mr.radon

A friend is heading up, is that trailhead road still washed out? If so do they ever plan to re-open it?

Yeah Rumr thats totally wicked. The dude must have like NO pain receptors. I loved the last comment: The break was all right at first. It's getting awfully old now, but I've been focusing on what needs to be done to get better. Projecting and whining don't do me any good. A lot of people in the world have it exponentially worse. I'll be fine and return much stronger than before - I can't wait.

As you all know, I broke my back skiing on March 6th, 2006. I've attached the latest X-ray of my back just taken yesterday. My recovery has been going very well. I owe much of my rapid recovery to a great group of family and friends who went out of their way to help me and partly by setting goals for myself. One of my current goals is to run the Beat the Bridge 8K. Don’t fret, yesterday my surgeon cleared me to run the 8K as long as I don’t break his rules. I now listen and follow any doctor’s rules to the letter; nothing like a broken back to get you to fly right . I plan on trying to finish the race without walking, but I’m not going to push it if I can’t. I’m not going to set a record, but I will finish and I will finish with pride. The official name of the race is “Beat the Bridge to Beat Diabetes” run on Sunday, May 21. The event benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and its mission to find a cure for diabetes and end its often deadly complications. A good friend of mine is a type I diabetic. I’ve climbed with him and know first hand the daily challenges he has to overcome. I’m very motivated to reach my goal, and your contributions would motivate me even more so I need your support! Your contribution will help uncover the clues to finding the cure through the support of research and education about research. Out of every $1.00 donated, $0.85 goes directly to research. You can make a donation for me online by simply clicking on this link: DONATE TO JDRF IN ROY'S NAME Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support. Thanks, Roy Grossinger

Well I'm back at work now. Today is my 8 week mark. I've started to jog again. Not real fast but I can tolerate the motion. I found a great therapeutic pool in Bellevue at their aquatic center. The pool is kept at over 90F so it feels real good on the back. At certain times they close it for people like me to rehab without the kids around. I’ve done Mount Si more then a few times now, plus little Si and Tiger. I’m able to sleep much better. Cold still effects me. Last weekend I made my sons boot camp graduation, flew to Fort Benning to visit him. Flying wasn’t too bad. I’m doing upper body workouts with free weights. It feels good but I have to watch myself. I see the doctor again in two days. Looking forward to showing off what I can do. I still have no feeling in the lower back, feels real weird. However, with the swelling down I can now feel the bolt heads on my implants. This is the weirdest feeling in the world. I guess I can get used to it. The scar is healing up real nice. I haven’t taken any drugs for over a week. It makes me feel great. I don’t even need the Motrin any more. Sometimes the back cramps up but I can deal with that now. I hope to see you all in a couple of months at the crags or in Vertical World driving Rudy and J_Dog crazy. In the mean time give them a hard time for me during my forced absence.

Well I'm feeling better every day. I bumped it up a notch and hiked Mount Si with a friend. I was able to slowly jog about 1/4 of the way down. For the first time I felt I can recover from this. Cold really effects the back where the implants are. I was wonder if they make a specail undershirt with the back half packed with down? Sure would help me out. I was smart this time and put on the down jacket before I got real cold, kept the bit down a bite. I think my winter mountaineering days are over... Down to only 400mg vitamin I a day. Kicking the Vicoden habit.

What you want from me. Machin you big ass cams so you can climb with them while i have to sit back and rehab from a broken back. Dude, that is low even for you ;-) I got Pro-E at home now, I'm sure I could design a nice cam for you or an addition for that big boy you have to make it even bigger. I owe you it would seem.

