The San Diego Thread

[+Cornerstone4]

So you guys could still award the best 2006 San Diego County caches based on this list.

 

This is a good idea, and I'm not being snarky here. You should make some awards up, and present them at an event. It is a good way to acknowledge people's efforts.

 

As for next weeks event...it is what it is.

 

Showstop approached me with the idea of hosting the awards, and I told him it was fine. Is everyone equally represented? No. Will more folks be aware and nominate things next time...maybe.

 

Will everyone be happy with the results in either case...never gonna happen. Are these awards something we should be upset about for not winning...nope.

 

It's all meant in fun. I personally thought it would be a good way to get folks to mingle. I don't see any need to get a room to do caches up there. Snake and I drove to Palm Springs a few weeks back and did the Pushawalla Trail...drove home the same day too.

 

I am located in the middle of two different groups. I spend a lot of time with all of you in this area, and have a lot of friends here. I also have a lot of friends up in the Riverside and Orange County areas as well. There aren't too many folks that cross into both, and I thought the awards were a good idea.

 

In fact...I still do.

[+FlagMan]

So you guys could still award the best 2006 San Diego County caches based on this list.

 

This is a good idea, and I'm not being snarky here. You should make some awards up, and present them at an event. It is a good way to acknowledge people's efforts.

 

As for next weeks event...it is what it is.

 

Showstop approached me with the idea of hosting the awards, and I told him it was fine. Is everyone equally represented? No. Will more folks be aware and nominate things next time...maybe.

 

Will everyone be happy with the results in either case...never gonna happen. Are these awards something we should be upset about for not winning...nope.

 

It's all meant in fun. I personally thought it would be a good way to get folks to mingle. I don't see any need to get a room to do caches up there. Snake and I drove to Palm Springs a few weeks back and did the Pushawalla Trail...drove home the same day too.

 

I am located in the middle of two different groups. I spend a lot of time with all of you in this area, and have a lot of friends here. I also have a lot of friends up in the Riverside and Orange County areas as well. There aren't too many folks that cross into both, and I thought the awards were a good idea.

 

In fact...I still do.

We should do the Orchids and the Onions... (OK, someone put me back in the dark little room and lock the door...)

[+TrailGators]

So you guys could still award the best 2006 San Diego County caches based on this list.

 

This is a good idea, and I'm not being snarky here. You should make some awards up, and present them at an event. It is a good way to acknowledge people's efforts.

 

As for next weeks event...it is what it is.

 

Showstop approached me with the idea of hosting the awards, and I told him it was fine. Is everyone equally represented? No. Will more folks be aware and nominate things next time...maybe.

 

Will everyone be happy with the results in either case...never gonna happen. Are these awards something we should be upset about for not winning...nope.

 

It's all meant in fun. I personally thought it would be a good way to get folks to mingle. I don't see any need to get a room to do caches up there. Snake and I drove to Palm Springs a few weeks back and did the Pushawalla Trail...drove home the same day too.

 

I am located in the middle of two different groups. I spend a lot of time with all of you in this area, and have a lot of friends here. I also have a lot of friends up in the Riverside and Orange County areas as well. There aren't too many folks that cross into both, and I thought the awards were a good idea.

 

In fact...I still do.

Let's just drop it. It's spilled milk.... Edited February 8, 2007 by TrailGators

[+TrailGators]

So you guys could still award the best 2006 San Diego County caches based on this list.

 

This is a good idea, and I'm not being snarky here. You should make some awards up, and present them at an event. It is a good way to acknowledge people's efforts.

 

As for next weeks event...it is what it is.

 

Showstop approached me with the idea of hosting the awards, and I told him it was fine. Is everyone equally represented? No. Will more folks be aware and nominate things next time...maybe.

 

Will everyone be happy with the results in either case...never gonna happen. Are these awards something we should be upset about for not winning...nope.

 

It's all meant in fun. I personally thought it would be a good way to get folks to mingle. I don't see any need to get a room to do caches up there. Snake and I drove to Palm Springs a few weeks back and did the Pushawalla Trail...drove home the same day too.

 

I am located in the middle of two different groups. I spend a lot of time with all of you in this area, and have a lot of friends here. I also have a lot of friends up in the Riverside and Orange County areas as well. There aren't too many folks that cross into both, and I thought the awards were a good idea.

 

In fact...I still do.

We should do the Orchids and the Onions... (OK, someone put me back in the dark little room and lock the door...)

Who will get the Grand Onion? Edited February 8, 2007 by TrailGators

[+ShowStop]

S&R nobody ever posted a link on this thread and that is what annoyed me.

 

That is just not true...

 

Check this post from early January.

 

That is a post quoting my announcement and providing a link to more info...what else could I do?

 

The bookmarked favorites includes caches that were placed before 2006, so that doesn't work either.

 

I see this thread doing more to making it an "us vs. them" topic than having the awards ever could! The whole point is to get the nominations in, and then encourage people to visit other areas and see other cachers hides. Sometimes it's nice to get out of your own sandbox once in a while...

Sorry to stir up the waters. I'm not forcing anybody to participate. Its totally driven by the submittions given by other geocachers.

 

The awards are supposed to be a fun thing aimed at recognition and awareness. Many people have already mentioned about some of the caches on the list that they have never heard of and would like to get out and see. By having a small ceremony and issuing the awards, I hope to inspire others to put forth more effort and creativity in the caches they place. Favorites bookmarks do acheive a similar goal, but exposure is a bit more limited.

