by orders of magnitude?...

 

First under a true bell curve you would expect Lame to = Great and most to be Average.

But 90% of the definition of lame is the caches environment. That's based on the most common complaints which come down to Location, Location, Location.

 

So my theiry is that people place caches close to where they live, where they live is the urban environment, the urban jungle comes up most often as a "Lame Location" so you would expect more lame caches.

 

For most lamists I would excpet them to call a Wallyworld lamp post cache lame regardless of the thought, time and maintenence that go into the cache. If the owner raced out to make sure the log was dry the container in good shape and the swag from being McCrap it would still get a "lame vote" while a wet soggy log at the end of Tube Torcer would probably still get rave reviews.

[Sadie]

The extreme end of that bell curve is not Wallyworld. It would be that one in the irrigation ditch with the stagnant standing water. It would be the one placed inside the deer carcass on the side of the highway. It would be the puzzle cache that is difficult to solve.

[+DrAwKwArD]

4 caches in/near the same parking lot? No wonder my 200 finds feels more like 1,000. You city dwellers can find more caches in a parking lot than I can within my whole town!

 

 

There were 4 light pole caches within a half of a mile of one another. I ask you, just how challenging can it be to find a cache hid in a one foot square area? I also understand that there are people that like to find any cache no matter what it is. I find no fault with that. It's just I don't enjoy them.

 

El Diablo

[+briansnat]

She said that we must remember that intelligence and creativity are distributed across the population according to a bell-shaped curve. Thus, some people are very bright, some are very creative, and some are both, and these folks are out at the right-hand end of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities. She went on to explain that some folks are at the center of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities, meaning that they are "average", and, of course, some people are at the far left side of the bell-shaped curve in terms of creativity and intelligence, meaning that they are rather low. She posited that it is these folks on the extreme far left (low) end of the bell-shaped curve who place those lame urban micro hides. She remninded us that this is all they know how to do, and that they cannot do any better....

 

Nah, its sometimes laziness, or more frequently, not knowing any better. If your theory held true, it would mean most of the people around Nashville, in SE PA and near Erie, PA are on the left end of that bell curve while most people in northern NJ are on the middle or right end. We know that isn't the case .

 

Seriously, if I just started in this sport and lived in the Erie, Pa or Nashville area, I'd think that it was all about urban and suburban micros attached to newspaper stands and stop signs. Instead, my first finds were nice hikes in the woods, so that is what I emulated.

[+sduck]

She said that we must remember that intelligence and creativity are distributed across the population according to a bell-shaped curve. Thus, some people are very bright, some are very creative, and some are both, and these folks are out at the right-hand end of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities. She went on to explain that some folks are at the center of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities, meaning that they are "average", and, of course, some people are at the far left side of the bell-shaped curve in terms of creativity and intelligence, meaning that they are rather low. She posited that it is these folks on the extreme far left (low) end of the bell-shaped curve who place those lame urban micro hides. She remninded us that this is all they know how to do, and that they cannot do any better....

 

Nah, its sometimes laziness, or more frequently, not knowing any better. If your theory held true, it would mean most of the people around Nashville, in SE PA and near Erie, PA are on the left end of that bell curve while most people in northern NJ are on the middle or right end. We know that isn't the case .

 

Seriously, if I just started in this sport and lived in the Erie, Pa or Nashville area, I'd think that it was all about urban and suburban micros attached to newspaper stands and stop signs. Instead, my first finds were nice hikes in the woods, so that is what I emulated.

 

It's been a while since you've been in Nashville, and I've seen it brought up earlier in this thread, so I thought I should jump on my civic bandwagon and let y'all know that many of us are really trying to lighten the load of lame lampost/guardail/etc micros here in Nashville. Sure, there are still a lot of them, but the more civic minded of us are refraining from hiding them. We even had a large micro clean-up event cache that eliminated 100+ of them.

 

We still have a string of wally world caches, which are mostly hidden by a very active and inventive cacher who hides them for the positive reasons that are cited in this thread - and they are ony a small percentage of the caches she hides.

