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One of my caches was removed by the police....


Vacman

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My cache Butcher Hill was confiscated by the local police who sent me this e-mail :

 

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

 

Dear Mr. Tice,

 

The Cache you left on the cliff overlooking Torrance is now in the custody of the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department. Please come to our police station as soon as possible and pick it up. Also, please refrain from placing any items (such as the cache) in any public area in the city of Palos Verdes Estates. Technically, leaving your cache on the cliffside could constitute littering and I don't believe you want a citation for that. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact me at (310) xxx-xxxx. Your cache will be at the front desk of our station. Our station is located at xxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxx xxxxx.

 

-Sgt. xxxxxx

PVEPD

 

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

 

Oh well..... I will also have to modify the other cache A View of this and that as one of the satellite caches for it was this one.

 

Then to make matters worse I was trying to archive it and the gc.com site logged me out.... so then when I went back in, I archived the wrong cache. Now I am trying to figure out how to UN-archive a cache......

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

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Personally I don't think it is worth the effort to try to open a dialog with them. I am afraid that if I did, it might expose the OTHER 30 caches that are located in and around their fine city (including 3 others of mine.. )

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

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I'd at least give it a try Vacman. They emailed you which leads me to believe they could easily visit www.geocaching.com and put in the zipcode. They're likely already aware of the other caches but probably don't have the time or desire to 'remove' them. Somebody probably found your cache too close to their neighborhood or something and got pissy.

 

I'd take the printout of the FAQ and maybe print a few favourable newspaper articles from the region. I'd explain it's not littering as you go back and check on the cache periodically. I'd also try to find out who is in charge of the land. The police are in charge of law enforcement (hence the possibility of a littering ticket) but I'm sure they're not techically in charge of the "public" property. The city clerk could tell you who is in charge.

 

southdeltan

 

"Man can counterfeit everything except silence". - William Faulkner

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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that any city that calls itself Palos Verdes Estates isn't going to be interested in having ammo cans laying around their parks for any old piece of trash like me with an internet connection and GPSr to come tromping through their parks to find.

icon_biggrin.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by Vacman:

Personally I don't think it is worth the effort to try to open a dialog with them. I am afraid that if I did, it might expose the OTHER 30 caches that are located in and around their fine city (including 3 others of mine.. )


 

Careful what information you offer, and what lines you connect for people. TPTB (and TPTWB ("the powers that wanna be")) like to crack their whip around here too.

 

Pan

 

"The internet to tell me where. A GPS to get me there."

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quote:
Originally posted by Bull Moose:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that any city that calls itself Palos Verdes Estates isn't going to be interested in having ammo cans laying around their parks for any old piece of trash like me with an internet connection and GPSr to come tromping through their parks to find.

icon_biggrin.gif


 

Yup! BTW the average home price in this community is around $1.3 million .... yes that is U.S. money.

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

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quote:
Originally posted by Vacman:

quote:
Originally posted by Bull Moose:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that any city that calls itself Palos Verdes Estates isn't going to be interested in having ammo cans laying around their parks for any old piece of trash like me with an internet connection and GPSr to come tromping through their parks to find.

icon_biggrin.gif


 

Yup! BTW the average home price in this community is around $1.3 million .... yes that is U.S. money.

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.


 

1.3 mill, huh? That is EXACTLY why I would be talking to whomever runs the park and press to get geocaching accepted. Sounds like yet another example of Ritchie Rich trying to make a public park his own personal playplace, and using the Police as his strongarm to accomplish this. I cannot tell you how many Parks and mountains down here in Arizona have been surrounded by big homes, completely eliminating access for us "common" folks. Sure, it's still "public" land in the middle of it, but unless I have a helicopter, I can't get at it.

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What is interesting to me, is that this site is kind off the beaten path and not real easy to get to. And although I had 20+ people find the cache, the last visitor was about 14 days ago. There is public access to the hill and I have tried to encourage the visitors to remove trash that is always there..... I wonder which neighbor complained about our removing all the trash.....

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

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I had some run-ins with the PVPD when I was a teenager. It doesn't sound like they've changed much. Back then, they thought they were gods who were themselves completely above the law. They would routinely pull people over and spend an hour or more harassing them, searching their vehicle (without probable cause) and generally give them a hard time, all without ever telling them why they had been pulled over in the first place. This happened to me and just about everyone I knew. Basically, if you weren't driving a Mercedes or BMW, you weren't supposed to be there.

