Why I WILL NOT be placing caches

[+va griz]

I just re-read all the back and forth and this line from the cacher that offended you caught my attention:

 

I would suggest you take your car for a spin around the block a few times before you tell me how I should drive on the expressway. Please don't suggest to me how I should spend my free time. Because really, at the end of the day, that was the part that insulted me.

 

Since that doesn't refer to any of the exchanges you have quoted or anything on the cache page I have to ask, is there anything you are leaving out?

[Mr.Yuck]

As a brand-new Cacher, I really enjoyed the LPC that the kids and I found. It was a brilliant success as we had attempted to find more difficult Caches earlier in the day and weren't successful because of our newness to the game, and my unfamiliarity with the GPS I was using.

 

For those who are continuing to hide LPC's....Please keep doing so. I like an easy find in my hectic busy life, and the kids love the adventure.

 

Also, an apology. I know now that my kids and I should have been more stealthy when finding our LPC, but it was our first and we were excited. Please forgive us for our Geocaching infancy and know that as we find, we are learning more specifically about Caching appropriate behaviour.

 

BudgieByrd and crew

 

How did this game change so much in such a short time?. When I was a new cacher, Stealth was a freaking radar-evading fighter jet. And I found Geocaches in the woods, and parked my car in parking lots. OK, I'm done, thanks for listening.

[Dinoprophet]

I just re-read all the back and forth and this line from the cacher that offended you caught my attention:

 

I would suggest you take your car for a spin around the block a few times before you tell me how I should drive on the expressway. Please don't suggest to me how I should spend my free time. Because really, at the end of the day, that was the part that insulted me.

 

Since that doesn't refer to any of the exchanges you have quoted or anything on the cache page I have to ask, is there anything you are leaving out?

I took that as a "you have 60 finds, I have 800" analogy, much like the opening Derrick Rose/Michael Jordan one.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Dinoprophet

[+ohgr]

Go to another event cache, your faith in other cachers will be magically restored.

[+va griz]

I just re-read all the back and forth and this line from the cacher that offended you caught my attention:

 

I would suggest you take your car for a spin around the block a few times before you tell me how I should drive on the expressway. Please don't suggest to me how I should spend my free time. Because really, at the end of the day, that was the part that insulted me.

 

Since that doesn't refer to any of the exchanges you have quoted or anything on the cache page I have to ask, is there anything you are leaving out?

I took that as a "you have 60 finds, I have 800" analogy, much like the opening Derrick Rose/Michael Jordan one.

 

Ah, I see. Makes sense that way. Thanks, Griz

[knowschad]

As a brand-new Cacher, I really enjoyed the LPC that the kids and I found. It was a brilliant success as we had attempted to find more difficult Caches earlier in the day and weren't successful because of our newness to the game, and my unfamiliarity with the GPS I was using.

 

Generally, everyone's first LPC is exciting. The problem is that everyone's 2nd and subsequent LPC has exactly no element of surprise or challenge. You quickly learn just which lamp post to head towards. They become boring very quickly and serve only to add 1 to your Found It count.

[Skippermark]

I have to admit that I'm a little confused by the original post, but from reading replies, it seems like those were comments made on a cache that you placed.

 

If so, I say hide and find what you enjoy and don't worry what other people say. I always get a chuckle out of people who complain about how bad certain cache types are, yet they continue to find them.

 

People will always find something to complain about. Some will complain about long multis and others will complain about LPCs. Who cares? Everyone likes different things, and that's what's cool about caching. People can find what they like.

 

Do what you enjoy and don't get bothered by what others say.

[JM Chicago]

As I find myself in an awkward situation here I merely wish to clarify a few points before I close this chapter in my cache experiance.

First my angst was about the cavalier way the finder that exposed the cache (and it is not an issue whether the cache was mine or any other) made light of their actions. The fact that they both in their log post and their flippant reply to me were not enjoying Light Post Caches/Micros yet were willing to act in a way that destroyed the enjoyment of cachers that might enjoy these admittedly mundane forms was the fuse that lit my indignation. I did not expect this site to be without need for regular visits from me to keep in operation. The ease of find and the series of hides (Chicago Parks a very numerous potential) made me concious of the need for refilling and replacement.

Second the replies that have been posted here have in many cases stregthened my feelings of comraderie and community even amongst those who may not have agreed with my handling of this situation.

Third those who have been, shall we say, less than understanding or helpful or enlightening on conditions, character or behavior....well the 'Bronx cheer' is the most eloquent epitaph for people of that ilk.

