+NOV8TR Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I am a Geocacher. That is “Geo” as in “Geography”, not “Geo” like the scary little car that Ford made, and “Cache” as in “a store of”, not “Cash” like money. Oh yeah, and it is pronounced “cash-er” (sounds like dasher), not cashier like a bank clerk (no body makes money doing this!). Lets say it together,,, Gee-O-Cash-er. All you have to do to be called a Geocacher is be willing to find containers that someone else has hidden, and sign a paper log (frequently damp) to prove you have been there. Once you have become a Geocacher, you will be compelled to buy the latest electronic gadgets whether your budget can afford it or not. There is always the latest (and supposedly more accurate) satellite position receiver to aid you in the conquest, and the newest pocket pc or smart phone to keep track of your “yet to be found” caches (and the “not quite helpful enough” hint, plus the last 5 log entries). Your cell phone will have the phone numbers of several people that you have never actually met face to face programmed into it, and the attached names sound more like the names that truckers give themselves when they talk on their radios than “real people” names. From time to time, you will find yourself rushing out the door in your pajamas and house slippers, with nothing in hand but your car keys and your GPSr (until you get pulled over the first time, and then you will remember to have your drivers license and registration from then on). Once you get to where you are going, the people you encounter will be dressed similarly, or at least will not be surprised by your wardrobe (including your pajamas!). You will need to learn a new language that is similar to text messaging, that no one besides another geocacher will understand. TFTC, TNLNSL, DNF, LPC, NIPS, and CO, are but a few examples of this language. There is also a cipher key that you must memorize, and in time, will be able to read just as well as your primary language without de-coding. What are the rules? Don’t endanger yourself, don’t endanger anyone else, be respectful of people, places, and things, and don’t break any local laws. After that, it is pretty much whatever you can think of to make it more fun than it already is. No two people play the game exactly the same way, and it is not possible to get more from the game than you put into it! The only losers are those who don’t play, and no one that cheats can win! Once you have been seriously bitten by the geobug, nothing you see will ever look the same. Every guardrail may be hiding a reward, every monument could have a secret companion, and every city park must have a treasure in it somewhere (if not, you will make it so!). Even the way you interface with the rest of the world will change. Someone will ask for directions and you will reply with a distance, bearing, and a set of grid coordinates for a final destination. Someone will ask what you did over the weekend, and they will have no idea what you are talking about when you reply with, “I found a 4.0/2.5 camouflaged Nano that had 3 DNF’s as the most recent logs”, and a 5 stage multi that covered 6 miles (all up hill). When you spot a homeless person shuffling about, you suspect them to be a disguised “Metrocacher” doing a Bee Dance trying for a FTF. You may even stop and watch for a while to see if they sign a log! Empty Altoids tins and “those really strong” refrigerator magnets will become valued items, and even though you may never have even held a firearm, there will be at least one 50 cal ammo can in your garage at any given time. At social gatherings, while others are bragging about their 6 digit incomes (variable depending on your peer group) , you will brag just as loudly about your “numbers” (even though they are your total finds, hide to find ratio, number of FTF’s, or your current streak). How do you know a geocacher when you meet one? If they know 2 different places to buy camouflaged duct tape, or can describe the difference between an “Airborne Tube” and a “Decon Container”, you probably have identified a Geocacher. If you mention in conversation that you have an Etrex Vista, and they do not ask you how many miles per gallon it gets, you are most likely talking with a Geocacher. If you spot a grown man with a patch on his coat sporting a silly little frog with an antenna on it’s head, you have found a Geocacher (unless you are in California, where you can’t be sure about anybody!). Do you remember the kid that you never saw again after that game of hide and seek you played as a youngster? He is not really missing, you just DNF’d him, and he is now a master hider in the game of geocaching! Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Geo, Terra, or Navi. It's all caching. I'm a cacher. Quote Link to comment
+TeamAtlas Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I am a Geocacher. That is “Geo” as in “Geography”, not “Geo” like the scary little car that Ford made, and “Cache” as in “a store of”, not “Cash” like money. Oh yeah, and it is pronounced “cash-er” (sounds like dasher), not cashier like a bank clerk (no body makes money doing this!). Lets say it together,,, Gee-O-Cash-er. All you have to do to be called a Geocacher is be willing to find containers that someone else has hidden, and sign a paper log (frequently damp) to prove you have been there. Once you have become a Geocacher, you will be compelled to buy the latest electronic gadgets whether your budget can afford it or not. There is always the latest (and supposedly more accurate) satellite position receiver to aid you in the conquest, and the newest pocket pc or smart phone to keep track of your “yet to be found” caches (and the “not quite helpful enough” hint, plus the last 5 log entries). Your cell phone will have the phone numbers of several people that you have never actually met face to face programmed into it, and the attached names sound more like the names that truckers give themselves when they talk on their radios than “real people” names. From time to time, you will find yourself rushing out the door in your pajamas and house slippers, with nothing in hand but your car keys and your GPSr (until you get pulled over the first time, and then you will remember to have your drivers license and registration from then on). Once you get to where you are going, the people you encounter will be dressed similarly, or at least will not be surprised by your wardrobe (including your pajamas!). You will need to learn a new language that is similar to text messaging, that no one besides another geocacher will understand. TFTC, TNLNSL, DNF, LPC, NIPS, and CO, are but a few examples of this language. There is also a cipher key that you must memorize, and in time, will be able to read just as well as your primary language without de-coding. What are the rules? Don’t