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I started with a Garmin 12. I handed that over to my spouse when I went to my Legend. But, we still think that the 12 has a much better lock on satellites. When we are out together he always seems to keep contact with the satellites in situations where I fade in and out. – Ruth

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quote:

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Originally posted by LightningBugs Mum:
…Sandy (and maybe Jim)

I am volunteering my mom and stepdad who live in Eau Claire. They are Team Star Beam and said they would help out with whatever. Really!

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Yes, I have an email from Star Beam indicating her desire to help out. I sent out some emails awhile ago when I first heard that Wissota might be chosen and I have some responses from them, also.

Ruth

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Perhaps she’s resting here? GCG336

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Excellent idea for increasing interest in the website, Russ! Now I’ll have to take my laptop skiing this week so I can read your Friday question (while I nurse my bruises.) Thanks for doing this! – Ruth

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I’d like to add my thanks for the vote of confidence. I’m actually quite surprised. I bet it was that inspirational picture of the Lake Wissota sign that impressed my voters the most. 😉

Again, thanks to *all* who voted. It was a hard choice since I think all those that ran have much to offer this organization.

Ruth

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Here’s one in western WI,GCG20Z, but it’s certainly not close to Sparta.

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Thanks for the feedback!

I ordered a bunch of boots/shoes online tonight. I know that it isn’t the best way to order them, but there are some pretty good sale prices out there. I ordered some for me, spouse and son from places with liberal return policies.

Thanks again for giving me some confidence in my shopping decisions.

Ruth

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Thanks for all your feedback!

My current tent does have a complete rainfly that covers the entire tent, so that isn’t the problem. I did have a tarp underneath, but it isn’t designed for the tent so it is possible that a bit was sticking out. I do suspect the tent may have lost some of its waterproofness, although I haven’t noticed any flaking.

I have ordered some Tentsure and Seamsure (along with gobs of other stuff). Now I just have to convince my spouse that he’s really the one that wants to apply it because I have the small tent I bought last year that I could sleep in and not worry about rain. 🙂

For those that use the plastic *inside* the tent as Ken suggested, how to you keep it from getting all messed up with the moving around that goes on in the tent? I’m camping with kids, so I suspect a certain level of activity.

Thanks, again, for saving me some money. (Although, I do really like lots of the features of the new tents.)

Ruth

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Funny that you should suggest the Montrail site. The shoe I’m interested in is the Montrail Storm GTX.

I’m puzzled by the comment “Gore-Tex boots will not dry out once wet.” I’m assuming you mean that it will take awhile, but they will eventually dry out. Or do you mean *never*?

The real life activity I want to improve is walking around in light to moderate rain for an entire day of geocaching. Last year my shoes would get soaked and not dry for days. I’d also like to be able to step in a slightly swampy area without squishing around the rest of the day.

So, is Gore-Tex not the answer? Is the answer multiple shoes and socks?

Thanks,

Ruth

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I entertained the idea, but I haven’t figured out my February weekend schedule yet. My kids’ activities seem to take up most of my time lately.

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Response to Trudy and the beast:

Expired memberships:
[*]Main reason: We don’t know they’re expired until we try to do something that requires the membership.
[*]Solution 1: Email reminder.

[*]Possible reason: The organization didn’t offer them anything. They never went to an event, they don’t know the people running for the board and they don’t have anything to say in the forums.
[*]Solution 2: Try to undo the impression that the WGA is actually the Southeastern Wisconsin Geocaching Association.

New geocachers not joining:
[*]Reason: No reason to join unless they want to post in the forums, vote or attend a WGA event.
[*]Solution: Welcome new geocachers by email, invite them to local events, point them to the website.

Silent membership:
[*]Reason 1: Some people are lurkers. I’m not a “me too” kind of poster and often someone has already said what I would have said. I’ve been on an email list for 9 years with the same people, have met many of them, but I still seldom post anything. I’m sure there are other people like me. (In person, however, you can’t shut me up or, if you give me something specific to talk/write about.)
[*]Solution 1: None.

[*]Reason 2: I would guess that many geocachers don’t feel part of the group. There is a very active core group of people that know each other and even often geocache together. It’s easier to post to a list where no one knows anyone than to one where the most vocal members all know each other. There is nothing wrong with these posts and I am certainly not trying to discourage them, I’m just trying to explain why some people may not be interested in participating in the forums.
[*]Solution 2: Same as my solution #2 for expired memberships.

In general, if we want the membership to expand, there has to be some reason for people to want to belong.

[This message has been edited by bnb (edited 01-21-2005).]

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Response to Ms. WISearcher:

DNR Support for the sport:
I believe the WGA has already done quite a bit toward getting a policy in place with the DNR. Without knowing the complete details it is hard for me to know what the next specific step should be. It could be that it is in the hands of the DNR and all that we can do is continue to keep the issue visible. In that case, I believe I could help by talking to our local DNR officials. I also believe that organizing community service projects would increase visibility.

Community Service:
I’d like to see geocacher-involved community service activities in my area. I think that it would be more likely and have greater visibility with WGA backing. My husband helped out with a cemetary cleanup in Minnesota last year (GC28A4, June 26 logs). I’d like to see more activites like this that help out the areas we use as geocachers. I’d like to keep these activities visible to promote the sport of geocaching. I can specifically help with this goal by organizing the events.

Expand WGA membership and involvement:
I believe a lot of the reason that most of the active WGA membership is in the southeastern part of the state is because most of the WGA activities take place there. I think it is time for the WGA to have more region-specific activities.