 

That micro clean-up included my only lampost cache, which I thought was a pretty decent cache, that just happened to be under a lamppost skirt. It was up on top of a tall parking garage with a great view, and when you lifted the skirt you didn't just get a film can, but a whole art installation, and a nice little tupperware cache.

 

I can pretty safely say that the percentage of lame caches here is a lot closer now to the norm you'll find in the great cache towns, although I'm not a great traveler/cacher, so ymmv. And I should add (once again) that many of you experienced Nashville caching during geowoodstock II, which was during the height of the lame cache phase here, and many of you participated in numbers runs, which were designed to generate find numbers, not show off the best around here - you guys did a ton of easy micros, skipping past some pretty nice caches that would have taken too long. This is an old topic, though. Suffice it to say that you can have a great time caching here these days, no matter what kind you like, and the citing of Nashvilleitis, etc, isn't really fair anymore.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

An elderly organic farmer friend of mine from Missouri, who is a bit of a survivalist and wacko right-winger, spends a lot of time telling me that he is convinced that our government, in collusion with FEMA and the New World Order, has built massive internment camps on the plains near Denver International Airport and in sixteen other select domestic locations.

 

And, he tells me, when the time comes for the New World Order to take over the USA, then at that time, the US military will be ordered to round up all God-fearing warm-blooded real American citizens and forcibly place them in the internment camps, so that they cannot marshall a resistance movement.

 

Well, I, for one, would like to suggest an alternate use for the massive gubbimint prison camps. I vote that anyone who has ever placed a lame urban micro cache such as a lamppost skirt cache or a guard rail cache should be remanded to one of these prison camps for one hundred years.

 

Oh. . .

 

Wait a minute. . .

 

I think...

 

that...

 

I own. . .

 

uh, two urban lamppost caches,

 

and other urban micros as well.

 

Oh.

 

Uh oh!

 

 

Edited March 28, 2006 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+Team Neos]

Educator here..The bell curve idea gets trotted out so often, and used incorrectly most of the time. The bell curve is just a distribution of statistics that might theoretically be found in test scores if certain conditions are met. It is used to compare actual scores to predicted scores to see if a treatment is having an effect on the test subjects. Such as, if I teach this way, students will score according to a bell curve. If I teach that way, and more students score higher than the bell curver predicted, then my treatment was effective.

 

It is up to the researcher to assign cut-off points for the scoring, and that makes it subjective. Unfortunately, you can apply it amost anyway you want. I could choose to look at some other factor than you choose to look at and still use the same caches, cachers, and same results pattern:

 

For instance, using the notion of "safety" in caching, I could predict

 

1) the lowest 10% of all caches are put out by cachers who wish to harm themselves or others, and are risky, dangerous, reckless caches

By my own set of defintions these would include caches that are rated 5/5, require haz-mat suits or climbing electrified light poles

 

2) the highest 10% put out extremely safe caches that will cause no concern for others

Again by my own defintions these would be well marked ammo cans in the woods, placed with permssion of the property owner, and hidden under a tell-tale pile of sticks and leaves near the base of a hollow tree.

 

3) everything in-between would represent the greatest proportion of all caches. Many would tend toward one extreme or the other, but the largest percentage would be neither dangerous nor safe, neither risky nor secure, neither quasi-illegal nor completely condoned.

 

Someone else could predict for "time to finish" another person could check for "dollar amount of caches trading items" and none of it would mean anything until we actually went out and tested the things to see where they stack up according to the model.

 

And then we could start this argument all over again to see which way the bell should shift.

 

Sorry, off my soapbox now. I just hate it when people use theorectical statistics to try to prove something -- as though statistics actually prove anything.

[bogleman]

Seriously, if I just started in this sport and lived in the Erie, Pa or Nashville area, I'd think that it was all about urban and suburban micros attached to newspaper stands and stop signs. Instead, my first finds were nice hikes in the woods, so that is what I emulated.

 

Duhhhhhhh I'm from Erie PA duhhhhhh , just funnung.

