[3 Hawks]

Never mind. I was finally able to figure out the correct way to access and update my membership profile. What a PITA!!!

[3 Hawks]

Hi,

This is 3 Hawks (Matt Hawkins). I have been a member of the WGA for over 10 years, but don’t visit the WGA site very often. I’ve voted in prior elections, but it has been a few election cycles since I last voted. I get the member e-mails and can “log in” to the WGA site with my user name and password. My geocaching.com user token has been refreshed, I marked the “I am over 16” and “I ahve read and agree to the terms of use” boxes, and I updated profile.

However, I am still unable to vote in the WGA BOD election because the site says I’m either not logged in or I’m not an active member. I am unable to view the member map and don’t have access to many other site features.

I’m at a bit of a loss and the experience has reminded me why I have not visited the WGA webpage in a long time.

Any recommendations??

Respectfully,

Matt (3 Hawks)

[3 Hawks]

Congratulations P&B!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 😛 😛 😛

[3 Hawks]

@gotta run wrote:

@3 Hawks wrote:

Ding, ding, ding!!! It has already begun.

Oh well, I’ve said my part. I can go back to avoiding the Forums for another 5 or 6 months.

Boy, I don’t see anything argumentative in this thread, unless you’re referring to something going on elsewhere.

You are correct with respect to the fact that there is nothing argumentative in THIS thread. I simply do not appreciate the ugly side that tends to appear in the Forums from time to time. The majority of the threads are harmless, but I have limited time to spend on the Forums. I’ve not been on the gc.com Forums in months and I had not visited he WGA in about 4 months. I had not realized my membership in the WGA expired a few months ago. My “avoidance” of the Forums is due to more than one factor. There is no other implied meaning to be inferred.

[3 Hawks]

Ding, ding, ding!!! It has already begun.

Oh well, I’ve said my part. I can go back to avoiding the Forums for another 5 or 6 months.

In any event, Merry Christmas to those not offended by such a comment. Happy Holidays to the rest!!!

[3 Hawks]

@TheBalks wrote:

@3 Hawks wrote:

I don’t see how this popularity contest is going to be of any real value.

BTW…..my “favorites” may be purchased for the low cost of one ice cold beer for one vote. A dozen freshly baked cookies could even get you two votes.

I think its awesome, because if I am going to a city I have never been to and have a limited time to cache, I can hit ones other people think are good caches. Pretty much the same thing as going on the local cachers forums and asking for suggestions, except you get a bigger sample size.

That all sounds fine and dandy. However, the votes only have real meaning when taken in their proper context. Unfortunately, that requires knowing the motivation of each voter.

I will go out on a limb here……I predict that we will quickly see this new system turn into a popularity contest that has nothing to do with cache quality. Those cachers who have a “posse” of followers will garner large totals for even the most average of caches simply because it is expected. Others will vote for a cache simply to gain acceptance in a local caching community.

I understand the intent of the system. I understand how it could be useful if used properly. However, I’ve been caching long enough to know that many cachers don’t follow accepted guidelines with regards to cache placement. New cachers see bad placements an think they are clever. They then hide their own cache that is technically against established caching policy.

Case in point…how many cachers know that it is against the “rules” to bury a cache in the ground? How many actually know the definition of a buried cache? Many cachers think you can dig a hole in the ground, place a 5 gallon bucked in the hole, and backfill around the hole with only the top exposed. They think this is not a buried cache because the top of the cache is not covered by dirt. They are wrong. Simply review the cache placement guidelines or talk to one of he friendly reviewers.

I would not think such a cache has any value even if 100 cachers had it on their favorite list. There are hundreds of caches just in the great state of Wisconsin that are placed in any number of fashions that technically violate the placement guidelines. In many situations, the cache owners know they are breaking the rules. They simply don’t care or they intentionally break the rules to increase the difficulty. They want to play the game their way. They do not care about the consequences. A good many of the finders know such caches violate the rules, but they don’t want to say anything because they could get “black listed.” Do such caches deserve any votes regardless of any other factors which would otherwise make them exceptional?

You see, a vote only has meaning if you know the cache hider, the placement styles of the area, the people who vote for the cache, and their personal motivation. If you do not know these variables, the arbitrary “favorite” system is almost meaningless.

Sample size???? The size of the sample does not mean there is value in the result.

[3 Hawks]

I don’t see how this popularity contest is going to be of any real value.

BTW…..my “favorites” may be purchased for the low cost of one ice cold beer for one vote. A dozen freshly baked cookies could even get you two votes.

[3 Hawks]

In my humble opinion….tough luck. It is part of the game.

It took me over two years and three trips to southern Indiana to find the cache for a puzzle I had solved. The thing was muggled once and was claimed by a massive flood on another occasion. It was then muggled the day after I found the thing. Did I expect the cache owner to verify the cache was in place before attempting the find? No. Then again, I do not think this game was created for my sole enjoyment. Would I have been disappointed if I never made the find? A little, but I would have found the strength to move on with my life. There are only 995,000+ other caches out there. Contrary to what some may believe, that should be enough to keep all of us busy even if no new caches were ever placed.

