billcoe

Big Wally backpacks are about to start rolling after a 35 year hiatus/vacation. For those living in caves, this may have been the best pack ever made for Rockclimbing. It was discontinued by Gregory as it was one of the more expensive packs around and many many years ago the few climbers who were around that needed this product were typically poor assed/dirtbagging tightwads. We have more money now. If you want one (and I'm first in line so no tossing elbows here), best not wait until you finally see one in the store cause that's NEVER gonna happen. (maybe never isn't the best word there). Contact Cilogear as he is only making them to order. http://www.cilogear.com/ I believe that Graham could lay this out better than me, with specs, pictures, arrows and diagrams. Maybe he'll see my jumbled words and put something on next which explains all this and makes sense.

Brits-considering-letting-women-on hmmmm.

Got one in 12 ga already. Don't have the zebra skin sling though, that's pretty pimp for the hood. Here's my son after getting after a few rounds through it and deciding he didn't like the amazing amount of recoil it had. good luck!

The Mish link is a great one STP, thanks for opening my eyes. That will provide hours and hours of study. Diversification, I would presume, would include opening a personal bank account (FDIC insured) which is denominated in Chinese Yuan? Twice in as many days I have seen US officials insist or recommend that the Chinese allow their interest rate to float and increase vis a vis the dollar. Mish says, in arguing against Schiff: "Given the severe stress everywhere, and given the race to zero interest rates by all, the odds favor a wide trading range rather than a collapse of the dollar. Hyperinflation is simply not in the cards, at least for the US. Ironically, China or Russia is at far greater risk." ?

LOL! That was my line Mythosgirl! Since this is Feb, and this is the ice climbing forum, I was logging on to see what had frozen in yosemite. Instead I see guys without shirts jugging in the warm sunshine and climbing 4 months from now! It still works for me though!! Seriously - thanks for sharing it. I'll take a bunch of great Yosemite pics in any thread anytime. Real nice pics. 3 months? Sweet.

"Lawmakers are considering a bill that would raise taxes on beer. The current excise tax is about $2.60 and the new bill would raise it to $49.61 for a barrel of beer." LINK TO FULL CRISIS STORY

I'm not sure what you mean. Certainly the first part of the quoted part there is true. They say that the stimulus bill, when printed, was over 1000 pages and when layed down flat was 8" high and that even the senators voting on it couldn't wade through it. I didn't read it and and only got my info 3rd hand. I'm 100% positive that the media did the same. Which means that on this subject every news story we read about it was already 3rd or 4th hand info. Before some of you turn this into a Bush vs Obama thing )Or a Godzilla vs Rodan thing either) This bill was the bastard child of the last administration, and as I didnt' read the Bush proposal either: I don't have a F*ing clue what the difference was between that (Bush version) and this (final version). If anyone really did read it and personally know, speak up. If you are just going to be parroting some talking head who probably didn't read it either than whats the point of that? I suspect that both versions sucked but that the finished product sucked less because of the process. At the end of the day, someone is borrowing money to pay for this, and it's us: and our children...and their children as well I'd suspect. Peter Schiff was one of those who called this whole thing on the money before it occurred. This is what he is saying right now. [video:youtube] True dat, but I have friends, relatives and neighbors who I would not like to see suffer. Furthermore, I am still trying to figure out if the moves I have made are enough to stay out from under the bridge in the (increasingly likely) event my business collapses and I go jobless. My business partners were pissed that I was resisting their machinations and dragging my feet last August resisting a moving to a larger (and more expensive) facility. They had the location and 5 year lease all lined up and were tearing their hair out that I was resisting what they saw as a logical, critical, expansion. "WERE TOTALLY OUT OF ROOM HERE AND OUR LEASE IS UP WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING NOW WE'RE GROWING WE HAVE TO MOVE NOW WERE BIDDING THE XYZ CONTRACT AND EVEN IF WE DON'T GET THAT WE'RE SCREWEDIFWEDON'TMOVENOW... NOWWWWWWWW!!!". I replied: "Lets kick back here, toss out the extra garbage to free some room, rent a storage unit, or a container for the slow moving inventory and keep our overhead low. We'll have more, better and cheaper options in a year or 2. Our differences on this issue didn't go well at the time, especially since my viewpoint won the day. The partner most invested in the move and crankiest about my resistance came up and deeply and warmly thanked me last week. If we can survive and get over the hump, we may be able to buy a place in 1-2 years for less than the lease on the last place. We are resisting laying anyone off as everyone who works for us needs their jobs badly, and there are no other jobs out there, but that's a bad business move none (except one) of our competitors have emulated, and one that we may be forced to abandon as well if this continues and we run out of money. Maybe I can go live in Tvrshes basement and suck on smoked Tuna penis's? I have some Beef Stroganoff in #10 tins I can bring over.

