Lame Caches: A Finders Guide

[+Birdsong-n-Bud]

By definition, most caches are mediocre. Even if the overall quality goes, up, most are still mediocre. That's what mediocre means. I expect most caches to be mediocre, and the exceptional ones are surprises. Most can't be exceptional, because by definition, exceptional caches are rare.

 

Okay, so this raises an interesting question.

 

What, in your opinion(s), would define an "exceptional" cache? Specifically, what about it would make it memorable, outstanding? The area in which it was hidden being beautiful? The container having been a cleverly-created camouflage? Something that required thought and preparation before going? A challenge to get to physically? Some sort of puzzle? A theme?

 

What floats YOUR boat?

[+Klatch]

Your first find of a lamppost base cache WILL be neat, seriously. I know I felt like an idiot when I logged DNFs on several lamppost base caches before I learned the "secret" of them, and it was very satisfying when I finally did "get it". So yeah, what you've posted is all good...honestly and with no sarcasm.

 

Now imagine one or more cachers in your area latching on to this particular hide concept (because it's so "neat", plus it's cheap and you can place LOTS of them in a single day just driving around) and BOMBING your area with tens or hundreds of them, creating the new local "standard" to other newbs who might join the sport. The newbs read an article about this nifty, environmentally friendly game where folks go out and explore and hike and discover untapped local treasures, where they can bring their families and find cool swag in cool containers, with breathless and exciting pictures of Mom and Dad and their 2.3 kids having a family-bonding experience for the day...and instead, a zip code search yields pages and pages of nearby caches that turn out to be shopping center parking lots with security and paranoid onlookers watching in post-9/11 America. Do you think those 2.3 kids are going to want to keep looking for more and more of these fun and exciting lampposts, or do you think they're going to whine to Mommy and Daddy that they want to go into that Toys 'R Us down there at the other end of the parking lot?

 

This is ABSOLUTELY what has happened in many areas and continues to happen more and more. The "cool" caches written about in the articles ARE still out there, but you have to sift through this increasing pile of what we're calling the "lame" caches in order to locate them. Still think it's neat?

 

drat19, you posted exactly what I feel. Folks, until this happens in your area, you can't understand why these posters are so adamant. But this is a game with no rules, only guidelines. Lame micros (not all micros) are cheap and easy to place. They provide quick finds for the seekers to increase their smiley face numbers. I think this is the future of this game and some people will be happy about it, some will have regrets.

[Smaug1]

What, in your opinion(s), would define an "exceptional" cache? Specifically, what about it would make it memorable, outstanding? The area in which it was hidden being beautiful? The container having been a cleverly-created camouflage? Something that required thought and preparation before going? A challenge to get to physically? Some sort of puzzle? A theme?

All of the above would make an exceptional cache. IMHO, even one element of the above would make a good-great cache.

[+Beowulf83]

OK, seems everyone agrees that it is possible to oversaturate an area with lame caches. I can certainly see drat19's point. Would it be possible to oversaturate an area with good caches? Certainly - and those formerly good caches might then be considered lame, such as the classic lamp post. So it sounds like we are increasing our standards for what makes a good cache as the saturation of a particular type of cache or cache idea increases. Let's face it, people get bored.

 

I think some "lame" caches have their place, if by lame we're talking about readily accessible and easy to find. It's a great way to teach GPS skills to younger kids - just don't overdo it so that they do get restless and want to go to the Toys-R-Us. I'd rather do that than start them on a 5/5 that they might not reach or find. (Of course, having worked with as many kids as I have, I know they'd probably want to head to Toys-R-Us on the first one!

 

Edited to fix a spelling error

Edited January 26, 2005 by Beowulf83

[+Birdsong-n-Bud]

it be possible to oversaturate an area with good caches? Certainly - and those formerly good caches might then be considered lame, such as the classic lamp post

 

Good point. I agree....even good caches should not be placed too close together, if that is what you mean by "cache saturation." I think part of the thrill of caching is being in a place you haven't cached in before.

[+Renegade Knight]

...Would it be possible to oversaturate an area with good caches? ...

Oversaturation is oversaturation.