 

Do we have to have an awards? No. In fact, it would save me and a few others lots of time and money if we didn't. But I hope our efforts help others put more back into the game of geocaching. Face it, we'd all like to find some unique and creative hides rather then LPCs.

[+PassingWind]

...we'd all like to find some unique and creative hides rather then LPCs.

 

...or recycled Gatorade bottles.

 

Edited February 8, 2007 by PassingWind

[+TrailGators]

...we'd all like to find some unique and creative hides rather then LPCs.

 

...or recycled Gatorade bottles.

 

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone! Anyhow, I totally agree about the idea of inspiring of others. We all learn a lot about what to place and what will give you grief until you-know-what freezes over.

 

I'm not sure if everyone knows this but Groundspeak is working on a scheme to allow people to award their favorite caches. Then they will compile these data and make the caches with the most awards available for download. All I know is that it will save me a heck of a lot of time.

 

Finally, I still think you can't say any cache is better than any other cache. All you can you is collect data to see which caches were enjoyed by the most people.

Edited February 8, 2007 by TrailGators

[+Let's Look Over Thayer]

All you can you is collect data to see which caches were enjoyed by the most people.

Well, not all...

 

You can also collect data on the caches that were enjoyed the most by people;

And the caches that were enjoyed the most by most people.

 

[+TrailGators]

All you can you is collect data to see which caches were enjoyed by the most people.

Well, not all...

 

You can also collect data on the caches that were enjoyed the most by people;

And the caches that were enjoyed the most by most people.

 

I can't type worth a hill of beans....

[+jahoadi and john]

New topic. How about we exchange some comments on the logistics of how we do our caching? I bet there are a lot of ways to do it.

 

Data Gathering

I have pocket queries set up for Home (Clairemont), Chula Vista, Rancho Sante Fe, Poway, Ramona, El Cajon/Santee, etc. 300 or 400 caches. Set for only caches I haven't found and are active. I get updates about once a week. I save about one query a month, to get access to old logs. Once I figure out where I'm going to concentrate on, I import the old and then the new queries into GSAK, and then I use the filter command to view caches with a GPX file date of earlier than my last file. Then I delete all these caches. This gets rid of caches that I've found or that have gone away. I make sure the remaining list is 900 caches or less. The limit of 1000 waypoints is quite annoying. Oh, I also get notifications of new caches sent to my email.

 

Cache Data

I've set up GSAK to give the cache name a 'smart name' and put the last four logs and cache size in the description field, and give each non-traditional cache type a unique symbol (like 'shopping cart' for multicaches). Then I transfer the waypoints to my Garmin 60 csx directly from GSAK (after deleting the previous set.) I also export them to the PDA, and then sync the PDA. I keep a file of all the puzzles that I've solved but not found in a MapSource file (along with a few other waypoints, like my caches and 'Home'). I then load that file into the Garmin. I could probably keep that database in a GSAK database, but I don't.

 

Getting There

I use Google Earth with the geocaching KML loaded (the older version that showed the different cache types as different symbols), or I just load versions exported from GSAK (and Mapsource, for the puzzles). Then I can see the paths to take to the caches. I may read some of the caches in advance to look for parking suggestions or other difficulties. I print out some Google Earth maps (in draft form to save ink.)

 

The Find

I follow the arrow to the cache and use the PDA data for descriptions or hints when I need them. I don't type anything into the PDA on the caches, I just keep track in my head which caches I've visited. I do write down notes on paper of where I left bugs and their numbers.

 

Anyway, I've found the above to be pretty efficient, but I'm sure there are other equally good or even better ways to do this. I've heard people use pocket queries of all caches by date. Or they use their phone to log finds. Or bring along a laptop, etc.

 

 

 

Geesh..you must be an engineer! I just write the coords on a little yellow sticky post-it note and enter them into my GPS at the first red-light I come to on my way from work and pray I remember what the hint was!! Google Maps? I follow the arrow! I've ruined a few pair of dress shoes, but heck..it's fun!! R/ jodi

 

 

 

Luddite!

 

I don't believe you, Jodi.

 

 

 

Why don't you believe me? I bet Rooster's high heels don't look too pretty after that trek up to Above Chollas yesterday!!!!

[+SD Rowdies]

New topic. How about we exchange some comments on the logistics of how we do our caching? I bet there are a lot of ways to do it.

 

Data Gathering

I have pocket queries set up for Home (Clairemont), Chula Vista, Rancho Sante Fe, Poway, Ramona, El Cajon/Santee, etc. 300 or 400 caches. Set for only caches I haven't found and are active. I get updates about once a week. I save about one query a month, to get access to old logs. Once I figure out where I'm going to concentrate on, I import the old and then the new queries into GSAK, and then I use the filter command to view caches with a GPX file date of earlier than my last file. Then I delete all these caches. This gets rid of caches that I've found or that have gone away. I make sure the remaining list is 900 caches or less. The limit of 1000 waypoints is quite annoying. Oh, I also get notifications of new caches sent to my email.

 

Cache Data

I've set up GSAK to give the cache name a 'smart name' and put the last four logs and cache size in the description field, and give each non-traditional cache type a unique symbol (like 'shopping cart' for multicaches). Then I transfer the waypoints to my Garmin 60 csx directly from GSAK (after deleting the previous set.) I also export them to the PDA, and then sync the PDA. I keep a file of all the puzzles that I've solved but not found in a MapSource file (along with a few other waypoints, like my caches and 'Home'). I then load that file into the Garmin. I could probably keep that database in a GSAK database, but I don't.

