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I've got to have some sig items or path tags for events like this. Going empty handed felt awful when so many people were happy to give me theirs, even for nothing in exchange. I will have something... give me a month and I'll have something.

 

So of all the things learned at GW8, what stands out for you?

 

 

oh yeah, and it's a small world, I was caching with a girl from just down the coast from where I live.

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I learned many things but two are most important.

 

Number one is that geocachers truly do come from all walls of life. Number two is that if I want anyone to say hi to me I will have to be publicly identifiable.

ExACTly. If I wanted to have said hi to you, you would have had to have found me on your own, or I would have had to have randomly seen you and glanced at your name tag (I hate staring at people's chest, "looking for a nametag" :signalviolin: )

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I learned many things but two are most important.

 

Number one is that geocachers truly do come from all walls of life. Number two is that if I want anyone to say hi to me I will have to be publicly identifiable.

ExACTly. If I wanted to have said hi to you, you would have had to have found me on your own, or I would have had to have randomly seen you and glanced at your name tag (I hate staring at people's chest, "looking for a nametag" :signalviolin: )

What?! IF you wanted to say HI?!

 

Nobody said I was allowed to wear a nametag. :wacko:

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I learned many things but two are most important.

 

Number one is that geocachers truly do come from all walls of life. Number two is that if I want anyone to say hi to me I will have to be publicly identifiable.

ExACTly. If I wanted to have said hi to you, you would have had to have found me on your own, or I would have had to have randomly seen you and glanced at your name tag (I hate staring at people's chest, "looking for a nametag" :signalviolin: )

What?! IF you wanted to say HI?!

 

Nobody said I was allowed to wear a nametag. :(

:wacko: Aw, I was disapointed that I missed meeting you. But, we live close enough together, that I assume we'll meet some day in the future.

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I learned many things but two are most important.

 

Number one is that geocachers truly do come from all walls of life. Number two is that if I want anyone to say hi to me I will have to be publicly identifiable.

ExACTly. If I wanted to have said hi to you, you would have had to have found me on your own, or I would have had to have randomly seen you and glanced at your name tag (I hate staring at people's chest, "looking for a nametag" :signalviolin: )

What?! IF you wanted to say HI?!

 

Nobody said I was allowed to wear a nametag. :(

 

Psssst. GWIX is only 5 hours from Rome, NY. If you plan to attend, we can make a little road trip.

 

I'll wear a name tag just for you. :wacko:

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I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :signalviolin:

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I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :signalviolin:

That's exactly what I did. I don't go up to people and discover them, that makes me uncomfortable. But I had lots of people stop me and get my trackable numbers. So then I would take a pic of theirs, and then a pic of them. It makes things quick and simple. I have most of them logged already.

Edited by Ambrosia
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...To keep my GPS in my pocket or hand at all time and never lose sight of it!

 

Oh, are you the one that left your GPSr laying on the table in the lunch area which we did turn into lost and found?

While I was working lost and found, there was one GPS turned in, but a different one reported missing.

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...To keep my GPS in my pocket or hand at all time and never lose sight of it!

 

Oh, are you the one that left your GPSr laying on the table in the lunch area which we did turn into lost and found?

 

No, I lost it at the COWWS Friday Meet & Greet and Luau. :wacko: The person that found it called the number on my GPSr and before I knew it, i was getting texts from a family member!! :signalviolin: Thanks to that person (name is removed) for getting it back to me safe and sound.

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If I learned one three things at GW8...

 

People really will pay $25 to hike to the APE cache. (We expected half as many.)

 

Mint twice as many APE coins next time. (We sold out way too fast.)

 

Order three times as many club GW shirts next time. (Who knew they'd be such a hit?)

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What I've learned by not attending GW8 is that I have no idea what sig items or path tags are.

 

Can someone elaborate?

 

They are items that a cacher hands out that is collectible by some. They are personalized in many ways so that no two cachers have the same signature item (or pathtag).

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What I've learned by not attending GW8 is that I have no idea what sig items or path tags are.

 

Can someone elaborate?

 

They are items that a cacher hands out that is collectible by some. They are personalized in many ways so that no two cachers have the same signature item (or pathtag).

