eCache

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Hey, Tweet Clouds is operational. Here is my tweet cloud . . . The local rag had a nice article today on geocaching. Congrats to Audrey and Evil Chicken for their profiles . . . It’s hard to argue against sound reasoning . . .The NJ budget battle is heating up. Rural v. urban in this round as state police charges are once again rolled out . . . LBI passes a law unkind to surfers and bikini watchers . . . Received a wild George the other day. That has rekindled interest in WG. Of course, I am having a heck of a time remembering my account information . . .

Posted in GPS Games, Geocaching, New Jersey, Politics, Twitter | No Comments »

Good Thing We Didn’t Step in It

Ah, the punch line from Cheech and Chong’s Cheborneck.

Over the years I have had many ideas for geocaches. Today I pulled a cache from the field that didn’t work out as planned. This was part of a series of caches I worked on and have now abandoned. The series, Ode to Tom, was to highlight some of the locations and caches that Tom Neigel had placed long ago. It is no secret that I was a fan of Tom’s early caches. Over the years, many of these locations have been left. I thought it would be interesting to bring current cachers to these places. In doing so, I had constructed some ideas that I thought would be interesting.

I recall reading the cache description of Really Small Things and being convinced he hid the cache beneath dog (or horse) poo.

with the normal coverings. (hee hee hee)

Then I remember JRJdive’s log:

. . . STARTING TO SMELL A RED HERRING HERE. IF I BOTHERED TO READ TOM’S NOTE BEFOREHAND I WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN SO SURPRISED. ACTUALLY I’M GLAD I DIDN’T BECAUSE IT GAVE ME A GOOD CHUCKLE WHILE DODGING ALL THE HORSE DROPPINGS ON THE WAY BACK TO THE CAR. THAT TRAIL IS LIKE A MINEFIELD. . .

Of course, there was no fake dog or horse poo. But that always struck me as an interesting idea.

A couple years ago I purchased a package of fake dog poo that was advertised as the most realistic stuff made. Indeed, it looks much better than any other fake poo I have seen.

My idea was to affix the poo atop an ammo box. The ammo box would be placed in a natural hole, covered so just the poo was exposed. The ammo box would be placed in the area that Tom’s Really Small Things had.

In addition to the interesting cache description, my first adventure out there was harrowing. I encountered sugar sand for the first time while caching.  It was so high and I fishtailed so much in my little Mercury that I decided to head out a different way, just to avoid going through it again. I was driving blind at the time and little did I know how this little decision connected a few “big” roads for me in Wharton.

It took a little work to affix the poo to the can. I needed the poo off the can, so used a metal cap I had. I used a special epoxy that is designed to be out in the elements. The first time the glue did not set properly. The second time it did.

I put this out in the field to see how it would hold up. As one can see, it didn’t hold up well. Apparently the fake poo is degradable.  This is why I am abandoning this cache idea.

It has been in the field for more than a year. That has allowed me to see how the poo would hold up, but it also permitted me time to think through the idea some more. Frankly, a cache made with poo has lost whatever interest it once did for me. Add to it that the area of Really Small Things is nothing special, there is nothing that is motivating me to work this through any further.

Posted in GPS Games, Geocaching | No Comments »

The Lost Art of Logging

I posted the following earlier over at Groudspeak.

I have been a fan of this thread since 9Key posted it last August. Unfortunately, I do not have a readily available solution to his lament as I am one of those who has changed his logging style. I am now what RK deems a parasite. I could attempt to explain why that is, but that would throw this thread off topic. Rather, allow me first to document how my first logging change came about. That may provide some perspective as to how logging has changed.

Before I ceased logging online, I wrote logs that detailed a bumbling cacher fortunate to find his way home, let alone a cache. While that was factual, the emphasis of the logs were on the misfortunes I encountered. There was anonymity at that time. It was fun and there was some back-and-forth play in the logs with other unknown cachers.

All that changed once I met the caching community. Prior to the first event I attended, I had met but a couple folks on the trail. When I walked into the Burger King people called me by name. That freaked me out. With each log, I posted photographs. The effect of that was that everyone knew me. At that event, the local caching community began to form. And immediately I was placed in an uncomfortable position.