 

I'd pick up the cache and place it somewhere else, with a different e-mail address associated with it (in case it gets found again). If they (or anyone else) ever gives you a ticket for littering because you placed a cache, I'd fight it with everything I had - a cache is NOT litter.

 

I wouldn't normally suggest going against the recommendation of a local police department, but I have experience with the PVPD and if it happened to me, I'd make them prove their case in court. IMHO, they're giving you a hard time because they can. That's what they do, and they're used to getting away with it without having it disputed.

 

--

Pehmva!

 

Random quote:

sigimage.php

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quote:
Originally posted by Bull Moose:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that any city that calls itself Palos Verdes Estates isn't going to be interested in having ammo cans laying around their parks for any old piece of trash like me with an internet connection and GPSr to come tromping through their parks to find.

icon_biggrin.gif


 

Got that right...

 

BTW: How many times does a guy have to log into this website before one of them sticks?

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nebraskache/

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quote:
Originally posted by southdeltan:

I'd at least give it a try Vacman. They emailed you which leads me to believe they could easily visit http://www.geocaching.com and put in the zipcode. They're likely already aware of the other caches but probably don't have the time or desire to 'remove' them. Somebody probably found your cache too close to their neighborhood or something and got pissy.

 

I'd take the printout of the FAQ and maybe print a few favourable newspaper articles from the region. I'd explain it's not littering as you go back and check on the cache periodically. I'd also try to find out who is in charge of the land. The police are in charge of law enforcement (hence the possibility of a littering ticket) but I'm sure they're not techically in charge of the "public" property. The city clerk could tell you who is in charge.


 

On the other hand, they probably won't bother trying to track everyone down. If they do peek at the site, I'll bet someone in the force is going to start thinking "I'll just track them down and get rid of them."

 

By Day Two they will be logged onto the site as a new user, and will be thinking of really great places to hide caches of their own around town.

 

By Day Ten they wil have 6 other buddies on the force joining them, buying gear, stealing their wives' Tupperware, taking their childrens' McToys, etc.

 

It's just the way it happens.

 

130036_200.gif

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I've heard tell of police liking geocaches for two reasons.

 

1) GPS training and usage practice.

2) Geocachers all over the place (ie honest citizens) means less riff-raff all over the place. Plus we are more likely to see things.

 

It's worth a dialog. Their authority is presumed in this case. If they are city police it's the city that sets the policy that is enforced. If the city is for geocaching, the police will come around.

 

I'd open up a dialog and see where it goes.

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I would not go get it. What if someone put something illegal in this, like a joint or something and you went to claim it? Could you be held with a crime ? I am no lawyer, but I can't imagine why the police would take the time to email you unless they wanted YOU for something. Just let it go....and hide another one out of that area.

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Get the cache, take the ticket then challenge it in court.

When you get to court, use your time to present a full multi-media geocaching promotional presentation. Bring some extra GPS units and offer to take the judge, attorneys and court room spectators on a cache hunt. Borrow the cop's paddy wagon, load them up and have a great hunt and end up best of friends with everyone.

Of course, that's how it would end in a Disney movie. In the real world, you'd be thrown in the slammer for contempt and the cops would confiscate the GPS units as being terrorists tools.

 

quote:
Originally posted by Cruzin!:

I had some run-ins with the PVPD when I was a teenager. It doesn't sound like they've changed much. Back then, they thought they were gods who were themselves completely above the law. They would routinely pull people over and spend an hour or more harassing them, searching their vehicle (without probable cause) and generally give them a hard time, all without ever telling them why they had been pulled over in the first place. This happened to me and just about everyone I knew. Basically, if you weren't driving a Mercedes or BMW, you weren't supposed to be there.

 

I'd pick up the cache and place it somewhere else, with a different e-mail address associated with it (in case it gets found again). If they (or anyone else) ever gives you a ticket for littering because you placed a cache, I'd fight it with everything I had - a cache is NOT litter.

 

I wouldn't normally suggest going against the recommendation of a local police department, but I have experience with the PVPD and if it happened to me, I'd make them prove their case in court. IMHO, they're giving you a hard time _because they can_. That's what they do, and they're used to getting away with it without having it disputed.

 

--

Pehmva!

 

Random quote:

http://sthomas.net/sigimage.php


 

Mickey

Max Entropy

More than just a name, a lifestyle.

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Get the cache, take the ticket then challenge it in court.

When you get to court, use your time to present a full multi-media geocaching promotional presentation. Bring some extra GPS units and offer to take the judge, attorneys and court room spectators on a cache hunt. Borrow the cop's paddy wagon, load them up and have a great hunt and end up best of friends with everyone.

