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Throwing off the muggles


kraushad

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Hello all,

 

I am officially an idiot! I just spent $70 on magnetic signs for geocaching....

 

Signs you ask? For geocaching? I'll explain.

 

I drive a white pickup truck just like many work trucks that exist out there in the business/construction world. I thought that many times I am doing urban caches people may dismiss me thinking that I looked somewhat offical while I was snooping around that guardrail or signpost, electrical box, or roadsign, because of the white truck.

 

What would make me look more official? A logo on the side of the truck. So I dropped money on two magnetic door signs for my truck. Cachers will get it right away, but the muggles may only be more tricked when they see them...

 

Here is the design... What do you think? Please don't tell me if you hate it... I spent my hard earned money on this, and I don't think I can take the criticism! ;)

cachemagsign.jpg

Edited by kraushad
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I can't help but wonder whether 1(800)234-6348 is an active phone number.

 

GREAT point I didn't think about so I tried it. All of the 800 directories online came back with no results for that number, but i went one step further. So, when you call that number you get an automated message that says something about "call the talk line at (another number) to talk to exciting people online".

 

When I called that second number I got a "talk" line that may not be aimed at anyone under 18 (if you catch my drift).

 

I certainly wouldn't want anyone calling and getting that type of stuff, so i called the company manufacturing the signs and had the number on the signs changed to a time/temp/weather number in our state. That shouldn't bother anyone. They will just be informed about the climate in Charleston WV ;)

 

Thanks for thinking about this.

Edited by kraushad
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Great sign, :D but this number is REAL :unsure:

Copies of CATALYST may be requested by calling (800) 2-FIND-IT - that's (800) 234-6348 - or by writing Consumer Direct Access, Department C, 345 California St., 21st Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104.

 

866-234-6348 seems to be unused.

 

Thanks, but I didn't get anything that reputable when I called that number :D . Anyway, I already had the sign making company change the number on the sign as stated above. Luckily they hadn't started printing them yet.

Edited by kraushad
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I think it's a hoot! And you might get 2 for the price of 1.

1) the sign deters muggles, who will just think you're "working" (well, sometimes caching IS work!)

2) cachers might recognize the sign & stop to visit, thus giving you the chance to make some possibly great caching buddies! I know I'd stop just to talk about your signs (but then I too am a big goofball!) :unsure:

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I remember someone else on here saying that they have a hard hat and orange vest they put on so they look offical. You add that and a clipboard and no one is going to question what you are doing. LOL.

 

Let's see, I already talked my wife into a GPS for all of this....how can I convince her I need a white truck or a work van??? :unsure:

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It would be funny if you started getting requests to find things and wind up starting a real business.

 

How about writing POLICE on the side of your car in big letters?

 

I hope you're joking?? That is illegal, called impersonating a law enforcement officer.

 

On topic, I like the sign idea.

Edited by Cacher Clark
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I can't help but wonder whether 1(800)234-6348 is an active phone number.

 

GREAT point I didn't think about so I tried it. All of the 800 directories online came back with no results for that number, but i went one step further. So, when you call that number you get an automated message that says something about "call the talk line at (another number) to talk to exciting people online".

 

When I called that second number I got a "talk" line that may not be aimed at anyone under 18 (if you catch my drift).

 

I certainly wouldn't want anyone calling and getting that type of stuff, so i called the company manufacturing the signs and had the number on the signs changed to a time/temp/weather number in our state. That shouldn't bother anyone. They will just be informed about the climate in Charleston WV :D

 

Thanks for thinking about this.

Is the time and tempature # a 1-8xx number? A lot of those are regional. (If you dial it from California, it routes to one place and from New York to another.) Safest to do as almost all movies and TV shows do and use 1-xxx-555-xxxx. I believe this always routes to information.

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The weather number I picked is a (304) area code number which will only give them Charleston, WV weather/time/temp. Since I live in WV and only travel mostly to close neighboring states (I can be in 4 different states in less than 30 minutes) the (304) should work!