Yeah the worst part about this whole incident is the very, very bad timing. Why of all times do I break my back when that damn cowboy movie came out. It took even my most mentally challenged friend (RuMR) about a nano second to crack that joke. Right now I've progressed to the Humor stage of the following equation: Time + Tragedy = Humor. Enough time has elapsed I find myself even making fun of my situation. It wasn't so last week trust me. I'll also state this right now. I might work for a real conservative company, (make you wear ties, causal days is no tie) but they have stepped up to bat. I might have $300-$400 out of pocket on medical. I'm covered till 6-3-06 for full pay short term disability. They are ordering the best chair on the face of the planet for me right now and my job is secure till I can come back. They even offered to allow me 1/2 days for as long as I want. There is a recovery factor knowing things are taken care of and I have to say PACCAR (I work for Kenworth) rules... If I had lost my job or didn’t have health care I don’t know how messed up my mental status might be at this moment. On a sad note a good friend at work (the one who recommended the tattoo artist to me) was real close to the party house where all the murders happened. He knows all the roommates there by first name basis and would have been there that night had he not been down with the flu. Another friend had fixed Jeremy’s (the first guy to get shot) GF’s VW several times. That kinda struck it home, the're people right now far worse off then I.

Yeah, mr.titanium I think I just might do that Don't make me laugh it still hurts to do that. The cool thing is on Monday I got a call from the short term disability insurance company. They signed me off till June 3rd! I think I' going to go back well before then. I'm an engineer so my day isn't too physical. But I got to figure out how to sleep through the night still. Yesterday I took only one pain pill, just before bed. I like having a clear head. I also made a mistake. I went to my favorite coffee shack and ordered a drink. It made me sick to my stomach. I also can’t drink beer….. However, with my mom here I’m eating so good, she cooks great European dishes. To die for. Yesterday I started to lift with my arms a little. I got a long way to go. Another cool thing is Vertical World put a hold on my membership. I can’t wait to get back in there. Another funny item. I was able to strip frame by frame my accident off the video. I put it onto a 8”X12” printout, 32 frames in all. Cover me from my botched take-off on the ski jump to the moment I land. I got two copies, one is going to my doctor. I don’t think he has many patients who can show him the moment they broke their back! This copy isn't the best but gives you an idea....

The doctor said I have the option to get them taken out but he said very, very, very few of his patient request this. I can tell you back surgery sucks.... All five vert. are fused so having them in or out will not change my mobility. From the L1 to T9 (all fused) I will not loose much mobility, those don't flex that much. He said the worst I can do right now is to get into a bad car accident or fall down some stairs. But after four months the Ti bars will not hinder me in any way and if I do have an accident it will not increase the likelihood of fracture. I don't want to go under the knife a second time. I'll keep the hardware. Anyhow, now that I've had them for some time I've gotten used to them. I've adopted them and they make me feel special. Special because I can walk. Given my injury. Today I walked up West Tiger III, 3 miles up 3 miles down. A little sore, but after only 18 days I feel this is a wonderful example of modern medicine. Who says the US doesn't have the best damn health care in the world. My Aunt in Germany had to wait a week for her back operation and they stuck her in a cast for six weeks, I less then 24 hours. Thank god for the USA.....

Yeah Rudy. Funny what a difference a week makes. I look at those x-rays and think, wow, those are big. They don't make me sick to my stomach anymore, I've come to get used to the metal being in my back now. They're my special back stiffeners. There is no way I'll ever become a manager now, I have too much of a spine. Well I have the hardware to prove I'm a man. This is kinda like my "Eagle Dance/Sun Dance" the Sioux Indian's used to/still preform. I figure if I can live through this event I can overcome anything. Thanks guys for the support. I'll be rope guning again in no time. RuMR will have no more excuses not to go Ice climbing with me. In a few weeks I'll be able to do this:

Well here is a picture of my implants. You can see the top 2/3's of the two Ti bars. I also got a card that states I will set off metal detecxtor due to spinal implants. That is so cool. The only cool thing about this.

Tattoo says "Climb to extreme limit" - - Climb High.