Of course, that's how it would end in a Disney movie. In the real world, you'd be thrown in the slammer for contempt and the cops would confiscate the GPS units as being terrorists tools.

 

quote:
Originally posted by Cruzin!:

 

...

 

I'd pick up the cache and place it somewhere else, with a different e-mail address associated with it (in case it gets found again). If they (or anyone else) ever gives you a ticket for littering because you placed a cache, I'd fight it with everything I had - a cache is NOT litter.

 

I wouldn't normally suggest going against the recommendation of a local police department, but I have experience with the PVPD and if it happened to me, I'd make them prove their case in court. IMHO, they're giving you a hard time _because they can_. That's what they do, and they're used to getting away with it without having it disputed.

 

--

Pehmva!

 

Random quote:

http://sthomas.net/sigimage.php


 

Mickey

Max Entropy

More than just a name, a lifestyle.

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WARNING: Excessively LONG post!!!

 

quote:
Technically, leaving your cache on the cliffside could constitute littering and I don't believe you want a citation for that.


 

Note true! It is YOUR property as proved by their contacting you.

 

I did a little websearching and found under common law, they are the "finders", you are the "owner" and have NOT abandoned your property accidentally or unintentionally.

 

Depending on the laws in your state, they might be legally required to return it to you (or be charged with theft).

 

I don't know if this has been explored before, but I found the following in my state of CT's statues:

 

TITLE 22a

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Chapter 446d (Secs. 22a-249 to 22a-250)

 

Litter; means any discarded, used or unconsumed substance or waste material,

whether made of aluminum, glass, plastic, rubber, paper, or other natural or synthetic

material, or any combination thereof, including, but not limited to, any bottle, jar or can,

or any top, cap or detachable tab of any bottle, jar or can, any unlighted cigarette, cigar,

match or any flaming or glowing material or any garbage, trash, refuse, debris,

rubbish, grass clippings or other lawn or garden waste, newspaper, magazines, glass, metal,

plastic or paper containers or other packaging or construction material which has not

been deposited in a litter receptacle"

 

This obviously doesn't apply to any intentionally placed/hidden item(s) with ownership labelled that you expect to recover in the future!

 

See lengthy info below covering lost or abandoned property (which caches don't fall under)...

 

I'd respond to the email to thank the police for returning your property, explain that you weren't littering but value your property, and provide mucho info on Geocaching. (I put "Geocaching.com" and my email address on all my containers to maintain ownership...)

 

Enjoy,

 

Randy

 

PS: Were caches littering, in CT there's $1000 rewards for "illegal dumping" that could be raked in!!! {Grin}

 

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

A google search came up with this in NJ:

(www.lawrev.state.nj.us/rpts/lost.doc)

The definition of abandoned property in subsection (a) is based upon the common law definition as

explained in Ralph E. Boyer, Survey of the Law of Property , 680 (3d ed. 1981) (hereinafter Survey): "Abandoned

property" consists of those items no longer in the possession of the former owner or bailee, and the beneficial or

possessory interest of which has been intentionally relinquished, given up, or released."

and..

The common law defines lost property as "those chattels whose possession has been parted with casually,

involuntarily or unconsciously." Boyer, Survey, supra at 679. "Lost property may be defined as property which

'casually and involuntarily' passes out of the possession of the owner and the whereabouts of which he does not

therefore know."

and..

"To intentionally place an article down and then go away, forgetting it, is not in the eyes

of the law a losing of it, nor is the subsequent discovery of such an article treated as a finding of

it. Such articles constitute `mislaid goods,' which are in the custody of the proprietor of the locus

in quo and not of the one who discovers them. ... The doctrine of mislaid goods is apt to be

artificial, difficult to apply, and doubtful in principle. ... Moreover, since the circumstances

under which the owner parted with custody of his goods is usually unknown, and the situation of

the goods themselves often equivocal, it is difficult to decide whether the goods should be treated

as lost or merely misplaced."

Ray A. Brown, A Treatise on the Law of Personal Property , 25-26 (1936).

and..

The definition of a finder in subsection © is also based on common law definitions. In the common law,

"[f]inding takes place when one who is not the owner of a chattel takes possession of it on the ground that it has

been lost by its owner, not knowing at the time who is owner, nor having reasonable grounds to believe that he can

be found." Theodore W. Dwight, Commentaries on The Law of Persons and Personal Property , 472-473 (1894).

