Temporarily Disabled Good Boy

With such busy-ness, there wasn't a lot of time energy to devote to hunting for containers. I'd gotten an email from dominook a while ago about Good Boy! (GC147JP) and his descriptions lent to the sureness of it being MIA. It took until August 17 before I could check on it and until today for me to temporarily disable it. Frankly, I'm ashamed but my hands and time have really been tied on this. It's bad timing to have to tend to stuff. What's worse is that I never found the time to tell Mr. HH so he could do something about it!

So, it's temporarily disabled now until I can replace it, or Mr. HH can replace it. We need a sticker to say "No Trash - No Basura" to make sure that it doesn't go anywhere. I think we also have to give in and just put in some flowers.

We still have a geocoin, so we will be back geocaching soon to keep it moving.

Terrain restrictions + News item

Since Mr. HH's doctor didn't call in his pain prescription renewal before the weekend - he still requires some assistance with post-surgery pain - we're not ambition to do anything beyond a 1.5 terrain. That goes for just about everything. I'm still itching to go on the four-mile hike for Sable Trace (GC11Z20) and am willing to do it with only water, garmin, ipod, and nextel by my side. The Iron Ranger (GCHGTT) is also there.

I think Mr. HH wants to save Sable Trace until he can kayak it in. He really misses kayaking.

Yesterday, we did find:

• Tour de Smiles #7 - Toys (GCQ1BZ) - a quick hide in GoofyButterfly's intentionally easy park & grab series meant to rebuild the broken spirits of DNF-laden cachers. This one was high muggle and Mr. HH had to do it because I just wasn't comfortable.
• Tour de Smiles #6 - Olean (GCQ1BW) - another part of GoofyButterfly's series. I grabbed this one from its obvious spot and got it back no problems.

In the news of geocaching and national security, Sterling Silver (GC1016Q) was blown up by the Greeley bomb squad at the request of the Sterling Police Department (Sterling, Colorado) on July 26, 2007. Checking the logs of the cache, it would appear that OhioYankee wasn't very stealthy, especially since his rehide was described as "throw [it] into the bushes". Can't you sit on the curb nearby with the box open, still hidden in the bush, sign the log, play with your phone, tie your shoelaces, and then discreetly push the box back? A regular cache in an ammo box on bank property probably isn't the smartest hide, but it was found 36 times in seven months without a problem.

...Hat tip to paksen on the geocaching livejournal community for the story.

- Mrs. HH

What a tangled web we weave

Real life left no room for geocaching today but we did root around at Di-'sep-sh&n for a little bit. Mr. HH is becoming very frustrated as we're running out of places to look. I have the suspicion that we've already found it, maybe several times, and just don't know what we're looking at. A hint would be welcome but who could give a hint? Only the dajoneses have found it so far!

There's only half a million other caches in the area to find so we might have to just return after we're more experienced to look at it with keener eyes.

- Mrs. HH

50th Find

Tonight we reached our fiftieth cache find milestone.

We went out before dinner because we heard the distant thunder and wanted to pick up five finds before it started to rain.

We found:

• Tour de Smilies Deux #5 - The Mall (GCWZD0) - It took a minute but it was found.
• WHERE THE GEO GOES! (GC126Y7) - xj5teacher couldn't have made it clearer if there was a neon arrow pointing to it.
• Tour de Smilies #8 - Got Books? (GCWZCN) - The park & grabs are quick fun when we aren't able to go long distances because of time or health. It keeps us caching.
• STOP & Search Lows (GC10M3Z) - This was an exercise in stealth.
• EnTryDeNied (GC13CMX) - I could've yodeled while standing on my head and nobody would have cared. I made a wrong turn on the way and had to hop back out on 41 to come into the parking lot the right way. I was following my GPS instead of consulting common sense.

We DNF'd:

• Di-'sep-sh&n (GC13CN7) - GAH! We got caught in the rain on this one because we just couldn't let it go. It has to be there. Where is it? Where is it? If it weren't for the lightning, we would've continued to hunt through the rain. I was tempted to sign Team Crime Scene's rock. This aint no lamppost skirt park & grab, that's for sure.

- Mrs. HH

First To Find

The first two hides we'd done weren't found in over a month. The hides ever since are found within two days of publishing.

It's amazing that cachers respond so quickly!

- Mrs. HH

Safety In Caching

We didn't do any caching tonight so I've decided to issue a Public Service Announcement.

Northwoods Geocaching has the following safety tips [link]:

1. Geocache with a buddy. That way, if you run into any trouble, take a tumble or just get lost, you’re not alone. Plus, geocaching is much more fun with family and friends.
2. Tell someone where you’re going and when you’ll be back.
3. Consider bringing along water and some basic emergency equipment. Cell phones can come in handy in emergency situations.
4. Be aware of what’s around you. For example, don’t concentrate so hard on your GPS that you walk into a tree or into a stream.
5. Keep an eye on the weather and dress appropriately.