 

It's like your 299th Twinkie. The first was dadgum good. The last made you puke.

 

What's truly annoying is to have people puking their solution on everyone to try and make their burn out more tolerable to themselvs. The problem isnt' the caches the problem is with the attitude some cachers take to that cache.

 

If a group of people can have fun with a cache, and another group can't, the problems isn't with the cache.

 

The point was, is, and and remains, if you are not having fun with the game, then you are playing the wrong game, or you truly enjoy not having fun.

[+VegasCacheHounds]

Heres an idea for anyone who has a type of cache they consider "lame". Don't do them. I know, I know, this has been argued before. You don't know that its lame from the online description, blah blah blah. What I'm saying is once you get to the cache area, and you see that you are in a Wal-Mart parking lot, or wherever you don't like to cache, GO HOME, or onto onther cache. You don't have to find every cache, do you?

Maybe if you pass on the caches you don't like, then you haven't wasted your time. If you really want to make a point, log a DNF for that cache stating your reason for abandoning the hunt.

Beyond this, did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, that someone actually enjoys that type of cache? There has to be a reason it was placed.

 

Above all, I agree with RK. Its a game. Have fun. If you're not having fun, move on, do something else.

 

Shannon

VegasCacheHounds

[CoyoteRed]

...if by lame we're talking about readily accessible and easy to find.  It's a great way to teach GPS skills to younger kids - just don't overdo it so that they do get restless and want to go to the Toys-R-Us.

No, "lame" doesn't mean readily accessible and easy to find.

 

You want to introduce folks, even young kids, to geocaching do it like this. Yeah, it's a little toot of my own horn, but it designed specifically for those being introduced into the sport. I feel it has all of the elements of an interesting cache and is just about the epitome of what an easy urban cache should be.

 

The sister cache to the one above is a multi that a local's six year old was able to do. It was designed to introduce folks to multis, basic puzzles, and basic handling of their GPS.

 

Both of the above are very easy to do and easily accessible. Maybe I've just not seen it, but there aren't any of the indicators that folks don't like these caches.

 

As an aside, I'm quite amazed these have lasted as long as they have and the fact folks are trading very reasonably in them. I've got it sitting on the kitchen table and started going through while eating breakfast and found a working McVideoGame! Plenty of other non-original contents on the higher quality side. I'm impressed!

 

So, no, easy doesn't make a cache lame.

[+horsegeeks]

...Would it be possible to oversaturate an area with good caches? ...

Oversaturation is oversaturation.

 

It's like your 299th Twinkie. The first was dadgum good. The last made you puke.

 

What's truly annoying is to have people puking their solution on everyone to try and make their burn out more tolerable to themselvs. The problem isnt' the caches the problem is with the attitude some cachers take to that cache.

 

If a group of people can have fun with a cache, and another group can't, the problems isn't with the cache.

 

The point was, is, and and remains, if you are not having fun with the game, then you are playing the wrong game, or you truly enjoy not having fun.

I wish this topic could be closed with RK's comments as the last word. That is the name of the game, "have fun" do only what you feel you want but don't try to roll over your burnout to others and spoil the game for them.

[+Beowulf83]

It's like your 299th Twinkie. The first was dadgum good. The last made you puke.

 

You know, when he said "Twinkie", I thought he was talking about a particular cache until I went back and re-read it! I wondered what kind of cache would make you puke.

[CoyoteRed]

If a group of people can have fun with a cache, and another group can't, the problems isn't with the cache.

Whoa! Let's back up here.

 

It's all about about how you play your game, right?

 

Some folks game is stealing your caches. That's fun for them. Not fun for you. Of course, the fun in a one-time thing because unless you replace your cache they can't steal it again, but that's a different issue.

 

Isn't that a little bit of the same thing you're talking about?

 

Okay, say you have a multi-use trail. Hiking and horses are allowed on it. Everyone co-exists very well. The only sounds are the sounds of nature.

 

Oh, wait, someone else wants to join the fun. ATVs. They come blasting by and you can't hear yourself think. But, wait, the owners of the trails said they can come on there--that makes everything alright. You can still hike the trails no problem, right?

