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Who Are The Lurkers? Introduce Yourself.


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I guess "lurker" would describe me. I am a member of an online golf forum, an electronic drum forum and now this one.

My name is Chris and I'm from Fresno, Ca. I've been Geocaching for about 2 years now. I'll do it for a week then take months off. Well now I think I am finally hooked enough to do this alot more.

My girlfriend and my little girl (I am recently divorced) love this sport/game. It's something fun and this weekend it really lifted alot of stress off my shoulders.

I'm grateful to have found Geocaching.

 

ps I just upgraded from a Geko 101 to an eTrex Legend and all I can say is wow.

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I usually lurk, unless I think I have something interesting to say... of course it might not be interesting, but hey, I try :unsure:

 

Been caching a little over a month with a geko 101..and it was great, but I got my new play toy Saturday, Garmin 60C...really cool!

 

I do refrain from commenting on some hot subjects, cause some of these people can be brutal if they disagree with you, and I hate to fight.

 

I read the off topic forum on a daily basis, and laugh myself silly at Torry, Snoogans, and the like....legends in their postings.

 

Thanks for all the entertainment, and thus far, making a new girl feel welcome.

 

edited becuase I spelled geko/gecko correctly the first time, not the Garmin way :unsure:

Edited by In Search Of Faeries
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Hey ya'll,

Just thought I'd stop in and say hi! :rolleyes: I haven't done any real geocaching stuff yet...actually I just found out about geocaching from a friend a few weeks ago...anyways, I guess I might have to wait until it stops snowing up here before I go...or, at least wait for my brother to get back from vaccation and bring the GPS! Thought it might be a little hard without one of those. ;)

Anyways, looks like I'll be having plenty of fun when I do get to go cache hunting!

:lol:

---------^------------^-------------^--------------^-------------^----------------^------------

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I lurk from time to time. I will continue to lurk from time to time. I may post something someday if it interests me enough. I occasionally pick up jewels of knowledge by lurking. I occasionally get a good chuckle from lurking. Mostly I waste time by lurking. I would generally rather go caching than talk about caching. It's best that I lurk, after all, I may be the one who cooked and ate your neighbors.

parrothead_madness

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Hi, I think I'm mainly a lurker, at least here.

I'm active in geocaching for slightly more than a year now and mostly looking into Dutch fora since I live in the Netherlands.

I've not done that many caches because I've lot of hobbies so geocaching is mainly done during holiday-travels.

At the moment I'm looking into the possibilities of GSAK to have more info with me during these travels.

I use OziExplorer and have an Garmin Geko 301.

 

Regards,Pocileh

Edited by Pocileh
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I am mainly a lurker also, but I don't see a problem with it. If I was in a conversation with several people and others knew more than me I would just listen. That's one way I look at this message board. If everyone who looked at this replied we could not possibly read them all. Also, my other view is that this is kind of like a newspaper. I read it and unless I get really inspired I don't respond.

 

I have learned alot here and appreciate those who share their knowledge.

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I only lurk a little bit on the forums.....I am pretty busy, but am searching the forums occasionally for advice on placing my first cache....I have 88 finds, and am looking to place my first cache and want to make sure I do it correctly. Everybody's welcome to email or say hi, and I hope to find some good hints in the forums for what I'm looking for!!

 

CNSpotz

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Hi Everyone and Happy Holidays!!

I lurk but not on a regular basis. This is my first post but I doubt that it will be my last. I entered this entertain game a few months back and am enjoying the heck out of it. There seem to be a lot of terrific people out there willing to share their knowledge and encourage us newbies. At this point I don't post as I'm still "testing the waters" to see how things work.

 

Looking forward to reading more informative posts.

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Okay....guilty. We've been lurking, but we're definitely not muggles! DH and I have been caching since October. We're still pretty "green" but definitely addicted already.

 

Took our GPS'r on vacation with us to the Virgin Islands 2 weeks ago, and just had a blast with it! Caching brought us to some very secluded, exotic, unspoiled places that the regular "tourists" don't get to see. We placed our first TB on St. John last Saturday and now we're DYING to see who finds it and where it goes next. :lol:

 

Now we're back in cold, snowy Michigan....wishing we lived somewhere warm where the caching is easy during the winter months. :lol: We'll probably get out again as soon as the temps rise above 15º. :unsure: LOL

 

Thanks for a great forum....I'm learning a lot here!!

