[Az-Geocaching] survey of sorts...

[Brent Milner]

Here's my survey.
- FroBro Q-Tip


1) How did you get introduced to Geo Caching?
- Someone who found one of my wheresgeorge.com dollar bills mentioned
geocaching in their log entry. I forwarded the website to the other FroBros,
and FroBro Goose was immediately addicted. He took me out on a hunt a couple
weeks later, and I've been hooked ever since.

2) How long have you been a Geo Cacher?
- Almost a whole two months. (June 30, 2002)

3) What is your present GPS'r?
- Garmin eMap

    a) What was your first GPS'r?
	 Garmin eMap

    b) How many units have you owned?
	 One

    c) What unit(s) would you recommend to new cachers?
	 FroBro Goose owned a Garmin eTrex, but the Garmin eMap is much easier to
use.

4) How long did it take to locate your first cache?
- About 20 minutes. Four of the five FroBros went to look for the
"Tranquility or Cacophony?" urban cache in Chandler. There was so much tree
coverage that we kept losing the satellite signal.

5) What has been your most memorable cache?
- Probably "The Mummy's Treasure"

    a) Why?
- The cache is located on top of Mummy Mountain, and my wife and I were
scurrying to find it while a monsoon raced in on us. I took some pictures up
here, which I uploaded to the site at:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cachelog_details.asp?ID=79640&L=486691

6) What has been your least favorite cache?
- "Round and Round we go!" by my fellow FroBro, Goose.

    a) Why?
- I spent too much time driving around looking for a place to park. Then it
got dark and I could not find this camoflaged cache. I had to call Goose on
my cell phone and interupt his darts tournament so that he could help me
find it. The cache was good, I just wasn't too smart about finding it.

7) What factors dictate which cache you go looking
for?
- So far, I've just gone looking for anything close by. If someone puts
extra effort into it (i.e. puzzles, unique cache container, themed goodies,
travel bugs, etc.) I will make the same extra effort to go find it. I also
like to go places where the view is extraordinary, because I like to take
pictures of every cache I visit. I upload these to the website if they turn
out well.

8) How many other Geo Cachers have you met while on a
caching hunt?
- None, as far as I know. People may have been spying on me without my
knowledge. I've only found 13 caches, though.

9) Has that meeting changed the way you cache?

10) When unable to locate a cache how long do you search?
- I never give up, even if I have to call the cache owner begging and
pleading without shame.

    a) How many attempts before logging a no-find?
	Failure is not an option, Private Q-Tip! :)

    b) Do you contact the cache owner for help?
	I wait as long as I can before calling. Then I blubber like a baby. I have
no shame.

    c) Do you ask other cachers for help?
	Yes, if I had your phone number, I would call you at 2am before giving up
on a cache. :)

11) When driving around are you tempted to go and look again at caches you
have found before?
- Naw. I always glance towards the cache location to see if anyone else is
geocaching.

12) What has been the best trinket in a cache?
- I really like the little Sand Dollar I got yesterday. That's the coolest
thing I've found in my two months of experience.

13) What has been the worst trinket in a cache?
- Little plastic lizards and other stuff you can get in one of those grocery
store 5-cent machines.

14) Do you leave a signature item?
- No, although I have put a FroBro Q-Tip sticker on a couple of the logs.

    a) Are you considering your own?
	- Not yet

    b) Who has the most notable?
	- I have only seen a couple. Like I said before, the little miniature Sand
Dollar was cool.

15) When in a populated area waiting to retrieve a cache what things do you
do to pass the time?
- I take pictures of the general area where the cache is hidden. If I just
happen to take a few pictures of the people, and they notice me taking
pictures of them, they will generally get intimidated by the camera and
depart. :)

    a) While waiting what was the worst thing to have happen?
- Nothing bad has happened yet. I imagine someone will eventually try break
my camera or sue me for taking their picture.

    b) What has been the best thing?
- I have gotten some really nice shots of the scenery.

16) Do you practice Cache in Trash out?
- Yes.

17) What's the one piece of advice you'd want to give to every Neocacher, so
they wouldn't have to learn it the hard way?
- Go out with friends on your first cache. Schedule four or five easy ones,
if they're nearby. Bring a digital camera!

What if you get caught by someone?
- I usually pretend that I'm making a film documentary, since my camera
looks professional enough. If they approach me, I may explain geocaching to
them, but I won't lead them to the cache.

How the heck do so many of you find soooooo many caches?  I know you work
for money, so where do you
find the time?
I try to go out after work one day a week. I can probably get four caches
before it gets too dark for the camera. But then again, I'm not exactly the
shining example of someone who has a ton of caches.