 

Getting There

I use Google Earth with the geocaching KML loaded (the older version that showed the different cache types as different symbols), or I just load versions exported from GSAK (and Mapsource, for the puzzles). Then I can see the paths to take to the caches. I may read some of the caches in advance to look for parking suggestions or other difficulties. I print out some Google Earth maps (in draft form to save ink.)

 

The Find

I follow the arrow to the cache and use the PDA data for descriptions or hints when I need them. I don't type anything into the PDA on the caches, I just keep track in my head which caches I've visited. I do write down notes on paper of where I left bugs and their numbers.

 

Anyway, I've found the above to be pretty efficient, but I'm sure there are other equally good or even better ways to do this. I've heard people use pocket queries of all caches by date. Or they use their phone to log finds. Or bring along a laptop, etc.

Geesh..you must be an engineer! I just write the coords on a little yellow sticky post-it note and enter them into my GPS at the first red-light I come to on my way from work and pray I remember what the hint was!! Google Maps? I follow the arrow! I've ruined a few pair of dress shoes, but heck..it's fun!! R/ jodi

 

Luddite!

 

I don't believe you, Jodi.

 

Why don't you believe me? I bet Rooster's high heels don't look too pretty after that trek up to Above Chollas yesterday!!!!

In my case I define a GSAK database for each category of commonly used pocket-queries, you know, like Home, Wednesday, Puzzles, Temp, etc. I also keep one GSAK backup-folder in place and set the GSAK backup preference to target the backup folder. For each of the named GSAk databases I also set up an O/S folder to hold the emailed PQ file, the GSAK exported Palm pdb file, and the GSAK exported MapSource mps file. I also set up Tungsten E2 databases of the same names.

 

Because I handle a lot of image and video editing I maintain a lot of hard-drive capacity. My O/S runs alone on it's own internal drive. Geocaching and various projects are kept on another internal drive, and there's a third internal drive for the O/S swap file, Ghost backup images, thumbnail cache for Adobe Bridge, and various backup folders for applications such as GSAK. I use external USB 2.0 drives for short-term archives.

 

One quirk I have is to use the GSAK waypoint-edit feature to remove double-quote characters from the waypoint names to eliminate the sorting anomaly on my PDA. Yes, I know, I just haven't gotten around to automating this process.

 

When I was using my Meridian Platinum I was able to keep multiple waypoint databases on the SD memory card of the GPS receiver but now with the Garmin 60CSx there's no such feature. Not being able to save several waypoint loads to named files on the 60CSx microSD card is a darned shame.

 

Say, I'd be really interested to see some images of high-heel dress shoes out along the hiking trails.

 

Harmon

Edited February 9, 2007 by SD Rowdies

[+rjbloom & co]

In my case I define a GSAK database for each category of commonly used pocket-queries, you know, like Home, Wednesday, Puzzles, Temp, etc. I also keep one GSAK backup-folder in place and set the GSAK backup preference to target the backup folder. For each of the named GSAk databases I also set up an O/S folder to hold the emailed PQ file, the GSAK exported Palm pdb file, and the GSAK exported MapSource mps file. I also set up Tungsten E2 databases of the same names.

 

Because I handle a lot of image and video editing I maintain a lot of hard-drive capacity. My O/S runs alone on it's own internal drive. Geocaching and various projects are kept on another internal drive, and there's a third internal drive for the O/S swap file, Ghost backup images, thumbnail cache for Adobe Bridge, and various backup folders for applications such as GSAK. I use external USB 2.0 drives for short-term archives.

 

One quirk I have is to use the GSAK waypoint-edit feature to remove double-quote characters from the waypoint names to eliminate the sorting anomaly on my PDA. Yes, I know, I just haven't gotten around to automating this process.

 

When I was using my Meridian Platinum I was able to keep multiple waypoint databases on the SD memory card of the GPS receiver but now with the Garmin 60CSx there's no such feature. Not being able to save several waypoint loads to named files on the 60CSx microSD card is a darned shame.

 

Say, I'd be really interested to see some images of high-heel dress shoes out along the hiking trails.

 

Harmon

 

What do you use MapSource for? I find I don't export from GSAK to Mapsource very often. I scope out the locations by exporting to GPX and viewing in Google Earth instead. And why do you keep Tungsten E2 databases?

 

Those double-quote characters from the waypoint names are pretty annoying, aren't they? I'd never thought to try to get rid of them to solve the sorting issue. Interesting. I guess whenever I can't find a cache by name in Cachemate, I just go to a cache nearby and go "nearest caches".

 

I haven't bothered with backing up the GSAK database since I can always recreate it by importing the source files again.

[+SD Rowdies]

What do you use MapSource for? I find I don't export from GSAK to Mapsource very often. I scope out the locations by exporting to GPX and viewing in Google Earth instead. And why do you keep Tungsten E2 databases?

 

Those double-quote characters from the waypoint names are pretty annoying, aren't they? I'd never thought to try to get rid of them to solve the sorting issue. Interesting. I guess whenever I can't find a cache by name in Cachemate, I just go to a cache nearby and go "nearest caches".

 

I haven't bothered with backing up the GSAK database since I can always recreate it by importing the source files again.

MapSource helps me spot cache clusters of interest. Also a few printed MapSource pages are useful for planning efficient driving routes such as our 150-mile Wednesday Geobabe outings where time and the cost of fuel are a factors.

 

For hiking I certainly do use satellite views for trail and contour information. I suppose that's the same idea as MapSource for driving, using the tools at hand for tactical planning.