Fourth there is the embarassing situation I find myself in...before the incident I had promised to restore a hide a cacher had placed before cercumstances required their moving. This hide (also in a Chicago Park tho not part of the series) had lasted for several months before water damage then disappearance beset the cache. I had offered to follow thru in placing a cahe in its honor near the original making the new placement so as to sidestep potential repeats of muggling if that indeed was the case. This promise means that I will actually have to place at leasty one more cache despite my rather firm statement to the contrary because the owner from the lost cache has taken care of those procedures needed to clear the way for the new cache...thus I am honorbound to follow thru. Oh well a lil' embarassment is good for the soul I guess.

But I was very disappointed in the way the LPM was handled by the unnamed cacher's rude and thoughtless behavior and if this thread has at least made people think about treating the hunt, find and game in a more forthright and honorable manner I won't mind swallowing my pride for this situation.

Due to the fact that I live deep in the city it is unlikely I'll be placing any caches out in the wilderness, away from the brainless, bumblers so even after the wounds of this affair have healed I believe my hiding days will not resurface. I hope the fun of the hunt will maintain my interest.

Thank you for your interest.

Good luck and good cacheing.

JM Chicago

[+OKH]

even after the wounds of this affair have healed I believe my hiding days will not resurface.

 

I think just maybe that this isn't for you.

[GOF and Bacall]

As I find myself in an awkward situation here I merely wish to clarify a few points before I close this chapter in my cache experiance.

First my angst was about the cavalier way the finder that exposed the cache (and it is not an issue whether the cache was mine or any other) made light of their actions. The fact that they both in their log post and their flippant reply to me were not enjoying Light Post Caches/Micros yet were willing to act in a way that destroyed the enjoyment of cachers that might enjoy these admittedly mundane forms was the fuse that lit my indignation. I did not expect this site to be without need for regular visits from me to keep in operation. The ease of find and the series of hides (Chicago Parks a very numerous potential) made me concious of the need for refilling and replacement.

Second the replies that have been posted here have in many cases stregthened my feelings of comraderie and community even amongst those who may not have agreed with my handling of this situation.

Third those who have been, shall we say, less than understanding or helpful or enlightening on conditions, character or behavior....well the 'Bronx cheer' is the most eloquent epitaph for people of that ilk.

Fourth there is the embarassing situation I find myself in...before the incident I had promised to restore a hide a cacher had placed before cercumstances required their moving. This hide (also in a Chicago Park tho not part of the series) had lasted for several months before water damage then disappearance beset the cache. I had offered to follow thru in placing a cahe in its honor near the original making the new placement so as to sidestep potential repeats of muggling if that indeed was the case. This promise means that I will actually have to place at leasty one more cache despite my rather firm statement to the contrary because the owner from the lost cache has taken care of those procedures needed to clear the way for the new cache...thus I am honorbound to follow thru. Oh well a lil' embarassment is good for the soul I guess.

But I was very disappointed in the way the LPM was handled by the unnamed cacher's rude and thoughtless behavior and if this thread has at least made people think about treating the hunt, find and game in a more forthright and honorable manner I won't mind swallowing my pride for this situation.

Due to the fact that I live deep in the city it is unlikely I'll be placing any caches out in the wilderness, away from the brainless, bumblers so even after the wounds of this affair have healed I believe my hiding days will not resurface. I hope the fun of the hunt will maintain my interest.

Thank you for your interest.

Good luck and good cacheing.

JM Chicago

 

If you aren't enjoying hiding caches then just don't hide caches. No need to go on endlessly about it.

[+TotemLake]

OK, now that we have all learned something. Let's move on. The horse is dead, stop beating it!

 

Mistakes are good. You learn from them, I hope. If you don't make mistakes (I'm talking to both sides of the issue here), then you are perfect and I want to meet you because I have never yet met a perfect person.

 

'Nuf sed!

 

My wife even put on her Facebook that I'm perfect so I guess it's okay for ME to comment further if I wanna.

 

You can meet me at GW8, but just so ya know, I'm taken.

Cool. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

[+cachensfun]

We have nine caches right now and hope to add more to that list soon. Being a cache owner is a lot of fun. You get to read all the logs some are good some are bad that is just how it is. we like to try and spice ours up but some people are bumps on a log and only put "TFTC SL #358". Don't make your decision based on what others have to say check it out for yourself.

 

Cachensfun

[+BoggyWoggy]

Digging one's self into a deeper hole is never a good idea. It took a long, long time for the original poster (JM Chicago) to reply to any responses. Then, he used the reply to make everyone even MORE confused! I should have known, upon first opening this thread and being so confused by that original post, that this was a waste of time. Yep. It was. After a 10 minute scan, definitely wasteful.

