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Geocoin hoggers


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I've always tried to move on trackables the following week after I pick them up, but occasionally one will stay with me for two weeks. Since I released a few coins in January I've been surprised at how long some people hold on to them. I seem to frequently be emailing people to say that after 6 weeks, could they please move the coin on for others to enjoy. It makes me wonder what percentage of coins are ever in caches at any one time. :tired:

I saw a log the other day where someone said they'd better drop a coin as they didn't cache much these days. It turned out to be their 11th cache in 3 years and they'd had the coin for 8 months for no good reason. :anicute:

Am I alone in chasing up coin hoggers? Somehow I doubt it. What do you lot generally do?

 

I'm thinking of making a TB that eletricutes the holder if they have it for more that a couple of weeks. :P

 

Note: For coin, read trackable.

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I usaully move TBs and coins on within the two weeks. I've had to chase one of mine up with a bloke over in the states. Nearly 6 months I've waited for him to move it on. Its disillusioned me to be honest and I've already decided that I'm not going to purchase any more TBs or geocoins. I thought it would be fun to see the TB's moving around for the times I couldn't go out caching, but it just becomes a bane when after a couple of months its stuck in someone's coat pocket somewhere doing nothing.

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I generally try to move trackables on within the 2 weeks but occasionally it will stretch to 3 or 4 - but then I email the owner to let them know and find out if its a problem (in case the bug is in a race).

 

I have cachers had hang onto some of mine for a couple of months or so and most have moved them on once I politely emailed them.

 

I have a friend who caches so infrequently that he leaves trackables to someone else for that very reason - he caches infrequently - its not fair on the owner or trackable. He would love to move them on but realises the consequence.

 

Its simple - if you cannot move them on quickly - don't bother. :rolleyes:

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We actually moved on a coin that we picked up last week which had sat in a cache for NINE months! It was a hard puzzle cache which is why nobody had managed to actually find the cache, thus move on the coin. Therefore obvious advice......... Do not put your geocoins in difficult puzzle caches if you expect them to be moved on fairly soon. At the same time had we been the setter we feel that after perhaps a month we may have moved on the coin, realising it was there and stuck. :rolleyes::P

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We normally try and move items fairly quickly - usually a week or so. We have 2 coins and a bug at the moment that we picked up last weekend. We did a cache this morning that hadn't been found since Sept 06. We decided to keep the trackables for now and put them in a busier cache at a later date - hopefully this weekend.

 

Which is best - keep stuff that little bit longer, or place in a cache that might not be visited for some time?

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Travel Bugs are a lottery, thats the fun of them.

If you can’t take it don’t release one.

If they get moved on quickly or slowly that’s the way it is.

If they get lost it’s a shame but that’s also part of the game.

If we pick up a bug we move it on when we can, and will not be hassled.

There are so many Nanos and Micros around now that it is difficult to find a cache to put the then into.

Be patient not every one goes out caching every day.

It’s a hobby and we can go months without doing a cache if we have a bug then it will get placed when we do a cache that it can go into.

 

We would however try to place a bug within 6 months of colleting it if at all possible.

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I always try (but not always manage!) to move on travel bugs within two weeks. The FAQ suggests sending a courtesy email if you have not moved on the item within two weeks, and the "My Account Details" page also reminds you, so it was my understanding that's what was expected of me anyway.

 

There have also been times when I have gone out planning to drop a travel bug but due to one problem or another with the Cache I have decided against it. I'm sure no Travel Bug owner would mind me holding on to it for just a little while longer in that case!

 

Another question for Geocachers is what do you do if you have picked up a coin/tb and the last person has not logged it in the previous Cache yet. You cannot just place it in another Cache without grabbing the coin from the last person and this mucks up the mileage as the the coin gets removed from their inventory, so they cannot place it AIUI. This is a bit of a bug in the Geocaching.com site IMHO. I tend to leave it a few days then grab it.

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I always try (but not always manage!) to move on travel bugs within two weeks. The FAQ suggests sending a courtesy email if you have not moved on the item within two weeks, and the "My Account Details" page also reminds you, so it was my understanding that's what was expected of me anyway.