 

So, now you don't like hiking those trails, but the ATV guys like riding them. The problem isn't with the trails now is it?

[CoyoteRed]

That is the name of the game, "have fun" do only what you feel you want but don't try to roll over your burnout to others and spoil the game for them.

So, "fun" is ruining an area's caching experience? Placing 7 lame caches in one day, increasing the area's micro population by 50% with all lame caches in one day, is "fun?"

[+drat19]

RK, as always (to me), your insight is keen. (Take it as a compliment, you know that's how I mean it.)

 

I freely admit becoming a bit burned out the last several months. I cached HARD for a year and a half straight (994 caches found in calendar year '03 alone) in over 30 states and provinces. However, it was clear to me that what really "put me over the edge" was a day of caching over in New Orleans a few months ago, part of my "home turf" (it's an easy 90-minute drive from my home base in Biloxi), where I searched for and found nothing but micros for a full day...because that's all I had to choose from to search for in the rated-2.5/2.5-and-under category. Some were clever hides in well-chosen locations, but the majority were placed just for the sake of being placed...neither the locations nor the hides were particularly worthwhile to me. Might others with less caching under their belt feel differently about those hides/locations? I'm sure.

 

To me, though, it just struck me as representative of the direction our game is going in many areas...easily- and not-always-thoughtfully-placed micros (and LOTS of 'em) are the "next wave". It's not where we were 2+ years ago, and it's not what is being represented in the increasing number of articles being published about our game (where they still talk about those "hidden gems" and "swag-filled containers").

 

-Dave R.

Edited January 26, 2005 by drat19

[+sduck]

 

You want to introduce folks, even young kids, to geocaching do it like this.

You mean send newbies to a disabled cache?

[CoyoteRed]

 

You want to introduce folks, even young kids, to geocaching do it like this.

You mean send newbies to a disabled cache?

Look at the date on the Disabled Log.

 

...or should I have done all of the spray painting and refurbishing right there in the park?

[+Scoobie10]

I guess I only have one way of looking at this issue. Since it's the "Getting There" part of caching that I enjoy the most, finding something less than stellar doesn't really bother me much. Great cache finds are always noted in my log and finding monotone caches just gets a little less of the accolades.

 

For me, it's the drive then the hunt then the find.....in that order.

 

Considering this is a hobby for me, I follow the adage of "a bad day of caching is still better than a good day in the office"....and it serves me well.

 

If someone wants to come down here and place 100 so called, lame caches, I'm all for it. I would be happy to find them. Why? Because I like to go caching. Lame or amazing......they all require a hunt of some degree.

 

I have an article on my site that speakes to my thoughts here. It's called Getting There

 

Scoobie

[+Confucius' Cat]

...or should I have done all of the spray painting and refurbishing right there in the park?

That would have been STEALTH at its finest!

 

<intended to be humorous>

The least you could have done is put a film can there for the interim. What were you thinking?!

</humor>

[+Monkeybrad]

All the complaints in the world won't make lame hides go away. 

Are you sure about that?

"Micro" Reputation Reparation Discussion.

 

sd

You might want to try reading between some of those lines. It is a joke. These caches are being archived specifically because people have complained about them, but not until the logged fifty or so more finds. Many of these are actually in historical areas, some of these have been given as examples of how micros can be good, by posters in this thread, some of these are probably lame, but they all share one quality; they were all placed by hiders who are tired of people taking potshots at the area, but only after "running their find counts up" with these easy to access micros. We are not getting rid of lame micros, we are taking the opportunity to find these away from folks who are not just content to look a gift horse in the mouth, they feel the need to publicly blast it and beat it as well. So now the situation is "No Cache for you".

 

The fact that several good ones are going away is that law of unintended consequences thing getting in the way again.

[+Confucius' Cat]

For me, it's the drive then the hunt then the find.....in that order.

So driving ten miles through stop-and-go traffic to get to an old, about-to-be-closed-down K-Mart parking lot and then finding the film can at the lamppost base just spells "great day", huh?

 

While I agree with the "bad day good day" thing to a great extent, some drives are not fun. Some hunts are not fun. Some caches are not fun. Unfortunately, the only way to tell if it is going to be fun is to DO it.