I am glad I don't have anyone in our area placing caches and then attacking finders for "not doing it right."

[+flask]

Then, he used the reply to make everyone even MORE confused! I should have known, upon first opening this thread and being so confused by that original post, that this was a waste of time. Yep. It was. After a 10 minute scan, definitely wasteful.

 

 

helpful hint: as soon as my neighbor's cat makes an appearance in a thread, you can stop reading.

[+welch]

i can't even figure out who's who in that story, it might have been better if it went like this:

 

i went to find a cache, but this happened...

or i hid a cache and this happened...

 

but it being about a LPC makes me not even care so much.

Thats a very good observation namiboy

[+Sioneva]

Is this a genuine "hide-icide?" How would you rank it?

[GOF and Bacall]

Is this a genuine "hide-icide?" How would you rank it?

 

Eh, it could have been more entertaining. Perhaps the OP will come back and give it another shot.

[+Jagski]

These are the posts that make me disappointed enuf to make the title my philosiphy

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

----- Original Message ----

 

I am sorely disappointed in yer approach to my cache Park295.

As a relatively new member of the geocache community I feel very wronged by the lack of simple caution to protect a cache.

The posting noted the exposed nature of the cache (in case it wasn't obvious while yer standing next to it) but in placing the cache it only took 4-5 cycles of the light to get a time for placing the cache without ANYONE seeing me. If this kind of delay is too much for you perhaps you need a more relaxing hobby. One would think that after 800+ finds you would have the techniques down but maybe we should look into how many oif your finds have lead to missing caches for the next loggers!!!

I realize I sound angry but this is my second placement and for this park this was a very good 'secure' location...well for less than an hour it was...

JM Chicago

 

AND This was the reply to the above enraged post which I sent after reading the 2 logs at the bottom, both posted hours after my 2nd placed cache hit the web. Cache GC1W9ZF placed 7/23/09

______________________________________________________________________________________

 

May I suggest, respectfully, that Derrek Rose will probably never tell Michael Jordan how to shoot a free throw? Which is not to suggest that you are Derrek Rose nor I Michael Jordan, but it follows.

 

You yourself correctly pointed out that you are relatively new to the hobby, so I'll fill you in on a few things you're bound to pick up over the coming months/years.

 

1. Your cache hide is commonly known among the geocaching community as a Lamp Post Micro, or LPM - did you know your hide had its own acronym? It is a hiding style that has been done and redone in front of thousands of WalMarts from Boston to Portland and will be copied thousands more times. Seems clever now. Quickly loses it's luster after that tenth or eleventh dozen.

 

2. My approach to the cache differed from every other approach that every other cacher from here on out will take in exactly one way - mine was at night, going for a FTF. I can count the number of cachers I know (and I know several dozen) on one hand who will wait "through 4-5 light cycles" for zero cars at the corner of Austin and Foster to retrieve an LPM.

 

3. The only reason your cache got noticed was because we (Wheels, R Grande and I) had the misfortune of visitng this cache when someone was performing maintenance on that particular lamp post. Otherwise, I could crounch down there at the height of rush hour and no one will care.

 

4. Let me know how good you think the location is when we get more than 6 inches of snowfall.

 

I would suggest you take your car for a spin around the block a few times before you tell me how I should drive on the expressway. Please don't suggest to me how I should spend my free time. Because really, at the end of the day, that was the part that insulted me.

 

Have a nice day.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THESES ARE THE LOGS upon which I based my indignation

 

Quick find, and I believe I was the culprit from the muggling attempt. Guess I need to hone the stealth skills eh? thanks for getting my back

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Final Edited version of my original log:

Found GZ, but the signal lights were out and the city showed up to fix them, so I had to abort before actually making the grab. (It would seem that _______ beat me to the punch and spotted me as I arrived, searched a bit, and then left to avoid getting the cache muggled. (How _____ got there before me is beyond comprehension. The cache couldn't have been posted for more than 30 minutes when I arrived!)

 

I left for a little while and then I swung back around in about an hour to find the city worker disposing of the cache because he saw "Someone" find, sign and replace the cache. He actually thought he was witness to a some kind of covert drug exchange.

 

I explained to the worker what geocaching is and talked him into letting the cache live on at its current location.

 

I will guess that I must yield FTF (BUT HOW!!!!) but I would like to have the honorary title of FTSTC (First to Save The Cache).