[3 Hawks]

Watch out JC, the OP might accuse you of having “anger management issues” simply because you pose a logical and passionate alternative argument. If you really strike a cord, you might even receive the “why don’t you get back to me after you’ve placed some caches…until then your opinion is of no value” PM.

It would appear placing caches causes far too much mental anguish for some.

I find it ironic how some argue with passion for “freedom to play the game as you like” in one thread and then argue with the same passion in other threads that playing as you like is cheating unless you play it their way. They solicit for feedback and then attack like vultures anyone who has an opposing view.

If this post evokes feelings of disgust or anger in any reader, maybe that reader should re-evaluate the priorities in their life.

[3 Hawks]

I’ve “found” many strange and interesting items while caching. Here are a few.

1) 4 fresh goose quills inside an alluminum foil envelope attached to a tree in the middle of a section of woods in central Racine County.
2) A man wearing no pants who appeared to be “getting in touch with himself in nature.”
3) A large stash of Hispanic pornography.
4) Multiple marijuana growing operations. The largest was only 200 feet from the edge of the Milwaukee Public School Distric Administration office and less that 300 feet from the edge of a nearby middle school. I destroyed a very small plot in a Racine County park and walked away with a brand new spade.
5) Topless female sunbathers. One on the Racine lakeshore and another in the Menomonee River Parkway.
6) A strung out crack-head who came after me and I only beat him to the relative safety of my car by 30 feet.
7) At least half-a-dozen bongs, pipes, and/or other drug smoking devices.

[3 Hawks]

IMHO, It might be a good idea to post the hours of any parks and/or parkways in which the caches are located. From what I can tell, at least one cacher decided to break any number of laws last night in order to rack up a huge FTF count. I’d like to think common sense would prevail, but some cachers are willing to do anything for a FTF (including entering city parks LONG after closing) and that is not good for the sport.

[3 Hawks]

@Todd300 wrote:

‘Shore ’nuff, the gmail account works. Right after I set up notifications to my gmail account, it appeared right away. I wonder if Road Runner blocked the notifications.

I was having the same problems with my Road Runner e-mail account. GC.com indicated the PQ was sent to me at 12:08am (PST) this morning but no PQ was in my inbox. I tried sending another PQ to my wife’s Road Runner e-mail account and ran into the same problem. After reading your thread, I set up a free gmail account and my PQ showed up within a few minutes.

Thanks for posting your experience for the benefit of the WGA community!!

[3 Hawks]

Blah, blah, blah…..and all that rot. You guys need to stop blowing wind up Puzzler’s backside. Have you seen the size of Russ’ head? Sandy will have to add an extra tie-down to keep him from floating off.

Anyway, I don’t think the 500 or so caches Russ has found while wearing only his tighty-whities should be allowed. I know there is nothing in the rules that state cachers are required to wear appropriate clothing, but there should be some kind of penalty for poor fashion sense and utter disregard for the poor little woodland creatures.

I remember the first time I saw Puzzler streaking through the woods with Burrgirl (fully clothed) doing her best to keep up. Every sixth step, Russ yelled “Mommy” and leaped into the air. His ability to leap rather large dead-falls was actually quite impressive and I knew that any attempt to run away would be futile. Standing still, showing no fear, and extending my hands over my head, to make me appear larger than him, was my only option. He just side-steeped me and kept on running. To his defense, all of the micro caches in Racine and Kenosha counties are enough to push the sanest of men over the edge. I’ve come to realize Russ is actually quite harmless, so none need fear if you spot him in the woods. He actually has quite the nose for finding caches and his trusty guide (Sandy) does a wonderful job of keeping him from running into traffic.

With the increasing number of micro and puzzle caches, I fear there is no end in sight for Milwaukee counties most prolific streaking cacher and the next 5,000 cache finds will be quite entertaining to say the least.

[3 Hawks]

Two doses down and only three more to go!! After doing a little research on bite patterns, I can now say I was bitten by a small carnivore such as a raccoon, skunk, fox, or opossum. As such, the bite could have been much worse.

Today’s injection was not bad at all. Just a quick shot in the shoulder. I wish the first set of injections had been so painless. Then again, the only injections that hurt were the bite site injections.

The worst part about all of this is that the last three injections are scheduled on Mondays at 1:30pm, and that falls smack in the middle of normal Monday caching time.

[3 Hawks]

@TheBalks wrote:

What bit you?

Since my finger is still attached, I’d have to guess I was bitten by a squirrel. The bite marks from the canines of one of the jaws were about an inch apart and I had bite marks on both sides of the widest part of my index finger. Thankfully, it appears to be a defensive bite and it just hit and let go.

I usually carry a walking stick for poking around in holes, but I was in a rush and threw caution to the wind.

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