Building Bookmarks

A few days ago, I decided to play around with creating some geocaching bookmarks on geocaching.com. Since there are a few local caches I have decided to weed out of my searches, my first bookmark was an "ignore list". Since I will go after just about any kind of cache, my ignore list is pretty short.

The first cache added to the list was: Mission Improbable by bitbrain (GC16JZR).
I hunted this cache with some friends on December 7th and signed my name in the logbook. This cache had a special logging requirement. There are envelopes with "missions" that have to be completed before you can log the cache on-line. Most of the envelopes were personalized with the names of local cachers, others are generic. Since for some reason there was no personalized mission for me, I ended up with a generic one. My generic "mission" was to go to the Peabody Hotel and have my picture taken in front of the duck fountain with my GPSr in the picture. Even though the Peabody Hotel is a short walk from my workplace, I opted not to bother with the mission. I added the cache to my ignore list just so I wouldn't see it anymore.

The second cache added to the list was: Voicemail by Team Sprout (GC19PB1).
This is a subscriber-only cache that had special logging requirements as well. Basically it requires you to call a voicemail box using the phone of somebody who had logged the cache. Not really my cup of tea. Reading the logs, I noticed that one GOWT member violated the logging requirements by having someone else give her the coordinates. I will check back in the future to see if the cache owner keeps his promise to delete such logs. Sometimes I think GOWT stands for Giving Out Waypoints Thusly.

I added a few caches by prontopup that require you to e-mail the cache owner with information regarding how the cache is attached to its hiding spot. Uh..., no thanks.

Most of the caches that will go on my ignore list are caches with "special logging requirements".

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

With this being Memorial Day weekend, I would have enjoyed taking a long caching trip. Instead, my caching plans were relatively modest. Having talked with jbgreer earlier in the week, we made plans to go after THE 385 CACHE by MagicRock (GC1918C) and then go to Holmes Park in Germantown and remove "Gangstas" Redeemed! by jbgreer (GC92F5). Any other caches we might hunt would be a bonus.

This would actually be our second attempt at "The 385 Cache". We were in the area back in late February (23rd) hunting other caches nearby. We didn't have any "special equipment" for this one on that day so we had simply explored the area around the coordinates. While there, we found a hint regarding the special equipment we would need.

My impetus for hunting this cache on this particular day had to do in part with a visit to the cache site earlier in the week by prontopup and Hoot Owl. They hadn't found the cache, but prontopup posted pictures of the immediate area and prompted the cache owner to provide additional information on the cache page. Our goal was to find this 4/5 cache without having to call the owner or a previous finder.

Getting to the cache site was much more difficult on this day then on our previous visit. There was a lot of overgrowth on the path and the air was filled with pollen that made us cough a lot during the hike in and out. The now familiar railroad bridge that has to be crossed if approaching from the west looks in worse shape each time we come to this area.

As for the cache hunt itself, I can't say too much without spoiling the hunt for others - we are at this point only the second two-person group to find this one and the first ones to find it unassisted.

I'll just say that our "special equipment" didn't really help us. We got really lucky in where and how we searched. Still, it was a great feeling to find this cache and get out of this area! Once back to the parking area, we had another problem - we were stuck. A simple redistribution of the weight got us free, though. We had thought about hunting a few other caches in the area, but I just wanted to get cooled down while we drove to Holmes Park.

"Gangstas" Redeemed! by jbgreer (GC92F5) was definitely a memorable cache for me. I hunted it during a time where I was more willing to keep coming back to hunt additional stages. It was surprisingly a tough cache for jbgreer to maintain as well. Stages frequently turned up missing. Sometimes the container(s) were gone and sometimes the hiding place was gone. When we went to collect the stages of the cache, At least two stages were gone and several decoys were gone as well. This cache had been around since 2002.

When we were done, I mentioned that AATN by cgeek (GCY1H9) was nearby and that I had searched for it 2 or 3 times without success. We were successful on this day thanks to jbgreer using a different visual perspective to spot it.

On the way back to jbgreer's house, we decided to hunt one more cache that had given me some trouble. Trolling For That Darned Treasure! by itcomagic (GC1BBBT) was in a familiar area of Audubon Park. I had found the first stage after itcomagic had posted a hint on the cache page. The second stage location was a tough search for me because of muggles and mud and I had to call it quits. Once again, jbgreer avenged a DNF for me. The only thing I didn't like about this cache is that the name of the cache didn't fit with what the final container turned out to be. No room for "treasure" in this one.

