catbirdseat

Geek alert! A battery is technically any number of cells connected in series. The voltage is the sum of the individual cells. A 9Volt battery is a true battery. It is composed of 8 cells, each at 1.2 V. GregW's personal favorite, the D-cell, is just that, a single cell. Your car battery has six 2-volt cells. BTW, the color of the sock does not affect either the mass or the total voltage of the cells contained therein. With enough cells in your sock you can commit battery.

That doctor should have his medical license revoked.

Did anyone actually believe this would be anything other than an exercise in futility?

Hey Bronco! I know about this stuff because of my involvement with sailing. Mast fittings on sailboats are typically attached using stainless steel fasteners. Unless one is meticulous about washing the salt from your spars, the fittings eventually pull out. Alex could tell you all about it.

Look for a Purcell Prussik.

I'd like to see him fight a grown male silverback. He'd learn how to fly.

You can read more here. This is the worst damage ever recorded. The FS doesn't know where they are going to get the money to fix all the trails and bridges. It would help to write your congressman and senators and urge them to help find funding.

Cracked, do you have any idea just how many different threads share the subject, "WTF?"?

Stretch75- from lurker to Sprayer in four easy posts. Good job!

This would make a lot of sense. Stainless steel is much more "noble" in the electromotive series than aluminum. If salt from sweat builds up over time on the pin, it can create a galvanic cell which will cause corrosion of the aluminum. The oxide causes a compressive force which eventually causes a crack to release the strain. The solution is to dunk your biners in pure water every once and a while to dissolve any salt that may have accumulated. They may fail eventually anyway, so it's smart to eyeball all your biners from time to time.

I saw an article in today's New York Times about the problems they are having on the East Coast states with overpopulation of deer. There are millions of them and they are ravaging forests and gardens. While they have started hunting them, they are only managing to keep the problem from getting worse. Of course, the writer had to mention the PETA people who are adamantly opposed to killing nuisance animals no matter how numerous and destructive they become. I'm not a hunter, myself, but I have no problem with killing animals that have become overpopulated, when there is no practical alternative. The key word, "practical"- as if we are going to relocate or administer birth control to 3 million deer. I think these people need to face reality. The deer are overpopulating because there are no longer any predators. Would PETA advocate reintroduction of wolves and cougars in Princeton, New Jersey. That would do the trick. You might lose a few school children, but what the hey?

THE NEW NODDER FORUM could replace the old and inactive RAINIER INVESTIGATION forum.

I say give 'em the needle.

I'm not certain what exactly is the size. They are rated over a 2000 lbs. The largest loads generated when rappelling if you are careful not to bounce is about twice your weight, which in my case is 2 x 200 = 400 lbs. This leaves a comfortable safety margin. The main reason I like quick links over rap rings is that I can put them around multiple existing slings.

just file down the point of the needle to make sure you dont poke the core... It won't hurt the rope to go through the core. The needle parts the fibers and passes between them. There are some needles, however that have a triangular shaft near the point, used for leather. Don't use that kind because they CAN, in theory, cut the fibers. In practice this is very unlikely when the rope is not under tension. The fibers move aside. This is why stepping on ropes with crampons doesn't usually damage the core. If it did, a lot more people would have died by now.

I learn something every day. Today I learned that under the law you must show intent to steal before you can convict someone of larceny or embezzlement. EMBEZZLEMENT According to the faculty of Northwest Wesleyan University ( source ): "Embezzlement is the conversion of lawfully acquired property into something for unlawful purposes (personal use or profit). The property converted must have come into the suspect's possession via a position of trust, commonly called a fiduciary relationship. For example, employees, parking lot attendants, dry cleaning services, auto shops, and bankers typically occupy such positions of trust. The actus reus elements of embezzlement are the same as larceny except that the element of taking is relaxed and the element of breach of trust is added. All that's necessary to prove breach of trust is that the property was handled in a manner inconsistent with the trust arrangement. Embezzlement is a specific intent crime. The requisite mental state is an intent to defraud and convert property. This mental state is sometimes proven by considering what happened after the act of larceny. If the person claims they intended to return the exact same property, it is false pretenses. If the person intended to return similar or identical property because they have already spent the profit, or covered up the losses in some way because of the physical impossibility of returning the original property, it is embezzlement." In an article in today's New York Times the lone hold out juror in the Tyco corruption case stated that had the judge not declared a mistrial, there would have been a hung jury, regardless, because she herself did not believe that the prosecution had shown intent on the part of the defendants to steal from their company. I'm sorry, but I can't share her point of view, let alone even understand it. These people were using the company as their personal piggy bank a la Bart Simpson with a hammer. They obviously had no intent to pay back the 600 million dollars they "borrowed". This woman received a law degree at age 50. I would say one of two things is true: 1) She was bought off, or 2) America's law schools have sunk to a new low of moral relativism. So let me get this straight. I can steal from my company as long as I "feel good" about it? I don't think I personally could get away with that.

Those are 45 minutes out of our lives we'll never get back. Gosh, I am so ashamed.

I've seen far too many people who completely forget to eat enough. They get so absorbed in the climbing, they forget to maintain their bodies.

Hey, the roof was open and the sun was shining. What more could you ask for?... well a win would have been nice.

The pressure would be about 500 atmospheres or about 7500 pounds per square inch. You would need a casing made of several inches of high strength steel.

The pressure would be about 500 atmospheres or about 7500 pounds per square inch. You would need a casing made of several inches of high strength steel.

So funny I suffered a coughing fit.

The rock is not impermeable, unfortunately.

Supposing it were possible to build a tunnel. How do you keep out water that is under thousands of pounds of pressure?