 

Here is a thread on sigitems. Here is a site for sigitems.

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I learned that one day just isn't enough to say hi to all my old friends, and meet a bunch of new friends. It was great putting faces to names I've seen here in the forums and on Facebook. I would have liked to meet many more. Even Bittsen.

+1

 

I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :)

 

Yes, especially for the girls who wear their TB tags as necklaces. :)

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I learned that one day just isn't enough to say hi to all my old friends, and meet a bunch of new friends. It was great putting faces to names I've seen here in the forums and on Facebook. I would have liked to meet many more. Even Bittsen.

+1

 

I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :D

 

Yes, especially for the girls who wear their TB tags as necklaces. :)

WHATever. :)

 

I did learn that there are a lot of people out there that have different ideas of where personal space is. :) I had total strangers coming up to me and picking up my travel bug tags that were hanging around my neck. I learned to grab them and display them for people when I saw them coming. :):D

 

Naw, it doesn't bother me that much, I just find it odd and a little disconcerting that people assume that it's ok. Personally, I hugged so many people, more than I probably ever have at one time. I still feel all warm and fuzzy from the weekend. :P;)

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I also did not get to go along to GW VIII... but... I did learn that stay at homes can have a good time watching others on their way to such an event... I simply went to a point along the route and waited for the Calgary Convoy group... had a great time watching them squirm while finding (I think they all succeeded) the Worlds Biggest Truck and Big & Orange caches... Didn't even have to do much more than make sure they were good to go before anyone got there... Then did a little clean up and weeding for the site owners and waited... amazing to watch the cursing then the smiles... good couple of hours spent, then I went back the other day and reset things for others to find... caches do move a bit.

 

Some day I'll get to a GW, maybe... meantime keep the stories coming!

 

Doug 7rxc

Edited by 7rxc
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I learned that of all the local cachers that went I only got to see one person I knew.

I wanted to meet a bunch of folks from the forums that went and the only person I bumped into was Nudecacher and he was working the check in booth.(great guy!)

I think I met snoogans but he hasnt answered my email yet.

All I really know is that it was fun and I think my daughter even had a good time.

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If I learned one three things at GW8...

 

People really will pay $25 to hike to the APE cache. (We expected half as many.)

 

Mint twice as many APE coins next time. (We sold out way too fast.)

 

Order three times as many club GW shirts next time. (Who knew they'd be such a hit?)

 

I think Smokeyg learned something, too. Any cache along the trail to Mission 9: Tunnel of Light is going to get pounded. RIP Annette Breather

 

I learned that of all the local cachers that went I only got to see one person I knew.

I wanted to meet a bunch of folks from the forums that went and the only person I bumped into was Nudecacher and he was working the check in booth.(great guy!)

I think I met snoogans but he hasnt answered my email yet.

All I really know is that it was fun and I think my daughter even had a good time.

 

I met Snoogans (who can miss a man walking down the street with an ironing board with a dog tag on it?)

 

Also a lot of my locals, even had lunch with some of them at GW8 event.

 

Met lots and lots of cachers I've never seen on here and had never met before. Lots of good chat.

 

Met one fellow from Alaska who attended one of our 10 Year events.

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So of all the things learned at GW8, what stands out for you?

 

 

1. being gaudy and obnoxious is acceptable at GW_ but not at any other event.

2. never back into a parking space, it sends the wrong signal.

3. trade up/trade even .... the bean cans are still there... beans are the "best" you can get.

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The lesson I learned at GWVIII is not to make plans with local (to home) cachers or anyone for that matter on the day of the big event. We were supposed to get together for a group pic (my idea) and I completely spaced the time caught up in the moment. Heck, I forgot to eat until near the end of the event. :laughing:

 

GWVIII was a timewarp. It seemed to only be 2 or 3 hours long and I was there for set up volunteering @ 7am and I didn't leave until after 7:30pm.

 

I've got to have some sig items or path tags for events like this. Going empty handed felt awful when so many people were happy to give me theirs, even for nothing in exchange. I will have something... give me a month and I'll have something.

