Jump to content

Geocaching negative Karma


admo1972

Recommended Posts

Through some poor planning, I have twice now left the house to go caching with my 3-yo son with no swag. The first time he fell in love with a beaded necklace and I had nothing to trade. The second time it was a well stocked cache of toys, but somehow I convinced him to take a Unite for Diabetes Travel Bug.

 

So, I am one trade in the hole. I do plan on leaving some nice swag in a future cache w/o taking anything, to balance the karma books from the necklace we took.

 

So fess up you out there! What did you take and not trade fairly or at all? What do you plan to do about it?

Link to comment

We have done this on one cache only. It was in a park, we were in a hurry because of muggles and forgot to put in the swag I had in my pocket. By the time we remembered, there was a muggle literally right infront of the cache (after it was hidden) and he didn't look like he was going anywhere. We waited about 15 minutes while the kids were on the playground, and he still didn't move. So we left. We were going to another cache by the same owner that day so we put two items in that cache to make up for it.

Link to comment

Once on an exceptionally good caching day, we ran out of swag. Last cache had some great stuff and although we planned to do a TNLNSL the 4 year old mini cacher spotted the best toy of the day. After failing to provide a reasonable explanation to the mini cacher of why the toy had to stay (after a whole day of trading) we took the toy and left a dollar.

 

Later I thought about the toy and realized it was REALLY cool, and worth more than a dollar, so a week later we were back in the area and stopped by to add a couple of more nice items. Turns out the cache had been raided and hardly anything was left, so our "late" extra items really helped out in the end.

Link to comment

I once visited a cache in a small city park in Maryland near the DC Beltway the where one of the trade items was a nearly-new Maserati sports car, replete with keys and title. I took the car, keys and title, and left a kinda tarnished quarter (coin). Another time, I visited a cache in New Jersey and found as a trade item a brand new 45 inch widescreen HDTV. I took the TV and left nothing except some lint from my pocket. In the last case that I wish to cite today, I once visited a cache in Wyoming where someone had left a gift certificate worth $250 for a meal for two at a very fancy restaurant in a nearby tourist town. I took the gift certificate and left a broken McToy that had been peed on my my cat. Life is great!

Link to comment

I really don't trade that much, even TB's. Sometimes, though, I'll take a TB that has been in the cache a long time just to get it moving. If I don't have something to trade in I'll usually throw in a dollar. Some people might say that's pretty lame, but it seems it's never in the cache long before it get's traded out. Anyone can use money, young and old.

Link to comment

I once visited a cache in a small city park in Maryland near the DC Beltway the where one of the trade items was a nearly-new Maserati sports car, replete with keys and title. I took the car, keys and title, and left a kinda tarnished quarter (coin). Another time, I visited a cache in New Jersey and found as a trade item a brand new 45 inch widescreen HDTV. I took the TV and left nothing except some lint from my pocket. In the last case that I wish to cite today, I once visited a cache in Wyoming where someone had left a gift certificate worth $250 for a meal for two at a very fancy restaurant in a nearby tourist town. I took the gift certificate and left a broken McToy that had been peed on my my cat. Life is great!

 

"You do to Geocaching what Michael Jackson did to masculinity.'

 

-truly,

 

mrbeachroach

Link to comment

I once visited a cache in a small city park in Maryland near the DC Beltway the where one of the trade items was a nearly-new Maserati sports car, replete with keys and title. I took the car, keys and title, and left a kinda tarnished quarter (coin). Another time, I visited a cache in New Jersey and found as a trade item a brand new 45 inch widescreen HDTV. I took the TV and left nothing except some lint from my pocket. In the last case that I wish to cite today, I once visited a cache in Wyoming where someone had left a gift certificate worth $250 for a meal for two at a very fancy restaurant in a nearby tourist town. I took the gift certificate and left a broken McToy that had been peed on my my cat. Life is great!

"You do to Geocaching what Michael Jackson did to masculinity.'

 

-truly,

 

mrbeachroach

Ohh... that reminds me... I just thought of one more case that I can relate. At a local cache here in Maryland, up near the MD/PA border, I found that someone had left a nice little velvet sack filled with real diamonds; the enclosed note said that all the diamonds in the bag were worth about $120,000 wholesale value and about $400,000 retail value. I took the sack of diamonds and left a dirt-encrusted pebble which I found on the ground nearby. However, my ultimate fave was my cache find in Philadelphia, where the finder prior to me had left a new crisp one hundred dollar bill. I took the fresh crisp bill and left my slightly-soggy receipt from the nearby McDonald's (it was for the purchase of one Big Breakfast.) Lastly, there was the cache in northern Louisiana which was full of nice new kiddie toys. I took all the kiddie toys and left 80 antique green glass radioactive marbles which I had purchased on Ebay; I figured that future finder kids would enjoy the radiation from the marbles. Caching is sooo fun!