[Hereinafter Commentaries.) "To become a finder in the eye of the law, it is not only necessary that one discover

the whereabouts of the goods in question, but that he take them into his possession. There must be a union of a

physical control over the goods in question, and of an intent to assume dominion over them." Brown, Treatise,

supra at 22. "A finder is one who acquires legal possession, that is, one who exercises the prerequisite physical

control and appropriate intent, over chattels or goods that have been lost, misplaced, abandoned, or hidden so as to

be classified as treasure trove." Boyer, Survey, supra at 679.

 

The statute does not confer ownership upon a "finder" who steals goods. Under the common law, "[a]

thief has no title in the stolen goods ..." and "cannot pass a better title than that which he has." Boyer, Survey,

supra at 712. If a thief loses or abandons stolen property, the property still belongs to its owner.

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Be careful, the cops just might be baiting you to show up and then BOOM they ticket you! icon_mad.gif

Reminds me of those scams cops run on people with outstanding warrents. They send them a notice that they have won a free tv or such and when they show up to collect...they are arrested! You wouldn't believe how many people fall for this. They sorta do the cops job for them!

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Vacman:

I am sorry to hear about this. First the fire almost got it, now...

I have been to this area 3 times; for a benchmark and two of your caches.

First: I can't believe the Police have nothing better to do but take caches. Where I live, 5 miles away, the police only come if there are shots fired.

Second: This cache was well within the Torrance city boundary. I just re-verified this using my topo map. You have to park in PVE for access, but much of this open, weed covered, field is in Torrance. I guess some of the residents didn't like 20 cars parked there over half a years time.

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OK update:

 

I went to the police station and the cache was marked with the famous "Evidence" tape. The gal behind the counter was nice but totally clueless. I get the cache back out to the car (all the while looking back over my shoulder) and open it up and WHEW... the smell... reminds me of my high school days.... YEP - marijuana. What IS going on here!? I find the log in the cache... While I can't exactly quote everything the individual wrote in it, here is what I think happened....

 

I think that this guy went to the site, was having a little party up there, got a little "high", took some photos, signed the log, the police shows up, he puts his "roach" in the cache, the police find the cache, police confiscate said cache, and the rest you know....

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

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quote:
Vacman wrote:

I think that this guy went to the site, was having a little party up there, got a little "high", took some photos, signed the log, the police shows up, he puts his "roach" in the cache, the police find the cache, police confiscate said cache, and the rest you know....


Well, like, wow man.

 

icon_biggrin.gif

 

*****

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quote:
I've heard tell of police liking geocaches for two reasons.

 

1) GPS training and usage practice.

2) Geocachers all over the place (ie honest citizens) means less riff-raff all over the place. Plus we are more likely to see things.

 


 

i like the fact that "good" people are running around in the woods. decent people that will make a call if needed.

 

quote:
First: I can't believe the Police have nothing better to do but take caches. Where I live, 5 miles away, the police only come if there are shots fired.


 

where i work we are more concerned with violent crime, because that is our norm. in a dept where there is little to no crime.. they focus on what they can find. PVE may not really be a high crime area lol. good luck at any rate. i work south of 58th street in manhattan NY, and you are welcome to place as many caches as you would like in my area!!!!

 

-----robbie

 

wings_flag.gif

A family that Geocaches together... eventually gets wet.

 

required reading

My first bible

Great Orienteering Site!

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE MEASURES AGAINST INSECTS AND OTHER ARTHROPODS OF MILITARY SIGNIFICANCE

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quote:
Originally posted by Vacman:

OK update:

 

I went to the police station and the cache was marked with the famous "Evidence" tape. The gal behind the counter was nice but totally clueless. I get the cache back out to the car (all the while looking back over my shoulder) and open it up and WHEW... the smell... reminds me of my high school days.... YEP - marijuana. What IS going on here!? I find the log in the cache... While I can't exactly quote everything the individual wrote in it, here is what I think happened....

 

I think that this guy went to the site, was having a little party up there, got a little "high", took some photos, signed the log, the police shows up, he puts his "roach" in the cache, the police find the cache, police confiscate said cache, and the rest you know....

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.


 

So Vacman, what did he write in the log?

 

"Found it after I remembered why I was here. Cool view - even better after enhancement.

Took - McToy and handcuff keys.

Left - half-burned roach (the good stuff).

 

Thanks for the uhhh...?"

 

Or maybe it was the cop who logged...

