+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 This morning, I got a message from a woman saying she wanted to contact me regarding my missing caches for Petrified! She does not leave her name but asked me to post to the site whether I was the correct person. I did. Later, I get a call from this woman admitting she had taken the caches. She lives near the area and didn't want any geocachers there. I never interrupted her once. When I started to speak, she hung up on me. I posted a new note on the web site more or less saying exactly how I felt about the stealing and her believing that public land was hers to police as she saw fit. I found out where she worked from the phone number but the receptionist refused to help me. I know what street this woman lives on, it backs up against the preserve. What would you do? Write a letter to the partners of her law firm (along with her street address)? Let it go? Plant a fourth cache that has a boobytrap (just kidding)? Contact the authorities with my information? Have a field day with this one guys! Link to comment
+erik88l-r Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I would suggest placing a replacement cache in an area not as close to her home - Unless you think she has a GPS and uses it to find your caches. Pretty sad state of affairs, but I don't think you can make a win-win situation out of it with this woman. Life is too short to waste time butting heads with a fool. ~erik~ Link to comment
+Team Tigger International Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I'm not sure how the police would react to this one. It's a pretty crappy thing to do and made worse by her contacting you. BTW...their website doesn't seem to be working<g> Wulf Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 Honestly, it isn't that close to her home in my opinion. She is at the base of a mountain, it is near the top. And yes, she is obviously using a GPS to steal the caches. I've moved it three times and spent fifteen minutes each time averaging new coordinates. I know it isn't worth "a fight". But it sure makes a geocacher fantasize about possible options. I'm a very mild-mannered girl who always is respectful and CITO. The cachers that have been up there are mostly very experienced cachers and I don't believe her claims that people throw rocks. I've been so irked that people have traveled up to the cache only to search for nothing. One of them was a friend of mine who actually went up there using two canes (I couldn't believe she tried but was so touched). ARRGGG. I'm getting mad again! Link to comment
+The Garner Family Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 How about posting an easily accessible, popular, virtual closer to her house ;-) Link to comment
+WxGuesser Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Did the mean lady atleast log her finds? hee hee Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 SEE! I knew you guys would make me feel better!!! Link to comment
+Ed & Julie Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Honestly, it isn't that close to her home in my opinion. She is at the base of a mountain, it is near the top. And yes, she is obviously using a GPS to steal the caches. I've moved it three times and spent fifteen minutes each time averaging new coordinates. I know it isn't worth "a fight". But it sure makes a geocacher fantasize about possible options. I'm a very mild-mannered girl who always is respectful and CITO. The cachers that have been up there are mostly very experienced cachers and I don't believe her claims that people throw rocks. I've been so irked that people have traveled up to the cache only to search for nothing. One of them was a friend of mine who actually went up there using two canes (I couldn't believe she tried but was so touched). ARRGGG. I'm getting mad again! If you replace the caches, make them members only caches...that way she at least has to pay to steal them... Ed Link to comment
+Hemlock Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Since the cache isn't there, shouldn't the listing be disabled? Never mind, I disabled it for you Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) OOOooo, GOOD IDEA for Member's only! I just hit my 100th cache so I'm still learning. Edited January 7, 2005 by mayprod Link to comment
adampierson Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Well as I see it you only have two courses of action... Vent your frustration and move on. OR /<KIDDING mode on> You have her phone number and where she lives. Post her name, number, and address here so those who feel inclined/impassioned to contact her, can do so. Organize a cache event right at the spot where your cache was located. Make this a BBQ event to last into late afternoon. Be sure to make a HUGE banner with the words "Geocaching Event, Meet Here!" and post it up so that it is visible to everyone in the neighborhood. /<KIDDING mode off> Link to comment
+Beta Test Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Hide a few with your contact number on it. If she calls back, *69 her. From there you, and your local caching group can declare shenanigans on her from the payphones in your area. Link to comment