 

Hmm, why do I keep separate databases on my PDA? Maybe it just seemed logical to me and it avoids the need to scroll through very-long merged lists. Now that I think about it I find it handy for weekly Geobabe outings for one thing. Loading the weekly Geobabe database into a separate PDA database avoids merging the data with other pocket-query data already on my PDA. Another recent example is when Sandy and I vacationed in eastern Arizona ... I loaded two separate PDA databases, one for caches along the route, one for the mountain regions around Greer, AZ.

 

Editing the double-quotes out of the GSAK list is a bit time consuming of course but it does cut down on the need to scroll to the head of the PDA list. Of course one can do the same editing task on the PDA. I've even considered deleting all of those darned leading definite articles "A" and "The" but that's going too far. Figuring out how to automate this process is on my to-do list. I have a suspicion that the needed editing feature already exists in GSAK as a macro language but I've been to lazy to check on that.

 

Finially, I usually just answer "No" to the GSAK backup dialog. Recently I've started thinking that I should just set the preference check-box for no backup.

 

While we are on the GSAK subject I've had a problem with the version 7 GSAk release. A file-association problem occurs that causes the Windows "Open with" dialog to pop up with regard to file "babel.bat." Clyde spent quite a lot of time trying to pinpoint the problem but finally gave up. Seems to be a problem that's unique to my PC that, so far, I haven't resolved. As a result I retreated to version 6 where the same problem now pops up but only when I access the Help/About screen. Oddly enough if I just cancel the pop-up dialog then things sail along and work as usual. Can't bear the thought of reloading O/S to see if it eliminates the problem.

 

Hey, nobody has shooed us over to the Banter Thread as yet. I love it when that happens.

 

By the way, rumor has it that you are about to crack the Snow White puzzle. Any truth to that?

 

Edited February 9, 2007 by SD Rowdies

[+rjbloom & co]

Me? No, I'm not really trying to solve Snow White. I haven't even picked up all the dwarfs, yet! I've got a lot of other puzzles that I'm working on solving first, ones that don't involve driving around distant parts of town looking for tough hides. And I'm working on creating a puzzle series myself. But it's not progressing too fast because usually I'd rather go geocaching.

[+GIDEON-X]

Hey All U San Diego Cachers, Come on over to Yuma.....

 

Good Weather Good Food, Good Time........... S*W*A*G

Edited February 9, 2007 by GIDEON-X

[+SD Rowdies]

Me? No, I'm not really trying to solve Snow White. I haven't even picked up all the dwarfs, yet! I've got a lot of other puzzles that I'm working on solving first, ones that don't involve driving around distant parts of town looking for tough hides. And I'm working on creating a puzzle series myself. But it's not progressing too fast because usually I'd rather go geocaching.

Hmm, I could swear that I read about you having Snow White solved. Definitely lots of driving but here's a tip to solve that problem ... have one of the Geobabes do the driving and you do the solving. That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

 

Of course the latter tip only works if your partner doesn't have a night job so's you can buy more photo editing and Geocaching stuff

Edited February 9, 2007 by SD Rowdies

[+Let's Look Over Thayer]

That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

Even better is to have two partners. One to walk ahead and the other to cover any mountain lions attacking from the rear.

 

And remember to treat 'em well...

[+SD Rowdies]

That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

Even better is to have two partners. One to walk ahead and the other to cover any mountain lions attacking from the rear.

 

And remember to treat 'em well...

Yes indeed, such as the two Geobabes and y' just have to treat them to a DQ Blizzard now and then.

Edited February 10, 2007 by SD Rowdies

[+pqcachers]

That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

Even better is to have two partners. One to walk ahead and the other to cover any mountain lions attacking from the rear.

 

And remember to treat 'em well...

Yes indeed, such as the two Geobabes and y' just have to treat them to a DQ Blizzard now and then.

 

Y'all gonna die.....AGAIN

[+SD Rowdies]

That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

Even better is to have two partners. One to walk ahead and the other to cover any mountain lions attacking from the rear. And remember to treat 'em well...

Yes indeed, such as the two Geobabes and y' just have to treat them to a DQ Blizzard now and then.

Y'all gonna die.....AGAIN

Hmm, that has a familiar ring to it.

 

 

To know me is to love me. Honest.

Edited February 11, 2007 by SD Rowdies

[+RocketMan]

That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

Even better is to have two partners. One to walk ahead and the other to cover any mountain lions attacking from the rear.

 

And remember to treat 'em well...

Yes indeed, such as the two Geobabes and y' just have to treat them to a DQ Blizzard now and then.

The Geobabes at DQ you say?

 

[+SD Rowdies]

That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

Even better is to have two partners. One to walk ahead and the other to cover any mountain lions attacking from the rear.

 

And remember to treat 'em well...

Yes indeed, such as the two Geobabes and y' just have to treat them to a DQ Blizzard now and then.

The Geobabes at DQ you say?

 

O sure, so who was taking the photo?

[+Team Gecko]

Yesterday at evening twilight as I walked across northern Clark Valley at the end of a long day of trekking, I was blessed with this sky show. Thought I should share this gift from above with our San Diego Thread friends.

-Gecko Dad

 

[+Miragee]

Beautiful picture! Thanks!

[+TrailGators]

Beautiful picture! Thanks!

That is a great photo Don! When I was driving back from Yuma yesterday, there was a cool cottony cloud formation that stretched across the entire mountain range east and south of San Diego. I can tell you that the clouds looked a lot better from far away because when I finally reached them I had to drive through fog and rain for many miles.