Link to comment

I once visited a cache in a small city park in Maryland near the DC Beltway the where one of the trade items was a nearly-new Maserati sports car, replete with keys and title. I took the car, keys and title, and left a kinda tarnished quarter (coin). Another time, I visited a cache in New Jersey and found as a trade item a brand new 45 inch widescreen HDTV. I took the TV and left nothing except some lint from my pocket. In the last case that I wish to cite today, I once visited a cache in Wyoming where someone had left a gift certificate worth $250 for a meal for two at a very fancy restaurant in a nearby tourist town. I took the gift certificate and left a broken McToy that had been peed on my my cat. Life is great!

"You do to Geocaching what Michael Jackson did to masculinity.'

 

-truly,

 

mrbeachroach

Ohh... that reminds me... I just thought of one more case that I can relate. At a local cache here in Maryland, up near the MD/PA border, I found that someone had left a nice little velvet sack filled with real diamonds; the enclosed note said that all the diamonds in the bag were worth about $120,000 wholesale value and about $400,000 retail value. I took the sack of diamonds and left a dirt-encrusted pebble which I found on the ground nearby. However, my ultimate fave was my cache find in Philadelphia, where the finder prior to me had left a new crisp one hundred dollar bill. I took the fresh crisp bill and left my slightly-soggy receipt from the nearby McDonald's (it was for the purchase of one Big Breakfast.) Lastly, there was the cache in northern Louisiana which was full of nice new kiddie toys. I took all the kiddie toys and left 80 antique green glass radioactive marbles which I had purchased on Ebay; I figured that future finder kids would enjoy the radiation from the marbles. Caching is sooo fun!

 

I once emptyed the whole cache into my backpack and left my chakra, through Osmosis.

Link to comment

I once took something and made a cacher friend of mine throw some change in to the cache to make it even. It was Jack's Treasure in AZ and I fessed up:

 

Was caching with JDubPooch, Butterscotch #2, and Team YankeeArkitek at the base of the Superstitions. This was a really fund cache. I love running up these little rock formations. I had a great time hiking/caching while watching an awesome sunset. Thanks!

 

BTW, I rarely carry trade items with me since I don't commonly go out to these desert caches. I have found though that the desert caches have some excellent swag in them and this cache was no exception. While looking through, I spied a very nice looking geocaching pin. I got that kid at a candy store look like "ooooooh, I gotta have it", but had no swag to trade. That's when Mr. Yankee stepped in and added some cash to the cache so I could take it. I learned an important lesson here. The next time I trek in to the desert, I will be carrying some swag items. Thanks Mr. Yankee, I owe ya one.

 

Thank You For The Cache!

Link to comment

I once visited a cache in a small city park in Maryland near the DC Beltway the where one of the trade items was a nearly-new Maserati sports car, replete with keys and title. I took the car, keys and title, and left a kinda tarnished quarter (coin). Another time, I visited a cache in New Jersey and found as a trade item a brand new 45 inch widescreen HDTV. I took the TV and left nothing except some lint from my pocket. In the last case that I wish to cite today, I once visited a cache in Wyoming where someone had left a gift certificate worth $250 for a meal for two at a very fancy restaurant in a nearby tourist town. I took the gift certificate and left a broken McToy that had been peed on my my cat. Life is great!

"You do to Geocaching what Michael Jackson did to masculinity.'

 

-truly,

 

mrbeachroach

Ohh... that reminds me... I just thought of one more case that I can relate. At a local cache here in Maryland, up near the MD/PA border, I found that someone had left a nice little velvet sack filled with real diamonds; the enclosed note said that all the diamonds in the bag were worth about $120,000 wholesale value and about $400,000 retail value. I took the sack of diamonds and left a dirt-encrusted pebble which I found on the ground nearby. However, my ultimate fave was my cache find in Philadelphia, where the finder prior to me had left a new crisp one hundred dollar bill. I took the fresh crisp bill and left my slightly-soggy receipt from the nearby McDonald's (it was for the purchase of one Big Breakfast.) Lastly, there was the cache in northern Louisiana which was full of nice new kiddie toys. I took all the kiddie toys and left 80 antique green glass radioactive marbles which I had purchased on Ebay; I figured that future finder kids would enjoy the radiation from the marbles. Caching is sooo fun!

 

I once emptyed the whole cache into my backpack and left my chakra, through Osmosis.

I have heard a few similar tales in the past. I am curious, however, since you left out any details... which of your seven major chakras did you leave in the cache container?

 

And, this reminds me... there is a cache not far from here which is a sell-your-soul-to-the-devil cache. In other words, if you take a trade item, you must leave your soul in a glass jar (small empty clean mayonaisse jars are provided in the cache container) as a trade item, and Satan and the cache owner collect the latest crop of souls every day at about 7 PM. This whole soul thing is a bit HEAVIER than simply leaving a chakra, but same general theme of non-material aspects of the body.