Watch for rattlesnakes. It's the only place I've ever been rattled at while climbing, in this case right in the face while on lead. I think I saw the snake, but it just happened so fast, that f*ing thing rattled just as my head was clearing what would be even with it's location. It was right in front of my eyeballs on a ledge just below the top. I dropped below grade immediately while almost simultaneously shitting my pants. Got totally pumped while down climbing and pulling my pro out as I went. The memory really hasn't faded although it's been over 30 years......

Dohhh!, I had a memory of calling you Rob last time and being corrected "its Rod". Now I'm totally screwed up. Sorry! [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB4S7fhrdbA I was only suggesting-saying up there that you should link your TR, or describe your trip up Benthos for Rocky. BTW, Rocky, I think if you go over in early spring, snow dependent, and ski into any of the basins up there that show tight contours on a topo map, bring a handful of pins and an ice tool or 2, supplemented with a handful or 2 handfuls of nuts, and you'll find some pretty acceptable mixed stuff to climb.

Jayb, you there? Hello? Bueller.....B..U..L..L..E..RRRRR? Todays news: " Hillary Clinton has kept a low profile since taking over the State Department, but she spoke today at the Asia Society in New York on the eve of her first trip to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, and China. Her speech included some tough words for North Korea, saying it "was incumbent on North Korea to avoid any provocative action and unhelpful rhetoric towards South Korea.” Clinton stops first in Japan, but she’ll be busiest in China. According to the Associated Press, “The United States would like China to do more to support internal consumer demand and reduce its reliance on exports to generate its growth. It would also like to see the Chinese currency appreciate, making U.S. exports more competitive and helping to narrow the vast U.S. trade deficit with China.”"

Can't say. He's always been quiet I think. I went to Eastern 1976-1977 and climbed every weekend. Every weekend. I climbed a lot of different routes: many that I later learned Dave had already done, although there often was no evidence (and we left none as well), and Dave was very modest then about his substantial accomplishments. Thanks for the Elkhorns tip, I've done some routes up there. (most of which Dave already had done by then! Like the ramp route for instance.) We'd just head up there and climb. Never recorded it outside of talking it over with friends. I suspect Dave did the same, which is too bad, although I will say that it was a gift we got from Dave to believe we were on virgin territory, a wonderful thing I would say: and it was a gift we left for others as well. Glad we have this though. It's a nice legacy which Dave left for us all (not that he's left yet, I'm just saying!). Take care

Love the chart JH. (esp. the circled word nastiness lower right hand corner:-) . lol A big problem as I see it with the 9 gazillion is this. If you get the pork, ya gotta take the frog as well. Maybe secretary of Commerce is still available for the Frog since Bill Richardson and 2 others have pulled out....?

This too will pass. Hey, did you have to pay extra for that? ...and can it be ordered with a side of Peking Duck? If it quacks like a duck could it actually and in reality be a fart sliding around a softened avocado? Pat: peace, and apologies. I realized Kevbone is more genial and humorful than me and I resolve to try harder. Later.

Rod, maybe you can flesh that out a bit for RJ? Meantime, here's a pic from Dave Jensen. Text and line drawings are Dave's as well. Here's some more moderate and reasonable stuff to look at Rocky Joe. I'd highly recommend that before heading into the Wallowas that one totally have their shit together (I'm not saying you don't). It's not at all like around here. Over there, self-sufficiency and skill will rule and win the day. There's been lots of kick-assed climbers come from that part of the world besides Steve House. As a minimum, heading over in a larger, skilled self-contained group so that you can effect a self rescue/carry out might be a good idea. It seems to me that around the Mt Hood area, people often commonly expect that someone else will take care of them if they trip over their own dick, so they don't do shit to prepare for the inevitable. It isn't the case over in Eastern Oregon or parts deeper west like Idaho and Montana. It's a radical mind-set change, whereby you know that you have the skill to take care of yourself and your buddy, and that your buddy can do likewise should the SHTF.It seems to often breed a hardier, stronger person. They just rarely crow about their achievements. Look at the late (great) Dwight Bishop for a real classic example of that. If you look up "Mensch" in the dictionary, his picture is usually used for the example.

