fleblebleb
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Posts posted by fleblebleb
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trask said:
"Yes, I invented the internet" - Al Gore
This one has got to have been a misguided attempt at humor...
The truth behind it is that Gore had a (leading?) role in the Washington committees that brought about the legal changes that made the Internet available for commercial use.
Prior to all that the only traffic that was allowed on the backbone networks was military and academic.
Don't go slamming me for being for or against Gore, btw. I vote elsewhere and couldn't care less about him. I like the Internet part of this little factoid though... Massive changes happened in the early 90s, and Al Gore was one of the instigators.
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kitten said:
HANGOVER
I am feeling a bit sick today.....Had a Birthday bash last night!!!!!!
Too much
, a lot of 
, and little 
. Happy bday!
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Fence_Sitter said:
judging by all those crosses i think JC agrees witchya!
Sorry bout those, I copy-pasted from a Word doc I opened using the Mac text editor... something had to break.
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Dave_Schuldt said:
Yo Ken
HE IS AND IDIOT, IGNORE HIM. I was thinking of writing a nasty letter, but said fuck it, it would just inflate his ego.
I figured he's already inflated to a bursting point, maybe I could be the hair to break the camel's back. Had this in his mailbox 10 minutes after last year's rant, or actually it was probably two years ago:
I ride my bicycle a lot. My current bike is three years old and has a few thousand miles on it.†Inside neighborhoods I get around faster than cars, and I race cars between traffic lights and win.
†
As long as you stick to driving you†will find it hard to locate a more obnoxious a cycle-nazi than yours truly. Hazardous and menacing, that's me, on purpose.
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Think about it. The bike weighs under 20 lbs. At 5'9" I weigh ca. 140 lbs. In heavy traffic, I'm a speck. If I get touched by a car, however lightly, I get crushed like a bug. I have some serious safety concerns when riding my bike. What do you think I should do about this?
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One of my options is to observe the traffic law rigorously. That makes me predictable, and therefore safe, right? Bzzz wrong, no cyclist is truly predictable. It only takes†a slick cobblestone to crash a bike and a crash in traffic can easily maim or kill the cyclist. I know - I have had some near misses.
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Riddle me this: Do you think drivers worry much about the possibility of a cyclist crashing when they pass by at less than a yard away?
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My next option is to ride on the sidewalk. Unfortunately that's not safe for the peds. Sidewalks are for walking - I'll do any of the other things you talk about but not "terrorize" the peds. I am even more fond of walking than bicycling. If ped speed is fast enough, I'd rather walk.
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My third option†is to stick to the safe streets, the ones with bicycle lanes. Hey, maybe you should do a commentary on the number of streets with bicycle lanes someday? 'Nuff said about that option.
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So, my final option is to make absolutely certain that drivers see me and consider me hazardous and menacing enough to†give me a wide berth. So I am unpredictable. I break the traffic law to keep you on your toes. I am a cycle-nazi.
If that's not enough then there are also other reasons.
†
Take a slow, contemplative walk someday and observe how broken the asphalt is on the edge of many Seattle streets. Sometimes zipping lanes has an ulterior motive - a thin tire will pop if you†hit the potholes†at speed and slowing down is a recipe for getting side-swiped†by an idiot that†can't be bothered to†observe the passenger-side mirror too closely when passing one of those @#$%†pesky cyclists.†Better to zip,†they'll curse and moan but they'll also stay far away.†
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After the walk, borrow a bike and go ride it through some of those pothole-minefields. I bet you'll have a hard time hanging on with both hands. Then repeat your test run while signaling turns etc. Now stop the bike and contemplate the results of losing your balance while signaling, and falling into the path of a car. I have taken such a fall, the smell of brakes and sound of squealing tires†gave me quite an adrenaline rush.
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I hardly ever signal turns these days and never use the other cyclists' signals, for slowing down, asking to be passed, etc. It's pointless anyways,†drivers either don't know or ignore the†signals.
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After you do the potholes, you can try the traffic lights. You will find that stopping where you are supposed to stop means that the cars next to you are already passing while you're still finding your balance.†It's much safer to take the bike as far into the intersection as you possibly can. When the cars make up the 3-5 yard distance you'll already have your balance. Then you won't care if they call you silly names, like cycle-nazi.
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Of course, if you can safely ignore the red light and ride through the intersection without getting squashed then you won't have to worry about this at all.
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By the way, I am 27 years old, have been driving for 10 years, received a speeding ticket for driving 35 in a 30 zone when I was 18, and have not received a single ticket since. It isn't because I don't get caught, it's just because I don't break the traffic law while driving.
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In contrast, breaking the traffic law while riding my bike causes very little danger to others and can significantly reduce my own risk.
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And don't dare think I'm one of those "environmentally arrogant pedal pushers" - I love my car, play at doing my own maintenance and the like. I couldn't climb mountains without my car and sometimes it takes hundreds of miles of driving just to get me to the trailhead. But I don't see any reason to bother to drive it within the city.†
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trask said:
Goddamn bicyclists are a scourge. All bicyclists can kiss my fine ass.
You don't have the muscle to ride a bike fast, the stamina to ride it for long, or the cojones to ride it in traffic.
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You're keeping busy alright Sisu
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iain said:
If you trip over cans of white gas in your living room you might be a climber.
Check, dammit. One of these days I'll find a place for the darn things.
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Well maybe remove foot from mouth then?
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Has anybody here had tendinitis in their feet? I have problems with the tendons that go down from the inside of the calves, on the inside of the ankle, to the soles of the feet. Don't know what these tendons are called unfortunately. It all started with a sprain when laybacking a thin, slightly overhanging crack. Annoying stuff. Any advice beyond icing? Anecdotes? Offers to help with amputation?
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WOO-HOO!!!
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Hmm, if I reset my pages to 12 posts...
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Quite, positively, painful.
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I guess he's prolly not reading "How to kill with your bare hands" then, like the book club thread says. Phew, I was getting worried.
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Oops, have to go do laundry.
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Must be my settings? Not a prime number perhaps?
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Huh, that banning threat of yours is at the top of my page.
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Anybody want to argue about guns?
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Ugh, when all those snaffles scroll up my screen my head spins and my stomach churns and I get all vobbly.
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Unvitations
in Spray
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I watched Big Brother last night, does that count?
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Dwayner said:
Slothrop's comments would probably have been much more useful if he directed his insights directly at "the Declaration" rather than commenting on my comments.
Let me tell you Dwayner, arguing with you is far more fun than having a one-sided pseudo-argument with some nameless bunch of continentals with illusions of grandeur.
I lean towards Sloth's side, btw.
Oh, and I don't think Lowell and whoever are really having the same argument. Twight isn't really as dumb as Lowell's post makes him look. I've always understood the anarchy cliche to refer to actual upwards progress, using the equipment at hand. Certainly Twight never extolled anarchy in equipment choice - if I remember his book correctly, the bolt section says simply "Not in my book." By the same token, his training regimen seems to have been rather structured, with six month cycles and whatnot. But, if you show up at the base with only what's kosher (sorry Dwayner), then you can climb by any means possible, and climbing is anarchy.
leavenworth info needed
in Climber's Board
Posted
Ballard fell down too so we're not having pub club anymore. If we were still having pub club you still couldn't come there to meet all the cool people and hear Leavenworth secrets, because somebody would probably throw either a chair or a dog at you. It's all a big loss.