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Hi, I seldomly post, but felt encouraged to spill my feelings about the matter of hostility in forums...

 

Perhaps people who trigger this hostility are not really angry, but incapable of putting nuances in their posts. In fact, in my old circle of fellow-students in Electrical engeneering, there are quite a few people who post on forums regularly and lacked this capacity of nuance even in daily face to face conversation.

 

Together with the other lurkers, I'll go back to my more comfortable position of commenting without actually being overheard now...

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Often when discussing features of the website, the point is raised that many of the people who might feel one way, or another about a given topic never actually say anything because the forums are so hostile.

 

Another  good point that often comes up is that the forum is where people come to learn about caching, and we should try give the best impression we can.

 

I'm curious to know how many people are out there quietly taking it all in.

 

There really is no topic here, so you can't post off topic. And since there is no topic, there needn't be any arguing either. :rolleyes:

 

Feel free to use this thread to say "Hi", and introduce yourself.

One thing about open forums, they often seem to bring out the discourteous side of many posters. I've read so many similar comments on unrelated sites about "brusque users" frightening off newcomers, that I've come to ignore the layer of hostility that sometimes is the coin of the realm.

 

Lurker Introduction: I'm a New York City resident who "discovered" Geocaching and signed up in the Groundspeak Forums almost a year ago, but just did my first find a couple of weeks ago with a friend and his new GPS. Trekked through Central Park and found 5 caches, which sealed it up for me. I bought the Etrex Legend and now have 9 finds to my credit, and am the happy proprietor of a cache in one of my favorite picturesque spots near the lake in Central Park (Waypoint: GCM90X). I read, enjoyed, and fully agree that the "Geocachers Code" in a separate forum is well written, inclusive of the major points necessary to keep geocaching a positive and beneficial activity for both participants and non-participants, and serves to keep the game structure intact without being to "rule-oriented."

 

I'm looking for a Manhattan-based "club" or ad hoc group aqnd would be happy to meet up with anyone local.

 

--Marc

December 27, 2004 @ 3:22pm

Edited by SilverMarc
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Hello and Happy New Year!!! :D

I am very new to this, and was a little apprehensive of posting as I have NO knowledge of geocaching,, as yet! but I have been "lurking" as well, and have learned quite a bit!! I live in Ontario Canada, and I thought at first that my gps was too small to participate in such a fun sport,, but after reading more I realized that I am 'in' the game!! :D and second of all I didn't think there would be a lot of activity where I live,, but I have been lurking and found that to be NOT true!! I am anxious to get out and start!!

I have a garmin etrex Legend,, with some memory, and presently I am trying to figure out how to get maps..

 

thanks for a great forum!

 

missmod :laughing:

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I wouldn't worry about not finding anything with a Garmin Legend. I still use an old (1996) Magellan that has not maps, no way of connecting to a computer. It is a simple green and black lag/long or UTM system. I have had to learn for to use it in order to find a thing. My GPS is still accurate but it takes a lot of planning to go out caching. Plain ol' paper and pencil and my old GPS and extra batteries. Someday I'll get a new system. But on the salary of a teacher in Utah, I doubt it will be soon. Good luck to you and have fun! That's what caching is all about! :D

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Hello folks!

 

I am a lurker ;) , as you can see from my low find & post #s. I think i have the telepathy thing going on with fellow cachers. Everytime i go post either a question or a reply, someone has my exact thought, so i end up just reading most of the time.

 

I got really excited about geocaching when iit first came out, but could not afford a gps unit - so i waited a while. I got a garmin 12 a friend abandoned after "upgrading" (later i understood why he gave it away). We had a very hectic summer this year and couldnt cache as much as we wanted, plus hubby was getting really disgusted after searching for 2 hours for a 2/1 (i just enjoyed being outside)

 

Now, I am slowly getting my other half enthusiastic about the sport - too bad we are in a deep freeze with a lot of snow (it should be nice this weekend, though ;) )! We just got a much better gps - a meridian color (i think something must have been wrong with the garmin 12 - there is so much discrepancy between coordinates even when the gps'rs are sitting side by side). So, i should really be emerging from "lurking" status this spring!

