catbirdseat

I am writing from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lambone. Thanks Matt for offerring to put me up for the night. You have a beautiful home and thank your wife for making dinner. It was great. Likely, my next post will be from Laguna Beach.

The CC.com 12-Step Program. I'll PM his email address to you.

When I worked in Bellevue, I'd get in my car and drive to where I could run on trail. Running is supposed to be healthy. You risk enough out climbing without taking more unnecessary risk running on streets.

How about Brian Williams? They always use a camera angle just to the left of center to minimize the appearance of assymetry.

Damn, those old people. They should have had the good sense to drink and smoke and die young.

Using short term swings in seasonal weather patterns in support a theory that denies climate change is just silly. We all know that there is a lot of random variation in weather patters from year to year. There will continue to be occasional severely cold winters from time to time, but the overall trend will continue to be warmer.

I've left mine stuck to the bottom of my skis. Is this bad? The skis are well-waxed.

I am hoping to overnight in the lowlands so that my load of orchids don't freeze.

I lent an ice tool to a partner once. He used the adze to drive a picket. He damaged both the adze and the picket. Fortunately the picket wasn't mine.

I sold the car to a local fellow who planned to use the parts from it to repair his Acura, but it runs so good that he now thinks he'll take parts of his car and fix up the one I sold him. Price was $100. The U-Haul only had a 14 foot truck when I ordered a 10 foot one. As a consequence I have a lot of extra room. If anyone wants something shipped to California, we can come to terms. You'd have to call me before 11 pm tonight. 206-851-1385. This is my cell. Only calls related to moving, please. Also, I have some orchid plants to give away. I'm taking a bunch to the Center for Urban Horticulture tonight at 7 pm, where the orchid society is meeting.

I'd put all four on one 60 meter rope. If there were five people I'd have three on one and two on the other. The team of three would lead.

Some tests were done by Leubben involving slung screws and unslung screws that were partially driven. What he found was that in a big fall, the unsupported part of the screw bends, the sling slides to the head and the hanger cuts the sling. If the screw is not slung, the screw bends, and it either fails or doesn't fail, but at least you don't have to worry about the sling getting cut.

The problem with Clinton *is* that history! The memory of those issues lives long. It is the reason for the visceral dislike and immense negatives she causes. A huge fraction of people despise her and gravely distrust her. I, for one, believe she has no integrity at all. A large number of people who would vote for Obama over McCain will vote for McCain over Clinton. You better believe the GOP wants Clinton as the Dem nominee. They would win the White House easily. Clinton will do all the work for them merely by being the other candidate. Tell me what those issues are, my friend. What has she done to affect your trust in her? She tried to do away with the insurance companies, didn't she? They villified her for that. She was trying to take away the gravy train.

Climb at Suicide/Taquitz Rock for the first time. That and climb lots at Joshua Tree and hit the high Sierra for the first time in 18 years.

Try the Winthrop. I've heard it can be a cool experience. It goes out earlier than the Emmons or so they say. It's supposed to be kind of like the Emmons only you get to do your own route finding.

I've heard Republicans claim they'd rather have their nominee run against Clinton than Obama, but I think that is just a lot of bombast. I think the in the case of Clinton, all of the skeletons are out of the closet. All of the past issues have been rehashed ad nauseum. Any attempts to bring up these issues to use against her will result in yawns from the electorate. Obama on the other hand is an unknown. We don't know what surprises await. There are things that her Republican opponent will dredge up that Hillary wouldn't think of giving voice to. I have to agree with Fairweather that it is unethical, if not illegal to caucus in a party other than your own. I wouldn't do it myself. Regarding Huckleberry, his insistence in soldiering on in the face of McCain's success is an indication that he would like a place in the administration either as VP or a cabinet official. He'd use his "mandate" to acheive that.

Drive at a moderate speed on the highways. Keep it down to around 55 mph. Don't use a roof rack. Don't buy cheap brands of gasoline. Pay a little more for Shell, Chevron, Exxon. These brands have high enough levels of fuel additives that your engine will not get valve deposits. Avoid ARCO, Tesoro, etc. Use fuel having the octane rating recommended by the owner's manual and no higher. Make sure your bus is tuned up properly before you go. Use a multigrade motor oil and change it frequently, ca. 3,000 miles. Don't use a synthetic. It's a waste of money for your particular car. Don't take any equipment you don't really need. The extra weight will cut into fuel economy and the stuff will just get in the way. Ask Fred Beckey how to find the "nameless street" end, if you should visit Squamish. There's a sweet free bivy spot there next to the railroad tracks. If you go to Joshua Tree, find someone already occupying a site and get chummy with them. Hopefully they'll let you share the site for a couple beers. Up to two cars, three tents and six persons are allowed per site. Call up every friend and relative you've ever heard of along your route and let them know that the prodigal son is coming to town.

Greed can be the only reason why a western woman would be fool enough to live in Saudi Arabia. This one got a quick education about what it is like to live in a 6th Century culture.

I recall Lion Country Safari from when I was a kid. Even though we lived in nearby Laguna Beach, we only ever visited the place a few times. It's concept of displaying animals in a setting resembling their natural habitat was a novel concept for the 1970's. I remember the time that Bubbles the hippopotamus escaped from the park. It was found along Laguna Canyon Road in the only pond for miles in any direction, ponds being uncommon in arid Southern California.

Joshua Tree is about to become my home crag. I could climb with you on weekends. I only lead to 5.9 at Joshua Tree.

Seems like we just finished doing this nasty topic not too long ago. Back so soon! Rather than commenting on abortion, I'll say that there are indeed cultures that reckon age from the time of conception, Korea for example.

I'm off on the road next Tuesday driving a U-haul van. Anyone want to buy a beat up old 1988 Acura Integra that needs some body work. It runs great. $200. Replacement for the Klenke Mobile. Going to the Diamond Knot brewery tonight in Muckleteo for some beers with my mountie friends.

It remains to be proved whether PDE5 inhibitors are effective in treating altitude sickness. It may be that they eventually become part of every high altitude climber's first aid kit.

I think that Mohammad answered this question adequately long ago. He said, "if the mountain will not come to Mohammad, then Mohammad must go to the mountain".

Ask Marek about his first trip on the ledges. His partner fell off and tumbled a long way down. The guy survived, but there was a helicopter rescue.