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Sidetracking TBs from their Goal


K7CJS

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I was going out of town for the weekend (driving) so went out of my way to drop 4 TBs at a TB Hotel near an airport since their goals were out of state (Europe, Colorado, Washington). Not more than 2 hours later someone takes 3 of them and "grabs" them from me (which I think is rude since he could have waited a day or two & given me a chance to drop them). THEN he takes them BACK up into the mountains (sorta where I came from) and drops 2 of them in a remote area!!!!! I had put each TB in a baggie with a big note with the name of the destination on each. So what do you think? How about giving people a day or two to drop an item (especially if you're not dropping it right away) and how about just discovering it if you have no intention of moving it on it's way? If nothing else, I hope this post reminds people and encourages people to give others a chance to "drop" a TB before you "grab" it and to not sabotage their journey.

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I agree that a little time to get home and log TBs properly would be appreciated. I once sent an email to a cacher who had grabbed two TBs from us less than an hour after we left them in a cache. I suggested (very politely) that in future he might wait so people have a chance to log, and he replied that he thought it was rude to not log as soon as possible. So there are two sides to every story I guess, but at least he sent me the TB number so I could grab it back, log it in properly, and then he logged it out again. But in the big picture it doesn't usually make a huge difference to the TB's mileage, so I try not to worry about it.

Dropping a TB in a remote area, no matter if it's in the right direction or not, is just thoughtless. A cacher near us dropped two TBs in a remote mountain cache almost two years ago. We tried to rescue them this summer, but after hiking 12km to the end of the trail we were too tired to climb the cliff to the top of the waterfall to get the TBs. It was a tough decision to leave the TBs behind and head back the way we came, but we weren't willing to risk a fall down the cliffside just for a smiley and a couple of TBs. So there they sit, in a cache that has seen only a couple of visitors. It still amazes me that anyone would leave TBs there, but we've seen it happen several times.

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Don't get me started again with the rudeness of other geocachers!!!!! Courtesy! Let's practice a little courtesy! Wait a few days. It it's not dropped off, e-mail whoever is holding the TB asking if they'll drop it off soon. Waiting a week for vacationers to return to home, and to computer access is being courteous!

And the rude responses you get from these people! Had one grabbed by cell phone from an event, before we got home a half hour later! Another two from a nearby cache. Sorry, it took me forty-five minutes to get home! Yes, it took me three days to get home from Maryland. That bug was grabbed the same day, and in an event three weeks in the future in Alabama!

Sorry, this always gets me funimg!

If you do grab a bug, at least be smart enough to log it into the cache you grabbed it from. Yes. That bug wanted to visit all 50 states. I picked it up in New York, and dropped it in New Jersey. Next cacher grabbed it before I got home, and dropped it in New York! Wasted trip, missing state for that bug.

Okay. Done fuming.

Courtesy to your fellow cachers! It's nicer than ignorance!

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I appreciate the support and understanding on this matter. Now to just get the cacher of FOUR years to understand it. Yes, I emailed him and nicely asked why he took them and moved them away from the airport - told him I was "just curious" and am hoping to get a reply. I think I'll start leaving a note inside the baggy saying when I dropped it and asking to please wait until ...whenever... to log the take.

 

One thing for sure: I will always email these people and hope that at least a few start doing it the right way. Sorry, but "IDIOTS" keeps popping in my head when I think of these..........idiots!!!

 

Again...thanks!!!!!

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Sidetracking, as annoying as it may be, is not the end of a bug. At least not enough to call people names.

 

Personally I'm more annoyed when people say that the sidetrack route is just another path to bug Valhalla. Yeah great, let's hope so.

 

I've had, and known bugs pulled off track that were more than clearly labeled with their direction. You grind your teeth, curse under your breath, and be glad the bug is still in circulation and being logged.

 

That is the best you can hope for.

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I think I'll start leaving a note inside the baggy saying when I dropped it and asking to please wait until ...whenever... to log the take.

 

I think that's an excellent idea. It probably won't eliminate ALL logging issues that arise with TB's, but I can see how that kind of info would be useful to me if I were to grab a bug out of a cache and I would have a clear idea of when it was dropped and by when it *should* be logged into the cache so I can retrieve it. Thanks for the idea!

 

Bruce

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I agree that if there is a note on the TB stating its goal, then you should only take it if you can help it in the right direction. But many times the bug's goal is not marked and the only way to find out its goal is to go to the TB page. Most times when I go out caching I print out the cache s I will pursue that day but I rarely look to see if there are any TB's in the caches. I am pleasantly surprised when I do find TB's. The problem becomes that without being marked on the TB, there is no way of me knowing its goals and it is possible that I might pick up a bug that I can not help in the right direction and it might appear that I don't know what I am doing. But it is an innocent mistake in not knowing the TB's goal if it is not not marked.