 

Even the times I have driven a hundred miles to find a film can in a fence post at the back of a graveyard (hoping for something a LITTLE more exciting), I can't truly say the trip was wasted (after all i did get a smiley )

 

But I don't have to buy my own gas....

[+Renegade Knight]

...So driving ten miles through stop-and-go traffic to get to an old, about-to-be-closed-down K-Mart parking lot and then finding the film can at the lamppost base just spells "great day", huh?...

Then stopping at a local dive and having the best burger you have ever tasted...

 

Yes.

 

What you do is up to you.

 

Oh by the way, funny you should use that example. I stopped in Burley at an already closed K-Mart and found a lamppost cache 100' from where another one used to be and saw the log signed by PDXmarathon. I got a kick out of wondering about the difference between the former cache and how much I missed PDX by.

 

I sent PDX an email and found out it wasn't by long at all.

 

We are not playing the same game.

Edited January 26, 2005 by Renegade Knight

[+Confucius' Cat]

Oh by the way, funny you should use that example. I stopped in Burley at an already closed K-Mart and found a lamppost cache 100' from where another one used to be and saw the log signed by PDXmarathon. I got a kick out of wondering about the difference between the former cache and how much I missed PDX by.

 

I sent PDX an email and found out it wasn't by long at all.

 

We are not playing the same game.

I'm sorry, I've read this five times and I still don't understand it. ?

[+Scoobie10]

So driving ten miles through stop-and-go traffic to get to an old, about-to-be-closed-down K-Mart parking lot and then finding the film can at the lamppost base just spells "great day", huh?

 

Great day? Probably not but for something that smelled like a "lame cache" I would usually wait until I was down that way to find it. If I did make the trip through the traffic to find it, I would still enjoy my trip because I like to find caches. My log would probably say something to the effect of "Found it, thanks for placing this cache", and not much more.

 

I use to have what would be considered a lame micro to some. The reason I placed it was I wanted to watch people find it and meet the cachers when they were finished with their hunt. My lame micro had a point. I know that many don't so I just usually make my own point. I usually find something fun in almost everything. Isn't that the point?

 

Scoobie

[+drat19]

My lame micro had a point.

If the "point" was more than just a smiley in an otherwise-not-worthwhile location, and that it was a "one-sie" as opposed to BOMBING your area with tens or hundreds like it, I would counter that in fact the cache was not lame at all.

 

-Dave R.

[+The Jester]

CR, I'm sorry you are still hacked about that episode. Your thread about it didn't seem to get the converts you wanted, and now bringing it up every other post won't win any either. What I keep getting when I read about it (over & over) is that you want everyone to do things only the way you want things done. No matter how many others post saying they like caches like that, it's not going to change your mind - in the same way your pounding your message isn't going to change their mind. I don't know if I'm alone or not, but I'm trying to filter out your "crusade" against one hider, but you're making it hard to see anything else in your posts.

 

When lame caches are talked about, it seems that, it's always micros. About how it's easy to 'toss' them anywhere/everywhere. What about the ammo cans 'tossed' under logs/behind trees/under a bush, oh, maybe 30, 40 or 50 down a trail? Someone asked 'what is the lame threshold?' - is it caches you've gotten tired of? How many ammo cans under a log does it take to make them lame? You've seen one log, you've seen them all. How is that different from lampposts? Or bison capsules hanging in a tree?

 

And on the subject brought up by someone (I admit I'm too lazy to go back and find the post) about givers/takers (500+ finds, only 5 hides): Are you asking for everyone to 'toss' out caches just so the hide count is up-to-standard? I'm approaching 800 and have 11 that I've hid (& adpoted 2). I don't drop a cache everywhere I've seen that I could, I take a lot of time to come up with what I consider good hides (yeah, a couple were quick 'gee, I should' types). Not everybody is going to enjoy the hiding - it's much different than hunting.

[+wimseyguy]

All the complaints in the world won't make lame hides go away. 

Are you sure about that?