Link to comment

All right! All right, already! My conscience has been bugging me non-stop since this thread started, and so here is my worst trade story.... sheesh! Here goes.... At a cache in Pittsburgh PA, I took a live hamster (fried it up later that evening and had it on bread with hot sauce as a quick snack sandwich) and left a dead grasshopper that I had found on the trail on the way to the cache.

Link to comment

All right! All right, already! My conscience has been bugging me non-stop since this thread started, and so here is my worst trade story.... sheesh! Here goes.... At a cache in Pittsburgh PA, I took a live hamster (fried it up later that evening and had it on bread with hot sauce as a quick snack sandwich) and left a dead grasshopper that I had found on the trail on the way to the cache.

 

Was it chocolate covered? Quite the loved snack in some parts. :anicute:

Link to comment

All right! All right, already! My conscience has been bugging me non-stop since this thread started, and so here is my worst trade story.... sheesh! Here goes.... At a cache in Pittsburgh PA, I took a live hamster (fried it up later that evening and had it on bread with hot sauce as a quick snack sandwich) and left a dead grasshopper that I had found on the trail on the way to the cache.

 

Was it chocolate covered? Quite the loved snack in some parts. :anitongue:

No. There HAD been a chocolate-covered fried hamster in the cache container until recently, but the logbook showed that a cacher named "Jeremy" from Washington state had visited the cache the day prior to my visit and had taken the chocolate-covered hamster.

Link to comment

I HAVE taken a writing instrument, used it, and stuck it in my pocket . . . realizing it way too much later (this was not intentional) AND I have simply taken one to use, as I left home w/o one.

 

Have a friend who will leave cash in the cache if swag is removed with no other recompense, usually a dollar bill (the grand kid just HAD to have something!)

 

Frankly, I feel both of these situations are simply not right . . . I don't NOT sleep well at night!

Edited by GRANPA ALEX
Link to comment

The only time we've not taken our swag bag is when we geocache on vacation then we will try to take travel bugs (at owners request)

 

Alot of our swag comes from either a dollar store, McDonald's (only cheap way in our area to get a small burger, fries and drink is the happy meal) or promotional items we get at work from vendors, etc. We don't tally up the value of it. B)

 

We are more likely to leave something than to take something because alot of swag left is crap or has deteriorated from the elements or from being crammed into a small container. :lol:

 

For us when we geocache, we consider the location of the cache area, how well it was hidden, how much fun (or lack of) we had finding it and maybe the container. We never consider geocaching a shopping trip or the value of the swag we may take. All swag we take goes right into the swag bag to be used for future finds.

 

Only once did we find something worth keeping for ourselves, that was a pair of crocheted (knitted?) doilie coasters that sit on our coffee table (found almost four years ago).

Link to comment

I took the whole cache once, and left nothing.

I do that all the time! We call it "harvesting geocache containers! I harvest from 80 to 100 containers per day, and turn around and sell them on Ebay, complete with the swag and logbook that I found inside the container!

 

 

 

 

:anibad:

 

:)

 

 

<_<

 

:huh::huh::):)

 

Right... but you keep the coins, right?

Link to comment

I took the whole cache once, and left nothing.

I do that all the time! We call it "harvesting geocache containers! I harvest from 80 to 100 containers per day, and turn around and sell them on Ebay, complete with the swag and logbook that I found inside the container!

 

 

:)

 

<_<

 

:anibad:

 

:):huh::):huh:

Right... but you keep the coins, right?

No! Unlike Sue, who loves trackables such as geocoins and travel bugs, I HATE trackables, because I KNOW that they are the work of Satan and also pawns of the space aliens who want to enslave us to work on their goji berry farms located on Venus, and therefore, whenever I find trackables in the 100-plus caches which I "harvest" daily for resale on Ebay, I store the trackables temporarily in a triple-locked barred cage (like a high-security prison cell, but with very tiny openings between the bars), and then, once per day, I turn the captured enemy trackables over to the members of nearby doomsday cult which is also located out here in the mountainous wilderness regions of Western Maryland near our home. The cult members then proceed to torture each trackable for 411 days -- subjecting each one to unimaginable pain and terror -- before finally destroying it in their large underground nuclear plasma furnace where temperatures reach over 48,000 degrees Celsius. In a bit of an ironic twist, the heavy metal ashes of the incinerated trackables are then sold in ingot form by the cult to a specialty metals recyling vendor, who then resells the burnt heavy metal ingots to factories which produce -- you guessed it -- geocoins and travel bugs!

Link to comment

Bushwhacked in thru 10 ft, tall weeds middle of august, 95 in the shade about 90% humidity chiggers ticks , stumbled over rocks,snakes, damned ground squirrels scare the @#$ outta when you're diggin' around in the leaves. get the ammo box open (nice cash too),took some left some sl.

got home, dechiggered checked for snake bite and ticks. drank gallon iced tea. took a snooze. get on line ready to log the find looked in my pack, I GOT THE LOG BOOK FOR THE CACHE.

 

thats the only 2 day cache i've done. (so far)

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...