[+SD Rowdies]

Yesterday at evening twilight as I walked across northern Clark Valley at the end of a long day of trekking, I was blessed with this sky show. Thought I should share this gift from above with our San Diego Thread friends.

-Gecko Dad

 

 

Don,

 

Nice work pal, once again you saw what you were looking at and brought home to share with us. Capturing past moments like that sunset is the nearest thing to a time machine we will ever have.

 

Thank you,

Harmon

[+Cornerstone4]

I've had some folks from out of town contact me asking if there were any caches in the TJ area...they don't have time to go to Ensenada, and were hoping to be able to add another country to their list.

 

Is there anything there, or is anyone close enough to place one?

[+Team Adelos]

I've had some folks from out of town contact me asking if there were any caches in the TJ area...they don't have time to go to Ensenada, and were hoping to be able to add another country to their list.

 

Is there anything there, or is anyone close enough to place one?

 

Can I make it a level 5 puzzle?

[+Team Adelos]

I've had some folks from out of town contact me asking if there were any caches in the TJ area...they don't have time to go to Ensenada, and were hoping to be able to add another country to their list.

 

Is there anything there, or is anyone close enough to place one?

 

Can I make it a level 5 puzzle?

 

Those are the easy ones to find..

[+The Dillon Gang]

 

By the way, rumor has it that you are about to crack the Snow White puzzle. Any truth to that?

 

 

YES...CRACKED it has been.

[+The Dillon Gang]

I've had some folks from out of town contact me asking if there were any caches in the TJ area...they don't have time to go to Ensenada, and were hoping to be able to add another country to their list.

 

Is there anything there, or is anyone close enough to place one?

 

Can I make it a level 5 puzzle?

 

how bout we keep your puzzles in puzzle valley???? hmmmm???? why create animosity with our southern neighbors by torturing them?

[+Chuy!]

I've had some folks from out of town contact me asking if there were any caches in the TJ area...they don't have time to go to Ensenada, and were hoping to be able to add another country to their list.

 

Is there anything there, or is anyone close enough to place one?

I have a multi, La Mona, that starts in Mex and ends in USA, but counts as a foreign find on your stat page.

[+jahoadi and john]

Me? No, I'm not really trying to solve Snow White. I haven't even picked up all the dwarfs, yet! I've got a lot of other puzzles that I'm working on solving first, ones that don't involve driving around distant parts of town looking for tough hides. And I'm working on creating a puzzle series myself. But it's not progressing too fast because usually I'd rather go geocaching.

Hmm, I could swear that I read about you having Snow White solved. Definitely lots of driving but here's a tip to solve that problem ... have one of the Geobabes do the driving and you do the solving. That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

 

Of course the latter tip only works if your partner doesn't have a night job so's you can buy more photo editing and Geocaching stuff

 

 

Harmon, I didn't say RLBloom&Co had solved Snow White...I said he's be the only one to do it without the hints and thus he'd be the only one to earn that coveted picture of YOU!!!

[+SD Rowdies]

Me? No, I'm not really trying to solve Snow White. I haven't even picked up all the dwarfs, yet! I've got a lot of other puzzles that I'm working on solving first, ones that don't involve driving around distant parts of town looking for tough hides. And I'm working on creating a puzzle series myself. But it's not progressing too fast because usually I'd rather go geocaching.

Hmm, I could swear that I read about you having Snow White solved. Definitely lots of driving but here's a tip to solve that problem ... have one of the Geobabes do the driving and you do the solving. That's a spinoff from another of my useful tips, to always Geocache with a partner or two and make sure that they walk ahead of you on the trails so's you don't get snake bit or step into a hole.

 

Of course the latter tip only works if your partner doesn't have a night job so's you can buy more photo editing and Geocaching stuff

Harmon, I didn't say RLBloom&Co had solved Snow White...I said he'll be the only one to do it without the hints and thus he'd be the only one to earn that coveted picture of YOU!!!

Jahoadi,

 

I know pal, just an old guy checking out the action and trying to stir the pot.

 

Thing is that your statement of confidence in him and my snooping just might give him the push he needed to take on the Snow White puzzle. That way you and I are in position to claim that we "helped" him solve the puzzle. How cool is that?

 

My prediction is that there will soon be a cascade of "finders" amongst that SDCET gang that attended the Snow White entombment. What with the Yuma event comversations the solution will have spread like a plague.

 

Coveted picture of me huh? Why I oughta ....

 

Great fun,

Harmon

Edited February 14, 2007 by SD Rowdies

[+Let's Look Over Thayer]

Harmon, I didn't say RLBloom&Co had solved Snow White...I said he's be the only one to do it without the hints and thus he'd be the only one to earn that coveted picture of YOU!!!

I've been trying to solve Snow White without any hints, but now that I know what the stakes are, I'm starting to think that asking for help might not be a bad thing after all...

[+Chuy!]

Jahoadi walked me through Snow White - sheesh! I had no chance!

 

I'll buy you a beer if you solve the puzzle without any hints .

 

Offer good for 60 days .

[+jahoadi and john]

Jahoadi walked me through Snow White - sheesh! I had no chance!

 

I'll buy you a beer if you solve the puzzle without any hints .

 

Offer good for 60 days .

 

I'll participate in the drinking beer event (guess which one of us this is!)