"Micro" Reputation Reparation Discussion.

sd

You might want to try reading between some of those lines. It is a joke. These caches are being archived specifically because people have complained about them, but not until the logged fifty or so more finds. Many of these are actually in historical areas, some of these have been given as examples of how micros can be good, by posters in this thread, some of these are probably lame, but they all share one quality; they were all placed by hiders who are tired of people taking potshots at the area, but only after "running their find counts up" with these easy to access micros. We are not getting rid of lame micros, we are taking the opportunity to find these away from folks who are not just content to look a gift horse in the mouth, they feel the need to publicly blast it and beat it as well. So now the situation is "No Cache for you".

 

The fact that several good ones are going away is that law of unintended consequences thing getting in the way again.

I'm glad I read all the way through this thread before replying. I do get the irony of this mission. I have found many of these listed caches, several of which were most excellent. The memories of our large crew searching for Black and Gold well after midnight afte GW2 are priceless. Those of you who have found this gem can envision that scene. I'll also come clean and admit that Adventure 101 is the cache I have referenced loosly when discussing lame, so I'm not really sad to see it gone.

 

Yet another thread has become derailed by the 'definition of lame' dispute.

 

Have any of you really read the first lines of the OP before replying?

The first rule is this. If you are not having fun, quit that. It stands to reason that if any one cache isn’t fun, and you keep looking for that cache, then you are enjoying not having fun. That makes no sense, so quit when it’s not fun. Quit then go to another cache. That can be a hard lesson to learn

.

For me geocaching has always been about the fun. When I was seeking many of the caches that this posse are planning to round up, we made it fun in ways beyond the actual finding of the cache; can we pick out the correct lightpole at 50mph from across the parking lot, who gets to it first, can we maneuver the van close enough to retreive the container without getting out, etc.

What isn't becoming fun any more is reading the same gripes and now self titled crusades in these forums. This isn't a forum geocide by any means, but I'm getting really tired of reading the same thinly veiled agendas, especially when it was written that the topic was closed for forum discussion. If some of you are so worried about your local reputation, then maybe you should follow the strong lead of the Nashville crew and do something about it. Then see how your reputation looks from the outside.

 

Didn't Mopar have a sig. quoting Harrald about a man's reputation?

[+Renegade Knight]

Oh by the way, funny you should use that example.  I stopped in Burley at an already closed K-Mart and found a lamppost cache 100' from where another one used to be and saw the log signed by PDXmarathon.  I got a kick out of wondering about the difference between the former cache and how much I missed PDX by.

 

I sent PDX an email and found out it wasn't by long at all.

 

We are not playing the same game. 

I'm sorry, I've read this five times and I still don't understand it. ?

That's my point.

 

I did a cache almost identical to your example of lame down to the long drive and lamp post. It was a fun cache.

[CoyoteRed]

What isn't becoming fun any more is reading the same gripes and now self titled crusades in these forums. This isn't a forum geocide by any means, but I'm getting really tired of reading the same thinly veiled agendas, especially when it was written that the topic was closed for forum discussion.

If you don't like reading about it, do like it's suggested if you don't like micros--skip it.

 

Second, the thread was closed because certain posters were trying to make it about a turf war, it wasn't.

[+wolves shepherd]

I don't normally get in on these debates....

 

I do admit, as I've got a few more caches under my belt some of the thrill of the hunt has worn off. Now I did do an "almost micro" the other day that was cool because it was a pretty clever hide. I'm not a big micro hunter though, because I don't really get my kicks out of urban areas.

 

I have found some in the woods lately though where the cleverness of the hide is lacking, knowing what I know about how many places there are to hide an ammo can in the woods. I got into the "search circle" are on one. Looked around, walked over and kicked the out-of-place pile of sticks and pine needles. Clunk. Yep. It's a cache.

 

On the other hand, there was a 2-stage multi that wasn't any hard to find but it was clever. It made me smile because there was something different about it.

 

Now to date, my favorite cache is pretty lame on the "hide" aspect. It was right where it had to be hidden but the hike in and out was great. It helped that I was in a state I don't live in so everything was different.

