Cache Owner Needs Maintenance...

[+NorthWes]

Our local 'Master Mystery Cache Placer' and good geocaching buddy Scobey was injured during a recent cache hunt. The sordid details (such as: it was a Beta Test, and the accident occured in his own driveway) as well as six more cartoons detailing the incident (made up as an "Iconographic Short Story" - and yes, Scobey must have a thing for nurses - he's got a string of caches named after them!) can be seen in my post on the cache in question (221B Baker St - the Case of a Deep Puzzle!). In honor of his tenacity and stature as a 'Master Mystery Cache Placer' I whipped up a new cache icon...

 

It's called "CACHE OWNER NEEDS MAINTENANCE"...

 

Scobey's recovering at home from a "Proximal femur fracture of the greater Trochander" (he broke his upper leg bone right where it connects to the hip...). We're sort of shivering with anticipation - all he can do is sit at home by the computer, working on new caches to place for the rest of us to find! And yes... we have considered the possibility that his fall was 'engineered' by fellow cachers in order to 'lock him down' for a time to foster his cache-placing creativity... but we discarded any notion to pursue that line of investigation once we saw the lengths the Ladybug Kids (Scobey's on-scene savior & caching partner that evening) went to in order to maximize Scobey's exposure to the ER nurses... at great cost to his own much-needed sleep! Nope - nothing but a simple accident... and now "CACHE OWNER NEEDS MAINTENANCE"...

 

(spelling edit... errr... yeah)

Edited March 8, 2007 by NorthWes

[+scobey]

Our local 'Master Mystery Cache Placer' and good geocaching buddy Scobey was injured during a recent cache hunt. The sordid details (such as: it was a Beta Test, and the accident occured in his own driveway) as well as six more cartoons detailing the incident (made up as an "Iconographic Short Story" - and yes, Scobey must have a thing for nurses - he's got a string of caches named after them!) can be seen in my post on the cache in question (221B Baker St - the Case of a Deep Puzzle!). In honor of his tenacity and stature as a 'Master Mystery Cache Placer' I whipped up a new cache icon...

 

It's called "CACHE OWNER NEEDS MAINTENANCE"...

 

Scobey's recovering at home from a "Proximal femur fracture of the greater Trochander" (he broke his upper leg bone right where it connects to the hip...). We're sort of shivering with anticipation - all he can do is sit at home by the computer, working on new caches to place for the rest of us to find! And yes... we have considered the possibility that his fall was 'engineered' by fellow cachers in order to 'lock him down' for a time to foster his cache-placing creativity... but we discarded any notion to pursue that line of investigation once we saw the lengths the Ladybug Kids (Scobey's on-scene savior & caching partner that evening) went to in order to maximize Scobey's exposure to the ER nurses... at great cost to his own much-needed sleep! Nope - nothing but a simple accident... and now "CACHE OWNER NEEDS MAINTENANCE"...

 

(spelling edit... errr... yeah)

 

The cacher needing maintenance is doing better. Another 2-4 weeks of crutches. I will be thinking about new and more evil caches as well as several Earthcaches.

 

The cacher needs maintenance would look good on the back of a personal geocoin

[crtrue]

Placed cache owner in plastic bag. Was completely soaked.

[+NorthWes]

Placed cache owner in plastic bag. Was completely soaked.

Hmmm... I think he fell on ice this time... the fall where he got completely soaked was over a year ago up on the Little Susitna River. No bag along that time - the precious cachemobile's leather seats got a bit - damp!

 

Yes - Scobey's sense of humor is part of what makes him so fun to cache with - that, and his evil hides! The good news is that with quick 'maintenance' on the part of his first responder (the Ladybug Kids) and his med team it looks like he's gonna recover with 'just' a couple of weeks on crutches.

[+fairyhoney]

 

It's called "CACHE OWNER NEEDS MAINTENANCE"

Ever consider making a coin about this? This would make a terrific Icon for something about hazards of caching!