 

For the person that asked where I got it, I guess I shouldn't do a commercial on this website for a specific company, but you can google "magnetic truck signs" and most sites will allow you to design your own, and some will even allow you to upload your own graphics.

 

Glad so many of you like it! I hope I do make some geofriends out of it, as I cache alone most times, and the company would be welcomed.

 

BTW, I edited the image above to reflect the number change, here is the new one:

 

proof2.png

Edited by kraushad
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The weather number I picked is a (304) area code number which will only give them Charleston, WV weather/time/temp. Since I live in WV and only travel mostly to close neighboring states (I can be in 4 different states in less than 30 minutes) the (304) should work!

 

For the person that asked where I got it, I guess I shouldn't do a commercial on this website for a specific company, but you can google "magnetic truck signs" and most sites will allow you to design your own, and some will even allow you to upload your own graphics.

 

Glad so many of you like it! I hope I do make some geofriends out of it, as I cache alone most times, and the company would be welcomed.

 

BTW, I edited the image above to reflect the number change, here is the new one:

 

proof2.png

 

I have to get me some of those, are there franchise opportunities? lol

Where are you getting these made at?

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Love it...great idea!

 

We usually use the 'gps as a cell phone' technique, but that still doesn't explain to anyone why we are investigating bushes & trees.

 

I haven't had to use it yet, but my line for tree "examinations" is something along the line of "I'm checking for (insert tree type here) Canker". And just hope that the person isn't a tree expert :P

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I was out this morning looking for caches while visiting my relatives in New York, and sure enough, a couple of muggles was watching us trying to figure out what we were doing.

 

They looked at the big Sururban with the Virginia plates, two guys with clipboards and GPS units held to our ears like cell phones, and asked "You guys from the Secret Service?"

 

I explained to them that we were Boy Scouts setting up an orienteering course and they eventually left.

 

I'm liking the idea of work vests and hard hats as a Christmas gift.....

 

GCostigan

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I think this is a great idea to keep the Muggles away.

 

My husband and I are going out on our very first search today!

 

We are avid birders already in our area and we just wanted to add this to our birding activities. We will already have our camera and binoculars, so if anyone asks or looks, we will use our birding as an answer.

 

We hope that will be enough.

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I drive a white pickup truck just like many work trucks that exist out there in the business/construction world.

....

What would make me look more official? A logo on the side of the truck.

I'm sure that the laws vary from state to state, but where I live (in MA), any vehicle that has a commercial logo on it is required to have commercial license plates (which cost more than regular plates).

 

If your state has a similar rule, you may find yourself getting ticketed for having the wrong kind of plate.

 

(I have no idea what the rules are fake commercial logos -- maybe you'd have to have fake commercial plates? :D )

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I'm sure that the laws vary from state to state, but where I live (in MA), any vehicle that has a commercial logo on it is required to have commercial license plates (which cost more than regular plates).

 

If your state has a similar rule, you may find yourself getting ticketed for having the wrong kind of plate.

 

 

Wow, so much to think about. I am pretty certain WV doesn't have the same requirement, but I think I am willing to take that chance. I never knew how hard it would be to try and be funny :D

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If your state has a similar rule, you may find yourself getting ticketed for having the wrong kind of plate.

 

(I have no idea what the rules are fake commercial logos -- maybe you'd have to have fake commercial plates? :unsure: )

 

Maybe, he'd get a FAKE ticket for having the abovementioned FAKE logos and tags... same goes for FAKE fines and FAKE time in a FAKE jail... and there I rest... :D

 

Still like the concept though!

 

Doug

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Love it...great idea!

 

We usually use the 'gps as a cell phone' technique, but that still doesn't explain to anyone why we are investigating bushes & trees.

 

That doesn't work for me. I have a Garmin 76Cx. It' much larger than any cell phone out there. It's large enough however, that I can pretend to tap on the keys so it looks like I'm entering some kind of information into it.

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