At this point, I think we were both ready to call it a day. I have gotten so used to easy and quick caches, that these three wore me out!

One Hour of Caching

This past Sunday, I headed north to spend time with my family and celebrate my niece's birthday. I made some plans to pick up a few caches on the way. I left my house around 11:30am and knew I wouldn't have much more than an hour to cache so I picked out a few easy ones to go after that were more or less on my way.

As I was heading east along Sam Cooper Boulevard, I remembered that I had solved the puzzle for Memphis Polka by itcomagic (GCWG3F) and that it was nearby. It was the first time I had been through that neighborhood and I was kind of surprised how nice it was. There was a convenient area for parking a short distance away, and I took a little time to take a picture before heading off for the cache. I was concerned about being caught by muggles since a vehicle was parked a few feet from the cache, but since I didn't have to spend much time searching, I was in and out pretty quickly. Shortly after returning to my car, I got a phone call from my sister-in-law wanting to know when I'd get out there. I said that I was on my way. I made two quick stops and picked up Twofer - Summer Avenue by cgeek (GC1B18N) and Twofer - Bartlett Water by cgeek (GC1BC5P).


The latter of those two was actually in an interesting spot. There were two more caches in the area, but I was too low on time. I headed east and found Thirty One by cgeek (GCY07Q) and ccs2006 by Andy/Memphis (GC19K6Q). I figured I'd head north from there but traffic problems meant I would be changing course twice. My GPSr was arguing with me about the route I ended up using but I got to my destination.

I spent the rest of the afternoon eating hamburgers and birthday cake and watching little kids run around. I always enjoy family visits and do not lament the fact that I only spent an hour caching on such a perfect day.

My Loyal Readers

Sometimes you might think that because there are no comments on most of my blog articles that either no one reads them or has an opinion on the subject matter. In truth, I often get e-mail or PM feedback on my blog entries.

My recent blog entry "Give Me The Good Old Days..." prompted two members of GOWT's leadership committee to respond.

One commenter agreed with my point that you shouldn't give away final coordinates to someone else's puzzle cache. He still had no problem using those coordinates and signing the log, though. He was more bothered by the fact that I chose to post a portion of an e-mail message in my blog entry.

The second commenter also agreed with my point that you shouldn't give away final coordinates to someone else's puzzle cache. He then told me about how certain JAG members who are reviewers (or are friends of reviewers) do the same thing. How he knows that is anyones guess.

I appreciated hearing both points of view and not just because they (for the most part) agreed with me.

Why they both chose to contact me directly as opposed to responding on the blog is a mystery.

Everything in Moderation

During the entire reorganization process of GOWT last Fall, one of the major sticking points involved moderation of the discussion forums. A few of the committee members wanted the whole moderation process to be mysterious and secretive. They believed the moderators needed to be anonymous and that their actions didn't need to be justified or documented. It appears that those people won out in the design of the moderation system.

There hasn't appeared to be much need for moderation on the GOWT forums since they reopened in December, but is that because all of the "bad" people went away...or is there some other reason?

JUST LAST NIGHT...

In a response to Prontopup's droll photo narrative of what happened at the 2 GOWT events that took place in Memphis on Saturday, I posted the following:

"Great story, but you left out the part where cgeek handed out the final coordinates to a puzzle cache that wasn't hers. Sorry I don't have a funny picture to go with that."

Yeah, I know it was a snarky comment, but it made me laugh. It is also an accurate statement of something that happened at the time of the first event and was mentioned in the logs of the "spoiled" cache.

I went home after posting that, but apparently shortly afterwards, my post was deleted. Since I was not informed of violating any posting guidelines, I can reasonably assume that the individual who deleted my post did it without talking to anyone first.

The forum guidelines basically say that you can't complain about moderation practices in the forums. If you attempt to appeal a moderator action, no one would be able to know what resulted from such an appeal.

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My question is this: If there is no accountability regarding moderation practices, how does the average forum participant know whether a post was moderated/deleted due to inappropriate content or simply moderator bias?

Answer: They don't. They have to rely simply on gossip and hearsay.

The forum guidelines were designed more to protect the forum administrators and moderators from harassment than the posting rights of the average member (or non-member). I know this because I personally was responsible for the customization of the guidelines. The GOWT posting guildelines were taken from the FARK.com posting guidelines and modified to fit GOWT's needs. It took all of 10 minutes to do. I was happy with the work I had done because I was reasonably certain at the time that we would have competent administrators and moderators. That was a BIG mistake on my part to assume that.