[+Ladybug Kids]

 

It's called "CACHE OWNER NEEDS MAINTENANCE"

Ever consider making a coin about this? This would make a terrific Icon for something about hazards of caching!

Working on it!!!

[+Ladybug Kids]

A geocoin commemorating Scobey's slip is now on sales. Details may be found over in this thread.

[+Ga_Druid]

While geocaching on the pinhote trail in north Georgia I got into a yellowjacket nest. I was stung, being severly allergic to bee sting I had a severe reaction. The temp that day was 90+ degree's I always carry an Epipen and had to use it quickly. My wife was with me and helped we had to do a four mile hike out. Had to stop and lay down on the trail several time's. It took three days to recover from the bee sting. This geocaching trip very nearly ended disastrously, by the way this one was a DNF and we have not been back!

[Beathag]

Biking on the River Walk in Chattanooga Tn and Geocaching,Dumped my Bike and broke my elbow while on the way to another cache, DNF due to my broken elbow and trip to the Hospial

[+CC]

I was searching for a cache while on lunch break. I slipped and felling into an immeasurable abyss lined with concrete. Luckily, most my injuries were superficial but I was in excruciating pain from a severely dislocated finger. I laid my hand on the concrete wall an gave a valiant attempt to relocate it. I even tried to pull on it but nearly threw up from the hurtin'. It was about 90 minutes before I was treated by the Dr. It still hurts to bend it and has a bit less range than the other.

 

During my fall, in mid air, I tossed my Palm and my new Garmin 60cx into the air towards the softer dirt. Unfortunately, the Garmin took a scratch right across the lens.

 

See my log for details plus a nice x-ray image!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...3f-9067a7b4775f

[+Frozen Buns]

Since I would scare everyone if I posted a picture of what my body is looking right just about now I will just tell you that being highly allergic to Poison Oak, Ivy and Sumac and completly addicted to geocaching you can imagine what I start to look like usually by mid summer.

Got an early start this year as I took out a young lady to introduce her to caching and yep, you got it. Right into the biggest clump of Poison Ivy you have ever seen. Needless to say when I went wading at the next cache and rolled my jeans up it transfered to the back of my knees and legs - so I am covered in rashes and welts head to toe. My Doctor just shook her head and said that when I end up in the hospital like I almost did last year maybe I'll learn.

 

Guess it gets into your blood just like caching

 

If any one has tips on how to get rid of it let me know.

[kd5kuf]

If any one has tips on how to get rid of it let me know.

 

This won't cure it, but may relieve and ease the symptoms (itching and burning) enough to help you sleep. Take as hot a bath or shower as you can comfortably stand and along with Benadryl, it will reduce the histamines in your skin to ease the discomfort. This actually helps with many kinds of routine allergy problems by burning up histamine (what antihistamines do) but consult a doctor if it is an acute reaction or you are prone to life threatening reactions. Forget the home remedies in that case.

Edited June 5, 2007 by kd5kuf

[+mamid]

I want one of those coins! I fell and broke my toe a few months ago now and it just doesn't want to heal. Okay, I shattered it.

 

That would be a coin I would buy just to keep!

[+tw3nty3ight]

This past weekend while caching with my 6 year old for his B-day I slid down the hill while doing the bee dance and have a bone spur and some rock rash according to my muggle of a doctor

[+Salty-Eagle]

Not sure if this will count for a gold coin, (I've already ordered a couple of the others anyway), but a couple months ago, while I was out cachin' in Salt Lake City, a lady ran a red light, and T-boned an F-350 Dually. She hit it so hard that it swung 360*, and into my Geocachemobile, a little Ford Ranger. While I, nor anyone else was hurt, (other than the vehicles), my little cachin' buddy was totaled. I can provide pictures, but it's SO sad to see it all crumpled up like that..

 

Couldn't even glue her back together, had to let her Rest in peace, and do without my little buddy for a while..

[+thBriGuy]

Heh! I just found out about the coin, and then this thread, so I thought I should share my story.

