tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81450437615511856802024-03-12T21:17:30.680-04:00World of WondermentGeocaching and travel around Indiana.DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.comBlogger722125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-16712611031797015232010-06-07T20:11:00.004-04:002010-06-07T20:16:32.019-04:00The Journal<div style="text-align: justify;">First of all, I want to thank everyone who has contributed in the making of this very special cache. It was a blast. As I told the rest of the crew, never before have I been so miserable and had such a great time!<br /><br />One reason I was so miserable was I underestimated the terrain for the area. I assumed this place wouldn't have much of an elevation change. Heck it's Illinois! If you look west with a pair of binoculars you can see the back of your head. I even studied the topo maps, and evidently there is some sort of a conspiracy with the map makers, because there aren't hardly any lines of declination for the whole Farmdale area. Some of us hike almost every weekend and we commented before we left that there couldn't be anything in this area that compares to the hills and knobs we've been climbing in Southern Indiana, it should be a breeze. What we soon realized is, yes the hills around Peoria aren't as tall as the ones back home, but man, they were steep. Most of the time it seemed like where ever we needed to go was up a 45 degree hill. Not only up a hill, but through thick underbrush that the deer couldn't hardly penetrate. <br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OHN4O7oHfF8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OHN4O7oHfF8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Then when we weren't climbing up or down a hill we were usually in mud. And a lot of time we were in grass over our head that when touched released a cloud of pollen right in your face. Then just because we weren't uncomfortable enough, the mosquitoes were as thick as anywhere else on the planet. Top all of that off with a heat index of 100 and you probably get the point. Yes we were physically miserable, but we were having the time of our lives!<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VBwQjNa1Qpc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VBwQjNa1Qpc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nkhGxQ5rJE4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nkhGxQ5rJE4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />We had planned on doing the whole thing in one day, but around 4 or 5 on Sunday afternoon we knew that wasn't going to happen. Especially since one of our team members wasn't 100%. So, we probably did about ¾ of everything we needed to do on Sunday, and decided if we were all feeling better Monday morning we would come back and finish this thing quickly. But, nothing happens with the Journal quickly. On Monday morning, we headed toward one missing waypoint that we had pondered about the night before over pizza and Google Earth when the rain started in. We had hoped it would pass by quickly (there's that word again) but soon it started to thunder, and opting not to add a lightning strike to our physical woes, we decided to hunker down in a nearby Mexican restaurant. <br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7JqItdiyD_k&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7JqItdiyD_k&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />After lunch and some deciphering we knew exactly where to look for Jacob's treasure. Unfortunately, getting there was another problem. But problem solving is what our group does best. I think given the time and the opportunity the six of us could solve anything anyone throws our way. We could probably untie the Gordian Knot, and we could definitely figure out how to beat the Kobayashi Maru, so after some pondering, we found our way to the final and eventually had the log book in hand. It took us two days instead of the one we originally planned, and we were quite wet and exhausted, but we had tackled the Journal.<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RVJbaXyFYEs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RVJbaXyFYEs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-39518153312442344212010-01-01T10:08:00.001-05:002010-01-01T10:11:21.120-05:00104 Caches in a Day!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><style> </style> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>According to Todd Snider, “64% of all the world's statistics are made up right there on the spot”</p><p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>I have always found it odd that when it comes to math and numbers, I'm a little slow, but for some reason I am obsessed with stats. For instance, I could tell you how many passing yards Peyton Manning threw for last year, just a touch over 4000, but ask me to divide 4000 by 16 and I'm a deer in the headlights. How many caches did I find in February 2005? Twenty-Two. Multiply 22 by 2005, give me a second to find a calculator. Numbers without context scare me a bit.</p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>Since becoming re-obsessed with caching earlier this year I have had one main statistical goal in mind, and that was to find 1000 caches. In March of this year I had found around 300 caches and some time in November I noticed that I was sitting at 700 cache finds, with my goal of 1000 just over the horizon. After crunching some numbers I thought if I could really buckle down I could hit 1000 before the year was up. For some, doing 300 caches in 7 weeks wouldn't be much of an issue, but up till now I was only a casual cacher, just finding a handful of caches on some weekends, and occasionally going on little marathons of 20 or 30 finds. I was so casual in fact that in one 3 ½ year period I only had 72 finds, and had a streak of 601 days without a find at all. All of that changed when I went on a caching vacation in mid November, finding 74 in one week and ending up finding 176 for the month of November putting me just 150 or so shy of my 1000 cache goal before 2010. </p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>Meanwhile a few coincidences happened. First I read a forum post on geocaching.com about a group of people finding 416 caches in a 24 hour period. Well if someone could find 416 caches in 24 hours, maybe I could find 100 caches in twelve hours. So I started looking for somewhere to try to find 100 quickly. The most logical place for 100 caches in a day that was close by was the Indianapolis area. Then simultaneously, a caching buddy of mine noticed that there was a cache (<a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=760bb07c-3df6-4d70-ba84-0a4ce5963804&log=y'>GC21KVT Challenge of the Century – 100 Caches in a Day</a>) published 70 miles away in Indy, challenging people to find at least 100 caches in a 24 hour period. So one day while I was plotting my 100 caches in a day route around Indianapolis, Mickey4Jes sent out an email to our local group of cachers seeing if there was anyone interested in trying to meet the cache challenge of 100 in a day. I immediately responded back with a hearty yes, and gave her my plans, which I ended up modifying slightly to include the challenge cache. Then after a couple of dozen emails passed back and forth between interested cachers, we finally came up with a car full of crazy cachers and a date and time to undergo our feat. So early on the morning of Monday, December 28<sup>th</sup> (A date which will live in infamy, in my mind anyway) five cachers, Me(djhobby), MonsterCatAmbush, Mickey4Jes, Geomafiosa, and Mouse! piled into a Durango and set off on our quest for 100.</p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>We started out by finding a pay phone cache in Bloomington. Pay phones are the cachers friends when you're on a numbers run. Unless of course there is a police officer parked mere inches in front of the phone talking on his cell phone. Which is what happened later in the day. We tried to stare the cop off, but that didn't work, so after about 5 minutes of waiting, Geomafiosa bravely (or crazily) approached the car and tried to make him an offer he couldn't refuse, but as soon as she approached, he sped off immediately, letting us make the find. </p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>One other thing I had to consider while planning, was what type of caches are best for a 100 cache run. My favorite caches usually involve hiking and ammo cans, but that obviously won't work. As a matter of fact we didn't see one ammo can all day, and only four caches that were even considered regular size. Of the 110 or so caches we tried, not one had a terrain over 2 and only 5 had a difficulty over 2. In other words, quick and easy wins the race. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Park and grab caches are the peanut butter and jelly for cachers, and the ammo can in the woods is steak and lobster. One way or another you have to eat. </p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>Something we didn't plan for was the weather. When I had first started planning in November, it was still pretty warm, and snow was the farthest thing from my mind. But on Sunday night, just 12 hours before we were to leave, the temperature plummeted and it began to snow. Half the state was under a winter storm warning. By the time we left at 6am we had accumulated 3” of snow. Fortunately the road crews everywhere were very prepared (thanks road crews) and the roads were just wet, not slick at all. Unfortunately, snow literally adds a layer of difficulty to geocaching. If it hadn't snowed, I think we would have been a little quicker on our finds, and maybe found the 3 or 4 that we DNFed, but over all it wasn't as bad as I feared. But it was really cold. It never got above freezing all day, and the wind was brutal. Almost every cache we found was frozen in some way, either to the ground, or the lid was frozen shut, the log books too stiff to unroll, or the lamp skirts wouldn't come up. One lamp skirt was so frozen that I thought it was one of those rare ones that are permanently attached and I kept looking around for another hiding place even though the hint made it obvious it was a LPC. Only after a few vigorous kicks did it burst loose. On more than one occasion MonsterCatAmbush had to use his Rambo blade that he wears on his hip to pry a cache out of it's hiding place. (One time while caching he got attacked by a rabid coyote and ever since then brings protection, which luckily he had a few months later when he got attacked by a crazed rabbit) We all decided that the next time we attempt this, it should be closer to the Summer Solstice than the Winter Solstice.</p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>After getting our first find under our belt, we drove up Highway 37 to Martinsville and made a few quick finds there. The two problems I had plotting out our route were, one, cache density, which we really don't have in the Bloomington area, and two, finding caches to do that none of us had found yet. For years, every time I would drive to Indianapolis, I would usually find a cache along the way to break up the long drive, so I had about exhausted all of the caches along 37, so instead we went straight north from Martinsville, to Brooklyn, to Mooresville, and then finally to the cache dense area of Plainfield, finding 10 or so caches along the way.</p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>We tooled around the Plainfield/Airport area finding everything on our list but one, because of a nosy maintenance man, and then cached our way towards downtown Indy. There is a cache on Monument Circle that I have been trying to find for four years, and thought finding that cache would be the icing on the cake of a great day. But after braving near frost bite for 20 minutes we finally gave up and had lunch. We had been on the road 6 hours and we were nearly halfway to 100. Right on target.