What your Logs say about you?

     REMEMBER TO COMMENT ON THIS POST ALONG WITH THE OTHER POSTS IN THE 7 POSTS IN 7 DAYS CONTEST TO WIN A SIGNED COPY BY THE AUTHORS OF 101 DEVIL CACHES GEOCACHING BOOK.  EASY ACCESS TO THEM ALL UNDER THE CONTEST TAB. THIS IS REALLY DAY 6 SO IF YOU ARE KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR ENTRIES, SORRY FOR THE NUMBERING ERROR.
     I am not sure if this post is more of a rant or post. If it is a rant, I hope it makes the bitchycacher (quenn of caching rants) proud. I also hope it inspires all of you to “Change your words.”  I am starting this with something that made me stop and take a long hard look at myself and my impact on this world with “My WORDS.” Please take a minute and a half to watch this video, it is worth it.

Change your Words Change the World…Gave me goose bumps and inspiration.

     Are you wondering how this relates to Geocahing? Besides the fact that the woman is probably a geocacher because she knows how to contribute to the world, it relates to the one area of caching that constantly drives me to cussing, LOGS.
     Have you ever spent hours placing an amazing cache only to receive a TFTC log? Have you ever found a cache with 20+ favorite points and amazing logs with 5 or 6 TFTH logs mixed in? Have you ever gone out of your way to stock a cache with awesome SWAG only to have someone take it and not even acknowledge it? Have you ever spent weeks planning an event only to have someone write “I was there.” I have been to a  few caches where the cache owner has asked the cachers to include a fact specific to the cache in the log and hardly anyone does. Unfortunately these logs happens all too often.
     Logging is a part of the game and it does matter. After we place a cache we have spent our time, money and creativity on, we are soo excited to read the logs. We check our e-mail constantly for days after the publishing just to read the logs. The logs make it worth it.
     We get so excited to read about how much fun someone had or something neat they saw while at ground zero. We especially love the stories of those traveling in the area and stopping by one of our caches. There have even been times when we have been discouraged about geocaching and we will get a good log and it takes the doubt away.
One example of a good log was submitted by chris geertsen. He attended our Flashin in Fashion event and he spent hours turning the pictures into a picture journal type log of the event and wrote about each picture. Here are some pictures to see them all go to Flashin in Fashion Event Page look in the gallery.


This was a fun ideal on how to submit a great log. You don’t have to spend hours creating a log but it is fun to submit a photo from time to time, especially of a travel bug.  There are other amazing logs. Not all amazing logs have to be lengthy, sometimes a few words can say it all. It is also how you word your logs.
What logs really say:

LOG	REAL MEANING
TFTC	To Friggin Tasteless to Contribute:to the logging portion of the game
Quick Park & Grab	I really had a hard time finding this but my ego is hurt and I won’t admit it
TNLN	Try Not Logging Next time. This log is worse than no log at all.
SL	Super Lazy
TFTH	Thanks For The Hint-I had to read the previous quality logs to find this one.
TNLNSL	Transit Not Located Near By So I Lied about finding it
TFTF	Time For The Fake log-generally submitted by an armchair cacher
TNTFC	Totally Neglected The Future of Caching

We are not saying you can’t throw a caching acronym in your log, however use them along with a real Thank You and additional comments. They are not meant as a complete log.
Things to think about when logging a cache:

• Did I thank the owner?
• Are there any logging requests by the owner I can include? Example*if cache is Matchbox car themed and asks finders to list their favorite car.
• On cut and paste logs, have created a log I would want to read over and over again?
• Could my log help another cacher find the cache?
• Is this a log I would like to receive?

Your log is part of the cache and there until it is archived, make sure it is worthy to be part of the cache. I am not saying all caches are great and sometimes it is hard to think of things to write on caches that are not your favorite, in that case write of your adventure to or from the cache, the scenery or your caching companions.
Are you wondering how your logging skills rate? Go find out, My Geocaching Profile under the Miscellaneous stats is your average log length stat. You can also find this in GSAK. Below is my average found it log length stat:
 
This is a fun way to see how your logs measure up.
I hope this post has inspired you to take a few extra minutes on your logs. Or maybe inspired you to become a better cacher by making your contribution to geocaching with your quality logs. Everyone adds something to the game, you might be a hider, a finder, a hider/finder, an event host or a rookie, whatever your role is you will enjoy it more by simply taking a few extra moments to submit a quality log. Who knows, your log might inspire a new hide, make someone's day, or change the face of the geocaching world.
Remember change your words and change the world! Please use this inspiration in your everyday life.
Happy Caching!