There was a lot of compromise during the reorganization process because we needed the cooperation of the Executive Committee in order to move forward. In the end, did we REALLY move forward?

Caching on Mother's Day 2008

I made a quick pass through Millington, TN on my way to spend Mother's Day with my family. Since I didn't want to get dirty, I only went after 3 caches - two of which were quick park and grabs.

My first find of the day was Twofer - Millington Water by cgeek (GC1B2YP). It was near a waste treatment plant. At least it had convenient parking. My second find was just down the road: Twofer - Navy Road by cgeek (GC1B176). This cache made me question why I bother going after PnGs. At least I didn't have to deal with muggles. Maybe these two caches may have more meaning to people who log benchmarks...

My last find of the day was There are no monkey bars here by Abiectio (GC18VNZ). This was my first visit to Eastwood Park. Since it had rained the night before, I dodged damp spots in the grass while hiking to the cache from the parking area. This side of the park is empty except for a single park bench and some trees. Speaking of trees, there was a tree down near the cache location. I don't know if it fell recently.

There you go, three caches - three finds. Not much else to say. When I was done, I called my Mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day and then went to visit family.

Give Me the Good Old Days...

I received several log e-mails from my adopted cache Overton Park Mystery Cache by Spencersb (GCPKGJ) on Saturday. It appears that cgeek decided to give out the final coordinates of this cache (rated 4.5/2) to a group of people hunting caches in Overton Park during WWFM - Memphis, TN (World Wide Flash Mob Event) by minismiths (GC19JW1).

Even though I did not create the puzzle involved with this cache, I admit I was positively LIVID when I saw that cgeek had just given away the coordinates!

If giving out the coordinates to your own puzzle caches makes you feel special, then by all means go for it - it certainly is your right. Giving out final coordinates to a cache that is NOT yours, is NOT cool.

"Spoiling" caches is not a recent phenomenon, but at least in the West Tennessee appears to be a growing trend. Anyone who reads the GOWT forums, or reads cache logs posted by GOWT members can see plenty of examples of where one person solves a hard puzzle and subsequently "helps" others solve the puzzle or find the cache. Again, if you choose to help others find YOUR cache, that is your business. "Spoiling" other people's caches under the guise of "helping" your fellow cachers is just ethically bad.

I toyed with the idea of bringing up this topic on the GOWT "discussion" forums, but experience tells me I would be wasting my breath. It disappoints me that new cachers are being led to believe this is normal and acceptable behavior.

Update: 5/13/2008

Cgeek after reading my blog attempted to defend herself in an e-mail message intended for Spencersb. Here is a brief quote from that message:

I have no intentions of replying to Ed in his blog or the forums but I did want to address you directly regarding his recent post. I know you didn't bring up the subject with me but, just in case you feel anywhere close to the same as Ed, I wanted to explain what happened on Saturday in the woods at "Colors".

Before I continue, let me say that I would prefer that the specifics of this email remain between you and me (well, you can, of course, share it with your wife). If you DO mention it to anyone that I contacted you, I would rather you not say it was in response to Ed's blog. I really don't want to give him the satisfaction that he stirred up a reply from me. Anyway...

Thank you cgeek for inadvertently giving me the satisfaction! Your entire "explanation" was certainly enlightening. You might want to consider resigning from the GOWT advisory committee as the members of said committee need to be as in YOUR own words, "beyond reproach".

Jeep Travel Bug Black Hole

I was just getting a laugh out of this cache page: TURNDAROUNDS 1K BREAKFAST SHINDIG by VOLNUT (GC1BEYH) when I noticed all of the Jeep Travel Bugs listed in the event "Inventory". It seems like TurndAround (and some others in JAG) like to "divert" Jeep Travel bugs to their own personal collections and bring them out for events. The Jeep travel bugs all have a goal of "Log your visit, and move me to a new geocache". They (like the original GOWT members-only cache) were not intended to be kept by the last person to pick them up.