</p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>We left the downtown area and slowly headed north, finding a couple of neat caches on our way to what I think of as the highlight of the day, Crown Hill Cemetery. This place is rich in Indiana history. At first I was a little hesitant of putting the Crown Hill caches on the list, thinking that deciphering the coordinates for all of those mystery caches would be too time consuming, but once we got rolling we actually made better time there than anywhere else in the day. We split into groups at one point to get the pertinent info from the graves at the posted coordinates and then regrouped and replotted our way through the cemetery with the solved coordinates. Well, we sort of replotted. I played typical back seat driver not knowing my north from my south regardless of the seven navigational units in sight of me telling me otherwise and tried my best to lead us the wrong way, but luckily Mouse! knew better than to listen to me and let Monstercat guide him through the gauntlet of graves. Later, when looking back at our bread crumb trail with my GPSr software, the phrase “drunken sailor” came to mind.</p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>Something that I find amazing, before June none of us five had ever been acquainted. I had seen the screen names before, but that was it. But here we were, five people crammed elbow to elbow in a car laughing together for fifteen hours. I've been on long road trips with family and friends that I've known for years and couldn't wait for the trip to be over, but fortunately the five of us get along together great. We all first met at an event Mickey4Jes hosted in June, and since then we have gone on a few other cache adventures together, and even collaborated on a few hides, unofficially calling our selves “The Clown Crew” after a particular evil idea we are planning for a future hide in Bloomington. On the few logs that I actually put pen to ink I even signed us in as The Clown Crew 100. For the most part, we tried to avoid the time consuming part of unrolling or unfolding a log and writing our 5 names down at each cache. Mickey4Jes made little postage stamp style calling cards with our names on them that we dropped into the caches where they would fit. If it wasn't for those calling cards I don't think we could have signed a hundred logs, especially with it so cold, our fingers would have went on strike.</p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>After Crown Hill we cached our way north again until we got to 86<sup>th</sup> street. 86<sup>th</sup> street is nothing but park and grabs all the way across the north side of Indianapolis east to Casselton. Just the way we like it. It was around this time that I started to notice that we had become unaware of muggles. We were in a caching Zen. Ignoring all who weren't part of our world. If there was someone in a parked car nearby, we just ignored them, piled out of the car leaving the doors wide open and started diving into the nearby shrubbery looking for our loot. I bet on more than one occasion we solicited the comment, “What in the world are those people looking for in that bush Ethel?” or, “Did you see that Carl? That man staring at his cell phone just vandalized that light pole!” We just didn't have the time to be very stealthy.</p> <p align='JUSTIFY' style='margin-bottom: 0in;'>Somewhere around 12 hours into our adventure I realized it was definitely going to be a success. We were over 90 finds and still had 30 finds that I had targeted as being easy and available on our list if we needed them. I was never too worried, but it was nice to see that our goal was really close. Since it was almost unbearably cold, we decided to make haste of the last few and head over to the Challenge of the Century Cache as soon as we could. We grabbed a few more and made the challenge cache as our 102<sup>nd</sup> find of the day. WooHoo! We had done it. Along the way each one of us hit some sort of milestone. I hit my 1000<sup>th</sup> cache find, Mickey4Jes found her 800<sup>th, </sup>Geomafiosa and MonsterCatAmbush went over 300 , and Mouse! found his 400<sup>th</sup> We averaged finding a cache every seven minutes. We found caches hidden by 43 different cachers. We only had 4 DNFs. Mouse! made 23 U-Turns and only hit one fire hydrant. Mickey4Jes went through 4 different pairs of socks and two pairs of gloves. We ate 3 bags of chips, and drank 1 gallon of hot chocolate. Geomafiosa made 574 calls and tweets in at least two different languages. MCA told 5 inappropriate (but very funny) jokes and stabbed at least 4 caches. I slipped on the ice 4 times, and had my tongue stick to two different light poles. And all of us had a great time finding over 100 caches in a day! For me these numbers will be easily remembered.</p><img width='670' height='502' src='http://lh3.ggpht.com/_skJloq4sOrM/Sz4PwpEuyKI/AAAAAAAAAJo/5pbBImeKQmE/%5BUNSET%5D.jpg?imgmax=800'/><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=800d59d6-fb59-861a-874a-93d0f220729b' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-56371167662047240092009-11-14T08:58:00.001-05:002009-11-14T08:58:37.392-05:00King Kong Chasm<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Just kidding. Monstercatambush was commenting to me one day about how on caches that he's had a hard time finding you post something like, easy find, or quick find etc... so I thought I would do the same on this awesome cache that is not that quick to find. I started down this chasm from Redhawk's cache "Outback Oasis" and then went to his "Lost Well" cache and then over to this cache. The whole time I was skidding down the escarpment I was thinking about how hard it was going to be to climb back up. I didn't see any giant gorillas but there was enough gunfire rattling around through the Deam Wilderness to take one down.<br/><br/>Thanks for the fun!<br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=0ffee277-3b5e-89de-b08f-4b8095bd7979' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-87725037376043948522009-10-31T20:57:00.001-04:002009-10-31T20:57:24.277-04:00alphabet sOuP GC1T5Q3<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'>Alphabet sOuP was an awesome adventure. When we finished, the final was unreachable unfortunately because it had fallen down inside the hollow tree it was hidden in. Some day when I have more time (right) I'll put links to all of my logs I reference in this log.<br/><br/><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_maint.gif'/> August 2 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79350012'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=292b87ec-382b-4eef-92c2-a1e7f4ed9836'>Odyssey Posse</a> </strong><br/>Darn that djhobby . . . despite the very explicit warnings not to do so set forth on the the cache page, he went ahead and broke this cache.</font><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Luckily, I got a message from him via Facebook on my BlackBerry while I was out and about town. I was able to swing by and replace the cache with a camo'd matchstick holder in a more secure position. And that means I'm able to post this note and set the record straight before DJ posts some tall tale blaming lyncher for the malfeasance that hath been wrought on this poor cache. <img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_big.gif'/></font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>All is good to go again!</font></p><br/><br/><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> August 2 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79587323'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a> </strong></font><br/><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Woo Hoo! FTF (Fourth to Find) That's my goal from now on, to always be fourth to find. I figure by the time I get to a cache fourth, all the bugs will have been worked out. Not so with this cache though. Unfortunately it had taken a little tumble from it's hiding place and was not to be reached. I tried to hold Tommy's ankles and lower him down the hole, but he wouldn't quite fit. Plus he kept screaming about snakes and ticks being in the hole with him, but you know how he exaggerates!</font></div><p align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Thanks so much for publishing this challenging cache. If it hadn't been for you we would have never seen so many new places, meet so many nice people, or experienced so many fun times. Let's reminisce for a while. (Cue the harp music and make everything go blurry for a second)</font></p><p align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>During the course of finding these caches <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=696dec06-b587-4d19-a9bb-8b27afac7686' target='_blank'>I have been water boarded</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=299be8f1-727a-42ff-95d2-fb0e945d2e85&log=y#77845903' target='_blank'>Tommy has been run over</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=f1bc5952-cff1-4928-899c-42218a6bc6c6&log=y#77838231' target='_blank'>met two different sets of cachers</a>, I realized Tommy is blind, Tommy realized I am blind, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=b363d627-9f4a-4e2d-816c-11e79b122d2c' target='_blank'>fowned awt eye caynt spele</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=e115efeb-f705-4c61-b462-adf9abc480d9' target='_blank'>realized I can't count</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=3b9a3d44-02f3-4e99-ab29-4e67172323f3' target='_blank'>nearly drowned</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=696dec06-b587-4d19-a9bb-8b27afac7686' target='_blank'>broke a geochecker, drove 290 miles for a First to Find</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=b745655d-72e2-4ddc-9c42-8d061e746532' target='_blank'>realized I'm allergic to bikers</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=99c90223-d23b-4cfd-8734-a7518dc8c4d0' target='_blank'>found out Tommy is allergic to rattlesnakes</a> and ticks, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=b745655d-72e2-4ddc-9c42-8d061e746532' target='_blank'>I've used the force on muggle cops</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=04480b24-3fa6-4a82-82c5-a3abb57cc623' target='_blank'>been Framed by the cops</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=b742791c-c290-4ac4-a746-85ba5c8941b9' target='_blank'>met a sponge</a>, ate a giant oreo, learned a lot of history, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=926f2418-d14d-4cda-9e6c-e0e7715067f1' target='_blank'>met tons of orphans</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=470cf69e-b194-4dd4-ab42-24ab5a109207' target='_blank'>shelled out hundred of dollars for Tommys lunches</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=a5a826e0-8b6b-4610-b4e0-904813ff6304' target='_blank'>composed a limerick</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=c94793b2-97ee-4aa3-b762-65f62dfd99d3' target='_blank'>spied on by a guy named Hugh Jazz</a>, learned to add a pair of tweezers to my caching kit, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=e1d2e748-896d-4d76-b908-bf900f2eab1f' target='_blank'>poked a hole in my pants with a throwing star</a>, used your kids oil paints more than they did, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=de06e1ce-e251-4afb-b361-81d30fcab633' target='_blank'>made the ultimate sacrifice</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=5f26676e-ac3b-41fd-933a-71e370a10e67' target='_blank'>got our freak on with a weed farmer</a>, told some GREAT jokes, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=9fa4da32-91ef-4f20-a7f3-a5131f32183b' target='_blank'>lost Tommy forever to the carnival life</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=bcee5284-4cbb-4457-930e-850e1334b30d' target='_blank'>ran out of gas, made 1,238 U turns, ate 53 bags of potato chips</a>, <a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=9bb63488-98b7-4ef1-8b06-5a70eb377269' target='_blank'>watched Tommy accidentally swallow a nano cache</a>, but most of all, we have had tons, and tons, and tons of fun!