catbirdseat

Yep, Dom DeLuise, badly in need of a trim.

Marvin Bush

THIS is repulsive:

If I were driving a truck full of explosives, I'd take corners at high speed too.

Cloudy mornings do wonders for the commute to work. No fumbing around in the glove box, looking for those damn sunglasses. I've noticed that the better the weather the worse the traffic.

When it comes to insurance companies, anything you say can and will be used against you to screw you.

Just change bridegroom to bride.

The Montrail Splitter is a very comfortable shoe. Friends who have the shoe have told me they find them comfortable too.

Great story Murray. You should submit it to one of the boating magazines. I'd be willing to bet they'd publish it. I recall an incident many years ago in which we were attempting to bring my brothers Laser sailboat home from the Yacht Club on top of the family station wagon (a '71 Kingswood Estate Wagon). My Dad had tied it, bow forward, upside down on the roof. I was of the opinion that the boat was sitting bow heavy and needed to be moved back and more lines secured. But my Dad, as usual, said, "aw, it's good enough, let's get out of here!". We didn't even get out of the parking lot. My Dad hit the brakes rather hard to avoid an oncoming car he hadn't noticed. The boat slid forward and a big, honking cleat first broke the windshield before severely damaging the hood.

Sorry, I was referring to Dru's comment.

Glad you managed things so well. I hope David is mending well. You'll get it next time.

It's kind of hard to say whether you were on the North Face route, but you had a good adventure regardless.

This is hardly a situation to joke about.

We almost went for that. It was a toss up. The bolted section looked a little more challenging.

I met a climber from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Olyclimber, sprayer of sprayers: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Can you find a tool that can do 3/64" swages?

Climb: Tumwater Buttress-Groundhog Day Date of Climb: 8/6/2005 Trip Report: This route is a 3 pitch climb on Tumwater Buttress. It is an excellent beginner's route. The approach is short, route finding is easy and it protects well. The climbing is even easier than R & D Route. Park on Hwy 2 at the first pull out north of Icicle Canyon Road on the left (river side). Cross the highway and walk back towards town until you see the trail which starts between two Ponderosa Pines. The first pitch is the hardest, but not very hard, 5.6 with maybe one or two 5.7 moves. It starts out with two bolts and finished with a bolt. Second pitch is easiest at about 5.4. Third pitch is 5.5 or 5.6. All three pitches have bolted belay/rappel anchors. In summer, go early because it get's really hot. Take two ropes you need them to rap off. We had only one rope and climbed another one more pitch and scrambled another half pitch before walking off on sandy slopes to the east. It's would be more pleasant and much better for the environment to rappel. I'd heard reports about there being a lot of lichen on the route, but I think they were overstated. It's not a problem. Gear Notes: A set of medium to large nuts and a few medium cams. About 8 slings. Approach Notes: It's worth it to walk a little further down the road to the real trail than to scramble up the bank.

I repaired trigger wires on two of my Clog cams. The old swage fittings were quite easy to remove from the SS rods to which they were attached, using an ordinary pair of wire cutters oriented lengthwise to split the fitting in two. The original wire was apparently 3/64". The 1/16" wire I used and the swaging that goes with it are noticeably larger, but the clearance between the cam lobes is still sufficient for it to work properly. I had to enlarge the holes in the trigger bar using a drill. The inexpensive tool I used worked okay, but it is a bit of a pain. If I were planning on doing a lot of repairs, I'd spring for the $100+ hand tool. Here's another source. They carry 3/64" wire in both 7x7 and 7/19: Pacific Industrial Supply Contractors' Equip & Supls-Dlrs & Service 2960 4th Ave S Seattle, WA 98134 - 1915 (206) 682-2100

Is there a moat on both sides of the notch? You know there are actually two notches, right? Did you have a look at the left side?

Nice separation. Your peaks and valleys are mine to trace.

Shhhhhhhh!!!!!

Here is a bear who is rooted in the here and now. A happy bear is a bear with a full stomach.

The presumed active ingredient in wormwood's oils, alpha-thujone, has a similar molecular structure to menthol, a-pinene, eucalyptol, camphor and other monoterpenes. Formerly believed to have a THC (cannabinoid) structure-activity relationship and mechanism, a-thujone is now known to modulate only an entirely different receptor site, the GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) system. GABA moderates the firing of neural synapses; a-thujone mildly antagonizes such inhibition. More on thujone

If you want to call it an accomplishment, fine. Here's part of CAFTA I don't like (from Wikipedia): "CAFTA also faces opposition due to provisions outlining "test data exclusivity" for pharmaceuticals. This provision applies when a pharmaceutical company submits test data to a regulatory agency to prove that its medicine is safe and effective. Test data exclusivity would forbid other, smaller companies from reusing this test data to create low-cost, generic versions of the drug. Producing test data is expensive, and smaller companies generally require the reuse of test data to produce low-cost, generic medications. In practice, "test data exclusivity" may mean that companies based in rich countries would hold an effective market monopoly on various medicines, such as those used to treat AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Critics charge (PDF) that this provision would prevent many poor people from receiving life-saving medications." What this means is that testing will have to be done over and over again, something which isn't required in THIS country. There is no need to repeat acute toxicity testing on a generic drug. All you should have to show is that your version of the drug is as pure or more pure than the name brand drug.

I once saw a guy on the Emmons who was bagged and tagged. He was sitting in a nice hole shaped like a recliner on a foam pad with a nice puffy down jacket on. The sun was shining and he had a big smile on his face. He was warm and happy to be where he was. He had just gotten tired and didn't want to go on.