Well I had my two week follow up appointment today. I wasn't sure what to expect. I prepared by making a list of questions I had these last two weeks. First off, the nurse was so nice. I asked her to clean off the glue residue from my bandages, she happily did this. Its nice to have that stuff off. And she removed the steri-strips. They were ready to come off but I wasn’t ready to have anyone else pull them off. The 12” cut looks real healthy and is healing very well. Well when the doctor came in I was overcome with emotion, I gave him a big hug and thanked him ever so much for saving the mobility of my legs. He showed me the initial X-ray, side and front the ER took and why they thought I wasn’t so bad off. I remember the ER doctor being optimistic about my condition. However, then he put up the CAT scans. What was ever so fuzzy on the X-ray was so clear on the CAT scans. The doctor showed me why the ER doctor was so concerned with the type of fracture I had. I had a “CHANCE” fracture of the T-11. This is where the bone breaks into two, with the two pieces being fractured very smooth, like if they were cut with a laser. This is the perfect way to shear the cord since the fracture is the most unstable possible. Plus I had tore adjacent muscle from the vertebrae, he said when he had me open the T-12, T11 and T-10 were all loose. Also, in addition to the two big pieces my T-11 broke into I had dozens of bone fragments that exploded out when it broke. None traveled into the cord cavity. When I told the doctor I was initially not back boarded from the ski slopes, he said I was very lucky. As it was just me trying to get up could have cut the cord. As it was when I hit I put my head into the snow and lifted my ass trying to get air into my deflated lungs. I laid down and rolled over. He said I had a 2 in 3 chance in being paralyzed. I was so lucky. Here is the great news: 1) I did not damage any disks! He checked them all out and none are abnormal. 2) I will have very little loss in mobility 3) I can fly to my sons graduation from boot camp in April! 4) I can train as much as I want given my pain tolerance 5) This will not give me arthritis as I age. It will not accelerate my deterioration as I age. 6) They gave me one pint of blood. Thanks for donating guys…. 7) My recovery will be twice as fast as my shoulder surgery. 8) I will regain feeling in my lower back as the nerves regenerate, they cut them to get the rods in. I can’t wait to get back in shape, I hope to be at Indian Creek this October with RuMR. If anyone else has this injury I wish them well. We are all partners in pain. Best of all I’m weaning myself off the Vicadin. I’m down to one pill every 8 – 9 hours. The doctor says this is great. He said I am well ahead of the curve and doing better then he even thought I would be doing yet.

Sam, thanks for the post. I recently broke my back too. I would love to talk with you about your experiances so far. Later today I'm to talk with my doctor about my long term health. I'm glad to hear how well it turned out for you. I only broke my T-11, shattered it really. I see now it could have been much worse. I have the same feelings for those that transported me to the hospital too. They were all very professional and treated me ever so well. PM me and we can trade personal info. Sounds like we will both have a lot of time on our hands for the next few months. See my Broken Back post in the Fittness FORUM

Thanks, I'm worried about that too. I can tough it out. I'm down to one every 6 - 7 hours. So I'm taking less then 4 a day. If I take to many I gett all loopy and I hate that feeling. I distract myself the last two hours before the next pill to keep my mind off the pain. My first post op appointment is Wednesday. I'll ask him about this and a bunch of other questions. Every once in awhile I have a bad moment when my back tightenes up without my control. God it hurts..... I can't wait for my first night of eight hours of straight sleep. Funy how you miss the basic things.

Thanks guys. Yeah I'm doing better every day. I've got a long way to go yet though. Today I tried to stay active for more then 5 hours and failed. I just don't have the endurance. I'm like a baby, I got to take my naps. When I get into PT I'll let everyone know how I progress. I hope to get back to my old shape. WI4, 5.10d lead, 5.11+ top rope, double blacks in the back country. I wish I could wave a wand close my eyes and make the pain go away. But all I can do is grab a few pills, close my eyes, dump'em down the gullet and swallow hard. When the pixes start flying around I know I'm good for a few hours. Repeat.....

