DPM
– Including the letters “DPM” in a cache log was a once-secret way to
indicate the cache was of low quality. DPM is an abbreviation for “des
palourdes mortes", which is French for “the dead clams”. The entire
French phrase is “Les longs sanglots des palourdes mortes blessent mon coeur
avec un languor monotone pendant qu'ils dansent à minuit", which
translates to “The long sobs of the dead clams wound my heart with a
monotonous languor as they dance at midnight”. The idea was to include this
phrase in a cache log to clue in others that the cache was of low quality.
Rarely actually used, as the meaning of DPM quickly spread throughout the
geocaching community, and its secrecy was lost.
Yep!
This is probably my least inspirational placement. In my defense, I'll say
that there was only one other cache in the park at the time of it's
placement. But no excuses. No whining and moaning. Instead, I'll
treat this as an opportunity, not a setback. I'll put a little Total
Quality Improvement into this cache. Sometimes it takes a cacher of vision
and conviction to post a log that says, "The emperor has no
clothes!". In other words, this cache is really bad. But
instead of looking back, let's look to see what we can do to improve this
cache. For starters....
Make
the cache larger
I've
replaced the small pint sized lexon container with a standard .30 cal ammo
can. If that's not enough to improve the quality, I know where I can find
larger 
Poison
Oak
Yessiree!
There's lots of poison oak along the Central Coast. I try to warn cachers
when it's particularly bad, but a heavy rainfall year can make all predictions
useless. To offset this potential danger, I've included several Ivy Block
Wipes to help alleviate the suffering of future cachers. Let me know when
the supply gets low and I'll try and restock. In addition, I've moved the
cache several feet North so that the placement won't get confused with some
poison oak rich areas.
No
View
Boy,
it's really hard to correct this problem. There really isn't much to see
at this cache placement. It's just a crossroads of a couple of
trails. But in its stead, I've attached a Viewmaster viewer and a
Viewmaster Reel. It's a generic reel, but as soon as I can get up to
Yosemite, I promise to upgrade the virtual view. Which brings me to
another upgrade:
A
Theme!
It
seems like caches in really humdrum places have really fun themes. The
first cache in this park had a Pez theme. Everybody loved it. So for
this cache the theme will be "Bring any unused Viewmaster Reel" Theme.
Dusty
This
is a sandy dusty park. It's hard to deny. This whole area is part of
the Salinas River outlet. That means lots of sand and silt. I don't know
if the above cacher had some respiratory problem, but I've included a handful of
particle filtration masks. These are wood shop quality, not the hospital
grade type.
Horse
....
Actually
the word that the cacher used was a vernacular phrase for what comes out of the
south end of a north bound horse, but I asked him to amend the entry (because
this is a family website). I've attached a small putty knife so you can
clean your shoes before heading back to your car.
And
finally...Let me know how you feel about this cache. Is it lame?
Should I archive it? Should I make the hide harder? Should I turn it
into a micro that nobody can find? Should I fill the cache up with $20
dollar bills? Let me know, and if the cost is reasonable, I'll do my best
to implement it.