</font></p><p align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Thanks for the great times!<img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_big.gif'/><img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_big.gif'/><img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_big.gif'/><img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_big.gif'/><img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_big.gif'/></font></p><p align='justify'><br/></p><p align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_note.gif'/> August 4 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79594285'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=292b87ec-382b-4eef-92c2-a1e7f4ed9836'>Odyssey Posse</a> </strong><br/>Congrats to djhobby on reaching his goal of being FourthTF on this cache. It's a quite specific goal that takes a lot more planning and careful timing than one might think. So kudos to DJ! I'm glad I could supply the caches for such a grand set of adventures to be had by you and Tommy. My final request is that you would share that limerick that you wrote. I need new material.</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>On second thought, just hold on the limerick. My next stand-up gig is actually in Nantucket, so . . . well . . . you know . . . that would be kind of awkward. <img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/></font></p><br/><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_note.gif'/> August 4 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79597499'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong><br/>Here's the original without any Nantucket references <font color='blue'><a rel='nofollow' target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=a5a826e0-8b6b-4610-b4e0-904813ff6304'>(GC1J2QQ)</a></font></font><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>There once was a cache 'round a pole<br/>I searched and I searched every hole<br/>I found the cache finally<br/>It was very tinally<br/>Now it's no longer my goal</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>So now I thought I should compose a new one.</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'><s>There once was a cache about soup</s></font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>No, No, I don't like the direction that's going in.</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Let me try again.</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>There once was a cacher named Duane<br/>Who loved to hide caches for the game<br/>He hid a lot of nanos<br/>and used a lot of camo<br/>rolling up those tiny logs is a pain</font></p><p><br/></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_note.gif'/> August 4 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79597747'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=292b87ec-382b-4eef-92c2-a1e7f4ed9836'>Odyssey Posse</a> </strong><br/>Excellent! That's some of the finest poultry I've read in a long time. djhobby a poet . . . and didn't even know . . . oh, you know how it ends.</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>It's a good thing I have a stable of young children who spend up to 2 hours every day rolling those tiny nano logs. <img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_big.gif'/></font></p><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=f851462a-bde8-8c90-8cc5-63480eedc694' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-82694618072225845572009-10-31T20:00:00.001-04:002009-10-31T20:00:03.723-04:00View Under Construction GC1R9YK<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> August 2 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79575774'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a> </strong></font><br/><font face='Verdana' size='2'>After trying to approach this one from every direction but the right one for over a half an hour, we finally made it. We made 15 U turns on this cache, a new personal record. On our last turn around near the new road, I looked at Tommy and said, "Look Tommy, Parliament, Big Ben." I think he got the joke, but he didn't laugh. Then he told me that you have a cache named the same thing. I'll have to check it out next time, if I can get around to it.</font></div><p align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>When we <b>finally</b> got to within a few hundred feet we parked the car and started off towards the cache. Before we got too far, a truck pulled up and a curious fellow started up the road behind us. Thinking we may be trespassing, we turned around and introduced our selves. I said we were geocaching, and luckily he had heard of our sport before. He said he knew of an ammo can hidden down the tracks (GCD4D?), but not of the cache we were hunting. (I said, "View Under Construction?" and he said, "No, I live down the road." ??<img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_question.gif'/>) He said when he first discovered the ammo can he thought it was used to trade drugs. I guess when he saw us he thought he must have found the kingpins of the whole operation and was wanting to get his freak on with us. Unfortunately we had to leave his company and venture up the muddy road. After Tommy took the track-hoe for a few laps around the construction site we got down to business. Tommy cried for his Mommy when he saw all of the weeds surrounding the cache area, and he didn't want to have anything to do with it. Especially after the "Just Say No To Crack" cache. He said he was afraid of another rattlesnake bite, but honestly I think he's a little scared of ticks. (which we found in abundance today, I'm thinking of changing my geocaching handle to The Tick, or ticked-off, or The Tick Hunter, or something like that) Anyway... as we got closer I was afraid it might be covered up with dirt. Just about 5 feet away from the coordinates there are piles and piles of dirt from the road construction. I thought, "oh great, we travel all over southern Indiana to finish this Alphabet Soup challenge, and on the very last cache we need to finish before the final, we won't be able to get to it because it's covered in a yard of dirt." Fortunately by this time Tommy had the hang of the track-hoe and uncovered the cache quite nicely.</font></p><p align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>So now we have finished the Alphabet Soup challenge A-Z, so off to Santa Claus to finish, if I can only remember were we parked the car.</font></p><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=0a0f073b-bc1c-8f73-92ed-a6738b56372c' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-90578336012769415602009-10-31T19:52:00.001-04:002009-10-31T19:52:18.210-04:00Just Say “No!” to Crack GC1NBQM<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> August 2 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79550652'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong><br/></font><div align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>We found this one today without too much trouble. Tommy got bit* while reaching for cache, unfortunately it was in a very sensitive area of his anatomy. I immediately called a doctor, who said I should suck the venom out and Tommy would be just fine. When I hung up, Tommy worriedly asked, "What did the doctor say?" I looked at where the snake bit him and said, "Sorry Tommy, he said you're going to die."</font></div><p align='justify'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><br/>*No Tommys were actually hurt during the writing of this log.</font></p><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=cdfbfce9-1dab-8ecc-a55d-e215f0cb166a' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-44833324830648396472009-10-31T19:48:00.001-04:002009-10-31T19:49:56.015-04:00May the Schwartz Be With You! GC1VY8C<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='left'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> August 2 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79545528'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a> </strong></font></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'/></div><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>While I was distracting the local diners with my John Candy imitation, Tommy scoured the area. After he gave up, I went to the trunk and got out our favorite cache finding tool and combed the area. It didn't take long for us(me) to find it after that. Thanks for the fun!</font></span><img width='413' height='313' src='http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/80045d6c-3256-4b5a-98a7-32a01502ae09.jpg' alt='http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/80045d6c-3256-4b5a-98a7-32a01502ae09.jpg' style='cursor: -moz-zoom-in;'/><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=c49086c2-5192-8c2a-945e-bc8df58032dd' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-10042568247313603842009-10-31T19:40:00.001-04:002009-10-31T19:40:21.915-04:00Peppermint #1 GC1WGMG<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> August 2 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79541146'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong><br/>Wow how strange is this? I was wanting to put out some caches in the area, and thought the water park would be an excellent place for an ammo can / travel bug hotel. So Saturday I came and scoped out the area, but there really wasn't any where that was a great location. There is still a lot of construction going on, and all of the landscaping around the parking lot is still yet to be done. So I figured I'll just place a small 35mm film canister for now, and when all of the construction is done, I'll find a place for my ammo can. So I drive back Sunday morning, find a suitable place for my cache, take the coordinates, and go on my merry way. An hour or so later I get an email saying there was a new cache published in the area. I think great, I'll find it today, where is it? And wouldn't you know it's at the water park! Well knowing that the cache I placed is probably going to be too close to the already published cace, I decided I'd better go get mine, and maybe I'll get a first to find on the new cache while I'm at it. </font><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>So as I'm circling the water park parking following my GPSr to the new cache, I notice the arrow is pointing right at the cache I just hid. Now this is just too weird, I thought maybe I had the wrong coordinates in my GPSr. But nope. I had hidden my 35mm film can only inches away from this cache! I hadn't bothered to bend over and scan the area as I placed my cache, if I had, I might have found this before it was even published. I was still first to find though, but just barely. Too weird, cue the theme music to the Twilight Zone.</font></p><p><br/></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> August 4 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79594515'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=292b87ec-382b-4eef-92c2-a1e7f4ed9836'>Odyssey Posse</a> </strong><br/>Found this one while we were in town today. The minute I saw that light pole, I felt a magnetic attraction that was simply overpowering. So after I signed the log, I went ahead and hid my own cache right alongside the other one.</font></p></span><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>No, not really. <img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/></font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>But I did think about it.</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>TFTC!</font></p><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=fc943f22-78e2-8a5b-a635-0f948b4ec3cc' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-11801919074930310092009-10-31T19:35:00.001-04:002009-10-31T19:35:04.357-04:00You Can't Fight City Hall GC184B6<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> August 2 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='79553219'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a> </strong><br/></font></span><div align='justify'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Tommy and I found this one as a bunch of carnies looked on. I guess they were just setting up the rides for the Schiezenfest. One of the homely carny girls smiled a gap toothed come hither grin at Tommy and I haven't seen him since. Oh the life of a carny. Thanks for the fun!