Well I'm sad to post this but here it goes. Much thanks to RuMR and J_dog who helped out so much the days following my release from the hospital. I was skiing on Monday the 6th, at Steven's Pass. It was a Birthday outing for my good climbing friend and ski buddy. I had just been up there that Saturday with RuMR who got hurt and I spent most of my time skiing the double blacks on the back side. The last run of the day I tore through the terrain park and hit these three big jumps they had set up. They were okay. Well On Monday on the third run we went through the terrain park. The jumps were big enough no one wanted to try them, I told them I'd hit the last of the three. They changed the jump slightly, plus I hit it with way, way too much speed. I got so much air, I sailed over my friends who were videoing the entire event. I got back a little on my skis. I just knew I was f***ed. Sorry, but no other word describes it good enough. I landed with such a force that my ski's imediatly departed my boots. One binding was damaged to such an extent I don't know how my leg didn't break. My body compressed under the force. I collapsed my right lung, damaged my internal organs, causing extensive bleeding. I landed on my ass and back, I was not knocked out. As I slide to a stop I started to kick my feet, I could move them. At this time I did not know it but I had shattered my T-11 vertebrae. I have a bad Thoratic Spine Fracture. I didn’t cut the cord. I was sent via ambulance to a great hospital in Monroe, WA. Valley Medical Center. Well on Tuesday they operated on my back. They stabilized that vertebrae, screwed and fused it back together. I have two Ti bars that go on both sides, each are about 12" long and are an internal cast. I have a bitching scar running down my back. I’ll post them when an if you folks want. I can WALK!!!!!!!!!!! I should be 100% in a year. Anyone ever come back from something like this? Please share......

