pope

Big Bowel and the Movements

He'll be back this week. I'll tell him you missed him.

Wish I still had my Evel lunchbox.

Last campfires never die, And you and I on separate ways to Life’s December, Will dream by this last fire, and have This Mountain to remember.

when has the RAND() function failed you? Excel 2003 and newer has a revised random number generator algorithm. Even the old algorithm was sufficient for probably 99.9%+ of all users. Yes, tell us what the problem is.

But let's face it, winter in the PNW is miserable for people who would rather be outside. Rock climbing in 45-degree rain? Mountains that are socked in for weeks? Very mediocre lift skiing in heavy snow and fog? Ice climbing at 32 degrees? There's not much to recommend but coffee and the Vertical World. I would definitely snow-bird my way out of here every winter, if it weren't for my obligations. Thank God for mountain bikes.

Dude, is that your pad? I hope your girlfriend decorated.

Here's another way. Click in A1, then "insert","name" and "define". In the "names in the window" line type "k" and click OK. Back in A1, type the value that you want. Enter your data in column B, then in C1 type " = B1-k " (no quotes). Then drag the corner of B1 down. I wish I knew a lot more about the program. It seems there's nothing it can't do.

Seattle shows character after going behind 10 pts. Recall that Chicago is the only team to beat the Packers.

Bring it back. Every sport climber will think twice before reaching for his girly drill. "Is that noise coming from the gun club, or is Kit Lewis taking aim?"

First time I met Colin he was a 15-year-old kid. I was trying to smooth out a static ascent of the Razor, a boulder problem at the U.W. rock. He wanted to know how hard it was and I told him it was supposedly 5.12, but since I didn't climb at that level I wasn't really qualified to say. One thing that was clear was that, like a lot of youngsters, Colin was very excited about climbing. That's why I've always enjoyed climbing with young climbers....they remind me of how I viewed climbing, with all the fascination of preacher's son on his first trip to Hooters, only with climbing the excitement persists for years. What wasn't clear was that Colin was destined to be an alpine superstar. I got a glimpse of that possibility when we battled our way up to the Tooth in a snow storm one day at a pace that left me soaking wet from perspiration and driving snow. The late hour, snow-plastered rock and thoughts of my family persuaded me to turn around. Colin was obviously disappointed but didn't make a big fuss. Even then I was amazed by his fitness, but the fact that he didn't try to push the issue when I wanted to turn around was especially impressive.

And there you have it!

I'd like to hook up with Donna Top-Step again. Hey, the poo on the sleeping bag thing was just a stunt to get your attention.

An upwardly mobile 3rd-world nation.

...handing the most pathetic team in the NFL their 7th loss. Finally, a team we can run against!

Was that the trip where we climbed Shady Lane and crossed over to the second pitch of Lightning Crack? I remember hearing, "Ah, shit!" from right below us, followed by jangling hardware, a loud thud, then groaning and moaning. We couldn't see the accident, due to the convex nature of the wall, but we could see everybody running to the base of Lightning Crack where somebody had just completed a ground fall from the bulge.

Maybe you need to laugh more and enjoy yourselves? The climbing at Pechosstin isn't hard enough to demand SERIOUS CLIMBING Hey there, big-talkin' small-fry. I can point you to climbs there that will qualify as SERIOUS CLIMBING, as far as you're concerned. You're invited to climb Scratch, White Lightning, or even Alley Oop Chimney for excitement. Do you like steep, slippery 5.11 on gear, followed by pigeon-crap encrusted belay slings threaded through a hole? You'd like Bomb Shelter, the route PeteyP mentions above.

Drove into Seattle at about 2 p.m. and found relatively calm, balmy conditions. I parked in a 3-minute zone and conducted my 10 minutes of business (picked up a Swiss Army watch that couldn't be repaired). Then back to Bonney Lake where conditions were probably worse. I was pleased the power stayed on (instead of 5 days out and losing $700 of freezer food like the last big storm).

Kevbone, I've never met a sport climber who can appreciate that movie. Enjoy it, yes. Appreciate it, no way. "Jonathan, do you know what I don't have?" "No....whhhat don't you have?" (Excessively respirating an accent that is simultaneously wild-west John Wayne and ultra-hip Elvis, representing everything that is macho and American). "I don't have a room for da night." "Jesus...so you're a condemned man's last wish."

You have a few choices. Either find a way to construct a satisfying living within the economy, do your part to improve it, or start hiking north, out into some remote area of Canada where you are welcome to try building your own economy of hunting, gathering and perhaps farming. Here's a manual that will get you started: Bushcraft (Kochanski). Please go without your wireless internet connection. I've never believed that the system owes me any more back than I put into it.

OMEGA MAN

"Sure. Where are we going?" "Away. Somewhere no one bothered with before, on a river nobody dammed, in mountains that were too far to build highways to. Where everything we do will be the first time it's been done there."

"Nice beaver." "Thanks. I just had it stuffed."

Got a master plan of my own. I turned 41 yesterday. I intend to ride 50 miles in the next year.....50 vertical miles. I've got 2000 feet so far.

This has worked well for me, even when river/wind noise is extreme and rope drag severe. Five (or ten) tugs is hard to mistake for something else.