 

well, thanks for letting me introduce myself, and Happy New Year & Happy Caching! :o

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Hello all! I'm Carol and new to GC. I've been reading the site for weeks now and was waiting for Christmas money to come in so I could buy a GPSr and get started. I ordered a Garmin eTrex Vista C yesterday and it arrived today. Yes, I know, it's a bit much for a newbie but I just know how I am and didn't want to have to upgrade in a few weeks or months. Besides...it's not my money. :rolleyes: I placed an order with GS too for some TBs and a log book. My girls (ages 3 & 7) will head out tomorrow for our first find. There is one that is located somewhere down near our bank and should be a good one to start with. My 7 year old "S" is very excited about this and was very impatient today when we were initalizing the GPSr. "Can we go now? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Kids...gotta love them. I figured this was something that we could all do together and have some fun. We do a lot of traveling to visit family and will hit sites while we are out and about.

 

We live in NW Tucson so if you are from AZ...HOLA! Look forward to spending some time here and maybe we'll see some of you out on the hunt. :P

 

souper

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Not really a lurker here, I do alot of reading since i joined a few days ago,I live in new jersey and have been using a gps now for about 3 years for my job and thought it be great to do this caching thing, have not got my first cache yet but i am working on it with my 10 yr old little girl, i think it will be great

 

Keith

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I don't know if I'm a lurker, but I am new to Geocaching and this site.

 

I'm from the Seattle area, and love the outdoors. Got a new puppy at thanksgiving. We both enjoy Geocashing now.

 

I was researching the Garmin foretrex 201 (which I asked for and got for Christmas) when I ran across the Geocashing website. Looked like fun, and an excuse for getting out with my dog. A little more adventure than walking around the hood. I've used a charting GPS on my boat for years, but wanted the Foretrex for it's super small size for hiking, biking, and skiing. And what better than to play with it while geocaching in the mean time?

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I would say I'm a learning lurker. Just started posting a few days ago after being referred here from another message board. I still haven't gotten a GPS device yet, but should be within the next couple of weeks. Already have a couple of caches not far from where I live that I am going to attempt to find once I get all my gear. Until then, I'm checking out the boards and learning quite a bit about Geocaching.

 

I can't wait to get out in the field!!! B)

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Hi, I've only just found out about Geoching. So am still finding my way around, here as well as learning this whole GPS thingywhatsit.

 

Went out today on my first hunt well there were 7 of us wondering around all told.

Read the first clue, went and parked. Started walking. for some reason the gps thingy was degrees out :rolleyes: not sure why yet. but when I checked with streetfinder the place we thought was the first clue was even though the corodinates where wrong ;) Still Theres always next time.

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Hello from a bonafide lurker. I've only been caching since September, but it consumes my thoughts. I can swear that I think about it in some way everyday. But I love caching and look forward to it as part of my life.

 

As for lurking- I read message boards on just about everything that interests me. Even if for only a minute do I become interested in a topic, I search BBs for a frank, personal discussion that's already been had. The problem I have always found is that people lose their courtesy through anonymity and are quite often EXTREMELY RUDE. I have been personally offended in the past and can't really contribute to message boards in the future.

 

But I'll be there... watching...

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Hello All!

I've been doing a lot of lurking lately, so I guess I'm a lurker as well. :P

I started caching about 3 months ago and it's really becoming my obsession a little more every day. I love reading these forums! I like hearing the views of other folks from this community. It's refreshing to me that I tend to agree with those of you who are right. :o Anyway, I'm in South Carolina and will post occasionally, but only if I'm not restating the obvious, and if things aren't to heated. Tahnks to all the moderators! I appreciate the time you guys put into this!

 

See Yall! :P

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I think it's a valid point to address why people lurk and if nothing else, just to feed Bloencustom's curiosity. Good topic.

 

My given name is Dacia. I'm an artist/photographer, hence the "dada" part of my username. I just joined the geocaching community and am very addicted. My boyfriend & I just found our first cache. (I cheesily felt like we should have opened a bottle of champagne to toast a new beginning HAHA.) I asked for walkie talkies for Christmas and he got me a Garmin Rino 120 with the walkie talkie feature...talk about going above and beyond. I was floored; and am never ceased to be amazed at the usefulness. i.e. I am an epileptic fly fisher :rolleyes: and he worries; peer to peer positioning helps. I no longer consider the GPS a luxury I can't afford.

 

I mainly lurk to absorb info. I am typically a quiet observer in real life...so I usually lurk in any forum I go to. If I think I can help someone, I will reply. Plus, I don't feel I am lurking...that sounds...sketchy. I think of it as the student in the last row, back of the room.