 

Seriously I think that most folks want to see the logs about their caches, placing them in an urban area generates tons of visits, I guess it's an ego booster. I enjoy reading through the logs even if it is behind the local supermarket.

 

As Brian stated in his post a n00b joining now and seeing lets say 500 caches within 15 miles of 16507, 50% would be considered a lame cache, 30% would be good, and 20% or less would be outstanding. If all they find are considered lame in others eyes they see them as normal. The easy urban caches do not require much time and effort, they are close to home and it gives us something to do.

 

Oh by the way, a majority of caches I own are further than 10 miles from my home, is that too close or is that too far? I have never really considered hiding a cache further than 30 miles from home, mabye that is why there are so many caches around town.

 

We've got pretty low standards, if you hide a piece of _____ and post the numbers someone will log a find and say they had a great time.

 

I still say my cache, He Man Micro Haters Club Initiation Cache - AKA Uncle Wallys backyard adventure is the best Walmart cache in town.

 

PS yes we have a micro in every Walmart in town

[+budd-rdc]

BAH, bell curves!

 

It's too bad there are SO MANY parking lot micros. I still do them occasionally, but they are conveniently ignored when I have time constraints. Sometimes, they provide comic relief, since I can mock them during a road trip.

 

As for the babble about I.Q. and such, we have some VERY intelligent cachers in my area, you know, the nuclear physicist types? They think on a different level, yet I find them quite accessible because they aren't wasting their brain on promoting themselves.

 

Maybe good caches have more to do with hiders LISTENING to others, instead of intelligence. Of course, it cuts both ways as the complainers have to be CONSTRUCTIVE also.

[+sbell111]

<snip>

Much like you are insulting me for giving an opinion? What you consider whining, I consider being honest. Unless people say they don't like these caches we will continue to see thm placed. There is nothing wrong with a micro as I've stated earlier. There is something wrong with ill thought out cache, wether it be a micro or an ammo can.

 

El Diablo

Yes, I feel you are whining.

 

When you get a little more experience come back and tell me that.

 

El Diablo

I've got a little experience. I, also, think you're whining.

 

I told my wife about this thread and that people are complaining that some caches waste their time. She laughed and said that that was true about all caches. You know, she's right. I can't speak for anyone else, but my primary reason for caching has always been to get away by myself and not have to deal with the pressures of life. In other words, to waste my time.

[+sbell111]

A thread on this issue pops up with great regularity. The simple fact is that most people hide caches in places they know. Most people don't go on long hikes. Most people don't know of spectacular places near where they live. Most people know the area immediately surrounding their home and work.

 

Before my accident, I owned many micro caches. The only purpose of these caches were to show people around my town. Most of the caches were very easy to find and, I'm sure, some would find the caches lame. That's fine with me.

 

The fact is, if I find a cache that I think is kinda lame it's not a problem. The next cache is going to make up for it.

 

Who lives their life expecting every part of it to knock their socks off. Some people need to seriously consider getting over themselves.

[+headybrew]

I have not been caching for long, but long enough that I've begun to see some of the difficulties of hiding a cache that are perhaps not obvious at first. I have hidden about 6 caches. My attempts at hiding larger more interesting caches up in the mountains have been successful and fun. My attempts at hiding larger and more interesting caches in the urban environment have been difficult.

 

It's not easy to hide a large object in an urban environment. You can't put it on private property without permission. And even if you have permission, the number of people that will ignore what you wrote and try to enter from the back side of the block over 3 peoples back yards is ridiculous. Others will email you and say, "It looks like it's on private property. You can't do that".

 

So try placing a larger cache on public property in an urban environment... Muggles crawl over every nook and cranny and poke into everything. Sooner or later they'll find it and muggle it. Or worse, call the bomb squad.

 

I have yet to hid a micro. I don't have anything against them. I've found some very cleverly hidden micros in parking lots. But I just don't see the need for any more of them in this area. (Los Angeles) There are literally hundreds of them within reach during my lunch hour.

 

But we must understand that the location has a lot to do with it. Micros are often the only ones that will pass the hurdles of practicality, legalit and GC.com approver scrutiny in an urban setting.