I don't know jack shit on fixing such things Archy, I just wanted to wish you well. Sucks to be in Red Rocks and be in pain as some of the best routes are hikes to get to. Good luck!

Casinos cost a lot of money to build as well.

Did you not put that somewhere around here back when the Dow was 10,000 or so? If so, you are now tied with Jayb as the CC.com top economist. (OK, it's true, I'm too lazy to look it up myself). This plaque for your wall denoting top status will follow shortly.

The car workers make more than that especially if you calculate in all the other costs. You won't get an argument from me. I use to think it was insane what a truck driver could make when the Teamsters were strong. Now truck drivers struggle. Google the McDonalds case. It might change your mind or soften your stance as the results were not as bad as commonly thought. The big question here is what are we going to get for 900 billion dollars. Thats an obscene amount of money. Take care Bill

As a business owner, I've never seen OSHA in this state being overly burdensome. The few encounters I've personally had with OSHA have been productive, simple and easy. They run pretty lean and frankly I'm happy they exist. Maybe you have some specific example of something different though. Don't know if I can argue the union thing, but clearly that is a choice workers can and do make. If it makes them unprofitable, then it's sadly goodby.(car industry, GM is union, Nisson and Toyota in the US are non-union -but are the unions the reason for the demise? Maybe a bit.) There are a lot of things which we have that overseas competition can often skip. Environmental and government regulation is a small part I'm sure, however, I suspect that our over litigious legal system is a much greater cost. That hidden tax gets slapped on us by our fellow jurists. If average people on these juries started looking askance at some of these lawsuits and calling bullshit, they'd go away. They do have an actual function of helping to protect us all. Government policies on both sides of the ocean do contribute, I'm not saying they do not. Until recently, in my industry, any Chinese company who exported into the US, received an additional 13% on top of what they exported kicked right back to them from their government. Coupled with low labor costs and low taxes....it was substantial.

Dude! PLEASE! Et Tu Ivan? This is the issue your kids may be paying for in 20 years. Huge huge issue. I had hoped that the new president would be getting the military spending in strange middle east places under control a tad faster. I wonder if the Bush admin briefed him on some hidden secret Saudi instability that created an urgency on the middle eastern oil situation: Iraq being the 2nd largest reserves in the area....Glad to see the energy nominee being a damn smart wonk who realizes the importance of our wasteful habits and is not afraid of saying the word "Conservation" like most of the republican jackasses, (any of you repubs on this site should be damned embarrassed about this particular issue BTW, it's one of the big causes of our trade imbalance and the amount of money we are flushing down the toilet in Iraq) but that's a long term thing anyway. This bill has the potential to drive our country directly and rapidly into the shithole instead of out of the one it's been heading for.

The stakes are huge here. As it's close to the final version, has anyone read any of this? There is hot and cold running speculation that the Obama stimulus plan won't even be read by the people signing it as over 1000 pages it's so long. The real scary part is contained in this link below. If we spend the money ineffectively and wastefully, then we're in a bigger hole than before and we as a county are screwed. LINK to full story "Will the stimulus actually stimulate? Economists say no By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — The compromise economic stimulus plan agreed to by negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate is short on incentives to get consumers spending again and long on social goals that won't stimulate economic activity, according to a range of respected economists. "I think (doing) nothing would have been better," said Ed Yardeni, an investment analyst who's usually an optimist, in an interview with McClatchy. He argued that the plan fails to provide the right incentives to spur spending. "It's unfocused. That is my problem. It is a lot of money for a lot of nickel-and- dime programs. I would have rather had a lot of money for (promoting purchase of) housing and autos . . . . Most of this plan is really, I think, aimed at stabilizing the situation and helping people get through the recession, rather than getting us out of the recession. They are actually providing less short-term stimulus by cutting back, from what I understand, some of the tax credits." ....more...clicky linky...

If I can paraphrase your statement: "It was 8 years of relentless hard work for Bush/Cheney to steer us into this massive shithole, how come the dems can't fix it in 15 min?" so with that in mind.....

I thought they all worked on Wall Street?