Cooties are the latest, growing rage—especially at events—of letterboxes. Now they have their own message board. Use this message board to discuss your cootie counts and experiences!

A message board for shop talk about hitchhikers! Where did you find them? How far have they traveled? If it's about hitchhikers, this is the board to post to.

I started this topic on another post, and I'll continue it over here. I think there is an overall lack of quality hitchhikers.

I think there is an overall lack of quality hitchhikers.

I agree, although a recent exception is SpringChick's Haunted HH series. They are top shelf!

Other than than, most that I've found have been less than outstanding. It seem that HHs are mostly discarded stamp carving attempts or early efforts.

I did like Big Hair, just for the cheesy memories, so sometimes the theme is what makes it worthwhile too.

Mark

I have always called HH's the Lazy Man's Letterbox. No Clues,No Box, No Hiding, Just a Stamp and a Book.

And it's even worse when the stamp is store-bought!

Plus, there is the tendency of HH's to go missing. When I send out a HH, I want to hear about it's travels and there is a whole group of people out there that want to keep HH's a secret.

And even if you write all over the HH to notify you of its travels....people do not follow instructions! I have just found this out with the Great HH Race from Seattle to PA. Two of our HH contestants were picked up from Seattle and moved to Oregon and the people who picked them up did not follow the directions on the HH and notify the creator by email and neither did they notify the Yahool Groups Board! Even though it was written on the Log Book and on a seperate instructional sheet with the HH!

-Amanda from Seattle

Okay, I've had a couple of people e-mail me asking, "What the heck is a cootie?!"

So I've added it the letterbox glossary. To save you the trouble, it's basicly a small letterbox that you try to plant on other people without them knowing it. Slip it into a coat pocket or an open backpack. That sort of thing.

I may have also exaggerated a bit when I said it was the "growing rage", though at events in the Pacific Northwest, they are very popular--especially among the kids! Can't turn your back on them for a second without some cootie showing up somewhere. ;o)

So anyhow, I figured I'd put this board up for those who want to discuss all things cooties. Not really expecting too much at the moment, but if the concept really does become a 'growing rage', it'll be nice to have a board especially for cootie talk.

-- Ryan

I think there is an overall lack of quality hitchhikers.

You know, Phyto, it's not good to hold back like that. Tell us what you *really* think! ;o)

I've basically stopped hiding hitchhikers. I used to do it when they were extremely uncommon and a real surprise to find, but now that they've reached 'mainstream' status, I'm more inclined to put my energy somewhere else and raise the letterboxing bar with new and creative ideas. (Not that I've had any of those recently either, but you never know when inspiration will strike!)

-- Ryan

Hey, I love the idea of a cooties box!... I'm off to carve it right now! and I know exactly when I'm going to plant it and on who!!!

Watch out NorthEast, the cooties are here!!!!!

Big Hair was great, like Mark said for 80's memories! I found that one twice!

Ryan -

Had never heard of Cooties before the Boards came up. How should a Cootie be tracked? As a Hitch Hiker?

BBB

Had never heard of Cooties before the Boards came up. How should a Cootie be tracked? As a Hitch Hiker?

Hmm..... Good question. Seeing as it's a different type of box altogether, I should create a new category for it on Atlas Quest.

Though when they're this new, I'm kind of loath to do it. What if it's just a passing fad? I'd like to know it has staying power before incorporating it into the internals of Atlas Quest.

So for now, I'd suggest not tracking it at all. If the concept continues to grow in popularity, though, you can be certain I'll add support for it.

If you just absolutely *must* track a cootie, though, a hitchhiker would make the most sense. Be sure the name reflects the fact that it's a cootie, though. "Whatever Name Cootie" Later when I add support for cooties, I can do a quick search for for word cootie and automatically transfer them over as officially designated cooties. (In theory, it sounds good! In practice, it might not be so easy.)

-- Ryan

This is so cool! I just love this "cootie" idea! I can't wait to plant/find one!!

CR

This one loves bacteria! He was surepticiously planted on MerMom today, and is the first cootie for the SE. I hated the idea of cooties, but I liked the idea of messing with my buddy MerMom. So, I just decided to go for it. Plus now you'll get more traffic on this board Ryan!

Mark
PS-Opposite of HHs, I think you should tell who has it, you know...he/she's got the Cooties!

Mark wrote
PS-Opposite of HHs, I think you should tell who has it, you know...he/she's got the Cooties!


How funny! What a clever idea!
Silly ol Bear

Mark gave me Cooties!!
Mark slipped the Destroyer into my car while we were visiting yesterday. We had a great time visiting and I LOVE the idea of Cooties! I can't wait to start my own Cootie :)
Thanks! Mark!!

Some folks think that Hitchhikers should be like a secret surprise in a letterbox. I prefer to know where the Hitchhikers are going and where they have been. At the very least, I think you should notify the "creator" of the Hitchhiker where and when you found it and where you dropped it off again.
In my mind, the FUN of Hitchhikers is seeing and hearing how they travel around the country!

-Amanda from Seattle

This cootie thing sounds like fun...so had to get right on it today. So tomorrow, I will release "It's Cootie Tag...And Your'e It!".

Look out, never know when you might get tagged!

silly ol bear

I like seeing our HH's move, so I'm all for telling people where they are! However, we're both mindful of people that want to keep theirs a secret.

Just thought I'd call out the latest cootie victim. TAGBasket has a case of "It's Cootie Tag...and you're it!".

Silly ol Bear

TAGBasket has a case of "It's Cootie Tag...and you're it!".


All the SE cooties are in SC! Weird.

Mark

All the SE cooties are in SC! Weird.

Are cooties weird or just the people in SC ?

;o)
Silly ol Bear

Hey you don't have a monopoly on weird. Come to the Pacific Northwest sometime... Funhog

I think it's nice that the SE cooties are going out one at a time instead of as a swarm of a dozen or more! Nothing weird about that! It makes them more desirable?! Can a cootie be desirable??
-Amanda from Seattle

SE cooties are going out one at a time instead of as a swarm of a dozen or more!

Yeah, that part is cool. But why are both of them in SC?

Mark

Yes, I was so lucky to get cooties! I can't wait to pass them on! I'm such a nice person!

I got infected! Oh, it was bad. I had it for almost a day b/4 I became aware of my condition. Great cootie though. Smooth in execution, nice surprise (amidst other boxers too), AWESOME cootie stamp!, and cool logbook. Be on the lookout. You might want to check yourself soon, hehehe!

Cooties! Are we going crazy? If so, it is kind of fun....?

Thanks JABS! Killer quality as usual!
Mark

Still infected with cooties. It must have been when we vulnerable, having just passed our case of the cooties on to Mark. Our immune system was still weak and next thing you know, we had another case of the cooties. This is definitely a different strain of the bug. I think it may take even longer to get rid of though, but we will definitely kick it.

BBB

<Our immune system was still weak and next thing you know, we had another case of the cooties>




BBB,
I just can not believe that some one would take advantage of you when you were still vulnerable. Its shameful!!

yes, and see, when you are amidst other boxers, sometimes they catch your cooties :-)

Desi

go to wanda and pete's HH tracking page. It's massive. I don't know the link off the top of my head, but I knw there's a link to it in the letterboxing.org FAQ page.

Desi