 

"Found cache by accident. Great location. We usually just find dopers here. Cache was out in the open and contents spilled on perp's lap. We gathered it all up and rehid in better location so it wouldn't get plundered.

Took - one unhappy camper.

Left - donut crumbs.

 

Thanks for the catch!"

 

"...clear as mud?"

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This is quite a story Vacman! As the finder of all your caches, I read this thread with vested interest. My main concern was that the PVPD was going to get on its high horse and remove all the other PV caches. From the looks of it, though, it seems as if this was just a strange and isolated incident.

 

How many cachers can claim to have their cache confiscated and reclaimed with marijuana? icon_biggrin.gif I'd just chalk it up as a bizarre experience and move forward. I look forward to your future caches.

 

--CoronaKid

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Thanks for posting the pictures. This just goes to show you that you never know who or what you'll encounter in the wild and wacky sport of geocaching.

 

Now that you have the cache safely back in your possession and were not charged with anything, have you thought about emailing the PVPD back and ask for the specific details of what actually happened? I think you are at least entitled to some sort of explanation.

 

--CoronaKid

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Renegade Knight - It is my pleasure to provide the entertainment. After all, that is wat this hobbie is about.... isn't it?

 

CoronaKid - I tried to talk to the gal behind the desk.... but it was a waste of time. I'm thinking about renaming the cache and rehiding it in some of my old pot-smoking hangout areas up on the hill somewhere. You know, in honor of what happened here.... icon_smile.gif

 

RJFerret - I indeed HAVE the camera! As near as I can tell from the logs/picture count this guy may have taken as many as 6 or 7 pics.

 

This brings up another issue..... do I get the film developed? He indicated that he took pictures of his.... genitals..... If I develop these pics - well.. you see the quandry I'm in... icon_eek.gif

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

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Make a multi where the coordinates are all the doughnut shops in Palos Verdes. Then the cops will get hooked on geocaching.

 

===========================================================

"The time has come" the Walrus said "to speak of many things; of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and Kings".

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quote:

RJFerret - I indeed HAVE the camera! As near as I can tell from the logs/picture count this guy may have taken as many as 6 or 7 pics.

 

This brings up another issue..... do I get the film developed? He indicated that he took pictures of his.... genitals..... If I develop these pics - well.. you see the quandry I'm in... icon_eek.gif


 

Indeed. I'd just toss out the camera because I don't think it's worth the reaction you might get when you pick up the pictures. I think most places have a 'don't ask, don't tell' type of policy regarding nude photos. I think WalMart refuses to print such photos and may report it.

 

It's your call. icon_wink.gif

 

--CoronaKid

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quote:
Originally posted by Vacman:

Renegade Knight - It is my pleasure to provide the entertainment. After all, that is wat this hobbie is about.... isn't it?

 

CoronaKid - I tried to talk to the gal behind the desk.... but it was a waste of time. I'm thinking about renaming the cache and rehiding it in some of my old pot-smoking hangout areas up on the hill somewhere. You know, in honor of what happened here.... icon_smile.gif

 

RJFerret - I indeed HAVE the camera! As near as I can tell from the logs/picture count this guy may have taken as many as 6 or 7 pics.

 

This brings up another issue..... do I get the film developed? He indicated that he took pictures of his.... genitals..... If I develop these pics - well.. you see the quandry I'm in... icon_eek.gif

 

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

Black holes are where God divided by zero.


 

I'd get them developed. There are other pictures on there that are worth retrieving. It's just a matter of doing it such that you don't wind up busted for kiddie porn. Photomarts can and do report things like this if they think it's a violation of the law.

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quote:
RJFerret - I indeed HAVE the camera! As near as I can tell from the logs/picture count this guy may have taken as many as 6 or 7 pics.

 

This brings up another issue..... do I get the film developed? He indicated that he took pictures of his.... genitals..... If I develop these pics - well.. you see the quandry I'm in...


 

Vacman please get the pictures developed. With a little Photoshop brushwork they will make the perfect pics for the next installments of " You Write the caption." icon_redface.gif

Thansk for a great laugh. icon_biggrin.gif

 

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes;

Nothing remains quite the same.

Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

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For sure Vacman, get them developed!

quote:
Renegade Knight wrote:

I'd get them developed.


Send that roll of film over to RK and let HIM take it into Walmart for developing. icon_smile.gif

 

Did you see the movie 'One Hour Photo' -- who knows, if you don't get called to the police station again, you just might make a new friend. icon_biggrin.gif

 

I think I'd give that roll a toss into a CITO bag.

 

*****

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