</font></span></div><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=4f6faddd-4895-88c0-a828-e14c8498c0ab' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-34043997527173215002009-10-31T19:30:00.000-04:002009-10-31T19:31:01.032-04:00Hide in Plain Sight IV GC1P7EH<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> September 12 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='84403211'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a> </strong><br/>I asked the Monstercatambush on one sunny day<br/>Can you help me to find my way?<br/>You're so much <s>older</s> (probably not so much) and wiser too<br/>Would you help me, Monstercat, I'm feelin' blue?</font><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>He said, "You're not doin' too bad, not bad at all<br/>You're just tryin' to walk, son, before you can crawl<br/>You've got stacks of DNF's to the sky up above<br/>Now all you need is to find you a cache"</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>He sent me searching, got to make it found<br/>He sent me searching, I said, "Look on the ground"<br/>He sent me searching, he said, "Look all around"<br/>And I'll tell you maybe it can't be found</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Son, you can find anything in this Geocaching world<br/>But you won't be happy, son, till you find your cache<br/>You can be happy, if you try<br/>Find Hide in Plain Sight IV and you'll be satisfied</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>He sent me searching, got to make it found<br/>He sent me searching, I said, "Look on the ground"<br/>He sent me searching, he said, "Look all around"<br/>And I'll tell you maybe it can't be found</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>He sent me searching, got to make it found<br/>He sent me searching, I said, "Look on the ground"<br/>He sent me searching, he said, "Look all around"<br/>And I'll tell you maybe it can't be found</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Oh, you sent me searching</font></p><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=c5fb86ce-e0bc-84be-b779-5c073976b0dd' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-18854255894621995032009-10-31T19:27:00.001-04:002009-10-31T19:27:31.854-04:00Get your daily dose of Iron! 2 GCK3ZW<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>There were millions of mosquitoes here<br/><br/></font></span><br/><div align='left'><img width='410' height='283' src='http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/16bde244-2a9b-4fa9-89a9-16082b6adab1.jpg' alt='http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/16bde244-2a9b-4fa9-89a9-16082b6adab1.jpg' style='cursor: -moz-zoom-in;'/><br/></div><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><br/></font></span><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><br/><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> August 23 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='81784385'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a> <img id='Toggle_VIP_81784385' title='Click to add djhobby to the VIP list' src='data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhDwAKAOMKADw8PJeXl7q6usDAwMbGxszMzNLS0tjY2N7e3uTk5P///////////////////////yH5BAEKAA8ALAAAAAAPAAoAAAQ+8IVJK5Up660nAkgIjiAyHcChpix6TIYByPFsG1NRALvOA7zChEAEEAlGI3EyaAKag+ezORFYr9hrQGLpbiMAOw==' logowner='djhobby' class='link'/></strong> (666 found)</font></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>I looked for this one for about 30 minutes and never found it. I'm pretty sure the mosquitoes have carried it away. I tried to get them to take me to the cache, but they couldn't quite lift me up. Everytime they got me about 2 feet above the ground I would slip out of their combined jaws and fall to the ground. I was willing to risk it, if it wasn't for the river. I think they carried it to the other side, and I didn't feel like risking a dunking.<br/><br/><br/></font></span></div><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=852b5604-798f-8f23-ba1e-450e000b277f' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-85888684494397579212009-10-31T19:20:00.001-04:002009-10-31T19:20:12.713-04:00Gus Paved the Way GCJ26G<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> June 22 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='74968365'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong><br/>Before looking for the cache, I decided to visit this memorial for one of our local heroes. I have always considered Gus a national household name, but one day at work a couple of younger coworkers proved me wrong. Somehow the topic of Gus Grissom came up and one coworker, who was raised in Illinois, asked who is Gus Grissom. Well I was shocked to say the least, I thought everybody knew who Gus was. Then I asked him if had ever seen the movie "The Right Stuff" and he asked if that was a music video for one of those boy bands from the 90's..... <img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_shock.gif'/> Well after my fit subsided, I thought I would ask another rather young coworker who is also from Illinois if he had ever heard of Gus Grissom, and he said yes much to my relief, "Isn't that the guy on CSI?"<img border='0' align='middle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile_dissapprove.gif'/> What are they teaching these kids now days, especially the one from Illinois.<br/> <br/>Anyway, as I went in, I noticed that there wasn't anyone around, and something I've always wanted to do was to see what it would be like to sit in that capsule. So since I was all alone, I availed myself and shoehorned myself down into the Gemini capsule. Now no illegal make believe would be complete without some pretend chatter between myself and Houston, with me making the chhr sound and saying over all the time. Then unexpectedly after flipping one of the million little toggle switches in the capsule, it lit up and started to hum! Evidently they had never disconnected the batteries!! Now this is awesome news. NASA has made batteries that will hold a charge for over 40 years!! Do you know what this means for geocaching? We could charge our GPSr units, throw them in our pack, and not ever have to worry about them being flat again. I was so excited that I pumped my fist in elation... and accidentally hit one of the buttons that controls the thrusters. And wouldn't you know it, they still worked! But unfortunately the capsule started spinning around like a top, and I had to scramble out of the thing before it killed me. As I stood there watching, the capsule started spinning faster and faster, crashing into everything, much to my dismay. But not wanting to get into any trouble I tore out of the parking lot before anyone was the wiser.</font><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Oh yeah, your cache is missing.</font></p></span><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=618096c8-f9ee-8dbd-a566-3009407405ed' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-50654422402459747802009-07-21T10:11:00.001-04:002009-07-21T10:11:27.298-04:00Can You Spot the Cache 2<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='center'><span class='outline'><img height='379' width='505' galleryimg='no' alt='DSCN0019.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/DSCN0019.jpg?t=1248185401' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span></div><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=f402c835-7783-88b8-9316-1f8a17227f77' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-85685579888277171962009-06-16T10:28:00.000-04:002009-07-30T16:35:55.895-04:00What, Me Worry? or: How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love the Coin<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'>This is the story behind the geocache I recently had published "<a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=b9bb5bb7-4328-4cf9-ba91-b8a2772e3f67&log=y' target='_blank'><font color='#3333ff'><u><b>What, Me Worry</b></u></font></a>" I'm sure some people are curious at to why I dedicated a cache to the reviewers, and in particular The Mad Reviewer. <br/></div><br/><div align='center'><span id='LongDescription'><img height='725' width='550' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/Geocaching/whatmeworry.jpg' alt=''/></span><br/></div><br/><div align='justify'>A few months ago, the only interaction I had ever had with a reviewer were a few short suggestions about difficulty ratings, or attributes, the general sort of things that go along with trying to get your cache published on Geocaching.com. Then in April, I published two caches, that I thought were going to be an on going series called What/Where. I have wrote about those caches in more detail here previously, but basically I posted a satellite image from Google Earth of where the cache was hidden and that was it. The local reviewers published them, the caches had a few finds, and they received positive feedback. But for reasons not of my local reviewers doing, they had to be archived. I was a little upset at first and I sent the reviewers a note to pass along my concerns about my caches being archived, for no good reason in my opinion at the time, to whom ever wanted them archived. I never heard back from the reviewers, and afterward I thought maybe I shouldn't have voiced my complaint. Hey it's just a game, and if I want to play with the frog, I have to play by his rules. I also realized that geocaching.com is not the only place to post a puzzle cache. (But it is the place with the most traffic)<br/><br/>After that, things began to change slowly. Realizing the human element behind the reviewers, I started leaving more and more detailed reviewer notes, I even joked a little. Then I published "<a href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=b039cc27-d49c-4a3d-a278-691c5ae4b9dd&log=y' target='_blank'><font color='#3333ff'><u><b>The Deam Wilderness Watering Hole</b></u></font></a>." I left a question in the reviewer notes and the The Mad Reviewer kindly provided an answer, and even suggested a funny name. And over the last couple of months, every time I have published a cache I have tried to be more and more personal in my reviewer notes.<br/><br/>Then out of the blue I recieved an email from The Mad Reviewer. She (I'll refer to The Mad Reviewer as female, I don't know if TMR is male or female, but I have a feeling she is female, if I'm wrong I appologize) says she wants to send me a gift. She explained that she had recieved some special volunteer items, and had decided to give them away to cachers that met a few key criteria. She felt that I placed neat and interesting caches, and I was also kind to the reviewers and other cachers. Now I don't think I am any more deserving than any other cacher, but hey if being nice to my fellow humans gains me accolades, I'll take them. So after a few more email exchanges, she let's me know that I should be receiving something in my mailbox soon. <br/><br/>Well after nearly wearing the hinge out on the door to my mailbox, the post man finally left me my present. In amongst all of the bills and junk mail I found the following:<br/></div><br/><div align='center'><span class='outline'><img height='374' width='500' galleryimg='no' alt='TheMuchAnticipatedEnvelopeedited.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/TheMuchAnticipatedEnvelopeedited.jpg?t=1245160465' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span><br/><br/><span class='outline'><img height='374' width='500' galleryimg='no' alt='TheContentsUnveiled.