• I’d like to see an area of the forums dedicated to region-specific threads. I’d like to have an easy way to contact the geocachers in my general area. People might be more likely to read the forums if they can more easily focus on the subjects that pertain to them. I’m not a website guru so I can’t change our forums to address this, but I can be the geocacher that would be the main contact in my area.
• I think if there were WGA sponsored activities in the different regions it would lead to more active membership in those regions. In order to have successful activities in the different regions, I believe it would help to have board members in those regions. I would take an active role in organizing WGA activites.

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Response to GrouseTales:

Contributions to WGA:
Due to distance and schedules, I have only attended two WGA events. For the 2003 Picnic at Devil’s Lake, I traveled to the park two weeks before to help place the temporary caches. For the 2004 Campout, my schedule kept me from placing temporary caches, so I brought a load of firewood instead. I also helped set up for the pancake breakfast.

Special skills/abilities:
None in particular. I’m a logic designer by trade and I don’t think that is very useful in everyday life. Through volunteer activites at schools and 4-H I have experience in working with teams to plan and execute events.

I organized and ran the football pool at work a number of years ago, if that’s worth anything. It’s not a special skill, but it was appreciated by the winners. 😉

(I just remembered…)
I’ve been secretary of the local t-ball organization for the past four years. This means I get to type up schedules and rosters, run concessions (with the VP) and organize/run the t-ball tournament at the end of the season (with the other two officers.) I also get to take abuse from lots of people that don’t seem to understand the concept of a volunteer organization. I have managed to bite my tongue while being aggressively verbally abused, in front of my children, by an angry father that didn’t want to work his shift in the concession stand. Now that is a special skill.

[Edited to include the above and for spelling.]

[This message has been edited by bnb (edited 01-21-2005).]

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I have a “new” Palm IIIxe from ebay. I have Windows XT Home Edition. I cannot get the Palm to talk to the PC. I have tried two different serial cables (the cradle and a travel cable), I have gone through all the help steps at Palm, I have tested the serial connection, I have tried removing all user processes, I have reinstalled the Palm Desktop software. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks. – Ruth

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wzbt03’s questions…

1- Since the main board function is the two WGA events, campout and picnic, what do you intend to offer as a board member over the next 2 years to these events?

I guess I don’t consider the WGA events to be the *main* board function, just one of them. I think the enthusiasm that exists for geocaching within this state would ensure the occurrence of events even without the existence of a board. However, the Board of Directors provides the management that allows some events to be WGA sponsored. This sponsorship provides the infrastructure necessary for a larger, more elaborate gathering than otherwise might be possible with individually sponsored events. In other words, with the backing of the WGA Board of Directors, we are taken more seriously by park managers and businesses. Additionally, with the focus provided by the board, the WGA membership becomes more involved in WGA sponsored events. After all, the success of the WGA events still relies on the volunteer efforts of more than just the Board of Directors.

That said, the WGA does currently sponsor two events per year and I believe as a board member it would be my responsibility to be very actively involved in the planning and execution of those events. I cannot say explicitly what my contributions would be for those events because, up until now, I have not been involved in all the behind-the-scenes activities so I do not know where I could be of the most use. I’m not trying to weasel out of an answer, but the two WGA events I have attended have been so well planned that I could not possibly imagine something I could have done that would have made them better. What I would offer for future events would be to be as useful as possible with the guidance of the experienced board members. I would do preliminary site evaluations and work personally with park managers when I’m the nearest board member to the site. I could provide phone and email contact with farther sites. I helped place a few temporary caches for the 2003 Picnic and I would like to be involved in that at future events – although I will admit to not being nearly as creative as most of the temp cache hiders. Finally, I would make a commitment to attend and help run the event, assuming the dates did not interfere with my *real* job commitments.

2- How do you intend to help mentor the other cachers in the state who might struggle with the accepted ethics of geocaching?

By “ethics of geocaching” I will take this to mean respecting property owners, our natural resources, and any guidelines/agreements/restrictions that public property managers have given us. In cases where I saw a violation of this respect I would make a private contact with that geocacher. If that was ignored, or was not possible, I would make a gentle, but direct, comment on the geocache page. I would also get the other board members involved. Since I think that the WGA should be actively involved in the promotion of our sport with governmental agencies I would be most concerned about geocaching activity that interferes with a positive view of our sport.

For mentoring, I try to welcome new geocachers to my area when I see their logs appear. If I notice behavior that is somewhat different from what I’ve come to accept as “standard”, I send a polite email assuming they may not know the accepted “rules”. But, I still see this as a mostly unregulated sport. As long as a geocacher is not destroying property (personal or governmental) they can play the game the way they want to. I may be irritated by their behavior, but I can’t really tell them how to play the game.

3- Since it is the caches in Wisconsin that make us what we are, what caches do you currently have out there that would be considered assets to Wisconsin (including past events you have hosted)?

I haven’t officially hosted any events. A few of us organized a quick event with a visiting geocacher in 2003. I guess it could have been considered an asset to Wisconsin in that it drew in a few Minnesota geocachers to the Eau Claire area, but I suspect they would eventually have come here when more caches were placed. Probably the best thing that event did for our immediate area was to introduce us locals to ourselves.

I have four geocaches. I’d like to think that all four of them bring people to a nice area. I try to make my geocaches include a short walk, some history, or both. Some of my favorite geocache searches brought me to an area I wouldn’t otherwise have found and I like to do the same for others with my geocaches.

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