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Mission tags attached to travelers helps but some people can't/won't read them.

 

We have a geocoin "Taking Flight in California" its goal was to fly from cache to cache in California. It is currently in Utah.

 

Our geocoin "Taking Flight in Arizona" goal to fly from cache to cache in Arizona is in Indiana.

 

We do have 6 others of the "Taking Flight in..." that are staying (so far) in their intended state....tag 'em and hope for the best!

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Mission tags attached to travelers helps but some people can't/won't read them.

 

Ah. Tell me about it. My bug who wants to see the world finally made it to Europe, after three years wandering about the USA. Austria, Lichtenstein and Germany! And now, he's back in Pennsylvania. :laughing: He's already been to Pennsylvania! Oh, well.

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as for grabbing, ild say check who dropped the TB, tourist or local. if a its a tourist. if no logs are made within a few days its prolly a tourist then i ll wait 2-3weeks or longer if its someone from other continent.

 

its only fair to let that person have credit for the effort of moving it a few 1000kms in one cache move.

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Mission tags attached to travelers helps but some people can't/won't read them.

 

Ah. Tell me about it. My bug who wants to see the world finally made it to Europe, after three years wandering about the USA. Austria, Lichtenstein and Germany! And now, he's back in Pennsylvania. :) He's already been to Pennsylvania! Oh, well.

 

My son sent one out with a mission to get to Australia - granted it didn't have a mission tag on it (now we know)... it got all the way to Hawaii from GA... then somebody brought it back to Seattle! DOH!

 

It's lost in Seattle - was logged into a cache and vanished - just like another of my bugs. One was logged by a noob (along with a bunch of other bugs/coins belonging to others) never to be seen again...

 

For me anyway, having travel bugs makes the game more frustrating since I've only got 2 out of 5 (one I just released a couple of weeks ago and was just picked up yesterday) left...

 

Jenn

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I think there is another problem with "grabbing" especially for newbies like me. Please excuse if this was mentioned before.

The very own Groundspeak FAQ "How to use a travelbug" the first thing you read is:

 

Picking up a Travel Bug

A Travel Bug is usually a dog tag that is attached to a "hitchhiker," or an item that travels from place to place. If you found a Travel Bug the first thing you need to do is "grab" it online so you can add your own story to its journey. Refer to the FAQ for answers to other questions not covered on this page.

 

So for me it first seemed right to chose the "grab" option when loggin. Well, I read a bit in the forums to learn more about travelbugs, so I quickly learned that I have to "retrieve" ist from the cache that it was in. I think maybe a little correction in the FAQ will not solve the whole problem, but a bunch of unwillingly made "grabs".

 

Just my thoughts... :laughing:

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Check the new, updated Groundspeak Knowledge Base that is linked in my signature.

 

Jep, I know about the knowledgebase, Eartha. The Problem I wanted to put my finger on (maybe I haven't put it in the right words) is the following:

if you find your first travel bug it is very likely to first look on the "trackable items" page and the FAQ on Travelbugs for help about how to log one. And there, in the "how to log"-section is the misleading text. Of course you could read further, find the knowledge base and/or use a little common sense. But if the first piece of text you find puts you on the wrong track, it is very likely you mess things up as a newbie. Maybe a little changing in the FAQ-text would help.

 

I hope I can show by example. The original text says:

 

If you found a Travel Bug the first thing you need to do is "grab" it online so you can add your own story to its journey.

 

No need - IMHO - to use the word "grab" here and put some people on the wrong track. What about something like:

 

If you found a Travel Bug the first thing you need to do is to go online and state that you have taken it from a cache or fellow geocacher.

 

It's not the problem that it isn't properly explained somewhere how to do the right thing, it's the problem that you first stumble over something that could be misleading.

Kind of like all the Airport-Icons on Roadsigns in Germany where changed. First the little airplane stood upright on all signs. Psychologists found out that a lot of people read this wrong and stayed straight ahead instead of using the airport exit. Now the airplain shows in the direction of the exit and everything is fine. :D

 

Does this make any sense? Could be I'm totally wrong, too :):(

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If you give your bug a mission like mine it never gets sidetracked.

 

I have decided to set a reasonable mission for this coin.

It is to wander afar in any direction.

It will be missing for long periods of time.

It will be listed as being caches where it is not.

It will be retrieved by cachers who will not move it for excessively long times.

It will be retrieved from caches that it is not logged into.

It will be retrieved from caches by cachers who will note its tracking number in the log.

 

Well that should do it. Based on previous experience and extensive reading of the TB Forum. body

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