These are five excellent safety tips! Numbers 1 and 3 mention "trouble" and "emergency situations". What immediately comes to my mind is getting stuck, becoming injured or running into a very unfriendly wild boar, bobcat, bear, or Florida panther. What doesn't come to my mind or the mind of many of the people I've talked to is assault.

Let's face it, the woods have eyes in Florida. I like to believe in the goodness of humanity but I'm not naïve anymore.

One day last year, I went to Franz Ross Park by myself to take pictures and hunt a cache that's no longer active. I took this beautiful shot of the path leading behind the shelter.

I took the walk because there was a homeless man in the shelter and I didn't want to search around in the brush in front of him since that's where my GPS was telling me the cache was. I figured I'd take my photographs first and then eventually come back to the spot.

Well, he started following me and hollaring after me. I'd been approached by homeless people before and if I have something to give, I'll give it if they ask. I've also had nice chats. People are people. I had gone out solely to hunt a couple caches, record for EVPs at Restlawn Memorial Gardens, and take photographs around Port Charlotte. I had no money or food to share.

Unfortunately, I got a different vibe from him from the moment he hollared, "GIRL! HEY!" at me. I turned to face him and walked backwards, watching him as he jogged up to me. He looked me up and down, stuck out his tongue, and proceeded to describe how long it had been since he'd had sex and how nice and secluded this part of the park was. I told him I wasn't interested, that I am married and have four children who need me. I even remember telling him that I'm not on birth control and one more pregnancy could kill me (that's the truth, too). He kept pace with me as I walked faster, continuing on to share his opinion of my looks and gave a very detailed and grotesque offer that wasn't really an offer. At this moment, I did the math. He was larger and stronger, I can't outrun a gopher turtle, I couldn't remember any of my self-defense training, I had no weapons except for the damage I could do by using my camera and my GPS unit as clubs to his skull and genitals, and there was no one who could hear me scream... and if they did, would they even respond or know how to get to me? I'd forgotten one thing that I had on my person that saved me, my phone! I was reminded when Mr. HH DC'd (direct connected, a/k/a walkie-talkie) me from his Nextel to mine. "[Beep Beep] Hey, baby, where ya at?" his voice bellowed through as if Divine Intervention had given him perfect timing. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and before I could push the button to respond, the man was running back through the path. "Hold on." I told Mr. HH and jogged around the other side of the path and watched the man bike away.

I did not report him to the police. It honestly didn't occur to me. I just use my experience as a warning for others not to venture out unprepared. Franz Ross Park is a populated and well-used park. It has police surveillance often. I was supposedly safe there. Not so. Anyone can be victim at any time in any place. The crime depends on what the attacker wants to do, not what the victim is doing.

This is not only a warning for women to be careful. This is also a warning for men. Men can also be overpowered, taken by surprise, and attacked for a number of reasons, some of them being the same reasons that women are attacked. Watching a GPS can distract us from our environment, like is mentioned in the above list's #4. While we are supposed to keep an eye out for muggles, it might be harder to spot the people who don't wish to be seen while they watch us.

I carry mace everywhere now and my mace doubles as a baton. I have cached with the oldest little HauntHunter for fun regular and small sized caches in the area but have mostly cached with Mr. HH or the whole HauntHunters crew. I always have my phone and feel a bit of panic now that I hear Sprint is going to discontinue Nextel's DC service. Bad Sprint!

Cache with a buddy, keep your eyes open, don't talk to strangers, and stay safe!

- Mrs. HH

New Waymarking Group

We received an offer to be an officer for a new waymarking category for Plantations. I'd been entertaining the idea of helping manage a category for some time now but felt uncomfortable climbing on board this one.

I'm a yankee and I do love history and Old Florida but, again, I'm a yankee. I see plantations as different things than maybe a native Southerner would. To me, they represent slavery and prosperity on the domination of others. To me, they represent empty pride and braggart natures. While I think we need to preserve that history in a way to remind us that we are always capable of control, cruelty, inhumanity and racism (and, furthermore, what forms of these things are we still acting out today), I don't think that's really the somber and disturbing tone that the Leader is looking for.

The Old Florida that I love is oak hammocks shading white-washed two-room shotgun shacks, banjo picking, gators in the canal, spanish moss drifting from oak branches in a gentle breeze, grassy roads, unincumbered wildlife, etc etc etc. The Old Florida I adore is lower class, if anything, and as carefree and easy-going as can be. Snook Haven is a good example.

I politely declined and I hated to do it because it was a group, but honestly, I think I'd rather help manage Fairy Doors than something that glorifies the so-called magnificence of the upper class Old South.

- Mrs. HH