 

I'm learning that I'm developing a different outlook on caching. I still hunt the 1's and 2's with the kids. They get a kick out of it still. But I'm longing for the harder and longer hides. I'm starting to conceive of the caches I will place. (Heck, I've got less than 30 finds.)

 

What will this mean? I'll still have a Saturday with the family where we get 5 or so caches. I might have another where I make a dieicated solo trip for one "big" find.

 

Just my progression so far.

 

Does it have any bearing on the current discussion? I dunno. You decide.

[+Sputnik 57]

CR is battling against lame caches. I respect that. We can raise the level of all caches, making "mediocre" caches better than they are now.

 

RK is battling against lame caches as well. I respect that. He offers a number of very constructive tips to get the placers of lame caches to see the error of their ways and raise their game.

 

CR's approach seems to be "rage against the machine." Get mad and make things better. This approach can be very effective, but off-putting for many. (And taken to an extreme, gives rise to justifications for terrorism).

 

RK offers a "turn the other cheek" approach. Kill them with kindness. Not many are offended, but some are just too thick to get it. (Seems a little Judeo-Christian, but I'll let others more versed than I speak to that--Robespiere? CyBret?)

 

I think it's really two sides of the same coin. Funny how when you are standing on one side of the coin, you can't see the other.

[Hucklebuck]

film can in a lamppost? Whats that all about?

[+drat19]

film can in a lamppost? Whats that all about?

I hope you're kidding with that question (what with all the discussions that have gone on...but maybe you've just joined the fray...).

 

But in case not (respectfully), this is about a technique where a film canister is hidden underneath the liftable base at the bottom of a lamppost. When you get stumped by, and then subsequently find, your first one of these hides, it's actually pretty cool.

 

The issue at hand is that some cachers in many areas have found this hide technique to be SO cool, and SO easy to place TENS or HUNDREDS of them very quickly and cheaply, that they've BOMBED their areas with them, in "any ol' parking lot" with no other noteworthy value to the hide location, and in plain view of Security, Police, and/or paranoid onlookers. With SO many in place, this technique then becomes the local "norm" (at the expense of and to the detriment of other EXCELLENT hides/locations that may be in the area as well), and new cachers tend to follow/copy that "norm" with ever more, thinking that "this is the game".

 

-Dave R.

Edited January 26, 2005 by drat19

[Hucklebuck]

I'm sorry, I was kidding, but I do appreciate you taking the time to explain it.

[Hucklebuck]

I've already been up and down this ladder in another thread and promised that I wouldn't weigh in again!

[+GRANPA ALEX]

SMAUG1 . . . your comments to CR were right on AND - he has made more of a difference than he realizes, as changes are scheduled on caches about which he has conflict. Kindness, tact and fellow feeling ARE that which made the difference . . . all very well done.

 

What you said is true in all things . . . contrary comments do not engender happy responses but provide for a defensive or stubborn posturing - then, no winners. Your thoughts are perfect.

[CoyoteRed]

contrary comments do not engender happy responses but provide for a defensive or stubborn posturing

How dare you, sir!

 

You might refer back to my original email with my concerns with your placements. I outlined very clearly why I thought your ideas would not be welcomed here. Have or have not my predictions come true? I told you the locals are wary of micros. I was very tactful in my communique, yet you choose to instead to tap someone else who, contrary to what you say, is not active and is not in tune with the feel of the local caching experience.

 

How dare you to insinuate that I was the cause of this. I was not contrary in that email. I'm just the person you originally picked to watch your caches and now the lightening rod for this debacle.

 

You've claimed that I've given away hide secrets away and this is blatantly untrue. You've claimed this is one man trying to control what everyone else does. Unless I've got a bunch of sock puppet account I'd say you've heard from others and they feel just about the same as what I told you they would.

 

It turns out, sir, that you were the one arrogant and rude to force your brand of caching onto a community that didn't want it. Sure, you're all friendly, polite, and about "fun" here on the forums, but what you've done is far from it.

[+fly46]

All the complaints in the world won't make lame hides go away. 

Are you sure about that?

"Micro" Reputation Reparation Discussion.

 

sd

Yes. That doesn't do a thing to get rid of the lame micros near me.