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/TheContentsUnveiled.jpg?t=1245160533' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span><br/><br/><span class='outline'><img height='375' width='500' galleryimg='no' alt='ThePostCard.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/ThePostCard.jpg?t=1245160568' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span><br/></div><br/><div align='center'><span class='outline'><img height='455' width='500' galleryimg='no' alt='GeoCoinPublish.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/GeoCoinPublish.jpg?t=1245160616' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span><br/><br/><span class='outline'><img height='473' width='500' galleryimg='no' alt='GeoCoinArchive.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/GeoCoinArchive.jpg?t=1245160655' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span><br/><br/><div align='justify'>Now how cool is that! I feel like I won the Geocaching lottery.<br/><br/>And that's the story of "What, Me Worry? or: How I learned to stop complaining and love the coin!<br/></div></div><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=640c1357-82a6-8163-ac4c-a443e402beee' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-9096594636834996072009-05-17T09:22:00.001-04:002009-05-17T09:22:03.117-04:00<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='center'><span class='outline'><img height='401' width='502' galleryimg='no' alt='geocachingposter.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/geocachingposter.jpg?t=1242566470' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-87326615720321388482009-05-12T10:47:00.001-04:002009-05-12T10:49:28.253-04:00Chipmunk Base Camp GC12DBF DNF<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> May 11 by <a name='70629192' style='text-decoration: underline;'/><a href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd' style='text-decoration: underline;'>djhobby</a></strong> (464 found)<br/></font></span><div align='justify'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>A long time ago there was a chipmunk named Nathaniel. For a chipmunk he was unusually squirrely. He would gather all the nuts he could find, put them in a big pile, and declare that he was the king of all Nuttingham. Then he would chomp off the meaty part of an acorn and put the acorn top on his head like a crown, and say Ceasar was his great great great grand rodent. Then he took up his tiny violin, and started playing Midnight Oil's "Beds are Burning" while he set fire to the forest, obliterating all signs of his pile of nuts or any geocaches in the area.</font></span></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-58501081453548937042009-04-26T20:58:00.001-04:002009-04-26T20:58:18.334-04:00Can You Spot The Cache<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='center'><a href='http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/?action=view&current=DSCN1347.jpg' target='_blank'><span class='outline'><img height='374' width='500' galleryimg='no' alt='DSCN1347.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/DSCN1347.jpg?t=1240793756' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span></a></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-66241554392098198532009-04-23T08:13:00.001-04:002009-04-23T08:13:54.068-04:00Stick in the Mud<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span class='outline'><img height='280' width='263' galleryimg='no' alt='312456387_52ccde42af_o.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/312456387_52ccde42af_o.jpg?t=1240486957' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/><br/><br/></span><div align='justify'><span class='outline'>Stick in the mud: An old fashioned person who is reluctant to change or innovate. Or a person set in their ways. One who lacks initiative, imagination, or enthusiasm. A person who is unwilling to try anything new or do anything exciting.</span><br/><span class='outline'/><br/><span class='outline'>I really like geocaching, but sometimes lifting light skirts in a walmart parking lot, or finding a 35mm film canister in a cemetery, gets a little old. They have their place I guess, they help beef up your stats, but my favorite find is one in which the hider went out of his way to make the find interesting. Not just, oh here let me stick this film canister under this light pole while I'm parked here. To me, geocaching is about adventure, seeing new places, and using your brain a little to find something tricky. My favorite caches are either ammo cans hidden along a nice hike, or puzzle caches that took me hours of work to solve. I don't think anyone would say their favorite cache was a 35mm film canister hidden in the corner post of a fence around a cemetery. </span><br/><span class='outline'/><br/><span class='outline'>Recently I decided to hide a geocache in the cemetery next to my house, somehow PrariePartners and the rest of the Indiana Spirit Quest crew had missed this place. Not wanting it to be a mundane hide I puzzled on how I should hide it. This is what I came up with:</span><br/><br/><br/><blockquote><blockquote><span class='outline'/></blockquote></blockquote></div><blockquote><blockquote><b><font face='Verdana' size='4'> <a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx'><img height='32' width='32' border='0' align='absmiddle' alt='Unknown Cache' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/WptTypes/8.gif'/></a> <span id='CacheName'>What/Where #1</span> </font></b><br/><br/><p align='justify'> <span id='ShortDescription'>You are looking for a pill bottle hidden somewhere in South Central Indiana. It is not at the posted coordinates but you are welcome to look there if you dare. Cache has a unique first finder prize so be sure you grab it.</span> </p></blockquote><p align='justify'> </p><blockquote><span id='LongDescription'><div><div align='justify'> </div><div align='justify'>For a few years now I've been playing a game on the forums here called <font color='#3333ff'><b><a href='http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=112418&view=getlastpost' target='_blank'> What/Where</a></b></font> Basically someone posts a pictures of a building or monument that looks unique from the satellite imagery from Google Earth and everyone else tries to guess where it is and then post the coordinates to prove your answer. If you find it before everyone else then it is your turn to post a picture. </div><p align='justify'>Then last week my brother decides he wants to try to find a few park and grab caches while he is out of town, but he forgot his GPSr. So he calls up a friend, who then uses Google Earth to steer my brother toward the correct light poles and guard rails etc.... to find his caches. Well these two things gave me the idea to start a series of puzzle caches that don't require a GPSr to log a find.</p> <p align='justify'>All you have to do is figure out where this location is from the satellite imagery and find the cache. It should be easy to find for an experienced cacher once you get to the right area.</p> </div></span><br/><span id='LongDescription'><div> <div align='center'><a href='http://www.flickr.com/photos/36950750@N06/3403102774/' target='_blank'><img height='336' width='500' class='reflect' title='' alt='Cache2 by you.' src='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3623/3403102774_ab83acf934.jpg?v=0'/></a></div> </div></span><br/><span id='LongDescription'><div> <div align='center'><a href='http://www.flickr.com/photos/36950750@N06/3402295659/in/photostream/' target='_blank'> <img height='336' width='500' class='reflect' title='' alt='Cache1 by you.' src='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/3402295659_373530abef.jpg?v=0'/></a><br/><br/></div></div></span></blockquote></blockquote> <p> </p><br/><br/><br/><span class='outline'><br/></span><br/><br/>Well yesterday I get this email:<br/><br/><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><div align='justify'>It has been brought to my attention that the two caches recently published in the "What/Where" series (GC1PNXT and GC1PCJ8) do not meet the guideline for GPSr usage therefore I must archive them.<br/><br/>From the guidleines:<br/><br/>[i]You as the owner of the cache must visit the site and obtain the coordinates with a GPS. GPS usage is an essential element of geocaching. Therefore, although it is possible to find a cache without a GPS, the option of using accurate GPS coordinates as an integral part of the cache hunt must be demonstrated for all physical cache submissions.[/i]<br/><br/><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#guide'>http://www.geocaching.com/<wbr/>about/guidelines.aspx#guide</a><br/><br/>The picture has enough landmarks that you can just leave the GPS in the car. Other similar cache submissions have been denied for this same reason.<br/><br/>Please feel free to use these locations for new submissions.<br/><br/>Thanks for understanding.<br/><br/>RH<br/></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><br/><br/>And here is my response:<br/><br/><blockquote><div align='justify'><blockquote><blockquote>What/Where Caches<br/><br/><br />I know it's a guideline, and you are just following it, but I've had great feedback from these hides.<br/><br/><br />So since I don't know who brought it to your attention, I'm going to<br />complain a little bit to you, and maybe you'll pass my complaint along<br />to who ever brought it to your attention, not that I think it will do<br />any good, but I'll sleep better tonight.<br/><br/><br />As stated, the guidelines say I must visit the sight and obtain<br />coordinates, which I have done, and the Google Earth coordinates are no<br />further off than my Garmin Etrex Legend which I am allowed to use to<br />find my coordinates. Who knows how far some peoples coordinates are<br />off when they post their caches. Aren't we taking everyone's word<br />that their cache is actually at their posted coordinates. I feel<br />slighted that I'm not believed that my cache is not at the posted<br />coordinates or not findable.<br/><br/><br />Also the guidelines state that GPS usage is an essential element of<br />geocaching. I agree with that, and cachers have told me that once<br />they have obtained their coordinates from google earth, they went out<br />and found the cache without any problem. My picture is nothing more<br />than a giant hint, once they got in the right area. If someone was<br />going to find my cache, they would first match my picture on <a target='_blank' href='http://geocaching.com/'>geocaching.com</a><br />to one on google earth. Then they would get the coordinates for that<br />area and load it into their GPSr. Once their GPS unit led them to the<br />cache area they would use the clues to find the actual cache. How is<br />this any different from any other geocache, other than the way the<br />cacher obtains the coordinates?<br/><br/><br /> If the issue here is findability (I just invented that word and<br />copyrighted it) my caches are just as easy as any park and grab, once<br />you get in the right area, and they are way easier than most puzzle<br />caches.<br/><br/><br />You are obviously doing your job, and a thankless one at that, so I<br />harbor no bad feelings. That is not the point of my rebuttal. I just<br />feel that someone, somewhere is being a little too straight laced about<br />our game of geocaching, and is smothering creativity. Creativity that<br />is not causing anyone any harm. I could understand if it was a safety<br />issue, but to me this just seems like someone not liking my thinking<br />out of the box.<br/><br/><br />Thank you Reviewer Hilts for your time, and please understand that I<br />know it's just a game, and a fun one at that, but I would hope that<br />you pass along my complaints<br/></blockquote></blockquote></div></blockquote></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-91753034651343915242009-04-14T08:55:00.001-04:002009-04-14T08:55:21.429-04:00Bad Mojo<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><br/><img height='222' width='296' src='http://goodiesfirst.