chelle

I think this one is hilarious.

I do not use a gear harness unless I am aid climbing. Gear on a harness ALWAYS is in my way and frustrates me. I also feel more inbalance with the weight at my center of gravity. Developing a system for racking gear, especially when you are a newer trad leader is important. Organization will help you be more efficient, and you need it since you are likely carrying more gear than a leader who is more experienced. There is no "right" way to do it. Develop your own system and ignore people's suggestions that don't work for you. When you're on lead it is your ass on the line and whatever works for you to keep you safe is what matters. A good climbing partner would understand that you may have a different way of doing things and respect that without flipping you too much shit. With my partners who prefer a harness, they either have one to rack gear on during their leads or they use one of the slings. At swaps we are careful to make sure the other person has the pieces (usually with a verbal "got it") so nothing gets dropped. If you are efficient this take no more time than using a gear sling and having to reorder the cams and other gear so it is organized. IMO what makes climbers very slow at belay swaps is poor rope management and creating a cluster with a big pile of rope that has to be cleaned up. Dru- I learned this way from a very good trad climber who is about the same height as me and agrees that gear harnesses SUCK! Here is my system. If I take 2 sets of cams then I rack them from smallest to biggest on the front loops of my harness, one set on each side (camelots on the R and metolius on the L). Nuts in the back. I always know where to grab to get the right size cam, since I always rack the same. If I don't take 2 sets of cams then one full set goes on the front loop on my right side (since I am right handed) and the doubles and nuts go on the other side. The exception is when I am climbing a pitch where I know I will be eithier R-side in or L-side in then gear goes on opposite side. I split the draws evenly between R & L and they go on the back gear loops. With a couple extra slings around my neck incase I need to extend a draw further. Have fun climbing on gear. Try a few different approaches on single pitch climbs tofigure out what works for you.

A ball nut a good friend gave me when I started climbing. I've fallen twice while bounce tesing.

Might not be able to make it this year. I thought it was going to be next weekend.

This is sad news.

read this! you dumbass neocons

Hey Xternal (or anyone else with an answer). I'd like to shrink the file sizes of my music to get more on my SD card. 99% of the music on my computer is saved from my CD collection and digitized for WMP. Is there a way that is easy (I need something that is not complicated) to convert the files or shrink them down?

Hhmm... is there a good story in this advice Rob?

Flu shots are a good idea for people who need them, elderly, little kids, health care workers and anyone with a chronic illness. The thing is not fool proof and some people get sick from the shot. On average 36,000 people die every year from the flu. That is pretty sad.

I recently got a pair of Cloudveil Ice Floe gloves. We'll see how they work out for me since I am a newbie to ice this year. But they come in S and XS and are fairly priced at $60. I have small hands too and a S fits me. Thankfully I got mine on sale for $42

I have a palm pilot that plays mp3 files loaded onto a mediacard. It seems to require that I use RealOne networks, which I don't really like. It seems to drain the battery on the palm pretty quick too. I have iPod envy and will likely make a purchase in the next 6 mos, so I can have all my music with me at once. Anyone out there use the PC version of the iPod? Any complaints/praises?

You know what Fairweather. I enjoy discussing politics and pride myself on being openminded. Sparing with you is not fun because you are unable to look at anything objectively. You are now on ignore. Adios, you really can act like a jack ass. When you can't make a point in the discussion you just attack your opponent. No suprise. It's how your idol, Mr. Shrub operates. When I have made a mistake, I have admitted it. See above. And I have never been a moderator of Spray. Please pay attention next time.

The problem lies in that the CO state constitution specifically calls for the legislature to ammend voting procedures and electoral allotment. I'm all for the idea...especially here in WASHINGTON STATE where the Seattle elite drive the states 11 votes into the Dem column....but attempting to change the rules at the end of the game is a typical left/lib move. I am real Fairweather! Give me a f'ing break! Look at how you wrote the above and tell me that it is not realistic to interpret what you wrote about liberals, as pertaining to WA. Be clear about how you communicate or at least try to clarify it when I ask a question instead of telling me to get real. So from this post: I assume that you prefer the Maine system of electoral votes because you think WA would allocate some of the votes to a republican candidate. That might be more fair. But under the current system, the majority vote calls the shots. It is not my fault that west of the cascades many counties with concentrated population vote democratic. So you get REAL or

That's how the initiative is written, K. That it would effect how the votes are allocated starting in the 2004 election. The electoral college votes well after the general election, so they'd know whether the initiative passed. At least theoretically.

Well Fairweather, I guess the legislature in CO will have a decision to make about whether to represent their consitutents if the initiative passes. I'm not sure I understand what your point is about WA state and the elite in Seattle calling the election here. Anyone eligible to vote and does so decides how the electoral votes here are distributed. Just because the state's electoral votes will likely go to Kerry due to him winning our state's popular vote, does not mean there is some liberal conspiracy...nor are democrats changing the rules.

I'm sure that people do want to know about Kerry's faith. As a voter, I want to have some trust that under his leadership there will be a separation of church and state. After the 2nd debate I felt like Kerry was subtly trying to make a point about the separation of church and state, by not wearing his faith on his sleeve like Bush does. Last night I thought he was more open because he was pressed to by situations like the Catholic bishops openly saying it would be a sin to vote for him. On the debate in general...I thought Kerry won again. I think this blog commentary on the debate lies was interesting. And Soros' weekly blog entries, especially from republicans (towards the bottom), were telling as well.

I don't think CO splitting their electoral votes, if the initiative passes, will be all that controversial. I thought there was something more going on in the state, like with voter fraud or the religious angle. I find the idea of proportionality to be interesting, as it would more accurately mirror the poular vote. And it would likely allow 3rd party candidates to have more impact on the election process. Didn't Ross Perot get 22% of the popular vote in 1992, but ZERO electoral votes.

Thanks for the facts b-rock. I stand corrected. I like that in WA I could chose to always vote absentee when I registered. When I lived in CA I had to request it for every election. Commuting for more than 11 hours a day would truly suck.

Why don't you enlighten us on the situation in CO then?

I like Paco's idea. We're fortunate that in WA and OR we can vote at home via absentee. But I think that less than 10 states offer absentee voting to their residents.

Many black church leaders in FL in poor areas were planning to bus parishoners to early polling locations after Sunday services to help with transportation and so people would not have to arrage time off work. The conservatives in charge of the election offices decided not to keep the polling places open on Sundays. Who's trying to stack the deck now. One is the same county where 27,000 votes were thrown out last time, 47% of them from black democratic voters. I hope Kerry kicks ass in FL. From yesterday's WA Post... "In Duval County, 31,155 black voters had been added to the rolls by the end of last week. That is more than the total number of ballots nullified here four years ago, in a race that George W. Bush won by 537 votes."

TNORM - on your trip in March is Doc's without borders footing the bill for travel expenses or is there a cost share you are doing? I've thought of doing what you've described (except the agency part) after I graduate next year and get a couple years under my belt in an ICU (and also some greenbacks). Thanks.

That's a lot of climbing in 14 days. Don't forget to check out the local towns and the amazing food. Have a great trip. I had friends do Illiniza Sur in 2001 and they loved it. And Coto and Chimbo were great in 2002.

Thanks everyone for sharing the pics and the fun virtually. I slept and studied most of the weekend. School kicked my butt last week (but I did get to see a beating human heart during my tour of the OR ). Glad you all had fun and thanks for drinking those extra couple pints of Triple for me. It's still my favorite, Steve.