Out with some of the “big names” for some caching, the first place we went had two caches hidden. It was decided to split into two groups and log both caches, despite having only visited one. That one event erased the magic geocaching held for me. All of a sudden I had what, for me, amounted to an ethical issue with what we had done. It bothered me so much I drove 90 minutes one way at a later date to find the other cache that I had logged.

Interestingly, I met a few people at that event who became friends. We then began caching together frequently. That hampered writing self-deprecating logs as they would follow (or proceed) with the “straight” logs.

At this time the number of caches locally began to take off. Like many have lamented previously, I felt the quality of the then-current crop dropped. 9Key acknowledged what many have witnessed over the years, people emulate what they see others doing (monkey see, monkey do). Now, the magic was gone and the quality, for me, was dropping.

I began keeping two sets of logs in my database: a public one and a private one. Unfortunately, I made some mistakes when I posted my logs online and published the “private” ones. I would delete them and upload the correct log, but the damage had been done. Even so, there were some memorable logs during this period.

The After Effect
It wasn’t long after that that I ceased logging online altogether. At that point, not much was lost. Sanitized, short logs were the norm publicly.

Honestly Logging
Many folks state that we should be honest in our logs and that will make a difference. As a matter of fact, I am posting here spurred on by the post of av8tors32. I recognize the handle. I found a cache of his/theirs after I ceased logging online. He stated above:

av8tors32 Apr 13 2008, 10:18 AM
Okay, the problem is most cachers are too polite.

. . .

What is actually lost is the Art of a GOOD CACHE. People drop them any old place for no reason at all, with completely obvious hides. Or place nanos on ever metal sign they can find. The caches that get long write ups are the ones that take me to a unique place, a nice hike, a good hide, a nice container etc etc etc…

Honestly they need to implement a rule. Can’t hide/post a cache until you have found X total caches (not all nano or micro) The hope is that people will experience a “good cache” before they set out to hide one.

Here is the log from my database for the av8tors32 cache I found. I wouldn’t characterize the log as “too polite.” I do not think having posted that would have changed anything. Do you, av8tors?

I have attempted to document what a good cache is. Folks railed on me for that. What I have since learned is that everyone approaches geocaching from his own perspective . . . as do I. So, I then posted my approach to caching, understanding that not everyone approaches it as I do, but at least they would know what to expect from my caches. That has not been well-received either.

I would have preferred to have written a different kind of log for av8tors32’s cache, but I had no audience at that point.

Audience
And that seems to be the crux of 9Key’s lament. Online logging supposes an audience. I removed myself from the geocaching community for numerous reasons. I no longer have an audience to write for. I am okay with that; I write for myself most times (including now).

My logs are a pretty good length, in general, these days. My logs now document, pretty much in a factual manner, my experience finding a cache. I am not against adding commentary if I feel like it. I sometimes embed a running story throughout caches that I found during the day, trying to find a different voice that would make the experience of documenting a past event more exciting for me. Those logs, for the most part, remain stored privately in my databases. Every now and then I publish a few on my site when the mood strikes.

So why post this publicly to an audience? Every now and then it seems profitable to share one’s perspective even if others do not agree with it.

Most issues with geocaching have different facets. Often it appears there are but two perspectives, neither understanding the other. I see this issue from a perspective I have not seen represented yet. I agree that online logging has changed since I began caching. I have changed how I log since I began caching. Caching has changed since I began caching. I think they are inter-related and as a whole, I would not characterize it as a positive. But what is one to do? Drone on about the good ol’ days or move forward?

While I lament the lost art of logging, I move forward.

Moving Forward
Moving forward, for me, has entailed changing my expectations from cache finders. If a cacher wants to post images of clouds giving me the finger, so be it. If cachers want to complain about puzzles being too hard, so be it. If cachers want to eschew my caches because they can’t be FTF, so be it.

I am confident there are some(one) out there who understand my approach and appreciates my caches. If the one, some, the majority, all want to post nondescript, uninteresting logs, so be it. I understand the lament. I document this issue, as I have many others, for that is how I feel at this time. But in the end, I move forward.

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Dot . . . Dot . . . Dot . . .