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/25/chicken_foot_2.jpg' alt='http://goodiesfirst.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/25/chicken_foot_2.jpg' style='cursor: -moz-zoom-in;'/><br/><br/><div align='justify'>Sometimes even a find needs a little mojo in it's logs. This one is from a few weeks ago after searching through a landfill full of trash, yard waste, broken bottles, silk flowers, and even an occasional head stone. Who throws out tombstones? Oh and did I mention it was raining, and the name of the cache was Hard Rain?<br/></div><br/><br/><blockquote><blockquote><div align='justify'><b><font face='Verdana' size='4'><br /> <a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx'><img height='32' width='32' border='0' align='absmiddle' alt='Multi-cache' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/WptTypes/3.gif'/></a><br /> <span id='CacheName'>Movie Cache: Hard Rain</span><br /> </font></b><br /> <br/><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> April 5 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='66829833'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong> (439 found)</font></span> <br/><br/>I may have to watch this movie again some time now that I've found this cache. <br/><br/>This cache had some serious mojo going. It shook its chicken foot at us while we were deciphering the puzzle, thunder started rumbling in the background. We knew we were probably in for trouble. We hop back into the cachecar to get closer to the final coordinates but that leads us to some private property. So we look at the puzzle again and find out I gave Tommy a wrong digit while he was putting in the corrected coordinates. Probably because we were looking out for zombies (GC1F016)<br/><br/>When we finally got on the right track, Lyncher almost fell down about a 10 foot drop off into the dead people's trash. He was blindly following that evil arrow on his GPSr and not paying any attention to where he was going. Probably because it was just starting to spit a little rain. Bad Mojo is smiling.<br/><br/>So we start searching amongst the rabbit warren of briars, broken bottles, silk flowers, and believe it or not a discarded tombstone, but no luck. Mojo shoots some lightning out of it's beady eyes at us. I finally give up, but I'm entangled in some sort of vine that I swear is trying to strangle me. Mean ol' Mojo starts to cackle.<br/><br/>Somehow on my way back to the cachemobile I almost step on the ammo can. This must make Mojo furious, because no sooner do we snap the lid shut on the can than it start to rain with a fury and Mojo starts to howl.<br/><br/>Some how we make it back to the cache-U-V and ride the storm out, but now every time I turn on my garmin, I smell sulfur and I can hear just the faintest growl in the background. Yikes<br/></div></blockquote></blockquote><br/></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-4621408521278461532009-04-12T21:08:00.000-04:002009-04-12T21:12:06.705-04:00More DNF Fun<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><span class='outline'><img height='285' width='199' class='media' id='fullSizedImage' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/Geocaching/Capa.jpg?t=1239584905' alt='Capa.jpg picture by djhobby' galleryimg='no'/></span><br/><div align='justify'><small><b><font face='Verdana' size='4'><small><a href='http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx' target='_blank'><img height='32' width='32' border='0' align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/WptTypes/2.gif' alt='Traditional Cache'/></a><span id='CacheName'>The Skibos Sisters</span></small></font></b></small><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><br/></strong></font></span><div align='justify'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> April 12 by <a name='67503897' style='text-decoration: underline;'/><a href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd' style='text-decoration: underline;'>djhobby</a></strong> (415 found)</font></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>I tried to find this one early this morning but came up empty handed. FTDNF YES! </font><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>But in my defense it was probably because of the poisonous Cane Toad that I found. As I was circling around the spot where I thought the cache ought to be, I spied what I thought might have been a very unique cache container, a plastic frog. But then I picked it up I realized it was alive! In my astonishment I gasped, and the toad, doing what toads do best, hopped. Unfortunately it hopped right into my gaping maw. I spit it out immediately, but after a few short minutes my head was spinning around faster than the arrow on my GPS unit. I finally fell down, but fortunately I could still reach my phone. I called my wife and she came and got me and took me to the hospital. Luckily the effects of cane toad poisoning wears off quite quickly and I was able to go home shortly. As a matter of fact I even found a few caches today!</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Even though I couldn't find your cache, as I was laying on the ground hallucinating waiting for my wife to show up, I kept imagining skibos hopping around. It got so bad I came up with a limerick to commemorate the situation.</font></p></span></div><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>There once was a penguin named Willy</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Who thought is was always very chilly.</font><span id='CacheLogs'><br/></span></p></span><span id='CacheLogs'><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>He donned a small hat</font><br/></p></span><span id='CacheLogs'><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>But he always felt a draft</font><br/></p></span><span id='CacheLogs'><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>And he sneezed himself quite silly.</font></p></span></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-70730633701891473792009-04-10T16:07:00.001-04:002009-04-10T16:15:14.356-04:00DNFs<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'><img height='210' width='304' src='http://www.clipartguide.com/_named_clipart_images/0060-0808-1313-4740_Alien_Dressed_in_a_Santa_Claus_Suit_clipart_image.jpg' alt='http://www.clipartguide.com/_named_clipart_images/0060-0808-1313-4740_Alien_Dressed_in_a_Santa_Claus_Suit_clipart_image.jpg' style='cursor: -moz-zoom-in;'/><br/><br/>Sometimes I wonder if your average geocacher posts their DNFs? Some people might think it's a blight on their record. Or they might think, everyone else found this so why can't I. Me, I look at a DNF as an opportunity to let the cache hider know a few things. <br/><br/>First and fore most, the cache may be missing. You may be giving them a heads up that it needs some maintenance. I list this reason first for my fragile ego. Because if the cache is there, I'm finding it, I'm just that good! Or so I tell myself. But in reallity I bet I have dozens of DNFs and then the next day someone logs a find. It would be interesting to go back and count the number of DNFs I've had that were found later.<br/><br/>Other than letting the owner know it may be missing, I like to let the owner know that maybe my DNF is because they hid it really well. A virtual pat on the back for a well placed cache. Prarie Partners hid a micro (micro is stretching it, maybe a half micron) on a telephone pole in Bedford, IN once that I must have logged 4 DNFs before I finally found that one. I'm sure he got a kick out of it, because he knew it was there, I just couldn't find it. I imagined him pumping his fist in the air in victory everytime someone logged a DNF. And well he should for that devious little hide.<br/><br/>My favorite reason to log a DNF though is not to compliment the owner on a great hide, and not to let them know it may be gone, but to write a DNF story. If you haven't noticed, I like to exaggerate a little bit, so every time I have a DNF I try to tell some outlandish story. I think of it as therapy. In one day last week according to my logs, I was attacked by zombies, and recieved an electromagnetic pulse from aliens rendering my equipment useless, had a run in with someone dressed as Big Bird, saw A-Rod and Madonna, and was harrased by Poe's Raven.<br/><br/><blockquote><blockquote><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> April 5 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='66819834'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong> (414 found)</font><br/><font face='Verdana' size='2'>As Lyncher and I were walking up to this one we were struck by anvoverwhelming stench. We immediately looked at each other and Tommy said, "Oh no not again." But yes too late, the zombies had risen. It seems like every time we try one of these cemetery caches this happens. We saw them starting to claw out of there graves in their never ending quest for brains. While I looked around for the cache and tried to stay out of the reach of the undead, Lyncher ran back to the car and got his emergency zombie kit. The kit consists of a baseball bat and a light chain mail shirt. Not near the protection of the full suit of armor and sword that we keep at home but it does come in handy if you are in a jam. Tommy donned the chain mail and started swinging but soon we were overwhelmed with the undead muggles. We quickly abandoned our search and decided to try again when the dead stay that way.</font><br/><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> April 5 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='66837065'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong> (414 found)</font></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Lyncher and I tried to find this one, but as soon as we pulled up to ground zero we saw an eerie light shoot down from the sky and hit the Jolly Old Elf. After a few minutes of this blinding light it started to dim and we saw some sort of saucer shaped flying thingy in the sky above us. After playing the theme music to Close Encounters a few times it shot off into the sky. After that, nothing electronic or magnetic worked in the vicinity. It must have been an EMP pulse. I love love redundancy, oh wait wrong cache log, (GC1EJ0B) anyway, our GPSr quit working so we have to log this one not found for now.</font></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> April 5 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='66837507'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong> (414 found)</font></span><br/></span></span><div align='justify'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>As we were parking the car someone in a Big Bird suit ran up to the window</font></span></span></span> <span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>of the house right next to the park and started banging on the window.</font></span></span></span> <span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Pretty soon someone called the cops and we abandoned our hope of</font></span></span></span> <span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>finding the cache with such a commotion going on in the area.</font></span></span></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'/></span></div><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><br/></span></span><div align='justify'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> April 5 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='66836536'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong> (414 found)</font></span></span></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>We had some trouble with this one. Every time we would get near a big</font></span></span></span> <span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>black bird would get in my face and start quothing. After 15 minutes of</font></span></span></span> <span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>"Never more" we gave up.