 

I am going back to my desk now. Heh Heh.

 

Happy trails...

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Hi Everybody!

Just like the topic suggests - We are TheOutofTowners - introducing ourselves and saying "HI".

We are new to this GC and are having a blast. ;) . Never heard of it until just about 4 days ago while I was on another forum and someone was asking if anyone wanted to go geocaching. My husband and I thought we would look it up on the net and find out what it was. I gave him a GPS for Christmas just because he likes tech toys and lo and behold we found something to do with it! We are looking forward to our GC adventures, as we like to travel alot, and will now have even more fun! Hope to possibly meet some other GCer's at an event or out and about hunting around. I will probably post ocassionally, but mostly lurk as I learn more by sitting back and observing. Please don't hold that against me. Besides as you can see by this post, I am long winded and you probably don't want to sit for hours reading just one post. :huh: Take care and God bless!

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No longer a lurker, but I haven't introduced myself properly either.

 

I'm copying my reply to the screen name post to tell my story plus adding on to it for the rest of my introduction.

 

My screen name comes from the name of my freelance graphics business.

 

Gridlox Grafix

 

I've always been artistically inclined and took every art class I could in high school.

But alas, growing up with parents scratching out a living in Southern cotton mills left very little moneys for continuing my education after that.

 

So, I have basically taught myself anything after that.

 

I got interested in Hot Rods after high school and was a member of a local car club.

We held several car shows and cruize nights during the year and would always pay someone to design our advertisements.

 

One year we decided to throw a cruize night event at the last moment and the person that we'd used before that couldn't fit us into his schedule. So, I took over the job of laying it out.

Up until this point no one knew of my interest in art and after doing this first one, they were so impressed that I ended up doing them from then on. Of course the price was right too, since I didn't charge them anything because it was my contribution to the club :P

 

Then the next year we decided to host a large car show with the support of a local car dealer. He wanted to have tshirts to sell at the show. Someone mentioned that I could probably work up something pretty good for them to use.

The dealer was impressed with the design and also wanted me to do some for his dealership that he could sell out of his parts department.

 

I decided I wanted to have a business name to place on the designs instead of just my name at the bottom.

 

I racked my brains for days trying to thing of something. Then one night sitting watching the news they were telling about a huge traffic problem they were having in Atlanta that day. The newscaster said something to the effect of "The interstate is nothing but metal & chrome this afternoon, just utter gridlock."

 

Lightbulb!!

 

Since all of my designs to this point were all car related I thought "Gridlock's Graphics" would be perfect.

 

This was the early 80's and the break dancing craze was in full swing and the musical artist and taggers (graffitti artist) all had these cool ways of spelling their names, so I decided I had to have a different way of spelling mine.

 

I went through several variations that just didn't do it for me.

Gridlokz Graphikz

Gridlocz Graphicz

Gridloks Grafiks

:D  :D  :huh:

 

Later that week I was reading the new Hot Rod magazine that I got in the mail and they had an article on the drag racing team of Sox & Martin.

 

THAT"S IT!!

 

Gridlox Graphix.

 

:huh:

 

Gridlox Grafix!!

:D  :P  :D  :D

 

So after that, everything I designed got signed with "Gridlox Grafix"

AND FOR THE REST OF THE STORY.....

 

Later, I got married & had our daughter (Lil Gridess as she's know on message boards) and got away from the Hot Rods.

 

Held down a few different jobs and eventually ended up working for the company that did all of our tshirts for our car shows. But in the sign department!!

 

Had some serious medical problems that took me out of work for about 8 months (circulation problems in my legs) So, we took what little money we had saved up and bought a jam up (for the time) computer system and the design programs I had used at the previous job and started freelancing from home, since I couldn't venture out much to hold down a job.

 

Now I design mostly for 4 different companies here in town. Mostly doing tshirt, ad specialty, & signage design. Plus, I also do a bit of logo design for small businesses.

 

My bro-in-law had gotten a GPS for Christmas in 2003 and found this place. He had went on a few hunts and I tagged along on a couple. I really enjoyed it but really didn't want to spend the $100+ buck to buy a GPSr. So, I just lurked in the shadows reading you guys post until just recently.