+briansnat Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 If only geocachers would stop throwing rocks, this wouldn't be happening! Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 Yes, this looney tune has actually made a rock lined pathway along the ridge and said that some of the rocks were moved. NOT THAT SHE ISN'T CHANGING THE ENVIRONMENT HERSELF! Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 It would be so wrong to create 'The Mean Lady Cache" which uses her house numbers as the clue to the cache location. So I won't suggest it. Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Well if they were my caches I would first make them mebers only, Second I would move the repacement cache to a new location, Third I would hide a cache that would be hard to move, this might mead build one at hame in part and take the parts in by making several trips, then put the cache together on the sight, maybe even carry in some cement and water and filling the bottom on the cache with cement ( make it to heavy to move) Link to comment
+Beta Test Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 It would be so wrong to create 'The Mean Lady Cache" which uses her house numbers as the clue to the cache location. So I won't suggest it. I would. Link to comment
+Lemon Fresh Dog Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 First -- throw large amounts of catnip seed into her yard. Next -- Get a cache container. Crazy-glue it shut. Crazy glue it to a large, immovable rock Then, post the cache as the Ms. XYZ Tribute cache -- you won't be able to trade, you won't be able to sign, but you'll be able to find it! -- the above was all in good jest. Seriously, plant micros near her law firm, health club, etc, etc...... as time goes on she'll wonder why everywhere she goes people have GPS units..... her paranoia will destroy her. -- okay....that was also in jest.. Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 I was SO mad earlier, I wish you could see me laughing. Keep it up! You guys are much more creative than I am! Link to comment
2oldfarts (the rockhounders) Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 If you have copies of the messages from this person, It might be worth the time to notify the authorities about this theft. I'm sure they would like to nab a confessed "Thieving Lawyer". John Link to comment
SFABobby03 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I definately liked the idea above to declare shenanigans on this lady. Sounds like fun! Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 I have the first phone message still saved. It wouldn't be too hard to find the person who works at this specific place, at a certain phone number, who lives on Echo Lane. Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Invite her to a legitimate geocaching event. Jamie Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 I'm beginning to get some ideas for a GOOD MULTI. Link to comment
+Lemon Fresh Dog Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Yes, this looney tune has actually made a rock lined pathway along the ridge and said that some of the rocks were moved. NOT THAT SHE ISN'T CHANGING THE ENVIRONMENT HERSELF! Report her. There's probably a by-law against moving stuff in the park. It woulf go on her "PERMINENT RECORD" -- which is probably something she cares about. Link to comment
adampierson Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I have the first phone message still saved. It wouldn't be too hard to find the person who works at this specific place, at a certain phone number, who lives on Echo Lane. Could you post it so we can all hear her rant? Link to comment
+Lemon Fresh Dog Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) Create a cache. Place a big sticker on the front "Smile! You're on Video! -- see you on the news!" Then, sit back and watch her on the world's most intense hunt for a no-cache cache! Edited January 7, 2005 by Lemon Fresh Dog Link to comment
+briansnat Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 If you have copies of the messages from this person, It might be worth the time to notify the authorities about this theft. I'm sure they would like to nab a confessed "Thieving Lawyer". John I'm not so sure the authorities would consider taking a container found in the woods to be theft. And even if they did, they probably would laugh if you insisted on prosecuting. Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 Actually, her intent was to have me reply on my web site, so she sounded non-descript. When she called me the second time, I was really cheerful, saying "Wow, I've been so curious about why you've called! What can I do for you?". She never really ranted, just ended her diatribe with saying that her and her neighbors were not happy about geocachers placing geocaches on the mountain. I started to respond with how I couldn't believe the audacity of her stealing my caches when she hung up. No, I wasn't yelling but sure wanted to. Link to comment
+briansnat Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 just ended her diatribe with saying that her and her neighbors were not happy about geocachers placing geocaches on the mountain. Are they as concerned about hikers using the mountian? Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 Um, I'm pretty sure John's just kidding about the theiving lawyers! Link to comment
+Harry Dolphin Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 It would be so wrong to create 'The Mean Lady Cache" which uses her house numbers as the clue to the cache location. So I won't suggest it. Now, this is uproariously funny! Go for it!! Seriously, plotting revenge is best left in the mind, with help from your friends here. And there are some very creative minds here! 'Oh, well' works very well for me. (And I'm a Scorpio!) Sometimes you just move on. Link to comment