</font></span></span></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'/></span></div><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><br/></span></span><div align='justify'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_sad.gif'/> April 5 by <a style='text-decoration: underline;' name='66837298'/><a style='text-decoration: underline;' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd'>djhobby</a></strong> (414 found)</font></span></span></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>We tried to find this one Sunday, but with so many people around it was</font></span></span></span> <span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>hard to search. Little did we know that the Yankees were having their</font></span></span></span> <span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>opening game of the season here. A-rod and Madonna had a huge crowd </font></span></span></span><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>around them, and of course they decided to sign autographs right where</font></span></span></span> <span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>the cache was. We couldn't get anywhere near it.</font></span></span></span></div></blockquote></blockquote></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-76985215248441719052009-04-06T16:48:00.001-04:002009-04-06T16:51:36.002-04:0047 Caches in 12 Hours!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'><br/><img height='62' width='46' style='cursor: -moz-zoom-in;' alt='http://www.free-graphics.com/clipart/Emotions/exhausted.jpg' src='http://www.free-graphics.com/clipart/Emotions/exhausted.jpg'/><br/>This weekend I visited my sister who lives in Santa Claus, IN. She has a great little lake to fish in, and I spent all day Saturday on the lake getting sunburned and catching the occasional bluegill. The fish weren't biting like they usual do, but a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. Usually the fish there don't even give you time to sip on your drink. Every time you reach for your can, a fish notices this and gets itself hooked on your line. This time we only caught about 50 bluegill. Which gave me plenty of time to down my frosty libations. Hooray for beer.<br/><br/>Before I went down to Santa Clause I pulled up Google Earth to see what the caching scene was like in that area. Boy was I surprised. There are over 50 caches within 5 miles of my sisters house! Well I couldn't miss this opportunity. So I called up my caching brother Tommy (Lyncher) and told him to get down to Santa Claus on Sunday and let's spend the day caching. Tommy was so excited about the idea he came on Saturday and camped out in the cold so we could get an early start. We had to start early or we would have froze to death. We were more than happy to start at first light, just to get in the car and out of the cold.<br/><br/>The first cache we attempted was <a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=67cf68bb-6024-410b-bc29-e90df268e3a1'><font color='#3333ff'><u><b>Agent P</b></u></font></a> by <a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=292b87ec-382b-4eef-92c2-a1e7f4ed9836&wid=67cf68bb-6024-410b-bc29-e90df268e3a1&ds=2'><font color='#3333ff'><u><b>Odyssey Posse</b></u></font></a>. It's an interesting puzzle that took me a while to figure out. I was on the right track but couldn't quite figure out the last part of the West coordinates. I tried a few different things, but every time I would check my answer with Geochecker.com it would say I was incorrect. I showed a friend the puzzle and he immediately came up with the same idea that I had, and after a few minutes he figured out the whole thing. Now came what I thought would be the easy part, finding the thing. But as I would learn through out the day, no hide is easy when it come to Odyssey Posse. Tommy and I arrived in the area, and it was relatively muggle free. I let Tommy circle around the cache area for a bit while I fished out my phone/GPSr. He looked all over where he thought it ought to be but he didn't have any luck. So now it was my turn. I walked right up to the spot and said, "Here it is Tommy." and retrieved the cache. Experience pays off, because I had seen a hide like this before (Thanks Prarie Partners). One Odyssey Posse puzzle down, now off to Framed!<br/><br/><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=1877bb1e-7313-4f9f-9ab5-56b285473bf0'><font color='#3333ff'><u><b>Framed!</b></u></font></a> is going to go down as one of my all time favorite caches. The puzzle part I figured out with a little help from Google and Odyssey Posse's hint. The find was a whole other problem. Tommy and I kept circling and prying and proding in this one particular area, over and over again, with no luck. One thing we learned over the day, is don't try to find any of OP's caches with a preconcieved notion of where to look. Because it's not going to be there! I had in my head that it was going to be in this certain area, and I looked and looked, and looked, but no luck. I even double checked the coordinates in my phone, making sure they were the solved puzzle's coordinates, and not the incorrect ones posted on geocaching.com. Finally I grabbed Tommy's GPSr and I walked around with both of our GPS units in my hands until I came to a spot where they both agreed upon, which was about 60 feet away from where I had been looking. Doh! This brought me to a whole other object that I had to search all over, but still no luck, when finally after about another 10 minutes of searching in vain, I looked over and saw it about 20' away, somewhere Tommy and I thought it could never be. But there it was. Diabolical came to mind, and not for the last time that day. This has got to be the most unique cache container ever. I wish I could share but I don't want to ruin the find.<br/><br/>Before the day was up we found 47 caches, 25 of them by Odyssey Posse. Almost of all of them were unique in some way. Tommy couldn't retreive the <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=bafd6209-f868-4603-93ff-a9ab406166dc'><u><b>Ultimate Sacrafice</b></u></a></font> because he was too hungry and his hands were shaking. After reading the words on the bench he felt the same way as OP, and was a little leary of eating there, but the food inside was just fine. <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=a65a9b0d-f015-4022-80a3-71ffbab78351'><u><b>Who Let the Dogs Out</b></u></a></font> was another one that gave us fits for about 15 minutes until Tommy spotted the little devil. It took us another 15 minutes to sign the log and get the bloody thing put back in it's container. We cursed OP's name for hours after that one. <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c28603ea-a013-4dad-9867-138ceb5476d9'><u><b>Signs</b></u></a></font> was another find that we assumed where it was going to be and we weren't even close. <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ab349657-766f-406b-b9db-742e5c93b504'><u><b>Rural Legends</b></u></a></font> had us stumped for a quite a while until Lyncher spotted the needle in the haystack. Odyssey Posse gave us one of the best days of caching anyone could ask for. Any one of his caches could be considered a destination in of itself, and Tommy and I got to find 25 of OP's well thought out, interesting caches in one day. Hooray for us. Hooray of Odyssey Posse!<br/><br/>Odyssey Posse isn't the only great hider around though. We found some great ones in the woods hidden by <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.aspx?guid=bebc7b2a-07ff-4742-b814-adffc59f039d'><u><b>Daggy</b></u></a></font>. Four of them near the beautiful Colonel Jones Home located in part of Lincoln State Park. <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=856acd06-16fa-486c-9a3b-2dd01e718c5d'><u><b>Trailside Tower</b></u></a></font> was one of our favorites. We looked for quite awhile on this one until Tommy happened to spot it. Spotting it was one thing, actually putting our hands on it and signing the log was another. Weee. <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=e6ad1002-8cff-4336-8862-c2f42ffcd815'><u><b>Kermit</b></u></a></font> was another fun one. Tommy was standing right next to it, and I said, "Check along there. I bet judging from the name your close to it." So he walks on by it and looks in some stump, (he said he was peeing, but I don't believe him) I walked up to where he was and found it right away. It was also in a very neat container. <br/><br/>We found some neat caches hidden by <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=63f9c973-ef41-4c3f-beb9-e93fbbb6df37&wid=9c0cf2df-7281-4ed0-961c-acf815cb15a3&ds=2'><u><b>Dr. Who and K-9</b></u></a></font>, and some difficult ones hidden by <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=2a920ca6-736d-4e53-abfe-7754d5e69ed3&wid=7d8e44a7-ecc0-4cb6-9960-263af2a4de17&ds=2'><u><b>Squire Boone</b></u></a></font>. Dr. Who and K-9's caches took us to a little park in Santa Claus called Yellig Park, where all the roads nearby have football names. Tommy and I are suckers for football. But we were a little disappointed to see a soccer field on Super Bowl Rd. I hate soccer. Squire Boone had a few devious hides. We thought <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=7d8e44a7-ecc0-4cb6-9960-263af2a4de17'><u><b>Riverwalk I</b></u></a></font> in Jasper was going to be a cakewalk from the description, but no such luck. Fortunately (I think) it had just stormed and there was no one on the trail, so Tommy and I had plenty of muggle free time with this cache. It would be hard to explain what you were doing if you were caught red handed on this hide. <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0e190143-a378-4082-90d9-dfe41ec6d9f1'><u><b>Sub</b></u></a></font> was another neat cache from Squire Boone. On the way to it I read the hint and told Tommy what I thought it was going to be, and I'm sure he thought I was a little crazy. As soon as we pulled next to it, I told Lyncher, "There it is!" and I had it in my hands before he could hardly get out of the car. Experience strikes again. Another one of note was <font color='#3333ff'><a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=fbf8fe87-2a20-445d-9c21-0776ae6a3474'><u><b>Movie Cache: Hard Rain</b></u></a></font> by Squire Boone. It was based on the movie Hard Rain shot in Huntingburg at the cemetery the cache is located in. We had no sooner put our ink on the log and shut the ammo can when it started pouring down rain. The day had started out as being a glorious 65 degrees and sunny, but this cache lived up to it's name and put a slight damper on part of the day. We were kind of hoping it would rain enough to be able to ride jet skis through the school, but it quit in a couple of hours. Since we were in Huntingburg and doing movie themed caches, we decided to find A Cache of their Own, another hide by Odyssey Posse. I had never seen this stadium in the flesh. It's pretty neat. My sister was an extra in the movie they shot here A League of their Own. This cache is probably one of OP's easier caches except for the fact that it was pouring down rain. Tommy and I didn't mind getting a little wet since we were properly kitted out, but my phone/GPSr is not waterproof. So I took a bearing from the car, judged the distance and swam over to the cache area. Did I mention it was storming? Tommy had came to the same conclusion and OP's hint matched what we thought ,so we started poking around. Somehow, an animal of some sort, a dog maybe?, had done it's business mere inches from the cache. After seeing all of these crazy containers OP had thrown at us all day, I thought maybe this was one of those fake dog doo hide a key containers, but after poking it with my boot I was sadly mistaken. Fortunately it was raining hard enough that in the swim back to the car my boots were pretty clean.