[+rjbloom & co]

It's true that I try to solve puzzles without hints, but "Quit Poking Me", "Green Eggs..", "Paul and Randy Excellent Adventure", "Bionicle: Lewa Nuva", "10 towers", "All Chemical Spiral", "Heaven's Above", and "PB PC Cache #6", are only a few of the ones I needed hints for. From what I've seen of "Snow White" so far and from what everyone says, it sounds like it'll fall into that group. I'm stubborn and enjoy a good challenge, but I'm not completely masochistic! But based on LLOT's recent log in "Monopolizing your time", he might be! My money is on him to get this "prize"....

[+TrailGators]

It's true that I try to solve puzzles without hints, but "Quit Poking Me", "Green Eggs..", "Paul and Randy Excellent Adventure", "Bionicle: Lewa Nuva", "10 towers", "All Chemical Spiral", "Heaven's Above", and "PB PC Cache #6", are only a few of the ones I needed hints for. From what I've seen of "Snow White" so far and from what everyone says, it sounds like it'll fall into that group. I'm stubborn and enjoy a good challenge, but I'm not completely masochistic! But based on LLOT's recent log in "Monopolizing your time", he might be! My money is on him to get this "prize"....

I think a lot of us are the same way. I'll give every puzzle a good college try but I'm not going to waste endless hours solving them. I will often step away from a hard puzzle and try let the solution work itself out in the back of my head or right brain. There are some puzzles out there that take hours to solve even after you know how to solve them. Sorry, but cracking them is the fun part for me. So I will check with the owner to see if I'm on the right track, so I don't waste a huge amount of time. I think the better puzzles are the ones that are creative, hard to crack, but can be solved fairly quickly once you know how to crack them. But that's me. To each his own.

[+rjbloom & co]

But speaking of puzzles, what do people think of this idea:

 

Have a "Flagman puzzle challenge" where anyone who is interested creates a single puzzle, in honor of Flagman, since he so dearly loves puzzles and he does so much for the geocaching community. We all arrange for them to be published on the same day, say March 15th. We all hide them in roughly the same area, say the Scripps Ranch area (plenty of hiding places still up there). Or maybe the Tierrasanta area.

 

I would suggest a few rules to focus things a little (or maybe not, we can talk about it here). Such as limit the difficulty to 4 or below, any size containers, armchair puzzles only (no "go there to figure it out" type puzzles), no teams (that aren't already a team by virtue of their geocache name), no hints outside the cache page, no super tricky hides. Just a focus on puzzles. Then let the best puzzle-solver solve and find the most the quickest. Anyone can participate in the solving (of course) whether or not they created a puzzle for the challenge. And then maybe the contest ends after April 1 and the "winner" declared. Or perhaps each puzzle cache has one digit to a meta puzzle, and the winner is the one that finds the meta puzzle first.

 

What do people think?

[+TrailGators]

But speaking of puzzles, what do people think of this idea:

 

Have a "Flagman puzzle challenge" where anyone who is interested creates a single puzzle, in honor of Flagman, since he so dearly loves puzzles and he does so much for the geocaching community. We all arrange for them to be published on the same day, say March 15th. We all hide them in roughly the same area, say the Scripps Ranch area (plenty of hiding places still up there). Or maybe the Tierrasanta area.

 

I would suggest a few rules to focus things a little (or maybe not, we can talk about it here). Such as limit the difficulty to 4 or below, any size containers, armchair puzzles only (no "go there to figure it out" type puzzles), no teams (that aren't already a team by virtue of their geocache name), no hints outside the cache page, no super tricky hides. Just a focus on puzzles. Then let the best puzzle-solver solve and find the most the quickest. Anyone can participate in the solving (of course) whether or not they created a puzzle for the challenge. And then maybe the contest ends after April 1 and the "winner" declared. Or perhaps each puzzle cache has one digit to a meta puzzle, and the winner is the one that finds the meta puzzle first.

 

What do people think?

 

I was thinking that you are being way too nice. We should place a new puzzle cache in each corner of the county! (j/k FM! )

[+FlagMan]

But speaking of puzzles, what do people think of this idea:

 

Have a "Flagman puzzle challenge" where anyone who is interested creates a single puzzle, in honor of Flagman, since he so dearly loves puzzles and he does so much for the geocaching community. We all arrange for them to be published on the same day, say March 15th. We all hide them in roughly the same area, say the Scripps Ranch area (plenty of hiding places still up there). Or maybe the Tierrasanta area.

 

I would suggest a few rules to focus things a little (or maybe not, we can talk about it here). Such as limit the difficulty to 4 or below, any size containers, armchair puzzles only (no "go there to figure it out" type puzzles), no teams (that aren't already a team by virtue of their geocache name), no hints outside the cache page, no super tricky hides. Just a focus on puzzles. Then let the best puzzle-solver solve and find the most the quickest. Anyone can participate in the solving (of course) whether or not they created a puzzle for the challenge. And then maybe the contest ends after April 1 and the "winner" declared. Or perhaps each puzzle cache has one digit to a meta puzzle, and the winner is the one that finds the meta puzzle first.

 

What do people think?

I am flattered, for sure, but I am still blushing from the several IHO caches in my name already. I might burst a blood vessel if you made this another "FlagMan" cache. The general idea of a puzzle challenge sounds great, though!

[+Let's Look Over Thayer]

Have a "Flagman puzzle challenge" where anyone who is interested creates a single puzzle, in honor of Flagman, since he so dearly loves puzzles and he does so much for the geocaching community. We all arrange for them to be published on the same day, say March 15th. We all hide them in roughly the same area, say the Scripps Ranch area (plenty of hiding places still up there). Or maybe the Tierrasanta area.