endanger yourself, don’t endanger anyone else, be respectful of people, places, and things, and don’t break any local laws. After that, it is pretty much whatever you can think of to make it more fun than it already is. No two people play the game exactly the same way, and it is not possible to get more from the game than you put into it! The only losers are those who don’t play, and no one that cheats can win! Once you have been seriously bitten by the geobug, nothing you see will ever look the same. Every guardrail may be hiding a reward, every monument could have a secret companion, and every city park must have a treasure in it somewhere (if not, you will make it so!). Even the way you interface with the rest of the world will change. Someone will ask for directions and you will reply with a distance, bearing, and a set of grid coordinates for a final destination. Someone will ask what you did over the weekend, and they will have no idea what you are talking about when you reply with, “I found a 4.0/2.5 camouflaged Nano that had 3 DNF’s as the most recent logs”, and a 5 stage multi that covered 6 miles (all up hill). When you spot a homeless person shuffling about, you suspect them to be a disguised “Metrocacher” doing a Bee Dance trying for a FTF. You may even stop and watch for a while to see if they sign a log! Empty Altoids tins and “those really strong” refrigerator magnets will become valued items, and even though you may never have even held a firearm, there will be at least one 50 cal ammo can in your garage at any given time. At social gatherings, while others are bragging about their 6 digit incomes (variable depending on your peer group) , you will brag just as loudly about your “numbers” (even though they are your total finds, hide to find ratio, number of FTF’s, or your current streak). How do you know a geocacher when you meet one? If they know 2 different places to buy camouflaged duct tape, or can describe the difference between an “Airborne Tube” and a “Decon Container”, you probably have identified a Geocacher. If you mention in conversation that you have an Etrex Vista, and they do not ask you how many miles per gallon it gets, you are most likely talking with a Geocacher. If you spot a grown man with a patch on his coat sporting a silly little frog with an antenna on it’s head, you have found a Geocacher (unless you are in California, where you can’t be sure about anybody!). Do you remember the kid that you never saw again after that game of hide and seek you played as a youngster? He is not really missing, you just DNF’d him, and he is now a master hider in the game of geocaching! LOL, thanks for the laugh. So true! Quote Link to comment
+Girls Phind Squirrels Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 A Geocacher is someone with one more find than me. A newbie is someone with one less find than me. Me....I am a cacher. This has been the running joke in our house since we started. Quote Link to comment
Buck31 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 BTW Geo was made by chevrolet not ford. Quote Link to comment
+Turtle3863 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 BTW Geo was made by chevrolet not ford. Actually Suzuki made it for Chevrolet. Quote Link to comment
+NOV8TR Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 (edited) OK, my mistake! I guess the Geo Metro was a Chevy product. All I remember is renting one to make the drive from LAX to Santa Barbara and never having been so scared in my life! Edited August 22, 2008 by 1XL-on-XR650L Quote Link to comment
+Ed & Julie Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 paragraphs are your friend...say it with me "para-graphs" lol. Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 Enjoyed the OP - Good fun! MrsB Quote Link to comment
+WhiteH20kayaker Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 That's an interesting read. I'll have to print it out for people who don't understand why I'm walking around in woods at 3am. BTW, I've seen some bad-a** GEOs at "Zookimelt", the Badlands Offroad Park, Attica, IN. Quote Link to comment
+Leleboo_05 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 TFTC, TNLNSL, DNF, LPC, NIPS, and CO, are but a few examples of this language. What does NIPS mean?? Quote Link to comment
+9Key Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 paragraphs are your friend...say it with me "para-graphs" lol. Ditto! I couldn't get through it. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Not really a getting started issue. Moving to the general forum Quote Link to comment
+wimseyguy Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 paragraphs are your friend...say it with me "para-graphs" lol. Ditto! I couldn't get through it. +1 Quote Link to comment
+DragonsWest Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 A geocacher is someone armed with a GPSr, Waypoints and Hints who has a marginally better hit rate on Geocaches than muggles. Quote Link to comment
+brslk Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 A geocacher is someone armed with a GPSr, Waypoints and Hints who has a marginally better hit rate on Geocaches than muggles. ^That. Quote Link to comment
+Team Cotati Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Someone who looks for, and ever once in a while hides, geocaches. Quote Link to comment
+JJball Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 NOV8TR, I LOVE this. Oh so true, and very humorous! I just reposted this on my facebook page (giving you credit) for all my friends to read, because they just don't get it! This would make for an excellent read on Podcacher or in FTF magazine! Mad props, Quote Link to comment
+bittsen Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 TFTC, TNLNSL, DNF, LPC, NIPS, and CO, are but a few examples of this language. What does NIPS mean?? You know how sometimes you get cold and there are two things on your chest that poke out? Quote Link to comment
+brslk Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 TFTC, TNLNSL, DNF, LPC, NIPS, and CO, are but a few examples of this language. What does NIPS mean?? You know how sometimes you get cold and there are two things on your chest that poke out? I was gonna say that but I was afraid to go to banned camp again. Quote Link to comment
+breaultm Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 A geocacher is someone armed with a GPSr, Waypoints and Hints who has a marginally better hit rate on Geocaches than muggles. This quote is made of "Win"! Quote Link to comment
+DazeDnFamily Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 You know how sometimes you get cold and there are two things on your chest that poke out? Once again, sir, you got me. Well played. And, brslk - banned camp id TOO funny. Later! Quote Link to comment
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