GoLI Member Spotlight Questionnaire
April 2021: *Jeremy* (AKA ChiefGeocacher)
1. What does your cacher name mean?
My geocaching name is *Jeremy*. Originally it was N2BUF which is my ham radio call sign. After being introduced as the numbers letters guy I decided to change it. I wanted Jeremy but it was already taken by Jeremy Irish the co-founder of Groundspeak, the company that started Geocaching.com.
2. When did you start caching and how did you find out about it? I signed up 9/25/2009 and found my fist cache on 10/5/2009. Geocaching was suggested to me by a friend who is also a Ham Radio operator. He found one cache and stopped. When I tell him how many finds/hides I have he says “I created a monster”
3. Describe your first find.
I was introduced to geocaching almost 10 years ago and this was the first cache (GC1AP7M) I found. This was also the first cache I Did Not Find (DNF). I went out in search of a geocache with no idea what I was looking for and could not find the cache.
I went home and read the past logs. On my 2nd try I ended up standing in the middle of street and no cache in sight. How much fun is this geocaching hobby if you cannot find the cache?
I went home again and looked at the photos. On my 3rd try I found the cache! I felt like I accomplished something and could not believe it was right in front of me the entire time. Plenty of people walk past this cache and do not even notice it.
4. How many finds do you have?
a. Find count by type
Traditional 8147
Unknown 723
Virtual 277
Multi 188
Event 173
Letterbox Hybrid 93
Earth cache 58
Lab cache 255
Webcam cache 23
Wherigo 77
CITO 11
Mega event 9
Community Celebration event 1
Geocaching HQ Block Party 1
Giga event 1
Groundspeak HQ 1
Project Ape cache 1
b. Favorite find type?
c. Pick one favorite find? https://coord.info.GC7BA4H Reflection
Here is my log for the cache:
This was one of the toughest Virtual for me to do. On 9/11/2001 I was an active NYPD Detective. On a normal day prior to work I would take a walk to Border’s Bookstore which would have put me at ground level of the WTC. On this particular day I was at a Union Meeting in Howard Beach. Either I was lucky or it was not my time to die. The Union meeting was interrupted and everyone had to report for duty. 18 hour days became the norm. Staying at work rather than driving home exhausted to return hours later were not uncommon. Eating on boats near the current NYPD Memorial was our only food. I think the food was good but at the moment we would have eaten anything just for the energy. Our duties were to dig and pass on debris to look for anyone that was alive. Unfortunately, the only thing we found were deceased Firemen. Realizing that our bodies were ready to shut down we were ordered to go home. I arrived at home and smelled of death. I took off all of my clothes and threw them down the compactor. I walked into my apartment naked. I took a few showers and I could not get rid of the smell. My 3 boys who were young were in shock at how bad I looked and the awful smell. I went back to the site the next day and during a break we sat on chairs on West St under the Liberty Street Walkway. All of a sudden, we were getting hit with dirt and ran thinking another building was coming down. The atmosphere was very tense. We stopped and noticed that everyone was standing still and just staring at us. Apparently, we were sitting around a manhole which was covered with dirt and dust from the building. The pressure from under the manhole made the dirt and dust fly at us. We were able to laugh afterwards since people thought we were crazy. As days went on, we went back to our regular assignments. Soon after 9/11 I received a call from a Retired Sergeant who said I was recommended to be a Supervisor at Ground Zero for his security company. I jumped at the opportunity to go back. I worked my 40-hour week at the NYPD and 24-36 hours at Ground Zero. In addition to supervising the guards I was assigned to the family room. I felt that it was an honor to comfort the family members of the deceased. I met some incredible people. After 3 years I left because the hours were getting to me. As time went on, I learned of friends that were getting sick. One of the happiest Detectives I knew died of cancer related to 9/11. 16 years later A fellow coworker was diagnosed with the same cancer that his partner died of. I am thankful for everyday that I am here and I go yearly for my World Trade Center checkup. The memories of people holding water, thank you signs, American flags and donations of clothing are something that touches my heart. I was contacted by a Girl Scout Leader from Georgia and the girls made rice bags that we warmed up and put on our aches and pains. I gave these bags out to as many members of the NYPD that I could. On a Geocaching trip that took me through Georgia I knew I had to stop and personally thank the leaders of the troop. I had two helmets I wore at Ground Zero and gave them to the leaders. 16 years later and we still keep in touch. To all of the people that died at the World Trade Center terrorist attack may you rest in peace. I will never forget
Thank you to leckylove for a very touching and respectful Virtual.
5. How many caches have you hidden? 295
a. Hide count by type
Traditional 256
Multi 3 Event 14
CITO 7
Mystery 4
Lab 11
b. Favorite hide type?
Traditional. I enjoy showing people history or something interesting.
c. Pick one favorite cache that you’ve hidden?
Probably Triple Tree because it is my oldest active hide. Approaching 9 years old. https://coord.info/GC22HCB
6. Stats review -
a. How many state and country souvenirs? 45 states and 6 countries
b. Jasmer challenge? 3 times!
c. Fizzy challenge? Yes 1x
d. Streak? 27 consecutive days
e. Slump? 25 consecutive days
f. FTFs? 142
g. Best caching week? Weekend? 163 finds, from Monday 2017-04-24 to Sunday 2017-04-30
58 finds, on Saturday 2017-07-01 & Sunday 2017-07-02
7. Do you trade SWAG? Any signature SWAG items? I am a big SWAG trader but if I saw something my wife would like I traded for it.
I have a trading card that I had done as part of an event fundraiser
8. Like to move trackables? How many do you own? Yes and I own 123.
9. Cache with GPS or Phone? Both and sometime neither.
10. Do you have any geocaching goals? To keep enjoying finding caches.
11. Do you cache with anyone? Yes. I have cached with many people.
12. Tell a memorable caching story I used to cache with LegInfantry (Zoltan) RIP. Zoltan was in his 70s and I took him to a cache that had a very steep hill. I kept telling him that there is a road at the top of the hill. We bushwhacked the entire way up and down. It sounded like traffic was going by. I lied and he was not happy. Despite that this 70-year-old man made it back down to the path and kept cursing me. Yes, we did continue to cache after this. Zoltan passed away and now Mbomber33 (John Mitchell) does the same to me. I climbed a mountain because I needed ta particular cache. Mbomber33 lied!
13. Bucket list cache? None.
14. Besides geocaching, what else should we know about you?
I Retired as an NYPD Detective after serving 20 years. I worked in the busiest precinct in the world (44 Precinct). Being a cop in the South Bronx and a Detective in Vice Enforcement opened my eyes to things I never knew existed. I served 1 year as a Detective at the WTC Ground Zero and 2 years as a Security Supervisor. In addition to Geocaching I enjoy taking photos of my adventures.
15. What do you want GoLI to work on? Getting more people to hide caches and to educate the members on the rules of hiding. If we don’t hide, we have nothing to find. In addition to the above questions. Here are a few Geocaching related things.
· I am the Admin and Founder of the NYC Geocaching Facebook group
· I have appeared in the NY Daily News and The Wall Street Journal in Geocaching stories.
· I Am Chief Geocacher!