 

I recently had a flare up of my previous medical problems that took me out of work and my doctor told me I had to start getting more exercise to help with the circulation in my legs, plus I really need to get a major amout of overweightness off!

Then, I remembered how much walking that we had to do when out on the hunts and decide this would be part of my exercising.

Right now, I'm bumming my bro-in-laws Magellan Sport Trak when he's not using it to do my caching, but hopefully I'll have my own in the very near future!!

 

Team Gridlox consist of Me (Gridlox), Lil Gridess (my daughter), occasionally Mizz Grid (my wife) and Possum Pete! (our mascot)

 

D-man :D

Edited by gridlox
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Hi, I'm fairly new to this, and don't consider myself a "lurker", just trying to squeeze in the time around all the other stuff I'm supposed to be doing (oh yeah, some of which I get paid for doing....). I just bought my first GPS in October or November 2004, and it took me until January 2005 to make the time to figure out how it works and to try it out on my first cache hunt (and even then, I must confess, it was while I was on vacation visiting my daughter, that her roommate actually read the GPS instructions and showed me "point&click" how to work the thing....). I'm not lazy, really, just busy and sometimes impatient with tech stuff (I still haven't taught myself to creat a webpage, but it's on my thingstodo list)......okay, maybe I am a little lazy.....and maybe a little bit of a lurker....and now I'm talking too much about myself......

anyway, that's me, and since my first cache in Boulder in January, I've done 2 more in SoIllinois.....so slowly but surely I'm working my way into this party....

:(

see ya around.....

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Hello, my name isn't really wavector, and I am a lurker. I have been a lurker for awhile and the reason I am no longer lurking is that I have joined the ranks of the great unlost, I now have a new Garmin GPS.

Better the "Great Unlost" than the "Great Unwashed" eh?

 

[grin]

 

--Marc

January 23, 2005 @ 1:51 PM

N40°46.565' W073°58.756'

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People have gotten real mean. The slitest thing ive done wrong lately ive goten hateful messages. Some have been nice.

Some people have no patience online - some people forget they were once as "young and novice" as the people (in -THEIR- opinion) that they think they're putting down with their so called fancy-pants prose.

 

So just look through their babble for the point (if any) of what they might be saying, and work with that.

 

There is a lot of good, solid, and friendly info and a lot of solid, stand-up people out here who don't mind if once in awhile someone says or does something that reminds them of their early days online too!

 

--Marc

January 28, 2005 @ 9:38 PM

N40°46.565' W073°58.756'

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Yup, I guess I'm a "lurker" too. Not sure if I like that term (lurking is what people do in dark corners before they do something bad to you); I would consider myself an "unobtrusive seeker of knowledge". It's nice to know what the rules of the game are before you play (I hate to go into things blinded).

 

Anyway, I am new to this, and just found out what geocaching was about two weeks ago (a story on MSNBC's web site). I have owned a GPSr for about 2 years; the first month was a blast, I took it everywhere to see where I was going. Then, after the "high" wore off, it has spent, up until 2 weeks ago, most of its life inside a desk drawer.

 

I read the story on MSNBC, and started to look into geocaching. Once I understood what it was (by "lurking" <_< ), I was hooked! I spent the past two weeks researching, and today, logged my first find! It's colder than crap here in NC, and threatening to snow, sleet, and freezing rain, but I had to go out today for that first find.

 

Oh well, back to house painting and other stuff. Just wanted to introduce and say "howdy" to ya'll.

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I guess I'm a "lurker", unless I have a question to ask or a comment to make (like: "Thanks for the help"). I'd rather be caching than lurking though, so i come in only occasionally when I am bored and want to see what's new on the boards.

 

I haven't noticed much hostility, but i look at the words written...i don't put any hostility into them..they are just words. The authors may or may not be hostile, i wouldn't know...written words are neutral, they only convey the emotions you ascribe to them as you are reading them.

 

If you picture a smiley that is happy next to one set of words... <_< , you get a different feeling than if you picture a smiley that is frowning. who cares? :ph34r:

who cares? :rolleyes:

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I've been a lurker for a while . . . but I've been learning while lurking. :unsure:

 

See, I'm new to this activity and haven't had much to offer.

 

So far Geocaching is the most fun new activity I've had in my life since I bought my last new horse. Alas, that was a while ago and I don't have horses anymore. If anyone in my area (San Diego County) has an extra horse and wants to go Geocaching on horseback, I'd love to join them.

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