 

There have also been times when I have gone out planning to drop a travel bug but due to one problem or another with the Cache I have decided against it. I'm sure no Travel Bug owner would mind me holding on to it for just a little while longer in that case!

 

Another question for Geocachers is what do you do if you have picked up a coin/tb and the last person has not logged it in the previous Cache yet. You cannot just place it in another Cache without grabbing the coin from the last person and this mucks up the mileage as the the coin gets removed from their inventory, so they cannot place it AIUI. This is a bit of a bug in the Geocaching.com site IMHO. I tend to leave it a few days then grab it.

 

First of all, yep two weeks is the system's and (most of) the community's time line. Who decided six months was an okay time period to hold someone's bug? Certainly not the owner. :anicute:

 

As for picking up a bug that wasn't been dropped; try to hold it for at least a week. Three days at a minimum since some people might be on holiday and need time to get back to the computer.

 

If you've picked one up and drop it into another cache and then found out later it wasn't logged it's best to grab it, drop it into the cache you found it in, then retrieve and drop it into the current cache.

 

The last finder still gets their 'Found It' stat and the bug stays on track.

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Travel Bugs are a lottery, thats the fun of them.

If you can’t take it don’t release one.

If they get moved on quickly or slowly that’s the way it is.

If they get lost it’s a shame but that’s also part of the game.

If we pick up a bug we move it on when we can, and will not be hassled.

There are so many Nanos and Micros around now that it is difficult to find a cache to put the then into.

Be patient not every one goes out caching every day.

It’s a hobby and we can go months without doing a cache if we have a bug then it will get placed when we do a cache that it can go into.

 

We would however try to place a bug within 6 months of colleting it if at all possible.

Here lieth the problem. :anicute:

If you can't place them, then don't take them.

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I assume the content of your post was some sort of wind up?

Travel Bugs are a lottery, that’s the fun of them.

At least with the lottery you have a chance of winning. It’s not up to you to decide on people’s odds of having their bug moved on in a timely fashion.

If you can’t take it don’t release one.

If you can’t release it don’t take one.

If they get moved on quickly or slowly that’s the way it is.

Make an effort. There’s slow and slow.

If they get lost it’s a shame but that’s also part of the game.

But sometimes avoidable as long as your definition of “lost” doesn’t mean forgotten in your cupboard.

If we pick up a bug we move it on when we can, and will not be hassled.

Please don’t take any of mine then.

There are so many Nanos and Micros around now that it is difficult to find a cache to put the then into.

You haven't found very many caches: there are plenty of places to put bugs. Except this one

Be patient not every one goes out caching every day.

It’s a hobby and we can go months without doing a cache if we have a bug then it will get placed when we do a cache that it can go into.

Please don’t take any of mine then.

We would however try to place a bug within 6 months of colleting it if at all possible.

Very selfish, methinks.

Methinks me’s not alone too.

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I always try (but not always manage!) to move on travel bugs within two weeks. The FAQ suggests sending a courtesy email if you have not moved on the item within two weeks, and the "My Account Details" page also reminds you, so it was my understanding that's what was expected of me anyway.

 

There have also been times when I have gone out planning to drop a travel bug but due to one problem or another with the Cache I have decided against it. I'm sure no Travel Bug owner would mind me holding on to it for just a little while longer in that case!

 

Another question for Geocachers is what do you do if you have picked up a coin/tb and the last person has not logged it in the previous Cache yet. You cannot just place it in another Cache without grabbing the coin from the last person and this mucks up the mileage as the the coin gets removed from their inventory, so they cannot place it AIUI. This is a bit of a bug in the Geocaching.com site IMHO. I tend to leave it a few days then grab it.

 

First of all, yep two weeks is the system's and (most of) the community's time line. Who decided six months was an okay time period to hold someone's bug? Certainly not the owner. :sunsure:

 

As for picking up a bug that wasn't been dropped; try to hold it for at least a week. Three days at a minimum since some people might be on holiday and need time to get back to the computer.

 

If you've picked one up and drop it into another cache and then found out later it wasn't logged it's best to grab it, drop it into the cache you found it in, then retrieve and drop it into the current cache.