 

I learned that one at GWIV. I was running the TB station and everyone was really impressed with the new system I had devised and while complimenting on how smooth it went they would hand me their sig item (I think GWIV was pre-pathtag) or in many cases a personal trackable coin. I wasn't prepared and at the end of the day I had a pile of siggys and 20+ trackable coins. ;) You're right. It didn't feel good to get all that in exchange for nuthin. :D

 

Well I started doing some math on a coin and I got a complicated design together... One small but good quality coin maker refused to make the coin as too complicated for him to do and the cheapest estimate I got was $11 per coin if I did a run of 1000. $13 per for smaller runs.

 

Hmmmm $11k and I can make 998 people happy..... OR I can buy a coin press for less than $3k and make 1000 people happy for $50 to $100 material cost depending on the metal I press AND smashed coins have a wider sales appeal than geocoins. One of my sets will sell for $20 to $40+ on ebay because privatly rolled coins are highly prized by collectors. Everyone who gave me a trackable at GW got a special mixed metal set (wheat pennies, nickels, & foreign coins) with extra coins added in to make up for the fact that I misplaced a bag of my Crappy pennies and only had like 4 of them with me. DOH!

 

I hope I gave you one of my sig coins. I remember meeting you. I gave on to just about everyone I crossed paths with. ;)

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I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :laughing:

 

I remember taking a pic of yours.... I think. I took so many the first couple of days that I had mostly given up by Sunday. I wish I had gotten more of the Lackey tag #s though.

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...To keep my GPS in my pocket or hand at all time and never lose sight of it!

 

Oh, are you the one that left your GPSr laying on the table in the lunch area which we did turn into lost and found?

 

No, I lost it at the COWWS Friday Meet & Greet and Luau. ;) The person that found it called the number on my GPSr and before I knew it, i was getting texts from a family member!! :laughing: Thanks to that person (name is removed) for getting it back to me safe and sound.

 

The one we found also had a phone number which I called just to hear the answer machine so left a message. Hopefully they got their Garmin back.

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I learned that one day just isn't enough to say hi to all my old friends, and meet a bunch of new friends. It was great putting faces to names I've seen here in the forums and on Facebook. I would have liked to meet many more. Even Bittsen.

+1

 

I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... B)

 

Yes, especially for the girls who wear their TB tags as necklaces. ;)

WHATever. ;)

 

I did learn that there are a lot of people out there that have different ideas of where personal space is. :laughing: I had total strangers coming up to me and picking up my travel bug tags that were hanging around my neck. I learned to grab them and display them for people when I saw them coming. :anibad::D

 

Naw, it doesn't bother me that much, I just find it odd and a little disconcerting that people assume that it's ok. Personally, I hugged so many people, more than I probably ever have at one time. I still feel all warm and fuzzy from the weekend. :unsure:B)

The travel bugs?
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I learned that one day just isn't enough to say hi to all my old friends, and meet a bunch of new friends. It was great putting faces to names I've seen here in the forums and on Facebook. I would have liked to meet many more. Even Bittsen.

+1

 

I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... ;)

 

Yes, especially for the girls who wear their TB tags as necklaces. :unsure:

WHATever. :anibad:

 

I did learn that there are a lot of people out there that have different ideas of where personal space is. ;) I had total strangers coming up to me and picking up my travel bug tags that were hanging around my neck. I learned to grab them and display them for people when I saw them coming. :(B)

 

Naw, it doesn't bother me that much, I just find it odd and a little disconcerting that people assume that it's ok. Personally, I hugged so many people, more than I probably ever have at one time. I still feel all warm and fuzzy from the weekend. B)B)

The travel bugs?

:laughing:;):DB)

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The lesson I learned at GWVIII is not to make plans with local (to home) cachers or anyone for that matter on the day of the big event. We were supposed to get together for a group pic (my idea) and I completely spaced the time caught up in the moment. Heck, I forgot to eat until near the end of the event. :laughing:

 

GWVIII was a timewarp. It seemed to only be 2 or 3 hours long and I was there for set up volunteering @ 7am and I didn't leave until after 7:30pm.

