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What is a Geocacher?


NOV8TR

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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! ;)

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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! :cute:

 

LOL, thanks for the laugh. So true!

:anicute:

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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! :P:):cry:

 

This would make for an excellent read on Podcacher or in FTF magazine!

 

 

Mad props,

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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. :cry::P:)

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