 

The last finder still gets their 'Found It' stat and the bug stays on track.

 

Now why didn't I think of that! It's so obvious now I'm kicking myself.

 

Thanks

 

Philip

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As with many here we aim to drop them off within 2 weeks, even if that means just dropping them locally, at least it gives someone else the chance to pic it up. Occaisionally we have held them longer if we are able to move them on a "great leap" like abroad or an Event but in those cicumstances we always e-mail the owner to let them know our intentions & give them the choice that we can drop it sooner if they would rather. At leat that way everyone knows whats going on.

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We would however try to place a bug within 6 months of colleting it if at all possible.

 

That really is wrong ;)

 

Your account page gives you a warning on Travel Bugs after 2 weeks, saying to place them or to email the owner of the TB, if you think you are not going to go caching for several weeks then I think it would be best for you not to pick up bugs and leave them for the next cacher to move along.

 

We all have caches close to home where if any unforseen was to happen we could drop the bugs into to keep them moving. :huh:

 

I would be really peeved if a cacher took one of of my bugs then said "oh we are not going caching any more for 6 months we will drop it off then"

 

I think this is definitely hindering and not helping your fellow cachers.

 

M ;)

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Replying here as this is where someone linked from another thread trying to have a go, as someone said, at Spoke bashing.

 

Well go ahead I am sure you all have plenty of ammunition.

 

We have always tried to follow the guidelines and rules.

Look at our logs of travel bugs and you will see wherever possible we have tried to follow the bugs instructions. I would sooner hang on to someone's travel bug than place it in a soaking wet horrible cache. Some bugs we have picked up have been in a terrible state and we have done our best to tidy them up.

For the most part I think that we have done the right thing.

 

Don't be swayed by what you hear if we pick your bug it will be safe.

If we are a bit slow in placing your bug just email us and we will place it in any old cache if that's what you would prefer. If we can.

If you would sooner have your bug moved within its instructions or to a safe clean dry cache you may have to wait a while longer.

 

Following the rules is something that others have a problem with not us.

The Garmin coins wee no different.

I wanted to follow the rules but what the heck everyone wants to play it by their own rules who am I to complain.

The Spokes have entered the competition why should we care less if others don't have the same opportunity.

We did, but not now.

Do what you all like play the game your way.

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The Spokes have entered the competition why should we care less if others don't have the same opportunity.

 

huh? did i read that right?

 

If you read it the same as me, then it would have lowered your opinion of The Spokes.

 

Unless the written word is as easy to interpret as usual, and they forgot to put the required smilies / sarcasm markers.

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Yes, it's frustrating when people keep hold of coins and bugs for ages, but sometimes life gets in the way of caching, and a bit of patience is needed. With all the best will in the world, I try to move things on fast, but sometimes it doesn't happen. I try to be patient with the people who pick up my bugs.

 

Two weeks is ideal, but closer to six is reasonable, given how busy most people are, before I'd start hassling anyone.

 

My biggest problem at the moment is my Tanya TravelCam bug, which has been stuck in a cache in Australia for three months! It's visited regularly but no-one seems to want to pick it up. I know it's still there, because someone wrote a "discovered" log for it. I even posted in the Australian forum and placed a note on the cache, but to no avail.

 

Lee

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While on this subject, could I ask that when moving coins and TB's in and out of caches that you record the actual name of them in your log. I had a devil of a job recently trying to track one of mine which had gone missing, simply because previous visitors had simply written "TB dropped off" or "Took geocoin".

 

Seconded! :rolleyes:

 

... even if you just say something like "Took the pink rose geocoin" it's more helpful than just "Took geocoin."

 

MrsB

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Two weeks is ideal, but closer to six is reasonable, given how busy most people are, before I'd start hassling anyone.

 

Two weeks? Six weeks? :rolleyes:

 

Let me take a look look at some of my own TB's/coins and how long they haven't been moved:

  • 15 months: TB1M8DJ - cacher has only done 3 caches since he picked it up, and not done any since October last year. Not sure why though, they did more before.
  • over 12 months: TB1GHZE - did about 6 caches since he picked it up, none since January.
  • 5 months: TB20NRR - but emailed me end of may saying that he got stuck with work in Thailand, and hasn't been caching since then. Not sure what the current time line is..
  • 4 months: TB19DX4 - cacher did no caches since he picked it up - in fact hasn't even logged a find on the cache where he picked it up??