For those of you who follow the Geocachers' Creed, guideline 7 of the creed says (with examples):

Protect the Integrity of the Game Pieces

* The owner entrusts you to not damage or jeopardize the cache. Try to ensure the cache is ready for the next finder and is as good as or better than you found it.
* Make sure the container is properly closed to prevent the contents from getting wet or destroyed.
* Be inconspicuous in retrieving, signing in, and replacing a cache to avoid vandalism.
* Put the cache back where you found it and hide it well. Don’t move a cache - if you suspect the cache is not in the intended spot, hide it the best you can and alert the owner as soon as possible.
* Don’t collect traveling items meant to stay in the game. This is tantamount to stealing.

The last example applies to folks who "collect" travel bugs.

For those syrup-guzzling enthusiasts among you who might enjoy fellowship amongst like-minded brethern, here is the event description:

"IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE THE 1K OF THE LAST BLUFF BOY TO REACH HIS 1K TURNDAROUND (AKA ELMO OR BIG GAY). EVERYONE PLEASE COME TO A BREAKFAST FEAST FIT FOR THE BLUFF BOYS AT RYANS ON MAY 10TH AT 9:00 IN JACKSON ,TN. TURNDAROUND WILL GET ROASTED BY THE BLUFF BOYS AND THE REST OF JAG!! BE SURE AND BRING SWAG TO FILL THE GOLDEN AMMO CAN. WAY TA GO SPRINKLES THE REST OF THE BLUFF BOYS ARE PROUD OF YA!!!I SURE HOPE THEY GOT THAT POSSUM ON THE BREAKFAST MENU."

Spencersb Gets His Degree

This past weekend GOWT founder spencersb graduated from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor's of Professional Studies in Organizational Management. As a final project he had to write a 32 page research paper and he chose as his topic something he is well-versed in. The title of his paper was “A History of Geocaching and Geocachers of West Tennessee.” and he says that in it he "...examined the organizational issues faced by anyone forming an organization from scratch., and the psychology of group dynamics."

I've been told that he consulted with a number of local geocachers for their opinions on the topic. The "psychology of group dynamics" among geocachers in West Tennessee, if reported objectively, would certainly make some interesting reading. Maybe I'll write a paper on the subject...or at least a few more blog entries.

Anyways, I offer my congratulations to spencersb for his perserverance in obtaining his degree.

This Weekend in Caching - Part II

I didn't do any morning caching on Saturday because I knew I wouldn't have time to get cleaned up before going to see the new Iron Man movie. I met up with jbgreer and his wife for lunch at McAlister's Deli near the Malco Paradiso theatre at noon. Iron Man is an excellent movie - I highly recommend it! After the movie ended and I parted ways with my friends, I thought I'd go after a couple of caches on the way home. My first stop was Audubon Park to hunt Trolling For That Darned Treasure! by itcomagic (GC1BBBT).

Saturday afternoon is NOT a good time to hunt a cache in this park that requires stealth, but it was late in the afternoon and overcast so I thought I'd give it a shot. I had been to the first stage spot the week before with no luck. After itcomagic put out a hint, finding the first stage was very quick. No muggles at this stage helped as well. I was familiar with the location of the second stage so I walked over. This area had plenty of muggles. I did give finding the cache a try, but I had little time to get in and out before muggles came by. It was also muddy, which didn't help. I'll have to go back on a better day...

Since I was already dirty, I decided to go after the other cache on my list for the day: Word Search - Music by itcomagic (GC11Q3J). I had worked out the tedious puzzle a few days before. There were six questions to answer and I worked the answers to 5 of the 6. One question, the 5th, didn't work out for me so I used evince and some guesses to get the needed answer.

The cache was in an area I was familiar with and I had intended to walk over from my house, but since I was out driving anyways, I parked in an area close to the cache and got in and out. I liked the hide, and wished I had more time to explore. This area is rough during the heat of summer.

This Weekend in Caching

Not really a geocaching event: Ghost River Float Trip by The Disorganization of MidSouth Geocachers (GC19X25) takes place on Sunday. Attendees of this event will get yet another opportunity to observe GOWTer snake prontopup fawning over tiger130... Think I'll pass. I do enjoy canoeing, though. It has been a few years, but I really enjoyed my trips down the Spring River in Arkansas.

I had plans to attack a couple of itcomagic caches on Saturday morning and may still do so, but now I'll be meeting up with jbgreer and his wife to catch a movie in the afternoon.

I've been hard at work on the remaining puzzles in my list of puzzle caches that haven't been found yet by me. I've solved all of the "easy" ones and have been working on some of the more tedious "Word Search" ones. Soon, all I will have left are puzzles like the "Flip Dizzy" series.