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, the US government loves the life Gert and I live. Having a mortgage with children reduces the tax load significantly! . . . My nephew passed his jury for Eagle Scout this evening. Way to go, Parker . . . Well, this is certainly not the kind of press an upstart magazine should want . . . I’ve must not be well-read. I believe there are but 13 books on this list that I have read. I have a few others on the bookshelf . . . Not that anyone needed any further proof, but President Clinton does not tell the truth . . . Obama wasn’t going to win Pennsylvania, but thanks to foot-in-mouth disease (aka elitism), he surely has no shot now . . . spring has finally sprung . . . We all make mistakes, but shouldn’t a school district’s language arts supervisor not send e-mail with typos? . . . The AP counts differently than I do. According to Tom Hester, “Corzine’s $33 billion budget proposal would cut spending by $2.7 billion.” Yet, this year’s NJ’s budget was $33,293,000 and the proposed budget for next year is $33,968,603. That’s a spending increase the way I teach my fourth graders. Budget numbers are fluid, but I’ve yet to see a set of figures which actually shows spending will be less next year . . . Yikes! I shudder to think what this college would have done to us for our radio shows 20+ years ago . . . I agree with Justice Alito. I even wrote about it back in 2001. Of course, I approached it from a citizen of New Jersey, not as an Italian-American . . .

Posted in Education, GPS Games, Geocaching, Miscellaneous, New Jersey, Politics | 1 Comment »

Attacked While Geocaching

If I told you all that went down it would burn off both your ears

Sigh .  .  . I have been geocaching for six and a half years.    Until today, I have never had an issue.  Today that changed.  I was attacked on my way in to a cache this morning.

There is a small WMA that has a cache in it.  It is an old campground nestled next to a stream and someone’s home.  I pulled in off the main road.  I did not believe the road would go too far back when I drove in and there was a fairly large puddle so I stopped and pulled over to the side.  I got out and began heading in to the cache.

There was a bunch of dogs at the house barking.  It wasn’t long before two of them jumped a stream and chased after me.  I grew up with dogs and am used to dogs barking and following.  It quickly became apparent, however, that the dogs were not just going to be following.  Both boxers came on me and began nipping.  Then they were jumping up and trying to bite me.

Then these dogs attacked.  It wasn’t long before I was on the ground and they were doing their best to get me.  I got to my feet and as the larger one came at me again, I kicked her.  She was not happy.  She came back.  A couple times the dogs were able to split and get me between them.  I tried like the dickens not to have this happen, but I was running out of steam.

I eventually pick up a log to use as a weapon.  More they came at me.  I began yelling for help.  Prior to this I used to say I have been scared just once in my life.  That instance was just circumstances; more prejudices than anything and nothing happen.  Reason could have always prevailed.  There was no reason with the dogs.  They kept attacking.

I tried moving back toward the truck.  It was slow going and I continued to call for help.  Eventually the lady who owns the dogs came.  She kept saying everything was all right.  Yet the dogs were still advancing on me.  Funny how it was all right in her book.  She did get them leashed.  I felt better then.  I began to take inventory of my wounds.

She indicated I wasn’t supposed to have driven there.  I asked if this was public and she agreed.  She said there was a sign.  There is a sign, but it does not forbid entry or vehicles; it states it is public land.

She took the dogs in and came out with some juice.  I refused.  She said I looked pale.  No kidding.  She stated she had called the state police and then said they take forever to show up.  She went in again to check on her ailing husband.  I called the state police at that point.  As I told the woman, I thought it was important to have a record of what happened just in case something were to occur.  They arrived within 10 minutes out of Cowtown.

The lady indicated her dogs were wrong and this all happened on public land.  That was good.  She wanted to make a todo out of me hitting one of the dogs with a log.  I corrected her that it was my foot, not a log.  The officers quelled this by stating that I was being attacked and any reasonable person would defend himself.  So, for all of you who think otherwise, I have now been deemed reasonable. 

I’m okay, I think.  My right foot hurts.  That is where the dogs got me, but I think the tightness is from either kicking or stumbling on something.  It doesn’t feel like an infection.  I refused medical help at the scene.

Looking back it seems somewhat comical, but I know I was very afraid for a couple minutes.  Dogs should be leashed.

Like all travesties, caches should still be found despite the intervening circumstances.  After all the commotion and the state police leaving, I hiked out to find the cache.

Posted in GPS Games, Geocaching | 2 Comments »