LOL. It will, however, take away a dang large list of caches in the Vandy area that I haven't hit yet. Anyone want to guess where I'll be Sunday? Why don't you guys copy r0b's idea and do something like that near you? (Incidentally, most of the caches we're doing that day are his)

 

This whole commentary after the initial post is giving me a headache.

Sometimes with 'lame' caches, it's not a matter of hiding a lame cache. Maybe a cache gets moved, or starts off decent (I can think of a nice 1 mile hike to a decent cache that was muggled and replaced with a film canister), or the log book gets wet or the container breaks or something else that wasn't entirely in the control of the person who initially hid the cache. Maybe it's an eye of the beholder thing.

 

Was it lame that the cache I found was soaking wet and full of water? Heck yeah. Was it the cache hider's fault? Was it the fault of the person who didn't snap the lid on the decon until it closed? Was it lame to me?

Hey, I had two options. Piss and moan about that cache for the next 40 lame cache threads or do something to make the cache better AND enjoy the caching experience. So I dried out the container, threw away the stuff that was ruined, made sure to close the lid until it snapped, and had a DARN GOOD TIME finding a cache that had stumped me on the two trips before that.

 

My mother hates caching pure and simple. Getting her to a cache is like getting the Pope to swear. So I do a LOT of micros. First of all, if she's already off shopping or whatever with me we can pull over in the parking lot and I can get a cache. Second of all, at my age and gender, they're safe for me to do alone. You may think they're lame, but I think that they're an opportunity to cache when I otherwise wouldn't get to.

 

I have a gardrail in a parkinglot. Do you think that's lame? Would it matter to you if I said it was scenic, too? Would it matter to someone else?

[+top pin]

Personal quarrells are best resolved in PM"s.......

 

Romans and Greeks do not like crusades.... for the community please take this to behind and below the scenes....

 

Now I'm just voicing my opinon like you, but now this thread is derailed yet again.

I dont know about the rest, and I may be the minority here and some do enjoy this BUT I DO NOT .. I guess its my choice to read it or not.....though I would prefer if it had its own thread so I could avoid it like some should avoid a 1/1 cache in a lightpole......

[+GRANPA ALEX]

My comments to SMAUG1 was to compliment him on HIS well versed ideas with which I agree and share that what he suggested was true . . . it (and you) HAVE made a difference, changes to your ideas for ARE being accomplished.

 

It was a heartfelt compliment to HIM & to YOU . . . I am sorry that you feel I was saying something more, I was not. I want to provide caches that make everyone enjoy the game, to the best I can. I did introduce caches that I enjoy to the area and some have enjoyed finding them, I can do better.

 

Besides all that, what you see of me in the forums IS me - I am not anymore phoney than you are - we both say what we feel without putting on airs (as the old folks say), I respect that in you, though I may not agree.

[+drat19]

I have a gardrail in a parkinglot.

Flygirl, I've said this before and I'll say it again:

 

You have *A* guardrail cache. You don't have 100+ of them. Living in the metro area where you do, you KNOW what I'm talking about. THAT is the issue. (Well, mine anyway.) THIS is the trend that, in my and some other folks' opinions, is taking the game in a direction many folks don't want to see it go (although it would appear the damage is now already done and it's too late).

 

-Dave R.

Edited January 26, 2005 by drat19

[CoyoteRed]

Personal quarrells are best resolved in PM"s...

Yes, you're right. It doesn't belong here.

[+Sissy-n-CR]

Just for the record...

 

Although I feel almost as strongly as CR about this subject, I realized early on that I was investing way too much angst and mental energy on it. I forwarded all the communications to another area cacher (not CR), and asked him to deal with it, because I realized that my frustration level was probably not going to lead to productive outcomes.

 

Then I quit worrying about it.

 

Seeing them on my nearest list has become somewhat of a badge of honor for me, but I think they must be more like thorns under a saddle for CR. I have some things planned for this week-end that may give CR something a whole lot more fun to focus on.

 

Like everyone else, I am also tired of this crusade being fought in every other post.

 

I guess we will see just how important this is to him. If he (finally) drops it, you'll know I won :D !

