Everyone here seems to be quick to Judge after my recent posting of a Sea Kayak for sale.

Only one user actually greeted me personally and without judgment. That person even took the time to ask me about myself and my geocaching past. I am not normally one to anger quickly or to acknowledge negative comments with more negative comments. This is why I responded to the one individual who was positive with a personal e-mail, but did not respond in kind to the other accusations and comments. However in order to put the record straight I will summarize things for the benefit of all.


First off my Geocaching History:

I was first introduced to Geocaching about 5 to 6 years ago. For a summer I did a short term rental of an apartment above our garage. one week a man from Connecticut stayed with us and during talks with him he gave me the whole run down of the Technological Treasure Hunting known as Geo Caching. I thought it was very interesting and would have started right then if I could afford a GPS unit.

I have unintentionally come across a couple of Geo Caches in my hikes and travels, but since I did not have a GPS and the find was accidental I have not logged them. Just recently I have just obtained my first GPS unit (last Dec. 2007). So I am now equipped to start Geo Caching and will do so on my occasional journeys with my family across this great nation of ours. However, the last couple of months (4 to be exact) I have not had the opportunity to get out with my GPS and go on any High Tech Hide & Seek ventures. I will not bore you with my personal life's obligations, down turns, obstacles, etc... that limit my time available to geo cache to a level that others on this site are able to. I do plan on trying to officially locate some local Geo Caches this summer when I am finally able to get out and about.


Second Posting Etiquette:

Before posting the 17' Dimension Nomad Sea Kayak with rudder kit for sale on the Geo Caching Maine website I did research first. I looked to see what posting policies existed and there where know listed that restricted my posting of the kayak as a new member. I also used rational judgment in posting the item by placing it in the proper forum called "Buy & Sell". I also reasoned that it was an appropriate item since it is something that can be used by geo cachers. Also in my process of setting a sale price ($850) I did a search on a popular search engine for the brand of Kayak I was selling and the Geo Caching Maine website was actually one of the websites listed at the top of the search list, since there was a member of the site from Campobello island (which is right down the road from Machias, Maine where my kayak is located) that was inquiring into information about a Dimension Nomad that they where looking at buying. So this information affirmed to me that posting my sea kayak for sale on the Geo Caching Maine website would be appropriate.

As for placing other posts in other forums before I post something in the "buy & sell" forum, I did look to see if there where any policies or required etiquette information. The only thing I found was the general forum use policy, which states that you can not post commercial sales or solicitations, and my posting was not commercial or a solicitation. Not finding anything that would state I could not post my sea kayak for sale I posted my sea kayak for sale.


The reason for my posting of the item for sale:

I would not normally post the following information, since I believe that this information is not needed or necessary to buyers of the item I am selling. But to help the curb the negative comments of those on this site that are quick to judge I will list it.

The sea kayak was given to me by my father to sell so that the money from the sale can be used for the education of my daughter. None of the money from the sale of the Sea Kayak will be used by me or anyone else other than my daughter for her school tuition.

Me and posting:

I am not a very social person. Not to say that I am hard to get along with. It is just that my personality is one of quietness and I am not one to jump into talks with others. Also my time available to spend on posting is limited. If there is a post that I find I need to reply to I will. Likewise if I have news or information that I believe should be shared with other members I will post it. If one of the requirements of being a member of this site is to post on a regular basis I will post, but most likely those posts will be short and to point of "good point member abc123" or "wow... that is neat".


The summary to a long winded e-mail:

In short I did not post the item I had for sale as a fly by night posting and did use rational thinking and research prior to posting it. As for my geo caching I had been interested and at times excited about starting geo caching. However, after seeing some of the comments of members of this site I wonder about their friendliness and willingness to accept new members without question. It almost seems like there is a what's in it for them and what does the new member have to offer approach on the site. I understand that not all members are quick to judge and given there was one member who sided with my posting and one who criticized, but also at least said "welcome to the site". One member even said that I did not was not a valid member on geocaching.com, which is not true. Someone else already had Wolf207 on that site, so I had to use Wolf207ME. so please do not confuse me with Wolf207 on the geocaching.com site. Overall this experience makes me feel less likely to want to participate in the geocachingmaine.org website. My thoughts are why do I have to post my cache finds. Isn't it enough for me to have the personal accomplishment of finding them without posting the numbers for everyone to rank me.

Anyways I hope this puts an end to the criticism from members of this site and will help in preventing other new members from being put thru an inquisition when they first
join.

My only question is how many posts are required or what must a new member do before they can post an item for sale?