Chair Peak, NE Buttress 2-11-06 Saturday As usual I’m a little late. I’ve brought more then I need. I park next to Jdog’s car and quickly transfer my gear into his Subaru. Jdog heads back up to his apartment to gather the rest of his gear while I patiently sit freezing in the passenger seat. I move to the driver’s seat and try my Subaru’s key in the ignition. A little wiggling and I get the car started, warming it up. The look on Jdog’s face is priceless, as he knows the keys to his car are still in his pocket. We pick up Frank in down town Bellevue. Traffic is light as we drive up Snoqualmie pass, but at 6:15 we are way behind our planed start time. The upper Alpental parking lot already has numerous cars parked next to the trailhead. Getting first dibs on the route is looking quite slim. I square away my gear and walk to the trailhead to put on my skis. Jdog and Frank join me as I lead the group up the trail. My new skins are sticky, causing me problems gliding downhill. I’m used to the smooth glide from my old skins, these sticky contraptions almost cause me to fall over the front of my skis. In a clearing I take a lower path while Jdog continues higher up as does Frank. I'm passed and to add insult to injury my chosen trail soon ends forcing me to head back up. The going is slow and now I’m way behind Jdog and Frank. From this point on I only get short glimpses of the two. As I arrive at Source lake the view is great, not a cloud in the sky. A few hundred feet above Source Lake my camera bag falls off my pack. I grab for the camera but miss. I do manage to give it a better ballistic arc. It lands in the snow a few feet below me, quickly accelerating down the hill bouncing over our ski tracks and then fortunately stops as it falls into a random hole in the snow. I count my blessings I only have to loose 50’ in elevation to retrieve the camera and not a couple of hundred. I mutter a few curse words as I ski down. Further up the hill I dislike my new skins more and more. They seem to slip worse then my recently retired skins. A half dozen times I slide backwards. Once I fall down, skis splayed apart in a painful fashion. It’s obvious I was in the Navy as I let loose with a string of profanities. Slogging up the slope isn’t much fun today, I’m nackered and wish Jdog and Frank would wait up for me. I’m ready to just turn around, but I’m carrying the ice screws and a rope; things they would need to make the climb. After ascending another couple of hundred feet I’m still having troubles with the skins and getting very pissed at the situation and myself. I probably feel crappy because I only ate two bananas for breakfast. I’ve been up this trail often enough to recognize exactly where I am. I’m pretty close to a feature known as the “Thumbtack”. It’s just a rock sticking up in the middle of a small cirque. Here the slope levels off and climbers stow their gear if they are going up Chair Peak; snow shoes, poles, etc. As I round the last corner to the cirque I see Frank and Jdog sitting in the snow waiting. I lower my head in shame and motor on. I stop once to measure the remaining distance and continue. I’m ashamed to have taken so long reach them. I debate if I should even climb, I don’t want to hold them back. Jdog and Frank are happy to see me. I feel much better after a few minutes. I eat some Gu and drink a lot of water. Jdog leads the way to the ridgeline separating the East face from the North face of Chair Peak. Usually Jdog and I attained the ridge further to the right, but there is a track in the snow leading to this more direct route. We continue on our skis but the going is tough. I see I’m not the only one with skis sliding backwards. Soon Jdog then I then Frank give up and take off our skis. We put on our climbing harnesses, crampons, stow our poles and pulled out our ice tools. Jdog is ready first and leads the way, then I then Frank. From the ridge’s crest we can see a party of two on the first pitch of the Northeast buttress. We traverse to the start of the North face route. On the North face route we count 6 people either on the first pitch or waiting to start. We debate the choices and decide to climb the Northeast buttress. None of us has ever tried it so we head back. Jdog sets up a belay and Frank arranges the gear to lead the first pitch. Frank ties into both ropes, Jdog and I will follow Frank simultaneously to save time. When Frank is ready to lead, the party already on the route has set up a belay and is bringing up the second climber. Leading Frank takes his time, clipping a sling and placed a nut while following a nice line involving some dry tooling in poor ice conditions. He sets up a belay in a stand of small trees. As I climb Jdog closely follows a few feet behind. The snow is loose, even planting the shaft of the ice axe to the hilt would probably not hold a fall. I enter the narrow gully, the conditions are not much better. In the gully Frank solidly placed a nut, which I remove. The gully’s ice and snow is very shallow. I have to be careful where and how I place my tools. I can’t strike the ice too hard and in a few places I stick the pick into cracks as I head up the gully. At the end of the pitch I find a nice spot above Frank and sit on my pack to insulate my ass from the cold. Jdog is close behind. I feel sorry for knocking so much snow and ice on his head. Jdog takes the pickets, ice screws and ties into both ropes. I belay Jdog just as the wind picks back up making voice communication difficult. At one point Frank and I hear someone yell but we can’t understand what was yelled. Then the rope starts to play out rapidly. Thinking Jdog is pulling up slack I take him off belay. However, when the rope stops I have doubts and put him on a hip belay until the rope goes tight forcing Jdog to stop. I tell Frank I’m going to climb to a rock outcrop that blocks our view of Jdog. Rounding the outcrop I see Jdog sitting in the middle of a snowfield. I tell him he’s at the limit of the rope and to put us on belay. I climb up to a tree just above me to tie off. For his belay Jdog sinks two pickets. As Frank climbs I take pictures of him. He passes me, then I unclip and follow. The snow is interesting; a crusty layer covering a powdery layer. Frank’s foot steps collapse slightly under my weight. The other climbing