What to do about it? Of course a travel bug wants to move, but then again I think a coin/TB is safter in the hands of a cacher who is currently off caching, than in some cache that may get muggled, or worse, where the coin can get stolen :ph34r: I have at least 8 coins that disappeared from caches and for most of them, the cache was not muggled but the coin simply "disappeared" B)

 

Or TB1GM0A which was supposedly placed in a cache that the cacher had already found before (and logged with another 'found log') - but already the next finder didn't see the coin there...

 

And then someone :) places a coin that is in a race (and clearly marked as such) in a cache that gets visited only about 4-5 times a year (26 finds since May 2003). Not very helpful either, it's now stuck there since May and of course won't win the race anymore :blink:

 

But then again, when I release a coin or TB, I accept the risk of all these things happening, and part of the interest in a TB is that you never know where it ends up. I think best advice is just to sit back, relax and wait and see what happens.

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I tend to send emails after a few months. This probably works in about a third of cases the others get ignored. My unluckiest coin was held for a long time by a cacher who eventually emailed me to say that he had lost the coin. Some time later he found it and planned to put it in a cache only for his car to get broken into and the coin get stolen along with the rest of the stuff in the car :rolleyes:. He sent me three unactivated coins as recompense which was very kind.

Edited by Pieman
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I usually send polite emails along the line of "Thanks for picking up and moving mt GC/TB, it'll be interesting to see where it travels next".

 

This usually jogs peoples memory/guilt and is replied with an email saying they will drop the item off soon.

 

I try to drop trackables into another cache as soon as I can, unless I know I can help it on it's mission by taking it to another cache.

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I'm guilty of hanging onto TBs for too long sometimes. Usually it's because circumstances mean we can't go caching for a while - things happens and your plans change. That's why it has taken us 5 years to do 1000 caches! Or you end up spending a day finding micros/very small caches and the large TB you had won't fit into any of them.

 

However, I do post a note on the bug's page to let the owner know if I've had it too long.

Lisa

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The Spokes have entered the competition why should we care less if others don't have the same opportunity.

 

huh? did i read that right?

 

If you read it the same as me, then it would have lowered your opinion of The Spokes.

 

Unless the written word is as easy to interpret as usual, and they forgot to put the required smilies / sarcasm markers.

 

No forgotten smiles, but to take one sentence out of context and copy and paste it so that it means something completely different is unfair, and a deliberate attempt to get people to have another go.

 

The Spokes have entered the competition why should we care less if others don't have the same opportunity

The added words we did, but not now. Make all the difference.

The Spokes have been trying to get people to put out the coins and not hoard them in there private collections so that more people can enter the competition.

We cared that a lot of people would be deprived of the chance to enter. People that do not use this forum.

People on this forum seem to think collecting them and not releasing them is OK to do.

 

We were defeated in this plea and accepted that the collectors do not care, and it seemed that most did not agree with our stand.

 

We were fighting a loosing battle and for some reason Spoke bashing and the personal attacks were starting.

 

Giving up this attempt is now also wrong.

Great

We are dammed if we do and dammed if we don't.

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I picked up a TB near Portsmouth about one week ago with a "mission" attached. :)

 

Mission "to follow the Santa Fe Railway Line"!!!, Now my geography may be a bit rusty but I don't think the Santa Fe actually got as far as Portsmouth :)

 

TB was not logged into the cache, last location listed, is close to the Santa Fe, USA :)

 

E-mailed owner twice, no response. I haven't logged it yet but have posted two notes on the TB page. :)

 

What would you do, let this TB loose in the UK or wait for the owner to get in contact?

 

Nick

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I will admit we're not the quickest in the world at moving TBs on :). 6 months is certainly over the top but there can be several reasons for some delays:

 

- The mission. If it's quite specific it can be worth waiting longer to drop the tb of if you can help to actually achieve this instead of just dropping it of in an unrelated cache.