 

WOW, the cache has only been around for a few hours, found thrice, and already has quite the story!

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

I have congratulated the FTF and thanked the FTSTC but was driven to fire off the first item when I read the last 2 logs posted here and realized some GCers are more concerned with trying to get stats and FTF's than helping others continue to enjoy the game.

When I recieved the reply (first item) I knew that even as I continue to enjoy cacheing there are rude, nasty people also playing and they have no compunction to be good stewards for this game. How unfortunate for the kind and graciuos people I have met in the short time I have been playing the Cache Game.

JM Chicago

 

While I understand your frustration, at the same time it really wasn't anyone's fault. Cachers who have their own hides wouldn't intentionally expose your hiding spot. Like another post I read here, there are so many hides in lamp posts, but people will continue to hide them there and people will continue to find them. I have done quite a few of the lamp post grabs and sometimes I feel like a criminal by playing around with those skirts, and I am sure some people probably watched what I was doing at places such as Wal-Mart. It's just a game, so you shouldn't let it get to you. Perhaps move or archive that cache and try a different type of hide. You could hide micros in more discreet locations so muggle factor won't be so high; or you could hide ammo cans on trails where muggle factor is quite low. Try to relax and enjoy it. No one is to blame

[knowschad]

Is this a genuine "hide-icide?" How would you rank it?

 

Any hide-icide that can leave us with such a wonderful quote as "I am sorely disappointed in yer approach to my cache " ranks pretty high in my book!

[+Sioneva]

Is this a genuine "hide-icide?" How would you rank it?

 

Any hide-icide that can leave us with such a wonderful quote as "I am sorely disappointed in yer approach to my cache " ranks pretty high in my book!

 

Me, I kinda liked "even after the wounds of this affair have healed I believe my hiding days will not resurface". Wounds from a missing LPC? And he makes it sound like he drowned his 'hiding days' in cold blood...

 

I give it a 7.5 for interesting quotes.

[+flask]

i give the OP high marks for melodrama, high marks for comedy, high marks for incomprehensibilty, and super high marks for somehow being able to make a whole philosiphy (sic) out of a negative tantrum.

 

the negative tantrum is particularly interesting in that the practitioner decides NOT to do something in order to make an impression on people who quite simply don't care.

 

if a super-well-known hider of fabulous creative caches quits hiding, after the initial period of withdrawal, few people notice anymore and fewer people care.

 

if a brand-new hider of lamppost caches decides to go on hiatus, few people will notice and of those few, many will applaud.

 

i give it an 8.7

 

if the non-hider wishes to sign on here and provide us with an amusing little diatribe containing a foracide, i may revise my score upward.

[+Sol seaker]

I laughed out loud more than a few times during the reading of this whole thread.

Anything that makes me laugh that much ranks high in my book.

I'd give it an 8.5

 

I understand his angst though. I feel the same way when I find a hide that is way out in the open in public. I always wonder what the hider was thinking, and figure they know they're taking their chances with the cache.

I figure if they wanted their cache to last forever they wouldn't have put it in a public place.

 

I would never spend 20 min on a LPC to wait for the cars to leave. I assume they know it's not going to last long in that location.

(and I love LPC's! with all of the evil hides where I live it's a relief to get an easy one now and then)

 

Mine? I've got a maincoon with long hair. Pretty cat. Very smart for a cat. Always comes when called.

She was diabetic. Insulin dependent.

Then we moved to a place without housemates.

Her diabetes went away.

The housemates must have stressed her out as bad as they stressed me out.

Edited July 28, 2009 by Sol seaker

[Clan Riffster]

As I Hide-icide, I'd have to give it pretty low marks.

The prose was a bit sophomoric, sounding like someone babbling just to hear themselves make noise.

I will add a few points because it's someone who previously hid LPCs.

Anything that results in fewer lame hides has got to have some merit.

[+nericksx]

I give the whole thing an 8.5 as well, for amusement and drama.

 

I have a huge grey striped boy cat who pees on everything even though he is fixed, a black & while long-hair with a Hitler mustache, an athletic tortoiseshell, and an old old black short hair.

 

I think that for the most part cache owners are saints . I keep thinking about a cache I'd like to place, but I read the horror stories that COs post (spent $100 just to have it filled it dirt?!?!?) and think "NO WAY am I going to go through that angst." OTOH, if everyone thought that then there would be nothing for me to find - and I'm continuously grateful for there being caches to find EVERY PLACE I'VE WANTED TO LOOK FOR ONE.

 

So Blessed are the Cache Owners, for they provide me and my family with endless cheap entertainment.