 

So even if you don't like micros, you have to cut some slack to the folks who are doing their best under the given circumstances.

[CoyoteRed]

the banality of our modern cultural values which value form and numbers over spirit and grace?

 

Close.

 

I'm thinking part of it is the desire to simply place a cache; something, anything, for someone to find. It appears when the desire strikes, some folks will use the nearest convenience hiding spot, whatever that might be and regardless of if it is worthy of a placement.

[CoyoteRed]

We even had a large micro clean-up event cache that eliminated 100+ of them.

 

That was really unfortunate as it appears the organizers of the event didn't know what the complaint really was.

[+El Diablo]

<snip>

Much like you are insulting me for giving an opinion? What you consider whining, I consider being honest. Unless people say they don't like these caches we will continue to see thm placed. There is nothing wrong with a micro as I've stated earlier. There is something wrong with ill thought out cache, wether it be a micro or an ammo can.

 

El Diablo

Yes, I feel you are whining.

 

When you get a little more experience come back and tell me that.

 

El Diablo

 

You are whining.

 

To you and Sbell 111...I am not whining....I'm not!!!

 

I would be curious to know how many people have permission from the store to hide a Wal-Mart cache though?

 

As I stated in my opening statement. These parking lot caches aren't for me. That dosen't mean that other people don't enjoy them. We all have different tastes.

 

El Diablo

[TinyMoon & The Pumpkin King]

Maybe it can be boiled down to this... ? ...when we first started about 3 years ago, city micros accounted for maybe only 25% of all caches in our area, and they were cool puzzle caches to boot, and the cache owners had very well written descriptions for their caches, mostly placed in historical areas of town. Nowdays, maybe 90% of all newly placed caches are lame micros tossed into a bush or lightpost near a parking lot and the cache description is something akin to "hey, found an empty spot on the map that needed a cache".

[Mr.Yuck]

She said that we must remember that intelligence and creativity are distributed across the population according to a bell-shaped curve. Thus, some people are very bright, some are very creative, and some are both, and these folks are out at the right-hand end of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities. She went on to explain that some folks are at the center of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities, meaning that they are "average", and, of course, some people are at the far left side of the bell-shaped curve in terms of creativity and intelligence, meaning that they are rather low. She posited that it is these folks on the extreme far left (low) end of the bell-shaped curve who place those lame urban micro hides. She remninded us that this is all they know how to do, and that they cannot do any better....

 

Nah, its sometimes laziness, or more frequently, not knowing any better. If your theory held true, it would mean most of the people around Nashville, in SE PA and near Erie, PA are on the left end of that bell curve while most people in northern NJ are on the middle or right end. We know that isn't the case .

 

Seriously, if I just started in this sport and lived in the Erie, Pa or Nashville area, I'd think that it was all about urban and suburban micros attached to newspaper stands and stop signs. Instead, my first finds were nice hikes in the woods, so that is what I emulated.

 

Forget it, I completely screwed up this reply. See my next reply.

Edited March 29, 2006 by TheWhiteUrkel

[Mr.Yuck]

She said that we must remember that intelligence and creativity are distributed across the population according to a bell-shaped curve. Thus, some people are very bright, some are very creative, and some are both, and these folks are out at the right-hand end of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities. She went on to explain that some folks are at the center of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities, meaning that they are "average", and, of course, some people are at the far left side of the bell-shaped curve in terms of creativity and intelligence, meaning that they are rather low. She posited that it is these folks on the extreme far left (low) end of the bell-shaped curve who place those lame urban micro hides. She remninded us that this is all they know how to do, and that they cannot do any better....

 

Nah, its sometimes laziness, or more frequently, not knowing any better. If your theory held true, it would mean most of the people around Nashville, in SE PA and near Erie, PA are on the left end of that bell curve while most people in northern NJ are on the middle or right end. We know that isn't the case .

 

Seriously, if I just started in this sport and lived in the Erie, Pa or Nashville area, I'd think that it was all about urban and suburban micros attached to newspaper stands and stop signs. Instead, my first finds were nice hikes in the woods, so that is what I emulated.