party has set up a belay above us just below a slug of ice. The second climber of this group is still moving very slow. He’s obviously unsure of himself in these conditions. I take the gear Jdog had but since the pickets are in use for the belay I only have ice screws and nuts. I plan to set up a belay at the slug of ice like the other team and then bring up Frank and Jdog. I reach the other party at the base of the ice slug and move to the right kicking out a platform to stand on. I strike up a conversation with the second climber while looking for a place to sink an ice screw. The second climber is on his first ice/snow climbZ. In my search for a place to set a screw I find all the snow caving away. The snow peels away in 6” thick slabs when I hit it with the axe. I stomp my feet to knock the loose snow off my small platform. I get an ice screw started in a patch of ice, after two turns it sinks into an air pocket. Pissed I retrieve it and climb up. I place a long ice screw into the slug of ice a few feet above the other party’s ice screw. I clip the rope and descend back to my platform. The other party climbed to the left of the ice slug, I start up to the right. Unexpectedly each time I kick my feet into what looks like consolidated snow it breaks free. I have to use my ice tools to work my way up. On top of the ice bulge I look up and see another long snowfield. The other party has set up a belay near the top. I place another ice screw and quickly ascended the snowfield until the rope goes tight. I’m four feet short of a platform cut into this steep slope. I pull hard on the twin ropes to reach the platform. I bury my ice tools above me and attached two slings for an anchor. I really hope that neither Jdog nor Frank fall causing me to test this poor anchor. Before I put the two on belay I pull out my camera and snap a few panoramic pictures from this airy perch. On belay Jdog and Frank simultaneously climb the ice bulge. Jdog taking the easier route to the left and Frank following my lead to the right. They clash at the top, trying to place their ice tools in the same small patch of ice. I take pictures as they come into view, they join me at my belay. I tell them to keep going. They run parallel to each other in a race to the top. Soon after they disappear from view I hear their yell, they’ve reached the top. Hearing this I start to dig out the ice tool anchor, it’s placed better then I had thought, they don’t want to come out. Following footsteps in the snow I join Jdog and Frank. This isn’t the summit, but we can see an obvious trail to it. Jdog and I have been at this spot three different times in the winter, but because the weather was always crappy we’ve never went to the actual summit. This time the weather is prefect. We drop our packs, unrope and traversed across a gully to the summit’s shoulder. Although the traverse is easy, any fall would be a nasty experience; the gully is very steep and icy. The last 30 feet up the shoulder to the summit are the easiest climbing yet. The summit view is grandiose! The sky has only a few clouds and for the first time ever NO WIND. We take pictures, enjoy the view and chat with the other two climbers. They are two University of Washington students. Jdog is the first to head down. The snow has softened enough to cause my crampons to ball up. I hit my boots with each step knocking the snow free. Jdog sets up the rappel and lowers off. I rappel next. At the bottom I yell, “Off rappel.”, and down climb to the second rappel station where Jdog is already waiting. Frank soon joins us. As soon as the second rap station is free I throw our rope and rap off. At the bottom I pull out my camera to snap pictures of Frank as he raps. I stow the camera and quickly descend to my skis. I pack my climbing gear and start skiing downhill. Although I’m tired I figured it’s going to be a sweet and quick ski descent to the car. I could not have been further from the truth. My first two turns are horrible. The snow is crusted over, below which is loose unconsolidated snow. The tails of my skis unexpectedly break the crust throwing me off balance. Even a great skier would look like a beginner in this crap. I ski to the thumbtack and wait for Jdog and Frank. Something is delaying them, I figured to be the slowest so I take off. I stop at Source Lake glad to be off the steeps. This is by far the worst backcountry skiing I have ever experienced, every turn I felt I would loose control and wreck. I watch Jdog and Frank they have just as much trouble. I take off my skis and notice a binding is misalligned. I’ve had issues with this binding before, the base plate shifts to one side. Skiing in this condition allows the heel to move. I beat on the plate with a pole and then release the heel lock. Usually this allows the plate to slide free. Not this time, unexpectantly the heel lock flies past my head, the base plate flies away in a different direction, both landing in the snow a few feet away. Shocked I look at the binding, I can’t believe it just blew apart! Crap! I can’t ski back to the car. I notice two small fittings are broken, they attach the heel clamp to a hinge in the slide plate. When they broke it released the spring tension the heel lock is always under. I load my skis on my pack and wait for Jdog. When he arrives I hoof it down the trail while he waits for Frank who was having a very hard time with the snow conditions. He’s falling on every other turn. Half way to the car Jdog passes me. When the trail widens out I ask Frank, who’s been behind me for some time now, to remove my good ski. I single ski like a skate boarder and make good time this way. I stop at the top of a steep section and press the heel release to take the ski off. Poof! The release breaks off the back of the binding! I can’t believe my eyes! Both bindings fail just a few minutes apart in different ways. I’m still locked into the binding and can’t release it. I throw off my backpack, dig out an ice tool and pry the ski off. Pissed I carry the ski the remaining distance to the car. I make a huge mistake when I show Jdog the second broken binding. A few weeks ago I broke a ski, now both Frank and Jdog announce they are convinced all my equipment failures are proof positive that I’m fat. How can I argue? What a way to end such a fine trip.

