Posted in the Groundspeak forum by TheAlabamaRambler.

It's 11 p.m. and four carloads of us are caching wagon-train style.

We get to International Park cache at an office park by a lake. There's a walking path around the lake with picnic benches and such, and a wooden bridge over the lake to the back side, where the cache is located.

We park and seven of us head out across the bridge, leaving WD4BSU with young RedneckSon at the cars.

Just as we get to the cache site and start looking RedneckGal's phone rings. We look across the lake and there are yellow lights flashing at the parked cars.

Ooops.

It's WD4BSU on the phone, telling us that Security wants us gone.

"OK, be there in a minute."

We look for the cache.

In a few minutes the phone rings again. WD4BSU reminds his spouse that as a State Trooper he does not need to be arrested for trespassing. We need to come back.

We step up the search. Decide that we'll give it just 2 more minutes.

Ring. It's WD4BSU, who wants to know what part of NOW we don't understand. His beloved tells us "We better not take too long, he sounded a bit tense."

Found the cache, whew, sign it quickly and head back.

We get back to the cars and WD4BSU is quietly laughing, being lectured to by a 70-something-year-old Security Guard. Discretion, good sense or fear has prevented him from explaining to this geezer that he's a state cop.

I walk up to the Guard, introduce myself and explain what we are doing... "Hi", shake his hand "I am Ed Manley and we're playing a game called geocaching yada yada yada..." and tell him that the property management company knows that the cache has been there for over a year and that cachers have permission to hunt it, leaving out the part about 'though probably not at night'.

He's not buying my story completely, but he does get that we're not doing anything bad. He seems like a nice enough old fellow who found himself broke in his old age and ended up patrolling parking lots. He wasn't quite sure how to go about this 'being a cop' business. You can tell that he thinks that some action is required, but he's not sure what. Still, you can tell that he thinks he needs to do something official. So he starts patting his pockets and, not finding anything, asks us if we have something to write on. Uh, no. Sorry Sir, nothing. He goes to his car and retrieves a used paper napkin from the refuse of his dinner sack.

Says, "I will need your name." Well, I had just introduced myself! So I say "Homer Simpson." He spreads his napkin on the trunk of WD4BSU's car and begins to write. H-O-M... "Hey wait a minute!" We all laugh and I tell him "Just kidding, it's really Ralph Billingsley." He writes that down.

He gets everyone's name in turn, most are laughing so hard they can't talk, and some even give their real names.

Doesn't ask anyone for ID, takes no tag numbers, as far as he can tell his job is done.

The rest of the night we have a ball talking about the poor Security Guard who will forever be known as Barney Fife!

By TheAlabamaRambler

TheAlabamaRambler is Ed Manley, husband to GeoRose (Teresa), father of five wonderful humans, grandfather of two more, and an avid geocacher.

Now retired after a decade in the US Navy followed by 28 years of owning and operating Knowledge Management Systems, an IT consultancy specializing in Workflow Analysis and Business Process Improvement, Ed now has the time to pursue his hobbies: Fishing, Geocaching and Ham Radio... the order of importance changes daily!

He is also W4AGA, an Extra-class Amateur Radio Operator with a passion for serving the public through volunteer disaster-relief preparedness and response. Active as a Communicator and Disaster Relief Chaplain in the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, American Red Cross (Shelter Manager and ARCHIE Team Lead), the Salvation Army Team Emergency Relief Network (SATERN), Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES AEC - Jefferson County Assistant Emergency Coordinator and OES - Operational Emergency Station) and Assisatant Director of the Zamora Shriners Ham Unit, he can be found on HF daily on 3.965 and on VHF on the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club (BARC) repeater on 146.88.

If you have any interest whatsoever in serving and giving back to your community, saving lives and taking part in the wonderful community of amateur radio please visit http://w4aga.com to learn about the many volunteer opportunities.

Ed is the Editor-In-Chief (sounds high-fallutin, don't it?) of the free online geocaching e-zine The Online Geocacher. He can be contacted via email at mailto:TheAlabamaRambler@gmail.com or by phone at 205-914-6814 from 7 a.m. to Midnight CDT.

73 de W4AGA