- Size of the caches. We generally plan our visits to a general area not to a particular cache so don't pay that much attention to the size of the cache until we're there. We have the tbs with us and we'll move them on if we can fit them in the container.

- Change of plans. Sometimes we plan to visit an area then something happens to prevent this. I prefer to comply with this than drop it off in the wrong area as this then needs to be recovered and moved back which can be more of a hassle.

- TBs / coins with missions not listed. As tbs are meant for moving, people pick them up. Quite frequently there's no indication of the specific mission and you only find this out when you log on. This can be a real problem for coins found on holiday and being logged once returning home particularly if the coin needed to stay in a particular country.

- Illness. We had one of our tbs held by somebody who became ill. Once they'd recovered they e-mailed and apologised for I can understand that this wasn't their priority at the time.

- Rescued TBs. We recently rescued some tbs from a cache with a couple of inches of water in it. We'd not normally pick up one of the coins as it needed to go in to a puzzle cache and we simply don't find that many but I wouldn't have left it there to go rusty.

- Discovering TBs/coins. What's more irritating - your coins being stuck in a cache with people just discovering it because they're not caching in the next 2 weeks or somebody picking it up and holding it for a little longer. I prefer the latter, at least you know it's going somewhere.

 

Now what's more irritating is people grabbing tbs out of your account before you've even got home on the day you dropped it off. It takes a while to find out what's happened and where it's gone particularly if you've not noted the # as you know it's in your inventory ready to drop into the cache when your logging. We always look again a few days later if somebody's not dropped a coin off and drop them a mail then but some people are just too impatient.

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What's the etiquette about hoarding coins and travelbugs in caches? Some cache descriptions insist that TBs and coins not be taken unless swapped. Personally I don't wait until I find a coin or TB in a cache before dropping one off, nor do I feel any compunction at taking one to move on if I have none on me to swap.

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What's the etiquette about hoarding coins and travelbugs in caches? Some cache descriptions insist that TBs and coins not be taken unless swapped. Personally I don't wait until I find a coin or TB in a cache before dropping one off, nor do I feel any compunction at taking one to move on if I have none on me to swap.

 

 

I agree entirely with this approach. Maybe the cache owner likes the cache to be full of trackables to attract people to visit - fine if the trackables are his but if they were mine I would want them to move and I'm sure most other trackable owners would agree.

 

If I see a coin or TB in a cache I usually pick it up regardless of whether I have another to drop, unless of course it has some mission statement attached that I can't fulful.

 

If I have a TB or a coin I usually drop it off in the first suitable cache regardless of whether there is one already in there to swap it with.

 

 

When does a Hotel become a Prison ?

 

 

Keep em moving !

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When does a Hotel become a Prison ?

Unfortunately any hotel can become a prison to some TBs, the trouble is that people are more likely to retrieve and move geocoins and TBs that they find attractive for some reason, wether it's because of an icon or because the toy the TB is attatched to appeals to them or their children. This means that TB's that aren't the most interesting in the cache get left for the next cacher, who takes the most interesting trackable, drops another in and the process starts all over again.

 

Now don't get me wrong, all trackables have some sort of meaning, especially to their owner, but the sad fact is that the trackable that isn't the cutest or doesn't give cachers a cool icon could stay in a TB hotel for a long time.

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When does a Hotel become a Prison ?

Unfortunately any hotel can become a prison to some TBs, the trouble is that people are more likely to retrieve and move geocoins and TBs that they find attractive for some reason, wether it's because of an icon or because the toy the TB is attatched to appeals to them or their children. This means that TB's that aren't the most interesting in the cache get left for the next cacher, who takes the most interesting trackable, drops another in and the process starts all over again.

 

Now don't get me wrong, all trackables have some sort of meaning, especially to their owner, but the sad fact is that the trackable that isn't the cutest or doesn't give cachers a cool icon could stay in a TB hotel for a long time.

 

Herein lies a big problem - attractive bugs may get moved on more often, but also are at greater risk from being stolen! By all means use something nice, but don't use something that can't be replaced or has great sentimental value. Also use something that can take a fair bit of being dropped, soaked etc. If you can't bear the thought of never seeing it again, it's not good TB material, as it could end up in any of over half a million locations worldwide, with no guarantee it will ever come back.