2oldfarts (the rockhounders) Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Um, I'm pretty sure John's just kidding about the theiving lawyers! Just because she works at a law firm does not make her a lawyer. It just sounded good to me. John Link to comment
+Team Tigger International Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Caching can be very relaxing. I'm sure even lawyers need to relax. Maybe someone should try to introduce caching to the nice lawyers? Wulf Link to comment
+flask Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 it would also be wrong to get a virtual placed at her mailbox, or even on the mountain. good luck to her trying to steal THAT. Link to comment
+Sagefox Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I don't believe there is anything to gain buy getting in this woman's face. If it were my cache, and even though I would be steaming mad at her, I would permanently archive it. There are plenty of other places to put caches. As said earlier in this topic, life is just too short to get into a six month battle over a cache site. Link to comment
+flask Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 ohhh, ohhh, keep replacing them with smaller and smaller, harder to find MICROS! move 'em a hundred feet or so every time. invite her to come and keep stealing them. woo-hoo! that'll eat up some of her time. Link to comment
rescue557 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Plot your revenge dear cacher! First, make her home a VIRTUAL so that she can't get rid of it, except to move out. Then, make all of your caches into members only. Finally, create an unknown cache where the centerpoint is her yard but put the cache somewhere far away where nobody could ever find it. hehehe Link to comment
+Ltljon Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Jamie Z's idea of a cache event invite sounds best. Out of curiousity she might attend. Better to convert her than have her destroying future caches. But just in case, you should always keep in mind, "Revenge is a dish best served cold". Link to comment
+flask Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I don't believe there is anything to gain buy getting in this woman's face. If it were my cache, and even though I would be steaming mad at her, I would permanently archive it. There are plenty of other places to put caches. As said earlier in this topic, life is just too short to get into a six month battle over a cache site. you have the wrong attitude. a lady like that is just BEGGING to have her head messed with. you don't do it to win the argument. you just do it to toy with her. what on earth do you think you're going to get by playing nicely and being reasonable? Link to comment
rescue557 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Jamie Z's idea of a cache event invite sounds best. Out of curiousity she might attend. Better to convert her than have her destroying future caches. I never thought about doing that. Link to comment
+Bionico Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) Hello, fellow resident of Phoenix here. I must add my two cents worth because I see this way too often: people who think that the City Parks in their neighborhoods belong to THEM not to EVERYONE. First things first: this woman is not a lawyer. I happen to know that every attorney in that law firm is a man. If she works there she's a secretary... heck, she could've been the person who answered the phone when you called the law firm. I'm almost certain that she's not one of the paralegals: the paralegals in that law firm demonstrate a level of class (they're too good to lower themselves to this woman's level), intelligence (ANY Paralegal licensed in Phoenix knows that the Phoenix Mountains Preserve is Public Land) and productivity (even if they had the inclination, they're too busy to lower themselves to the level of this woman). This woman lacks the class, the intelligence, and the productivity of a paralegal. She's probably a legal secretary who went into a law firm thinking that it would be glamorous.. only to find that she's there to take orders from both the attorneys AND the Paralegal AND almost everyone else in that law firm... so she has to vent her frustration on someone she perceives as being "inferior".. namely, GeoCachers. But you know what?? We're much better than she will even be even if she gets to live forever.. so, if she wants to keep removing Caches.. I say that we face her GeoCacher-style: STAGE A CITO AT THE PRESERVE!!!! Let's get a few people to decend to the Preserve and CITO. Let's make it very public: call the Media, get the Bright Yellow Official CITO Bags, make our GPSr's obvious, wear GeoCaching Gear... heck, call Parks and Recreation (they run the show at the Preserve, they're cool) and tell them that we want to stage a Cleanup in the Preserve... not so they give us permission but so we get appreciation from the City. And this woman who is causing all of this trouble? She'll have to sit in her house and be quiet and do nothing... or she can call the Police and tell them that there are a lot of trespassers on the Preserve... we'll see how THAT goes. Edited January 7, 2005 by Bionico Link to comment
+macatac1961 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 This is one of those situations that might just be better off left alone. Bite the bullet and shut the cache down. Someone who would not only take the cache but call you personally might be someone you might want to just close the book on and hide another one away from this lady's mountain. She doesn't sound all that stable. The call might have come from a law firm but she might be a client who's looking for a lawyer to get her out of her last criminal assault. Link to comment