 

Nice to see (I gues) that Erie Pa. is finally becoming well known as being synomymous with Nashville.

And I agree. The newer cachers in and most notably nearby Erie definately have emulated what they observed as standard geocaching procedure. Edited March 29, 2006 by TheWhiteUrkel

[Mr.Yuck]

She said that we must remember that intelligence and creativity are distributed across the population according to a bell-shaped curve. Thus, some people are very bright, some are very creative, and some are both, and these folks are out at the right-hand end of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities. She went on to explain that some folks are at the center of the bell-shaped curve for these qualities, meaning that they are "average", and, of course, some people are at the far left side of the bell-shaped curve in terms of creativity and intelligence, meaning that they are rather low. She posited that it is these folks on the extreme far left (low) end of the bell-shaped curve who place those lame urban micro hides. She remninded us that this is all they know how to do, and that they cannot do any better....

 

Nah, its sometimes laziness, or more frequently, not knowing any better. If your theory held true, it would mean most of the people around Nashville, in SE PA and near Erie, PA are on the left end of that bell curve while most people in northern NJ are on the middle or right end. We know that isn't the case .

 

Seriously, if I just started in this sport and lived in the Erie, Pa or Nashville area, I'd think that it was all about urban and suburban micros attached to newspaper stands and stop signs. Instead, my first finds were nice hikes in the woods, so that is what I emulated.

 

It's been a while since you've been in Nashville, and I've seen it brought up earlier in this thread, so I thought I should jump on my civic bandwagon and let y'all know that many of us are really trying to lighten the load of lame lampost/guardail/etc micros here in Nashville. Sure, there are still a lot of them, but the more civic minded of us are refraining from hiding them. We even had a large micro clean-up event cache that eliminated 100+ of them.

 

We still have a string of wally world caches, which are mostly hidden by a very active and inventive cacher who hides them for the positive reasons that are cited in this thread - and they are ony a small percentage of the caches she hides.

 

That micro clean-up included my only lampost cache, which I thought was a pretty decent cache, that just happened to be under a lamppost skirt. It was up on top of a tall parking garage with a great view, and when you lifted the skirt you didn't just get a film can, but a whole art installation, and a nice little tupperware cache.

 

I can pretty safely say that the percentage of lame caches here is a lot closer now to the norm you'll find in the great cache towns, although I'm not a great traveler/cacher, so ymmv. And I should add (once again) that many of you experienced Nashville caching during geowoodstock II, which was during the height of the lame cache phase here, and many of you participated in numbers runs, which were designed to generate find numbers, not show off the best around here - you guys did a ton of easy micros, skipping past some pretty nice caches that would have taken too long. This is an old topic, though. Suffice it to say that you can have a great time caching here these days, no matter what kind you like, and the citing of Nashvilleitis, etc, isn't really fair anymore.

 

Now this is interesting, the micro clean up. But I've noticed a growing trend in parking lot micros that are supposedly not lame. Heck, there's even a "Y'all have to try my Wally World parking lot micro, it's not lame" post to this thread somewhere. I'm of the opinion that if it's in a parking lot, it's still lame, and immediately plonked on the ignore list. I don't care if it's a teeny nano, a fake hollow lamppost nut, or a matchbox container hanging in the storm sewer grate by fishing line. I'm just wondering if the Nashville lamo lampost caches are being replaced by "quality" parking lot micros?

[Mr.Yuck]

Seriously, if I just started in this sport and lived in the Erie, Pa or Nashville area, I'd think that it was all about urban and suburban micros attached to newspaper stands and stop signs. Instead, my first finds were nice hikes in the woods, so that is what I emulated.

 

Duhhhhhhh I'm from Erie PA duhhhhhh , just funnung.

 

Seriously I think that most folks want to see the logs about their caches, placing them in an urban area generates tons of visits, I guess it's an ego booster. I enjoy reading through the logs even if it is behind the local supermarket.