 

Hotels become prisons if they're not visited for a while, for whatever reason. Up until when my bug was placed in it, the Dulwich Wood TB Hotel was visited several times a week...and was then not visited for over two months. In the end, I made a rescue mission myself as there were bugs in there that had been there far longer than mine - I got about four moving, as well as my own. After my visit, it went back to being visited frequently! Such are the bizarre random occurrences in caching that we can't control...

 

Lee

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What's the etiquette about hoarding coins and travelbugs in caches? Some cache descriptions insist that TBs and coins not be taken unless swapped. Personally I don't wait until I find a coin or TB in a cache before dropping one off, nor do I feel any compunction at taking one to move on if I have none on me to swap.

 

This question, or similar ones relating to "Rules of TB Hotels", crops up regularly over on the Travel Bug Forum:

 

See this most recent thread and note the TB Moderator's reply in post #6 :

 

TB Etiquette.

 

Although they may ask nicely, at the end of the day, cache owners do not have any right to impose their own restrictions on the movement of TBs or geocoins through their own caches.

 

MrsB :laughing:

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Interesting thread... I am embarrassed to admit that I lost a travelbug recently. I picked it up from a less frequently visited cache after noticing the owner had posted a note inquiring as to its whereabouts. We could do them a favour by finding it and then taking it on our summer holidays. It was a cute wee Roman coin wanting to visit Rome. Unfortunately between picking it up, logging it online, and going caching next time it had disappeared :laughing: We have searched high and low in the car and the house but there was no sign of it...

 

I did email the owner to let them know, but I think its now time to send them a replacement.

 

Neil

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Although they may ask nicely, at the end of the day, cache owners do not have any right to impose their own restrictions on the movement of TBs or geocoins through their own caches.

 

Can they impose restrictions in the morning then? :laughing:

 

I read it as they only ask nicely at the end of the day. In the mornings they are much more surly :laughing:

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Just for the record the spokes have not kept a Travel Bug for 6 months.

 

We look after a bug and when placing a bug think would we want our nice clean TB in that cache?

If the answer is no then yours won’t go in it ether.

 

But we have gone partly down this road.

 

 

Here is a hypothetical non addictive cacher type. (Sunday cacher)

 

Family of 4

Mum Dad Susie 5 Johnny 7

Caches found 9

Week 1

Sunny day out for nice walk find cache pick up bug

Intend to place next Sunday as they have all enjoyed their day out caching.

 

Week 2

Raining, decided to leave it until next week.

 

Week 3

Johnny has eaten too much chocolate and is ill

 

Week 4

Mother in law coming over

 

Week 5

Hung over from party

 

Week 6

Susie has a party to be taken to

 

Week 7

Try to place bug but they can’t find the cache, they go to find second cache but end up in a blazing row and just go home.

 

Week 8

Not speaking

 

Week 9

Some more stuff happens

 

Week 10

What’s this Crumbs it’s that Bug we were going to put out must do it next week.

 

Week 11

Go out to place bug

Find micro

It won’t fit

(they don’t cache a lot so did not look to check)

 

Week 12,

Find a cache its perfect.

“Where’s the bug?”

“you had it”

“No, I told you I put it on the kitchen table”

 

Week 13,14

Some more stuff happens, including Football final, mother in law ill,

 

Week 15

Find they got an email from the owner 3 weeks ago.

Feel guilty so they do not reply

Think must put out that Bug

 

Week 16,

Car in the shop as Mrs hit a bollard reversing

 

Week 17,

Still not speaking due to row over car.

 

Week 18 19,20 getting ready for Christmas.

 

Week 21 Lets walk off the new year excess

I know we will place that bug

Where is it?

Crumbs, I don’t know it was here before Christmas...........

 

So good intentions can go horribly wrong.

Now if your finding 100 plus caches a year this timeline would be shorter.

But how many can say that at least some of the above stuff has never happened to them.

I know it may be difficult to accept but not everyone is out every day looking for the FTF

 

Some of you may say these people should not have picked up the bug in the first place.

As stated they intended to place it the very next week.

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