<br/><br/>After the day was through, we had found 47 caches, 15 ticks, 4 other Geocachers, no mushrooms, and one awesome sunburn. My new personal best for a one day total. We averaged finding a cache every 15 minutes for 12 straight hours. Not bad considering 12 of the caches we had to hike to in order to find, and we stopped and ate for about an hour. Now to log all of these. TFTH OPYMB<br/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-55033955993239525302009-04-03T08:39:00.001-04:002009-04-03T08:45:08.893-04:00FTF<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'>Well this is just plain weird. Last weekend I found a cache placed by ~Batman & Catwoman ~ called <a target='_blank' href='http://djhobby.blogspot.com/2009/03/smokestack.html'><font color='#3333ff'><u><b>Smokestack!</b></u></font></a> which I blogged about a few posts ago. Then last week ~Batman & Catwoman~ were first to find on my hide <a target='_blank' href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ef58f9b1-8863-48fe-86d9-a7c2e1f19794'><font color='#3333ff'><b>Harrodsburg Park</b></font></a>. Which inside that cache <b>(spoilers here, hide your eyes don't read any farther)</b> I placed the url for a website with some unpublished puzzle caches. One of the puzzles requires you to<small><small><small><small><small><small><small><small> <font color='#ffffff'>call a phone number</font> </small></small></small></small></small></small></small></small>which I have a<small><small><small><small><small><small><small> <font color='#ffffff'>voicemail setup</font> </small></small></small></small></small></small></small>that gives the coordinates for the cache, but B&C were<small><small><small><small><small><small> <font color='#ffffff'>calling the wrong number</font></small></small></small></small></small></small>. After emailing me with their solution I let them know they were real close and a few minutes later the<small><small><small><small><small><small><small> <font color='#ffffff'>phone rang</font> </small></small></small></small></small></small></small>so they must have figured it out. Then last night I saw a newly published, unfound cache ten miles away, hidden by no other than ~Batman & Catwoman~. One of their amusing Awesome Movie Quote caches. I just had to be first to find. My wife thought I was crazy, going out in the freezing cold downpour we had last night, but I had to put my pen on that piece of paper before any other! Here's my log:<br/><br/><b><font face='Verdana' size='4'> </font></b><blockquote><blockquote><b><font face='Verdana' size='4'><a href='http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx' target='_blank'><img height='32' width='32' border='0' align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/WptTypes/2.gif' alt='Traditional Cache'/></a> <span id='CacheName'>AMQ #21 - "Hey Howard, there's your china man"</span> </font></b><br/><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'><strong><img align='absmiddle' src='http://www.geocaching.com/images/icons/icon_smile.gif'/> April 2 by <a name='66374168' style='text-decoration: underline;'/><a href='http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=3d0a5c56-69fb-4b17-8718-d63fd953cdbd' style='text-decoration: underline;'>djhobby</a></strong> (364 found)</font></span><br/><span id='CacheLogs'><font face='Verdana' size='2'>Hey hey, FIRST TO FIND! I'll see your FTF and raise you one. We keep running into each other's caches. </font><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>I was sitting at home watching Lost on the tellie with my wife (yes I'm married, Married? yes married (<a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGJfruLLiyk&feature=related%29' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>visit link</a>) when my email chirped in that I had received something important. So I hastened to see what was waiting and lo and behold it was my weekly notification from Geocaching.com about any new events, or news, and especially any new caches in the area. And what do my eyes fall upon?! A brand new cache just 10 miles away placed by Batman and Catwoman! "What?" I think,....this is just too bizarre. I quickly log on to Geocaching.com and .. yes it's true, NO ONE HAS LOGGED THIS YET! So I quickly jump into my "AUTOMOBILLLE?"( (<a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90oX0XLvS-8&feature=related%29' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>visit link</a>) and drive to Bedford to get my FTF. </font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'> Wolfboy (who you may have heard of) has some sort of disorder. Every time someone says the word "automobile" he has to say "AUTO-MOBILE" just like Long Duk Dong does in this movie. It is impossible for him not to do it. I once won a six pack of beer from him because he couldn't go without quoting this movie after I said "automobile"</font></p><p><font face='Verdana' size='2'>TFTC TNLN SL FTF W00T AUTOMOBILE?!</font></p></span></blockquote></blockquote> <br/><br/></div><br/><br/><div align='center'><div class='youtube-video'><object height='344' width='425'><param value='http://www.youtube.com/v/PGJfruLLiyk&hl=en&fs=1' name='movie'> </param><param value='true' name='allowFullScreen'> </param><param value='always' name='allowscriptaccess'> </param><embed height='344' width='425' allowfullscreen='true' allowscriptaccess='always' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://www.youtube.com/v/PGJfruLLiyk&hl=en&fs=1'> </embed> </object></div></div><br/><br/><br/><div align='center'><div class='youtube-video'><object height='344' width='425'><param value='http://www.youtube.com/v/90oX0XLvS-8&hl=en&fs=1' name='movie'> </param><param value='true' name='allowFullScreen'> </param><param value='always' name='allowscriptaccess'> </param><embed height='344' width='425' allowfullscreen='true' allowscriptaccess='always' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://www.youtube.com/v/90oX0XLvS-8&hl=en&fs=1'> </embed> </object></div></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-33200109465053642352009-04-02T14:54:00.001-04:002009-04-02T17:46:00.823-04:00TerraCaching<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'><div align='left'><img height='359' width='479' src='http://lh6.ggpht.com/_skJloq4sOrM/SdUJdTWvEWI/AAAAAAAAAGc/O3t1Ex3Kq9I/%5BUNSET%5D.jpg?imgmax=800' style='max-width: 800px;'/><br/></div><br/>Evolouie asked me today if I had ever heard of Terracaching. It just so happens that I just became a registered user a few weeks ago, and I had yet had the opportunity to try to find any. Since it was just about lunch time we decided to try to find one. First off we had to find out what cache we wanted to tackle. Since there are only 4 or 5 near us we chose the nearest one <a href='http://www.terracaching.com/viewcache.cgi?C=TCCOQ' target='_blank'><font color='#3333ff'><b>Patricia</b></font></a>. I manually loaded the coordinates into my phone and out the door we went. <br/><br/>The terracache was located along the Clear Creek Trail which has 10 or 15 geocaches along it already. To get to our objective we had to pass by a geocache that I had already found and Evolouie had not. Neither one of us thought to grab this cache info before we left, but I strained my memory and pretty soon we had the cache in hand, but alas no log book. We didn't let this minor set back deter us though, and we headed on down the road.<br/><br/>After a short walk on a glorious day, we came to the terracache area, and with a little circling though the briars, we (we meaning Evolouie) found the cache. On a side note, the Clear Creek Trail has a ton of people on it, even during the day. Don't these people have jobs? Two grown men climbing around in the bushes must look a little bizaare, but hey they should be out working and contributing to the economy and quit worrying about us! Anyway we retreived the cache, signed the log, and eased on down the road. <br/><br/>My first impressions of Terracaching is so-so. I love the idea of a rating system. That is something I wish Geocaching.com would impliment. I have even kicked around the idea around of starting my own 3rd party rating system for geocaches but I don't quite have the html skills to do it properly. When you log a cache on terracaching.com you must rank it, which is very interesting. But the ranking system there is pretty confusing. There are tons of numbers thrown out, but I don't have the foggiest notion of what they all mean. So I give a thumbs up to trying to rank them, and a thumbs sideways for making the rankings confusing. <br/><br/>Something I don't really care about on terracaching.com is trying to find caches in my area. I couldn't find anywhere to put in a zip code, or state or county or anything. Finally Evolouie figured out to click the map and zoom into our area. There aren't too many around so it shouldn't be hard finding all of the close ones. <br/><br/>After finding the cache, I wanted to log it. So we get back to the office, and I pull up Terracaching.com, and I can't find where to put in my log entry. After a lot of fumbling I finally found the correct place to input my log. I didn't quite realize it at the time, but I was FTF. Woohoo! My first Terracache and I'm FTF. Another interesting thing about terracaching is it takes a confirmation code found in the log book to log your find. I don't think it's like that on all the terracaches but this one it was mandatory.<br/><br/>One other annoyance about Terracaching.com is the registration requirements. You have to be sponsored by two other members to become a member yourself. Before that you are pretty limited as to what you can even do on the web site. I'm not sure why that is, but it's annoying. It only took about 24 hours to get registered but by then the excitement of finding a terracache had wore off.<br/><br/>I keep trying to think back to the very first time I logged on to geocaching.com, and if I found that whole process confusing. I'm sure I did at the time. The terracaching process certainly has room for improvement, but it's still an interesting alternative to geocaching.com.<br/></div></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145043761551185680.post-62601182246601270182009-03-31T15:06:00.000-04:002009-03-31T17:28:15.919-04:00Acronyms<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div align='justify'><br/><span class='outline'><img style='width: 300px; height: 197px;' galleryimg='no' alt='300_99856.jpg picture by djhobby' src='http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h88/djhobby/blog/300_99856.jpg?t=1238526722' id='fullSizedImage' class='media'/></span><br/>A lot of times while logging a lot of caches you find yourself saying the same things over and over again. So to save us from carpal tunnel, some ingenous person has come up with some neat acronyms for geocaching. You always want to say thanks for one thing. So instead of typing thanks for the cache 20 times, you abbreviate it with TFTC. Took nothing left nothing has become TNLN. Signed the log, is now SL. <br/><br/>So for a lot of my logs I'll type a little blurb about the weather, or the area, or what ever I remember about the cache, and then finish with TFTC TNLNSL. Which is another way of saying: <br/><br/><blockquote>Thanks for placing this cache here in this creepy cemetery, I didn't take anything out of the cache because McDonalds toys don't interest me anymore because I'm a grown man. And since I didn't take anything, I'm not going to leave this cool LED flashlight that I've been carrying around for a month. I did however sign the log, whith my own pen because the one in the cache is broke and dried up. Also the log was also full and pretty damp.<br/></blockquote> <br/>Imagine how labourious that would be to type that 20 time a week. So to even shorten my logs even further, because I'm all about effieciancy, I have come up with few more acronyms for things that I am always typing in my logs.<br/><br/>GABARC - I got attacked by a rabid coyote<br/>IHTKIWMP - I had to kill it with my pocketknife<br/>IWWCTL - I wonder what coyote tastes like<br/><br/>Hopefully someday, these will get adopted by the whole geocaching community.<br/><br/></div><br/><br/><br/><br/></div>DJ Hobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01774916416541782155noreply@blogger.com0