catbirdseat

This thread was so nice for a change until it turned to s...

I heard on the radio that there is a comet that is now visible with just binoculars in the constellation Perseus. It is expected to occlude the brightest star in that constellation at some point.

You must be referring to the most recent version. You should have seen the 1976 Dino De Laurentis version! My Dad and I went to see it at Laguna Theater and we laughed so hard we almost got thrown out of the joint.

Insinuating that because of inconsistent statements (that were tangential to the issue), that my main point must also be discredited. Did you pick that up from Fox news or Rush Limbaugh?

Has anyone noticed that this thread has brought a slew of new avatars?

Reminds me of the killer bunny on Monte Python and the Holy Grail.

Just as soon as she gets an answer to questions 1, 2, and 3 (see above).

There are places to plug gear but the quality of the rock is suspect. You can place gear, but can you trust it? That's the crux of the issue. Some would look at it and say it's just fine and others wouldn't trust any of it. This is not a simple case.

Well, Petey, you have way more time than I do these days. Smells like an ad hominem attack to me! I don't recall who it was, but someone I met at Vantage told me that the route was first led without any bolts. I wasn't the first one to suggest that it was Jim who added bolts, was I? Can you recall the exact number of bolts on a mixed route that you climbed more than a year ago? The exact number of original bolts is totally irrelevant to the issue, is it not?

That's so old skewl! I'd bet John Frieh would buy those for his gear museum.

Come on Blake! I've met all of those guys except for Dan and Joe. Jim goes to a ton of pub clubs Lowell and Colin has been to a fair share. Surely everyone has run into Fred somewhere. Hey Builder206. You spoke so nicely of me, I'll have to take back all the lousy, rotten things I've been saying about you. And Dru, I wasn't even aware of the second time we almost met.

Here's how I understand the situation. The route is not a straightforward crack. You cannot just plug gear pretty much anyplace you feel like it. As Marlene said, it has portions that are broken, etc. You have to be selective where you place gear on the route. This makes it a more serious route than the rating would suggest. Having led it in its former state, I would say that I was glad to have the five bolts that were there, but that I didn't feel it needed more. I felt that a 5.11 leader could have led it with the five bolts only and no gear, or using gear only and not the bolts. I certain could not. In fact, I hung from one of the bolts when I pumped out. I've yet to redpoint the route in two attempts.

It's called World Wrapps.

It sure would be nice if REI would carry these draws again. I wonder why they don't?

Sobo, you had me on your list. We've met several times! I've met all the ones with x's but not the ones with o's. There's a chance I've met some of them and were not even aware of it. In addition, I'd like to meet all the PDX people, like Bill, Joe, John, Shelly, Iain, DFA (unless he really is Iain). I'd also like to meet crazy Polish Bob, Pope, and deskdriver.

I heard a story from the mining days at Monte Cristo. There was a cook who worked in the head house at the Comet Mine, I think it was. He was tired of finding that most of the milk was sloshed out of the jugs, etc. from the mule ride that was the normal way it was brought. He decided to ride into town on an ore bucket and bring the milk back himself. The buckets used to swing around quite a bit and could come close to the towers. Well, the cook made it back alive, but he lost an ear.

Dude, it's "master" not "mass".

You have to admit that they shot some beautiful scenery. But I'll grant you that not much information was conveyed.

Dru, would you care to explain this to us non-geologists? If it were not for the insulating effect, the continental plate above would be hotter, would it not? How would this lead to a greater elevation? Is it simply that warm rock is less dense and therefore would be more bouyant?

This sounds like something worth watching.

Does this mean that REI is now serving breakfast?

I would say that, in principal it would be possible, but you'd still have to have road access, unless you skied or used a sled.

So Aqua Dots are made with a coating of some sort of glue that when sprayed with water, cements the beads together. The only thing that I can see being able to convert to gamma hydroxybutyric acid in the GI tract would be a polymer of GHB. Although ester bonds are pretty stable in acid solution. Maybe the beads contain gamma butyrolactone? That certainly would readily metabolize to GHB.