 

I live in the desert of Southern California, so sometime we go caching on the quadrunners. Well, on April 14 of this year, my buddy called me up in the morning and asked me if I wanted to go riding and take him to one of my caches that is about 5 miles out from home, so we hopped on the quads and headed out. We got to the top of the hill (cliff, actually) where I had placed the cache, but it was missing. Yep, I DNFed my own cache. So we were looking for a safe way to get home, and apparently, the trail I chose down the hill was too steep, too sandy, and had a big patch of rocks, so when I drove over the edge, the quad went way too fast, then went tumbling, with me in front of it! Along with many abrasions over my arms legs and torso, I broke my front tooth, punched a hole through my lower lip, fractured my elbow which is now held together with a titanium plate and 8 various screws, and I lost 2 months from work. All this from seeking my own cache.

 

This really is my post op X-ray, not photoshopped!

 

-=Brian=-

[+Keruso]

i guess this needs an updated injury

 

my knee, i guess you can call a trick knee, decided to do a trick on me while i was helping my caching partner place a new cache of his (which got disabled anyway) up on a STEEP hill. you guys know when you get that "oh SH!T" moment when you feel like something is about to happen to you, i had that. I was a third of the way up the hill when i had that moment, my knee gave out, and i went rolling down the hill. a couple muggles on bikes who were passing by had asked if i was alright, i said i would be once i put my knee back in, which hurts like HE double hockeysticks when it goes out and comes back in. I hobbled around as my caching partner went up the hill to look for a place to hide his cache. then we tried to go caching at a place where there was a rock slide,a cache called Indian Cave (GCHV3A), i went up the hill and decided that i wasn't good to go on my leg. we went back to that cache when i got my knee brace about 6 months later

[+The Dream Cachers]

This was our 2nd attempt to find the elusive Murphyville GC14994 cache.

It was raining, but that's no excuse. I should have been more careful.

Looking around in an Australian Pine and a branch slid under my eyelid.

Ouch!!!

A quick trip to the eye clinic and about $100 later, I'm glad it wasn't worse.

I think the gold LE edition will make it feel better.

[+Ladybug Kids]

Looks like I should have cross posted over here from the Geocoin Forum where the coin orders were being managed:

 

As per this post in the Geocoin Forums on July 9, all gold versions of the Cacher Needs Maintenance Coin have been claimed.

 

We finally competed the move from Fairbanks to Anchorage, got the desktop back up and running, and just came off a one-week long outage of phone/DSL.

 

All orders received as of this morning will ship today. Some folks posted injuries and ordered a gold after it was posted that the gold coins were all claimed. I will be sending those folks e-mails to see if they want their orders filled with the black nickel version of the coin.

 

GeocacheAlaska! still has Micromosquito and black nickel Cacher Needs Maintenance coins and pins available for shipment.

 

Sorry about the extended silence...didn't mean to drop out of sight for a full month. Caching and coining back on!!!

[+Gus]

I'm a certified EMT and always carry a well stocked first aid kit when out caching. Although I have never personally had any major injuries, (knock on wood), I have had to patch up several caching friends on several different occasions while hiking in the hills and mountains surrounding Las Vegas. The worst injury I've had to patch up was caused by a rock slide that came down on a friends leg causing profuse bleeding of the anterior portion of her shin.

[+Doc Geo]

It was I, Doc Geo, and wife, looking for a cache at night (back in 2005) when I looked up after crouching under some branches and put the end of a dried-out cedar branch in my eye. I couldn't see out of it for hours. I figured it will either get better or it won't and there was nothing I could do about that then so we did some one-eyed caching, and then I got talked into going to the emergency room. They gave me a tetanus shot, antibiotics and stained the eye so they could see that I had a corneal abrasion....

 

Please! If you must bushwhack at night without eye protection, look up first, THEN step forward... (not the other way around)

 

Doc Geo

[+Semper Questio]

Scobey's pathtag led me here. Here's my story.