 

Sissy

[+fly46]

I have a gardrail in a parkinglot.

Flygirl, I've said this before and I'll say it again:

 

You have *A* guardrail cache. You don't have 100+ of them. Living in the metro area where you do, you KNOW what I'm talking about. THAT is the issue. (Well, mine anyway.) THIS is the trend that, in my and some other folks' opinions, is taking the game in a direction many folks don't want to see it go (although it would appear the damage is now already done and it's too late).

 

-Dave R.

Actually, I have 13 micros in Nashville, 2 in Manchester area, and one borderline (It's listed as small because there are trade items) in Kingsville, Ohio. 12 of them are in a series that takes you - eventually - to a short walk through the woods to get to a well stocked container.

(Interesting breakdown - in nashville - two in rocks, one on a guardrail, the rest in lightpoles.. manchester's are both on the ground, the one in kingsville is in a tree.)

 

One point, though, that i've suddenly thought of is to not take a cache and blanket it in a group. We've heard - not in this thread, but in many others - that most guardrails are lame. Except that in hiding my lame guardrail, I realized that it has one of the best views of Percy Priest Lake that you can get.

To someone tired of micros, it's lame. To someone who wants a nice view, it's spectacular.

 

Still, it's in how you play the game. I have 23 active cache hides. Of those, 15 are micros. Of the other 8, however, one is on Nashvilles best list and another one I constantly get messages about how it was refreshing to do a find like that and find a full sized container.

 

What you say is right. It's okay to have caches that some might consider lame so long as not all of your cache hides are like that.

[Hucklebuck]

Some people like Ashley Simpson. ?

 

I like Grandpa Alex and his lame hides (which they aren't)

 

I don't know CR, but I know he loves Geocaching

 

I love Renegade Knights opening statement and almost wish the thread had been closed at that point.

 

Get it together guys it's only a game. Grandpa, Bring your caches back up here, and I'll say nice things in my logs.

 

It's nice to be nice

 

Edited for puntuation and spellin'

Edited January 27, 2005 by Hucklebuck

[+NightPilot]

Well, CR, if there are that few caches in your area, that's too bad, but don't put your conditions or expectations on the whole world. Your experiences are unique, and have nothing to do with anyone else's. I don't want anyone trying to impose their religion or caching standards on me or on anyone else.

Edited January 27, 2005 by NightPilot

[+graldrich]

Grandpa Alex,Bring your micro's to my neighborhood where they will be appreciated,we can start a power trail with them!

[+Harry Dolphin]

As the wise sage once said: "Chac'un a son gout" (Each to his own.) I save the magnetic micros for bad weather. They serve a porpoise too.

That being said, two or three of my caches might be considered 'cache and dashes'. All are in areas with very nice views. None are close to any other caches. If someone else can figure out a better cache for the 150' staircase, then I'll archive mine, graciously. In the meantime, different strokes for different folks.

[+flask]

what really bothers me is that any one person or group of people presume to hold the monopoly on geocaching stndards in any given area.

 

complaining that certain kinds of caches aren't up to your area's standards although they might be fine in some OTHER less discrimintaing geographical areas sound too much like worrying that "coloreds" might move into your school district and lower your average reading scores.

 

if a cache doesn't meet my personal standards in some way, i don't go hunt it. if someone from away plants a cache around here i can either hunt it or not. mostly what doesn't meet my standard is any MOC or any cache hidden by someone from "away". some people don't mind these caches and it's not my business to decide for them what is and is not up to their standard.

 

i also object to the use of "sir" where no actual respect or deference is itended. it only serves to throw your contempt into sharp relief and it sound oddly foppish.

[+wimseyguy]

Oddly, I detect no irony in flask's post. That is a rarity.

[+horsegeeks]

Grandpa Alex,Bring your micro's to my neighborhood where they will be appreciated,we can start a power trail with them!

You can't have him, Sanford and central NC needs him.

[+flask]

Oddly, I detect no irony in flask's post. That is a rarity.

i was going to phrase the thing about school districts differently, but decided against irony.

 

sure, those kind of caches are fine in nashville but would you really want your sister to find one?