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Now why do I get the feeling that someone may have an additional point to make here rather than just a random observation… 😉
On the Left Side of the Road...Ok, you convinced me…
On the Left Side of the Road...Ok, I’ll give you most of them…but the Milwaukee HDTV forum? Isn’t there a grass growing website out there somewhere?
On the Left Side of the Road...Thanks, that’s easy enough!
On the Left Side of the Road...I’m glad your two dogs seem to be ok. I’ve heard many stories about pets being torn apart by pit bulls.
As has been implied here, the fault is not the dogs, the fault is the breeders who have created violent hybrids and owners who do not understand or control those animals.
I run and road bike nearly 100% on rural roads and fortunately a snout full (or eye full if I can aim right) of pepper spray is enough to turn chasers away. Fortunately I haven’t had to use the Glock…yet…
On the Left Side of the Road...On a somewhat related topic, this from InformationWeek mag:
Starting Jan. 1, airline passengers will no longer be allowed to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage, the U.S. Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration warned late last week.
Instead, passengers will be required to take loose batteries with them in carry-on baggage, packed in plastic bags. The new regulation, which will go into effect in order to lessen the risk of lithium battery fires, won’t apply to lithium batteries that are already installed in electronic devices, such as laptops, cell phones, and cameras. Those can be checked in.
Additionally, only two spare rechargeable lithium batteries will be allowed on airplanes per passenger in carry-on bags.
The international rule will become U.S. law on Tuesday.
On the Left Side of the Road...@sunski wrote:
And lastly…this is one of the funniest things I have ever read…
“…the allure of using billion-dollar satellites to hunt tupperware in shrubbery…” by gotta run
That should go on a t-shirt!
I can’t claim credit for being original on that I’m afraid…
On the Left Side of the Road...So my question is…was it like this for all of you the first time, or am I just a little freaky?
Our first cache was finding the final stage of a two-stage multi after missing the first stage because we couldn’t figure out how to run the GPSr and just stumbled upon it. Come to think of it, that pretty much describes about half our finds. 😕 But the thrill of finding, especially after a long an arduous search, continues to be a rush. And like Zuma we do also get the thrill of “discovering” our own caches on maintenance runs, usually when their hiding spot has been “improved” by other cachers. 😯
The thrill of the find is why people who don’t play the game will look at you with bewilderment as you try to explain the allure of using billion-dollar satellites to hunt tupperware in shrubbery.
Then your next addiction will be the forums. Spend some time here and ultimately you will be compelled to check in regularly rather than spending your time figuring out puzzle caches, planning cache runs, coming up with new ideas for cache placements…did I forget anything…like work? No, who needs to work. 😆
Did I miss any emoticons? Here are a few more… 😀 😳 😮
On the Left Side of the Road...@Jeremy wrote:
And how are people getting their name changed on geocaching.com? I thought that they told people they weren’t going to allow name changes any more?
You have to make a special appeal. If you go to the gc help site and dig a bit. The key is make sure the name you wasn’t isn’t being used (obviously) AND be sure not to set up a “dummy” account to “hold” the name. You can only change to a name that’s never been used.
I don’t know what their parameters are for making changes as they don’t specify them.
On the Left Side of the Road...Here is my unsolicited advice to the fearful.
Download GSAK to your PC. Don’t pay for it and put up with the nag screens until you decide if you like it. Then go to eBay and buy an old Palm, just make sure the one you buy can run cachemate. You might even get a Palm VII for $10 these days since they’re nearly relics but work just fine for this task. And you’re recycling to boot! Then download cachemate and pay the $8.
You’ll be into paperless caching for about the cost of an ink cartridge pack.
On the Left Side of the Road...This maybe leads to a related topic of how much cache information you take in the field. That’s where GSAK/Paperless are the real benefit IMO.
I’ll admit to being a little…verbose…in my cache descriptions but it’s not without purpose and it’s more than a little frustrating to have logs posted griping about stuff that was clearly stated in the description.
Download it all to your handheld, viola. You’ve got it all there. (Of course, you still have to read it.) Like I said, our $20 legacy Palm VII does the job and it’s countless times faster than waiting for my printer to spit out cache sheets (which half the time don’t format right in PDF for some reason), let alone taking the time to manually jot down notes.
It’s literally less than a one minute process once you get the PQ in your email:
-Open PQ in GSAK
-Choose “export to cachemate”
-Save the file
-Drag the file to the Palm sync program on the PC
-Push the button on the Palm cradle to upload the file to the PalmYou already know how to use a computer because you’re all posting to this forum. Therefore, you have all the skills you need to go paperless with just one more piece of hardware.
On the Left Side of the Road...We came across one that was simply a small spiral notebook chained to the dog tag. Hadn’t seen one like that before or since, but maybe it’s not that unique.
On the Left Side of the Road...@furfool wrote:
I don’t even know what GSAK does or is supposed to do.
It’s an all purpose tool that replaces the need to use several different tools for paperless caching. When we used paper we were able to get by with a simpler program but GSAK was essential for creating the cachemate files needed for the Palm. That may have changed, or there may be other programs out there.
A good primer on GSAK is at: http://miragee.blogspot.com/2006/08/little-update-to-my-rudimentary-gsak.html
It looks intimidating, but it’s really not. Essentially, open the file you’re already downloading in GSAK and then choose where you want GSAK to send it. You can send the file to your GPSr through GSAK, and create a cachemate (“PDB”) file from the same program.
There’s apparently a lot you can do to manipulate the cache data, but we haven’t even got into any of that. Just open the file and choose what devices you need to send the waypoints and cache info to.
IMO, if you already have a program you’re happy with, there’s not a lot of benefit going to GSAK, but it is essential, or at least very useful, for paperless. And we can’t say enough about paperless caching–once you have a database of hundreds of caches at the ready you’ll never go back to paper printouts. And you can do it for about $50. Now, to get a completely modern setup where you’re using something like a Trio and have wireless Internet in the field–that’ll set you back a lot more, but it would ensure you’re never using out of date cache info.
On the Left Side of the Road...We converted to GSAK after trying various other programs and “spinners.” It is a great tool because it allows a one-step conversion of PQs and supports both download to the GPSr (Lowrance Ifinder H20c) and to the Palm from the same PQ extract.
I know Marc has put on paperless caching meetings–but we’ll briefly state what has worked for us. We bought an old Palm VII on eBay for less than $20 and installed Cachemate on it–I think that was another $10. We liked GSAK so much we paid to get rid of the “nag screens” and that may have been another $20.
But when you figure how much you spend in paper and printer ink, not to mention the waste of hundreds of cache sheets, paperless is the way to go. Plus, with a fully stocked Palm you’re always ready to pick up that waypoint you unexpectedly drive by. (Well, we’ve gotten burned a few times by having out of date PQs, but that’s no different than if you have a folder of outdated log sheets in your caching bag.)
If there are specific questions anyone has about the process, be happy to answer them here or elsewhere. I know there are also several threads on the main gc boards about GSAK/paperless, which is where we started out when we looked into paperless.
On the Left Side of the Road...@Trekkin’ and Birdin’ wrote:
Trekkin’ has informed me he thinks his skiing days are over due to some weirdness in his feet from the beating they’ve taken running marathons.
I’d love to give a fellow marathon runner special dispensation but ya can’t get there w/o a long ski, hike, or bike!
However…..I could ski while he looks for others nearby. Hmmmm…..no school next week. We’ll see!
Well, most of the other ones out there (ours and others) are on the ground…could be a challenge. We actually updated the attributes of all our other caches there to “not available in winter,” after which they were promptly found multiple times! Go figure…
On the Left Side of the Road... -
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