 

I was hunting a micro fitting called "Humpty Dumpty" for which I climbed a 20-25 ft. retaining wall. I got to the top, looked a bit, then started feeling a little tired. Having no safety gear I knew better than to go beyond the 'starting to feel tired' stage, so I started down. At 1 point I had my feet set, I was getting my right hand positioned, and the block I was holding with my left hand came out.

 

I fell 15-16', managed to do a 'hit-and-roll', but I initially impacted squarely on both heels on a concrete sidewalk. Both heels were compeltely shattered. 2 weeks later I had surgery involving plates, pins, and many screws.

 

Now I'm in a wheelchair and will be for a while yet. With any luck I'll start going to therapy to start putting weight on my feet and learning how to walk again in early May.

[+Lotho]

Compared to the above post, this is nothing, but recently whilst placing a cache i managed to sprain my shoulder mildly and had to go easy on iit for a few days. Sorry to hear about your experience semper.

[+summ01]

I'm brand new to geocaching, and at this late date, there's probably no more pins left, but this is our story.

Although there was no blood or hospital required, (and no pictures taken,) we did have a few moments of excitement on our Rugged Island cache (U.S.E.D 1943) My husband, son and I were hiking with our dog up to the site. Found the WWII buildings and decided to explore a little before seaching for the cache. We always carry a backpack with "just in case supplies", etc. but didn't even think about it as we went into the dark bunker. As our eyes adjusted to the dark, my husband used a stick to check for possible obstuctions and holes. We were almost to the exit at the other side and could see clearly that there was a 2 ft square hole in the floor. No problem, just hug the wall and walk right by. I guess someone forgot to explain that to our dog. (who knew she couldn't see the hole. Dogs are suppose to have better eyesight than us, right?)

We had held on to her all the way through the bunker but mistakenly thought she would avoid the hole and she immediately fell in. My heart stopped as I watcher her disappear into a dark hole of unknown depth. My first reaction was total disbelief, then as my husband used a stick to check the depth, I ran out and searched the backpack for our flashlight. DUH!!! When I ran back in he had figured out the hole was about 6 ft deep. EEEK! No sound was coming from the hole. I was terrified to look. As I shined the light down the hole, there she was calmly sitting in the bottom looking up at us, without a scratch, trying to figure out how to get out. She must have landed on her feet just like a cat. On the wall of the hole were metal ladder rungs, my son climbed down and lifted the dog back to safety. (I hate to think what would have happened if one of her paws had caught on one of the rungs on the way down.

Needless to say, we now know that there is a flashlight in the pack that will be used when entering dark places, along with a leash that has been added for keeping her close when exploring. We've done so much back country hiking, and she always stays so close, it didn't even dawn on us that she might not see the hole and know to avoid it. (trust me, I'm still beating myself up about it.)

So, no blood or hospitals, but definitely a few scary moments that shaved a couple of years off my life.

(Does nearly having a heart attack count for getting a "cacher needs maintenance" pin? )

And btw, we did find the cache, right after we stopped shaking.

[+TeamHarpo516]

Just picked this one up - a few weeks ago (no blood & guts) we were caching on the North Shore, approaching the edge of a bit of a sheer drop off to the beach quite a distance below. We carefully approached the edge to have a look when it dawned on me that normally there's some kind of railing/barrier but none there that day! Should have heeded that instinct because about the same time, I stepped forward with my left foot and felt it go down, down, down! Turns out I had found the empty post hole which must have been 6' or more in depth. For once my mind came to life and I relaized that if I fell completely forward onto my face, I would indeed snap my leg and how in the world would we be able to get help considering where we were! I threw my arms out in front of me and kind of did a "V" shape which stopped my face first fall and stopped my leg from going in the hole further - at this point, it was already up to the knee! After a moment of getting over that UH OH feeling, I got my leg and foot out of the hole and we filled it so others wouldn't suffer a similar or worse fate. We also looked for the 2nd post hole that should have been there but it must have already been filled in! I now listen a little closer to that "gut" feeling when I have it and I certainly keep a closer eye on where my feet go! Whew.........