gslater

I liked this part of the news story about the kid: "And late next week he is expected to begin a sabbatical from second grade." I'm 40, and still waiting to take my first sabbatical from something... We saw Mr. Painter up high on the mountain on his summit day last year, and chatted with him for a while. He was very cool; had a great attitude. I'm glad to see he came back for another one.

Be very careful with your pack in Holden. Not because of a risk of theft or anything, but because of the infestation of Luthe-Snaffles. Years and years of being fed by young campers has taught them to be VERY aggressive about getting into and tearing into packs. We had to post a sentry (me) last summer to protect the packs while everyone else went in to have lunch. I took some heat from the locals for throwing pine cones, uh, "in the direction of" some of the little bastards.

Oh dear. Simple, yes, but wrong and misapplied. I just love it when the equations come out... Maybe you would like to back up your statement with some logic on why it is wrong or misapplied... Prove me wrong and I will happily reevaluate my ideas. Thanks. Acceleration is a constant, assuming constant slope. Velocity increases. I'll let gslater have fun with the rest. -kurt Thanks, Kurt. I'm too lazy to go into the rest of it.

Oh dear. Simple, yes, but wrong and misapplied. I just love it when the equations come out...

Many/most in-car units have a switch that lets the cop choose whether they want to measure the speed of something either approaching or receding. In your case, where the cop is driving in a group, they'll select "approaching" speeds for opportunistic nailing of traffic coming the other way. The radar knows how to subtract out the cop's own speed (usually based on their "calibrated" speedometers), and it knows how to ignore the signals from the cars immediately in front of the cop, because the relative speed of those vehicles is so small as to be inconsequential. In your case, a radar detector almost certainly would have saved you. But if you had a crappy detector, and the cop was using instant-on triggering, and he hadn't triggered on anyone else recently before you, it may not have helped. Even with instant-on, my Valentine 1 detector will usually sniff out any instant-on burst from several miles ahead, especially out on 97. I believe somebody made a comment above about a detector not helping you against the laser-based guns. That's generally true, depending upon how the cop is using it. I think that laser still only works from a stationary position, which is why you always see the cops on the side of the road with the laser unit being held up to their face, as if they were literally going to shoot you. Many of them will have a little fun with it, and try to clock you from a LONG ways out, just to see if their aim is good. Unfortunately for them (and good for you), the reflected signal from those long distances is usually too weak to calculate a speed, but it does give you sufficient warning to slow down. If they wait until point-blank range to pull the trigger with laser, you're pretty much screwed. Fortunately, they usually park their cars perpendicular to the traffic on the side of the road so they can sit there in comfort, shooting the laser out an open window, and that makes them easy to spot.

I patched a "crampon point through the toe" hole with SeamGrip a couple of years ago, and it seems to be holding up quite well.

Think that's going to be my new signature line...with your permission of course! I love that!! Can I vote this to be POTD?? Knock yourself out...

Showing up on time for the start is a good idea. When I did it (single-day option) with some buddies , they thought it would be great to go out and pick blueberries out of the yard before the start, so we could make fresh blueberry pancakes. Took forever, and we got to the start just as the last of the organizers was leaving. Played catch-up all day, and nearly missed out on food at the first few stations. Spare tubes. I got two flats along the way. Stuff your pockets full of red potatoes at the food stations. They're about the only thing I enjoyed eating after 8 or so hours. Watch out for people who are inexperienced at riding in a group. There are plenty of weekend warriors who don't know how to do it right. Being a larger person who rides (used to ride, actually) fairly fast, I had a bunch of people I didn't know trying to latch onto my draft. Two of them went down when they rubbed my back wheel. If I hadn't been a 215 lb. Cat 2 criterium veteran, I may have gone down as well. Don't let some dork you don't know ruin your day.

My wife is the same way, but only wants to read the ones with fatalities. She asks me to flag them with Post-it notes for her easy reference...

"We hit 60 mph in 7.7 seconds, just as Audi predicts for European Allroads. If its guesses at performance for the lighter U.S. version are as trustworthy, that will drop to 7.3 seconds with Tiptronic and 6.8 seconds with the six-speed." C & D. Only the Allroad has pneumatic suspensions, only the Allroad has clearance. I've driven a Mercedes with 300k, and 2 Hondas to 160k. Yes the Benz was nicer to drive faster. $6k repair jobs suck, and every single repair, plus regular maintenace is more expensive. Not to mention insurance, not to mention how much premium gas blows. As for 100+ regularly, whatever But as you said, different $ for different folks. I prefer to talk the several $k a year difference and travel. Fair enough. My performance numbers were for the regular A6 sedan, which I have, not the Allroad. Would love to have the Allroad's clearance, but I've got a small 4WD truck for when I really need that. I actually think the insurance on my Audi is less than the insurance on Hondas in my neighborhood. Not that I'm all that concerned about being politicallly correct, but let's just say that I live in an area where VTEC Civics/Integras are coveted by the locally predominant ethnic groups. They don't stay unmolested long when parked on the street. But then, the side marker lights on Audis/BMWs go real fast too, so that kids can install them on their Civics... One more thing: if Audis suck so bad, then why post the photo of the RS6?

"You need to be tremendously physically fit in order to stay alive" I'm a dead man... That is just a fine, fine article. It's pretty telling that it's in the "Fashion & Lifestyle" section.

Guess I'd better go work on my Dutch marine bowline and figure of nine, since I'll apparently need to know these if I ever want to climb. What the f....?