 

I've got to have some sig items or path tags for events like this. Going empty handed felt awful when so many people were happy to give me theirs, even for nothing in exchange. I will have something... give me a month and I'll have something.

 

I learned that one at GWIV. I was running the TB station and everyone was really impressed with the new system I had devised and while complimenting on how smooth it went they would hand me their sig item (I think GWIV was pre-pathtag) or in many cases a personal trackable coin. I wasn't prepared and at the end of the day I had a pile of siggys and 20+ trackable coins. ;) You're right. It didn't feel good to get all that in exchange for nuthin. :D

 

Well I started doing some math on a coin and I got a complicated design together... One small but good quality coin maker refused to make the coin as too complicated for him to do and the cheapest estimate I got was $11 per coin if I did a run of 1000. $13 per for smaller runs.

 

Hmmmm $11k and I can make 998 people happy..... OR I can buy a coin press for less than $3k and make 1000 people happy for $50 to $100 material cost depending on the metal I press AND smashed coins have a wider sales appeal than geocoins. One of my sets will sell for $20 to $40+ on ebay because privatly rolled coins are highly prized by collectors. Everyone who gave me a trackable at GW got a special mixed metal set (wheat pennies, nickels, & foreign coins) with extra coins added in to make up for the fact that I misplaced a bag of my Crappy pennies and only had like 4 of them with me. DOH!

 

I hope I gave you one of my sig coins. I remember meeting you. I gave on to just about everyone I crossed paths with. ;)

 

Nopes. You and your ironing board and friend (with was that a big stuffed dog?) were looking for a refridgerator door.

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I learned that one day just isn't enough to say hi to all my old friends, and meet a bunch of new friends. It was great putting faces to names I've seen here in the forums and on Facebook. I would have liked to meet many more. Even Bittsen.

+1

 

I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :)

 

Yes, especially for the girls who wear their TB tags as necklaces. :)

WHATever. :)

 

I did learn that there are a lot of people out there that have different ideas of where personal space is. :ph34r: I had total strangers coming up to me and picking up my travel bug tags that were hanging around my neck. I learned to grab them and display them for people when I saw them coming. :D:)

 

Naw, it doesn't bother me that much, I just find it odd and a little disconcerting that people assume that it's ok. Personally, I hugged so many people, more than I probably ever have at one time. I still feel all warm and fuzzy from the weekend. :D:)

OK now that is funny. I was so happy to see you and your smiling face that I didn't even notice you had tags around your neck. I was actually referring to a young halter clad blond girl at GW4 who was thoroughly enjoying the additional attention. I chose to be more general as I thought it was more discrete. :)

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I learned that 5 1/2 days is not enough time to do everything you want. We planned, what we thought would be, a "relaxed" trip with a few hours of caching each day mixed in with some sightseeing and touristy things.

 

We've been to a couple other events, and the goals for them was always to cache like crazy, so time wasn't an issue.

 

Next time, we're going to have to cache less, sight see less or add a few extra days to the trip.

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I learned that one day just isn't enough to say hi to all my old friends, and meet a bunch of new friends. It was great putting faces to names I've seen here in the forums and on Facebook. I would have liked to meet many more. Even Bittsen.

+1

 

I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :)

 

Yes, especially for the girls who wear their TB tags as necklaces. :)

WHATever. :)

 

I did learn that there are a lot of people out there that have different ideas of where personal space is. :ph34r: I had total strangers coming up to me and picking up my travel bug tags that were hanging around my neck. I learned to grab them and display them for people when I saw them coming. :D:)

 

Naw, it doesn't bother me that much, I just find it odd and a little disconcerting that people assume that it's ok. Personally, I hugged so many people, more than I probably ever have at one time. I still feel all warm and fuzzy from the weekend. :D:)

OK now that is funny. I was so happy to see you and your smiling face that I didn't even notice you had tags around your neck. I was actually referring to a young halter clad blond girl at GW4 who was thoroughly enjoying the additional attention. I chose to be more general as I thought it was more discrete. :)

 

er.... do you have any pics of said halter clad blond girl?

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I learned that one day just isn't enough to say hi to all my old friends, and meet a bunch of new friends. It was great putting faces to names I've seen here in the forums and on Facebook. I would have liked to meet many more. Even Bittsen.