My first impression, before I read the rest, was that the goal was to clog up FlagMan's cleared radius with as many puzzles as possible and then, when the appointed day came, we would all watch as FlagMan scrambled to solve them as quickly as possible. It would be a lot like what TT used to do to FlagMan, but this time all of us would get to participate in the torturefun!

 

The main problem I can see is in keeping that Marko Ramius guy from dropping hints to FlagMan...

Edited February 14, 2007 by Let's Look Over Thayer

[+TrailGators]

Have a "Flagman puzzle challenge" where anyone who is interested creates a single puzzle, in honor of Flagman, since he so dearly loves puzzles and he does so much for the geocaching community. We all arrange for them to be published on the same day, say March 15th. We all hide them in roughly the same area, say the Scripps Ranch area (plenty of hiding places still up there). Or maybe the Tierrasanta area.

My first impression, before I read the rest, was that the goal was to clog up FlagMan's cleared radius with as many puzzles as possible and then, when the appointed day came, we would all watch as FlagMan scrambled to solve them as quickly as possible. It would be a lot like what TT used to do to FlagMan, but this time all of us would get to participate in the torturefun!

 

The main problem I can see is in keeping that Marko Ramius guy from dropping hints to FlagMan...

I'm sure we could all hit the submit buttons at the stroke of midnight or something to bamboozle that Russian guy! Edited February 14, 2007 by TrailGators

[+rjbloom & co]

Well, it could just be a general puzzle challenge, then. Maybe each puzzle cache is prefixed with "PZC: (name)", instead of "FPC: (name)". The idea of limiting it to a certain area is to give the series a geographical focus, and to not make it about long hikes or long drives. Altho it does disadvantage the RSD or Murrieta people slightly.

 

The idea of limiting the difficulty is so that they are truly solvable by a wider range of people. And so the cache owner doesn't have to email hints and walk people thru solving it step by step.

 

I'm still not sure about the idea of "winning". Having one meta-puzzle might be too tough to arrange across so many people. Well, maybe not. How's this: everyone who wants to submit a puzzle emails me. I'll send them a value that is an offset for one of the digits. Maybe its Nxx x(+5).xxx. They put it in their puzzle cache. Then, the day after the deadline when the puzzles are published, I publish the meta-puzzle with a set of offsets, that added together with the individual offsets, total the coordinates. That way if someone doesn't make the deadline I can adjust the meta offsets appropriately. (same thing if any "PZC:" puzzles get archived). And maybe some people get offsets for the same digit so no one knows for sure they know the digits until they get all the puzzles. Of course, I wouldn't be able to claim the meta puzzle, but, oh well.

 

So people who like to make puzzles (Flagman, Devhead, LLOT, Jahoodi & John, Adelos, ThePolarBear, Duncan, QDman, Zatyko Snake & Rooster, and anyone else), would you guys be willing to come up with a puzzle by a certain date (tentatively March 15?) for this challenge? If not enough people are interested in making puzzles on a schedule then the idea is probably a non-starter.

 

But I'm just brainstorming here. Ideas?

[+Let's Look Over Thayer]

Well, it could just be a general puzzle challenge, then. Maybe each puzzle cache is prefixed with "PZC: (name)", instead of "FPC: (name)". The idea of limiting it to a certain area is to give the series a geographical focus, and to not make it about long hikes or long drives. Altho it does disadvantage the RSD or Murrieta people slightly.

 

The idea of limiting the difficulty is so that they are truly solvable by a wider range of people. And so the cache owner doesn't have to email hints and walk people thru solving it step by step.

 

I'm still not sure about the idea of "winning". Having one meta-puzzle might be too tough to arrange across so many people. Well, maybe not. How's this: everyone who wants to submit a puzzle emails me. I'll send them a value that is an offset for one of the digits. Maybe its Nxx x(+5).xxx. They put it in their puzzle cache. Then, the day after the deadline when the puzzles are published, I publish the meta-puzzle with a set of offsets, that added together with the individual offsets, total the coordinates. That way if someone doesn't make the deadline I can adjust the meta offsets appropriately. (same thing if any "PZC:" puzzles get archived). And maybe some people get offsets for the same digit so no one knows for sure they know the digits until they get all the puzzles. Of course, I wouldn't be able to claim the meta puzzle, but, oh well.

 

So people who like to make puzzles (Flagman, Devhead, LLOT, Jahoodi & John, Adelos, ThePolarBear, Duncan, QDman, Zatyko Snake & Rooster, and anyone else), would you guys be willing to come up with a puzzle by a certain date (tentatively March 15?) for this challenge? If not enough people are interested in making puzzles on a schedule then the idea is probably a non-starter.

 

But I'm just brainstorming here. Ideas?

I not against the idea and might even be induced to contribute a puzzle, but I would not participate in the challenge. (I would watch from the sidelines, however.) It's a conscious choice I've made with all the geo-challenges that have come along (Geocoin Quest; Marko Ramius's coin challenge; the Circle of Hell series, etc.). They all sound like a heck of a lot of fun and the competitive part of me would really enjoy them, but...

 

...I don't have the time to devote that some other cachers seem to have. (No knock against these people. I'm envious and I hope that, some day, I'll be one of them ) In a competition, though, my tendancy would be to try to make time to level the playing field -- at the expense of sleep, marriage, job, sanity, etc. By not participating in the challenge, that temptation is removed.