 

As Brian stated in his post a n00b joining now and seeing lets say 500 caches within 15 miles of 16507, 50% would be considered a lame cache, 30% would be good, and 20% or less would be outstanding. If all they find are considered lame in others eyes they see them as normal. The easy urban caches do not require much time and effort, they are close to home and it gives us something to do.

 

Oh by the way, a majority of caches I own are further than 10 miles from my home, is that too close or is that too far? I have never really considered hiding a cache further than 30 miles from home, mabye that is why there are so many caches around town.

 

We've got pretty low standards, if you hide a piece of _____ and post the numbers someone will log a find and say they had a great time.

 

I still say my cache, He Man Micro Haters Club Initiation Cache - AKA Uncle Wallys backyard adventure is the best Walmart cache in town.

 

PS yes we have a micro in every Walmart in town

 

In the unlikely event anyone didn't believe the poster, relatively nearby Erie is The Forgotten Wal-Mart This being a direct quote from the cache description: "I could not believe it when I found a Wal-Mart without a cache so I ran right out and put one there."

[+sbell111]

In the unlikely event anyone didn't believe the poster, relatively nearby Erie is The Forgotten Wal-Mart This being a direct quote from the cache description: "I could not believe it when I found a Wal-Mart without a cache so I ran right out and put one there."

Am I a bad person because I find humor in this?

 

Somewhat off-topic, I was thinking about threads like this, threads about 'dangerous' caches, and other 'I hate this type of cache' threads the other day and I realized that every cache has its detractors. It would be interesting to have a thread that takes on any type of cache to find the positive and negatives of it. (OK, mostly the negatives. )

[+briansnat]

In the unlikely event anyone didn't believe the poster, relatively nearby Erie is The Forgotten Wal-Mart This being a direct quote from the cache description: "I could not believe it when I found a Wal-Mart without a cache so I ran right out and put one there."

 

Heaven forbid they miss a Wal-Mart!

[Mr.Yuck]

In the unlikely event anyone didn't believe the poster, relatively nearby Erie is The Forgotten Wal-Mart This being a direct quote from the cache description: "I could not believe it when I found a Wal-Mart without a cache so I ran right out and put one there."

Am I a bad person because I find humor in this?

 

Of course not. Everyone should find that funny. It's just that some of us find it funny, yet horrifically sad, simultaneously

[+sbell111]

Of course not. Everyone should find that funny. It's just that some of us find it funny, yet horrifically sad, simultaneously

I can't imagine something like this eliciting a very strong response from anyone. Seriously, is it really a big deal?

[+headybrew]

Let's imagine a world where 99.9% of all caches were refrigerator-sized containers on amazing moutaintops with waterfalls and permanent tripple rainbows.

 

Don't you think there'd be a crowd of people PO'd that there were no caches to seek nearer to home where the challange was finding it, rather than hiking 12 miles to get to it?

 

There's nothing wrong with a really clever hide in a parking lot or any other place. There's nothing wrong with being micro, or any other size.

 

The problem is with lame hides, not the size or location. It's the "toss it in a bush" part that's boring.

 

But even with those, some people like them, and they do provide a quick bit of distraction for your kids if you have them...

 

So to each their own. As it has been said before, if you dont like micros, then jut don't hunt them. There is no need to constantly complain about people who do like them. It makes as much sense as complaining about people who like golf because you prefer baseball. Nobody's forcing you to play golf.

[+sbell111]

Golf is lame.

 

I wish I could play again.

Edited March 29, 2006 by sbell111

[+Corp Of Discovery]

Golf is lame.

 

I wish I could play again.

 

Here ya go.

[+Corp Of Discovery]

I recently put out a lamp post micro. Nothing special about it other than what used to be there. I'll leave it up to others to decide if it's 'lame' or not. Other than an even 'lamer' offset cache (nothing to bring a cacher to, not even a plaque) there wasn't much choice in how to place a cache there. Here's the cache: Raceway Park. Considering the subject of the cache, I think it's even kind of appropriate that it's a drive up...

 

Caches can be good or bad depending on what you do with or want from them. That goes for the hider as well as the finder.

[+bottlecap]

My local Wallyworld doesn't have a cache! Way to go NE Pa.