+1

 

I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :)

 

Yes, especially for the girls who wear their TB tags as necklaces. :ph34r:

WHATever. :ph34r:

 

I did learn that there are a lot of people out there that have different ideas of where personal space is. :) I had total strangers coming up to me and picking up my travel bug tags that were hanging around my neck. I learned to grab them and display them for people when I saw them coming. :P:anicute:

 

Naw, it doesn't bother me that much, I just find it odd and a little disconcerting that people assume that it's ok. Personally, I hugged so many people, more than I probably ever have at one time. I still feel all warm and fuzzy from the weekend. ;):wub:

OK now that is funny. I was so happy to see you and your smiling face that I didn't even notice you had tags around your neck. I was actually referring to a young halter clad blond girl at GW4 who was thoroughly enjoying the additional attention. I chose to be more general as I thought it was more discrete. :anicute:

Yeah, yeah, you complimented my smile, so I'll let it slide. ;);)

 

I'm not halter clad (and not blonde anymore, now that I've grown up), but here's a picture of me, where you can kinda see my tags:

 

57aba98a-7b33-4998-98ba-fae395ca7bc5.jpg

 

 

er.... do you have any pics of said halter clad blond girl?

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I learned that one day just isn't enough to say hi to all my old friends, and meet a bunch of new friends. It was great putting faces to names I've seen here in the forums and on Facebook. I would have liked to meet many more. Even Bittsen.

+1

 

I learned that writing down every trackable number I see is a verrrrry bad idea. I think I spent about two hours trying to log all of them.

 

Never doing that again.

I learned to take photos of trackable numbers, now my cell phone is full of photos of them. I'll probably log them someday... :)

 

Yes, especially for the girls who wear their TB tags as necklaces. :ph34r:

WHATever. :ph34r:

 

I did learn that there are a lot of people out there that have different ideas of where personal space is. :) I had total strangers coming up to me and picking up my travel bug tags that were hanging around my neck. I learned to grab them and display them for people when I saw them coming. :P:anicute:

 

Naw, it doesn't bother me that much, I just find it odd and a little disconcerting that people assume that it's ok. Personally, I hugged so many people, more than I probably ever have at one time. I still feel all warm and fuzzy from the weekend. ;):wub:

OK now that is funny. I was so happy to see you and your smiling face that I didn't even notice you had tags around your neck. I was actually referring to a young halter clad blond girl at GW4 who was thoroughly enjoying the additional attention. I chose to be more general as I thought it was more discrete. :anicute:

Yeah, yeah, you complimented my smile, so I'll let it slide. ;);)

 

I'm not halter clad (and not blonde anymore, now that I've grown up), but here's a picture of me, where you can kinda see my tags:

 

57aba98a-7b33-4998-98ba-fae395ca7bc5.jpg

 

 

er.... do you have any pics of said halter clad blond girl?

 

Photochopping that pic as you read this to put you in a halter top and make your hair blond.

 

(kidding! you look swell as you are) :)

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I think Smokeyg learned something, too. Any cache along the trail to Mission 9: Tunnel of Light is going to get pounded. RIP Annette Breather

That's a shame. When we were planning the Going APE event, we worried about environmental impact around this cache specifically, and deliberately left it off the event's cache map and GPX file to discourage attendees from seeking it. Of course, that didn't account for the hundreds of other cachers who also visited the APE cache around GeoWoodstock, or did their own PQs (as it wasn't disabled).

Edited by hydnsek
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I think Smokeyg learned something, too. Any cache along the trail to Mission 9: Tunnel of Light is going to get pounded. RIP Annette Breather

That's a shame. When we were planning the Going APE event, we worried about environmental impact around this cache specifically, and deliberately left it off the event's cache map and GPX file to discourage attendees from seeking it. Of course, that didn't account for the hundreds of other cachers who also visited the APE cache around GeoWoodstock, or did their own PQs (as it wasn't disabled).

 

It's certainly some nugget of wisdom to pass along to the hosts of GWIX - caches in environmentally sensitive areas should be disabled a couple weeks before the event.

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