+Couparangus Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 You have to admire the caller's candor! And you have to also consider there may be a mental health issue here. My advice is to make your cache into a multi and put the final stage elsewhere. If the caller removes it again then it may be worrth addressing differently. Cheers! C-A Link to comment
+CompuCash Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) You posted their name and phone on the cache page - [edited by moderator. read the TOU] get the phone number and all incensed cachers can start a phone campagn on the law office - tell the attendant the you want to talk to the geo-thief. maybe when the phone calls disrupt their business they will take action since she made a disrupting personal call from her job. at the very least she should return the caches to you. Chain it down - I did a cache once that was chained to a big rock. Ammo can decent chain - could cut if you carried bold cutters way out there. Of course that doesn't stop her from stealing the contents - maybe a chain and like above glue it closed - e-mail an number off it to get the smiley. make a special puzzle cache - posted coords invalid - each person must e-mail you and identify themselves - upon which you check them out at gc.com and e-mail the coords. to them. I have not worked out all the kinks in that one but it could work. Get their phone number and call them back with the coords? You know here voice - do you know her phone # (reverse dir.?) on the fun side - set up a couple multiples that have people trecking back and forth across the back of her place several times (several caches?) and across her special path too. *69 is not a lot of help - will not tell you the phone # - only call it. Been there done that. Edited January 7, 2005 by CO Admin Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) This morning, I got a message from a woman saying she wanted to contact me regarding my missing caches for Petrified!She does not leave her name but asked me to post to the site whether I was the correct person. I did. Later, I get a call from this woman admitting she had taken the caches. She lives near the area and didn't want any geocachers there. I never interrupted her once. When I started to speak, she hung up on me. I posted a new note on the web site more or less saying exactly how I felt about the stealing and her believing that public land was hers to police as she saw fit. I found out where she worked from the phone number but the receptionist refused to help me. I know what street this woman lives on, it backs up against the preserve. What would you do? Write a letter to the partners of her law firm (along with her street address)? Let it go? Plant a fourth cache that has a boobytrap (just kidding)? Contact the authorities with my information? Have a field day with this one guys! Turn it in to the police. It's theft, they admited it. If she's got no rights to the land, then she deserves to have her wrists slapped by professionals. Odds are thats all she would get, but some people just think they are so right about something and are so completely misguided only a true realitiy break can help them out. Edit: Life is too short to tolerate that kind of horses***. Edited January 7, 2005 by Renegade Knight Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 hide another one away from this lady's mountain That is JUST the point... it is NOT this person's mountain and I would NOT call her a lady either. I bet the firm wouldn't want one of their employees calling people on their business phones, admitting they've stolen something three times! The receptionist actually hung up on me when I said I wanted to talk to an office manager about a phone call that was made from their office. I think that Bionico is right, the receptionist knew the woman. I really don't want to get into a fight. I also don't want some crazy woman thinking she can push geocachers off public land. It definitely has helped listening to the extremely creative, witty ideas people have for revenge. I fantasize about using three tubes of JB Weld on an indestructable cache glued to a hole inside a boulder called "The Crazy Homeowner Cache" with a note inside (welded) that asks all cachers to CITO. I will archive the cache but am going to sleep on whether I do want to place another cache there. It is near my home, I do enjoy hiking there, it is right along a hiking trail (this is desert, rocks and boulders so vegetation is not an issue). The jury is still out but this is cathartic! Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 The phone number posted is the one she called from. When I went into my cell phone directory and called the number back (after she hung up), that's when the receptionist answered saying "no one from this office would ever make such a call". Link to comment
+El Diablo Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Caching can be very relaxing. I'm sure even lawyers need to relax. Maybe someone should try to introduce caching to the nice lawyers? Wulf We have a couple already...Carleenp and Keystone Approver. El diablo Link to comment
+mayprod Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 Well, I have nothing against lawyers. It just amazes me that someone would be stupid enough to call from their work phone, at a law firm, and tell me she stole three of my caches! Link to comment
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