Four sounds like a BIG group. You'd be better off soloing the route to move fast. Rope up for the approach & descent. Come-on, of course the route spits more rocks as things heat up. Thumb Rock isn't 100% safe either.

I went to CU and heard of ol' Mr. Churchill. What is so crazy is how everyone on campus speaks up for his right to say these things but if he were to say certain words which the University considers "inflammatory" ie.. racist words, he would be immediately disciplined. Now how does this speech code on the CU campus exist when they defend Churchill’s immensely inflammatory comments? The guy's an idiot and should be fired.

Rafael_H I got a speeding ticket over two years ago. About six months later I was detained at the border as I tried to cross into Canada to go skiing with my sister (she was already at Blackcomb). I had blown off paying the ticket. Well the border service detained me for an hour or so, got info for the court date and then they let me back into the US. Anyhow, I would pay, for me it was a long journey to get it resolved. You have to show up in their court but you can't f-ing drive there. I pissed them off a bit more over the phone, the ticket said to pay the crown. I told the guy I wasn't going to give the darn queen of England a single penny. Well, I learned a second thing, don't make fun of the queen of England. Anyhow, a local resident in Canada helped me out, so I'm finally in good graces. But I'd hate to get pulled over again, I can just imagine what they put on my record.

I really prefer the sales tax, it's a tax I can easily avoid. And the tax is great since unlike Colorado they do not tax food. :-) With an income tax you can't avoid the tax unless you break the law. If they do come up with an income tax I'd like to see a single payment system. No withholdings during the year, then at the end of the year you owe a lump sum. This way every taxed citizen feels the full pain of the income tax. It would soon be gone. I'm very much against the income tax. Please keep the sales tax and raise it as much as you like. I'll just keep doing my big ticket shoping out of state or via the mail. Now if I could only figure out how to get out of my house's property tax. ????

Even cops admit this is a stupid law. Owning a gun makes you neither stupid nor smart. Just a bit safer when the looting starts when the big earthquake hits.

Someone asked me to make it clear what happened: 1) They cut the five slings that were around a large chockstone. 2) They then salvaged the rap rings (2) 3) They left the five cut slings, which were loose around the chockstone, none were wedged in. So my greivance was not only did they cut the slings and take the rings but left the trash for me to haul out!

To show those how utterly ridicules the assault weapons ban is I'll summarize an argumentative paper a fellow college student wrote when the ban passed. He put a silhouette of an AR-15, (non-automatic M16 rifle) this was the pre-ban version. He said, I want to kill a lot of school kids in a playground. Well this gun is banned. Well I don’t want to shoot them at night so let’s remove the flash suppressor. Next slide shows the silhouette without flash suppressor. Next point, I don’t like to get blood on me and I can kill faster by shooting, so off comes the bayonet lug. Since I want to shoot a lot of them, I’ll replace the 30 rd, mag with a 200 rd. drum mag so I don’t have to reload as often. Also, I don’t like the pistol grip, lets put a real nice thumb grip in there. He shows the final silhouette and says, now I have a very robust weapon and guess what it is legal….. Stupid law,