radical geezer Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Why does it always seem that things like this only happen to me? I'm going to leave out specific names here because I really don't want to embarrass anyone, but... A short time ago I launched my very first Travel Bug. The Wife and I put lots of thought into this guy, took pictures of him, gave him a back story and what we think is a really fun assignment, and thrust him out there into the geocaching community. Meanwhilst, one of our local cachers has a cache in a fairly scenic but busy location. Unfortunately, this cache has been vandalized repeatedly - so much so that about a month or two back the owner finally gave up on trying to maitain the cache and converted it from a traditional to a virtual cache. ...some of you may now guess where this is headed... We left our Travel Bug in a new cache that we expected would get lots of traffic. We were right, and it was no time until our TB was picked up and on his way into the world. Then today I get an automated notice that our TB had been placed by the cacher who had first taken it. It seems this cacher was out doing his/her thing with coordinates only - hadn't brought along the cache descriptions or anything. One of the caches on his/her list was the aforementioned often trashed cache that is now a virtual. But without the cache description, he/she did not know it was a virtual. ...have you gotten it yet?... He/she searched the area and finally found a box with a broken pencil and the remains of a soggy log book. So he/she deposited My One and Only Existing Travel Bug... IN A VIRTUAL CACHE!!!! I have written a very polite and friendly email requesting that he/she please return and rescue my travel bug. I've not yet received a reply. And people wonder why I don't buy lottery tickets... Peace, Radical Geezer Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 I don't know... the chances of someone deposition your travel bug in a virtual cache are pretty slim. Maybe you SHOULD by a lottery ticket. Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
radical geezer Posted October 20, 2003 Author Share Posted October 20, 2003 Pan - Nah. In the words of the Immortal Bard (Buck Owens, of course): Gloom, despair and agony on me, Deep, dark depression, excessive misery; If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all - Gloom, despair and agony on me. Peace, Radical Geezer Quote Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 If there's room for a TB, there's room for a physical cache and the virtual should be archived Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness Quote Link to comment
+RocketMan Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 But radical, the CA Lottery is up to $92,000,000. How can you resist? Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 The immortal bard must have been a Sox fan. GPSaxaphone... you have a unique manner of viewing things. In this case it made me laugh. Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 I wonder if this is one of the reasons that they no longer allow owners to change the cache type without first contacting an admin. "You can't make a man by standing a sheep on his hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" - Max Beerbohm Quote Link to comment
Pantalaimon Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 I would guess that the reasons for such a rule change were fear of more nefarious actions... like someone purposefully submitting a cache as a traditional, then changing it to virtual after approval in order to circumvent the more strict virtual approval process. Or is that what you meant? Pan Fact is that there is nothing out there you can't do, Yeah, even Santa Claus believes in you... Floyd of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, from "Can You Picture That?" Quote Link to comment
+Jaguar1 Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Not a first...The Swinging Bridge cache (which has been archived) South of Jackson, MS had a travel bug in it for a long time. It started off as a traditional cache and was converted to an offset virtual by the owner when it came up missing back in March '02. The cache had a TB in it when it came up missing. It survived as a virtual until August '03 when it was converted back to a traditional cache and archived. During the time in between its conversion and being archived it was a virtual with a TB in it. "Following animal paths may make the bushwacking a little easier, but probably won't pay off in the long run, since deer tend not to geocache much." - Geocacher Peeve on the Vaught Ranch Bushwackin Fun (B.D. #2) cache Quote Link to comment
radical geezer Posted October 21, 2003 Author Share Posted October 21, 2003 Chris - The difference there is that the TB was placed in the cache while it was a traditional cache. In this case, my TB was actually placed in a virtual cache that had already been a virtual cache for a while. I'm pleased to report that the cacher who placxed it has agreed to return and rescue my poor Travel Bug from its stay in the geocaching equivalent of the Twilight Zone. Peace, Radial Geezer Quote Link to comment
enfanta Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 I have a TB in my virtual cache right now. I put it there. The TB had a non-cache destination so after I delivered him to the site, I still had the electronic record and nowhere to leave it... Until the owners care to collect him, he's sitting in my virtual. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Wearer of duplicative protective headgear. Quote Link to comment
+jollybgood Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 One possible solution if you don't live in the area. Find the NEAREST traditional cache to the virtual and post a note asking anyone who visits the area to retrieve your TB. I'm assuming they would have to physically visit the area of the virual cache to get credit anyway -- so it shouldn't be a problem for them to get the TB./ Unless of course the coordinates for the container are no longer posted or lost. Jolly R. Blackburn http://kenzerco.com "I'd like to buy the world a coke, but I only have fifty cents" Quote Link to comment
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