[+FlagMan]

Well, it could just be a general puzzle challenge, then. Maybe each puzzle cache is prefixed with "PZC: (name)", instead of "FPC: (name)". The idea of limiting it to a certain area is to give the series a geographical focus, and to not make it about long hikes or long drives. Altho it does disadvantage the RSD or Murrieta people slightly.

 

The idea of limiting the difficulty is so that they are truly solvable by a wider range of people. And so the cache owner doesn't have to email hints and walk people thru solving it step by step.

 

I'm still not sure about the idea of "winning". Having one meta-puzzle might be too tough to arrange across so many people. Well, maybe not. How's this: everyone who wants to submit a puzzle emails me. I'll send them a value that is an offset for one of the digits. Maybe its Nxx x(+5).xxx. They put it in their puzzle cache. Then, the day after the deadline when the puzzles are published, I publish the meta-puzzle with a set of offsets, that added together with the individual offsets, total the coordinates. That way if someone doesn't make the deadline I can adjust the meta offsets appropriately. (same thing if any "PZC:" puzzles get archived). And maybe some people get offsets for the same digit so no one knows for sure they know the digits until they get all the puzzles. Of course, I wouldn't be able to claim the meta puzzle, but, oh well.

 

So people who like to make puzzles (Flagman, Devhead, LLOT, Jahoodi & John, Adelos, ThePolarBear, Duncan, QDman, Zatyko Snake & Rooster, and anyone else), would you guys be willing to come up with a puzzle by a certain date (tentatively March 15?) for this challenge? If not enough people are interested in making puzzles on a schedule then the idea is probably a non-starter.

 

But I'm just brainstorming here. Ideas?

I not against the idea and might even be induced to contribute a puzzle, but I would not participate in the challenge. (I would watch from the sidelines, however.) It's a conscious choice I've made with all the geo-challenges that have come along (Geocoin Quest; Marko Ramius's coin challenge; the Circle of Hell series, etc.). They all sound like a heck of a lot of fun and the competitive part of me would really enjoy them, but...

 

...I don't have the time to devote that some other cachers seem to have. (No knock against these people. I'm envious and I hope that, some day, I'll be one of them ) In a competition, though, my tendancy would be to try to make time to level the playing field -- at the expense of sleep, marriage, job, sanity, etc. By not participating in the challenge, that temptation is removed.

Well, if James won't maybe we can get Marenka to participate...

[+TrailGators]

Well, it could just be a general puzzle challenge, then. Maybe each puzzle cache is prefixed with "PZC: (name)", instead of "FPC: (name)". The idea of limiting it to a certain area is to give the series a geographical focus, and to not make it about long hikes or long drives. Altho it does disadvantage the RSD or Murrieta people slightly.

 

The idea of limiting the difficulty is so that they are truly solvable by a wider range of people. And so the cache owner doesn't have to email hints and walk people thru solving it step by step.

 

I'm still not sure about the idea of "winning". Having one meta-puzzle might be too tough to arrange across so many people. Well, maybe not. How's this: everyone who wants to submit a puzzle emails me. I'll send them a value that is an offset for one of the digits. Maybe its Nxx x(+5).xxx. They put it in their puzzle cache. Then, the day after the deadline when the puzzles are published, I publish the meta-puzzle with a set of offsets, that added together with the individual offsets, total the coordinates. That way if someone doesn't make the deadline I can adjust the meta offsets appropriately. (same thing if any "PZC:" puzzles get archived). And maybe some people get offsets for the same digit so no one knows for sure they know the digits until they get all the puzzles. Of course, I wouldn't be able to claim the meta puzzle, but, oh well.

 

So people who like to make puzzles (Flagman, Devhead, LLOT, Jahoodi & John, Adelos, ThePolarBear, Duncan, QDman, Zatyko Snake & Rooster, and anyone else), would you guys be willing to come up with a puzzle by a certain date (tentatively March 15?) for this challenge? If not enough people are interested in making puzzles on a schedule then the idea is probably a non-starter.

 

But I'm just brainstorming here. Ideas?

I not against the idea and might even be induced to contribute a puzzle, but I would not participate in the challenge. (I would watch from the sidelines, however.) It's a conscious choice I've made with all the geo-challenges that have come along (Geocoin Quest; Marko Ramius's coin challenge; the Circle of Hell series, etc.). They all sound like a heck of a lot of fun and the competitive part of me would really enjoy them, but...

 

...I don't have the time to devote that some other cachers seem to have. (No knock against these people. I'm envious and I hope that, some day, I'll be one of them ) In a competition, though, my tendancy would be to try to make time to level the playing field -- at the expense of sleep, marriage, job, sanity, etc. By not participating in the challenge, that temptation is removed.

I am the same exact way James. I typically go caching once a week unless I'm on vacation or something.

[+rjbloom & co]

It is true that those participating in the challenge might not get a lot of work done for a few days.

[+SD Rowdies]

It's true that I try to solve puzzles without hints, but "Quit Poking Me", "Green Eggs..", "Paul and Randy Excellent Adventure", "Bionicle: Lewa Nuva", "10 towers", "All Chemical Spiral", "Heaven's Above", and "PB PC Cache #6", are only a few of the ones I needed hints for. From what I've seen of "Snow White" so far and from what everyone says, it sounds like it'll fall into that group. I'm stubborn and enjoy a good challenge, but I'm not completely masochistic! But based on LLOT's recent log in "Monopolizing your time", he might be! My money is on him to get this "prize"....

Nuts, he was there when it was hidden.

Edited February 15, 2007 by SD Rowdies