5.9? Haha. C&D says 7.7. Any good german car does 100. As for repairs, it's a turbocharged sports car with pneumatic suspension. The question isn't if, but when the big ass bill is going to hit. 5 years is new in it's life. Hope you enjoyed the $40k sticker. The 5.9 number came from C&D. Most other mags had it at 6.0. And again, I'm talking about the 6-speed, not the automatic, which is probably closer to the 7.7 number. As for mileage, I drove from PDX to the coast and back the other day, and got 27.8 mpg. Trips to Smith average about 26 mpg. Trips on I-5 to Seattle average closer to 30. I consider that pretty damn good for a rather heavy car that's not being driven timidly. Only the Allroads have the pneumatic suspension. As for big-ass bills, yeah, with more expensive German cars you have that possibility, but I think there are a couple of different perspectives on it. I"ve owned my share of Hondas and such, and yeah, they're generally pretty reliable over the long-haul, and thus generally pretty cheap to own. But once you get past 100K miles, Hondas and similar (don't even get me started on Subarus...) tend to degrade in a way that I don't much care for. Things get flexy, and squeaks and rattles and such increase rapidly, and the whole platform seems to degrade. The better-built German cars may need some maintenance/repairs that are perhaps more expensive than the Honda, but there's a certain solidity left in the car that I prefer over the long haul. I think I'd rather drive at 100+ MPH in a 150K mile BMW than in a 150K mile Honda. Of course, opinions vary on this, as do people's ability to maintain the more expensive cars. Different kinds of economies for different folks...

They aren't that fast, they don't have that great clearance, and the repair bills suck. Of course if they are under warranty that's a different matter. Clearance can indeed be an issue, unless you're pretty comfortable/experienced with creeping carefully over obstacles. That's why you get an Allroad; it's got more clearance than a Grand Cherokee when set to the highest suspension setting. My 6-speed A6 2.7T is plenty fast. 0-60 in 5.9, and it will happily and capably hammer down the freeway all-day at triple digit speeds. Repairs on a non-warrantied car can indeed be expensive, but again, based on my experience, an expensive repair that is not needed is not expensive...

Audi's are kitted up VW's. They've all the problems of a VW with a higher sticker price. At least based on my personal experience, I've gotta disagree with the crap claims. After the past eight years of driving two different Audis, and beating the hell out of both, including frequently driving them where most people wouldn't take their 4WD trucks, I haven't had any real problems. And I guarantee I get to and from the hills much faster than almost anyone else...

Great reading: 419 Eater

Huh? How do you figure? I lived in Colorado for about 10 years, and skied roughly 60 days a year. Everyone in this thread has it pretty much correct. Avoid the Aspens/Vails unless you're already there for something else, or unless Vail has a big powder dump in the bowls. For close to the Denver/Boulder area, Winter Park/Mary Jane and Loveland are your best and easiest bets. Loveland is still probably notably cheaper, but the weather and visibility can be sketchy there. A-Basin is a favorite, but mainly later in the spring. Like Loveland, stormy days can be a bit difficult there due to all the open terrain. I have no idea what the conditions are like there this year, but the Winter Park complex usually has pretty consistent snow conditions, and a huge variety of terrain. If you're into bump runs, then Mary Jane is your place. I skied there about 50 of my 60 or so days a year, not just because I mostly skied for free, but also because of its consistent conditions, proximity to Denver, and long combinations of bump runs that could be linked up.

Thanks to the magic of my all-time favorite website (imdb.com), I was able to learn that Jon Heder (N.D.) went to my high school (South Salem High, in lovely Salem, OR). Perhaps the finest talent my school has ever produced...

I guess I'm glad you just got a warning, but I'm also glad to see that a cop actually enforced this concept. I too am convinced that the U.S. is just a lost cause in this area.

I've got the 10-22 on order already for my 20D. Took advantage of some Dell coupons to get it for about $170 off the current going rate. Now I just have to wait for Dell to come through. I'm looking forward to having some true wide angle opportunities again on my 1.6x bodies.

Chirp - Nice! Which WA are you looking at? 16-35/2.8? Others? My sig. other lets me buy my own lenses, since she can't keep 'em all straight. But she did get me hooked up with Sirius satellite radio for the car and home. VERY cool.

I know that Pro Photo Supply in NW Portland has a box by the door for used batteries.

My brother is a cop. He's about the same size as me (6' 2", 230 lbs.). A few years ago, he was one of a group of 8 similarly-sized cops trying to control a skinny little guy on PCP. They more or less had everyone grabbing onto every body part possible, trying to restrain him, in a sort of dogpile. They finally got him subdued, but it took over a half an hour to do it, and afterward, they basically sent all 8 guys home because they were so fatigued that they couldn't even move any more. When climbing, I sometimes think about that story, and how much energy there must be locked away in the human body, if only you can tap into it. Which is not to say that I think PCP is generally a good idea while climbing...

It's not the worst; just excessively old-school for most. I've got one for winter use. I can't get my Ecrin Roc to adjust open enough to accommodate my big head with a warm hat. The El Cap has plenty of room for this, and it has a general lack of vent holes, which keeps my head dry in wet Oregon wintertime fun (to say nothing of the brim to keep water from running down my face).

So they're saying that this quake was "centered one mile below the surface of Rainier's crater". Let's see: 14,200 (ish) - 5280 is about 8920 or so, so that means they're saying the quake came from inside the mountain a little below the level of Muir. It's been quite a while since I've taken any geology, but that seems to be kind of an unlikely source of the rumbling, unless the mountain is a lot more active than I had thought...