catbirdseat

Number one, a rally is a political statement. You'd rather have them making political statements than killing people. Second, the terrorists themselves are a minority at these rallys. Most of the people there are relative innocents, including women and children.

It took Marek six tries before he summitted in winter on Rainier. Each time the weather or other factors beyond his control had turned his party back. How's that for persistence?

Matt I may be old, but I'm not old enough to be her father.

I was thinking that it is going to be too warm and hence I shall go rock climbing at Vantage. Index and Leavenworth should be nice, especially on Saturday.

This will only perpetuate the Snugtop mystique.

How many different ways can you say skank?

That would have been me. Here are my photos, but unfortunately, I didn't capture the elusive Snugtop. Bugeyed Monsters Sergio and AlpinFox mattp, Toast and klenke Icegirl and Marylou (note the nice smile on Marylou and the absence of a middle finger) Here's (almost) everyone who was in the the room when I left. A bunch got cut out. Clockwise from left we have: Thinker, Marylou, Icegirl, rocksanyone, Sergio (still bug-eyed), Dave_Shuldt, Michelle?, AlpinFox (cut off), and the back of TreadTramp's head.

No more Maxim ropes for me.

"Pierre" is probably back behind the wheel this very minute looking for another Osama to run over.

Last year I couldn't sleep a wink in Muir Hut, so finally at 2 am I took a Diamox and was sound asleep within 10 minutes.

The swelling can be from two sources: broken capillaries or from a lack of return flow through the viens. If the former is the case, elevate and ice and use leaches if you have them. If the latter it is a result of a clot. No one can diagnose over the internet. Again, go see the doc. Aspirin is better than Ibu for clots, but if the cause is leaking capillaries then that's not what you want. Moderate icing will not hurt regardless of what the problem is.

You just might want to have a doctor look at that. Could be a blood clot. It doesn't sound right. Better ask Norman_Clyde.

Thanks, Timm@y.

JayB, well said. I'm glad someone can think clearly and express himself clearly as well.

I allowed for a lot of rope stretch in my calculations.

God gave the Irish whiskey that they would not rule the world.

Here's a Dave Allen joke for you: "Now it seems there was this English soldier that went to Ireland for a vacation because he knew he could get the best whiskey there. (Dave takes a sip from his glass and smiles at the audience from over its rim ... ) Well ... after having had "quite" a night of pubbing he found himself wandering along the side of an Irish road at a very early hour of the morning. Coming up the road was an Irish farmer on his way to market. In his wagon was his prize pig and pulling the load was his best horse. When the Irishman saw the soldier he thought, "Poor soldier. Out this early in the morning walkin' alone. I should offer him a ride." So, he pulled up next to the soldier and asked if he wanted a ride into town. Now the English soldier wasn't too sure about accepting a ride from an Irishman, especially when he saw, sitting on the floorboards, the farmer's rifle. But the farmer insisted and the soldier was quite drunk (Dave takes another sip from his glass and smiles, sweetly, from over its rim ... ) When the soldier was in the wagon the farmer realized he was running late and coaxed his horse to go faster. Just at that moment a wild rabbit ran across the road and scared the horse. He broke into a mad gallop and no matter how hard the farmer tired to stop him, he would not slow down! Then, suddendly, the horse made a sharp turn and the wagon tipped over and everyone fell out. The soldier landed in a ditch, face down, and couldn't move. He knew he'd broken at least one arm and a leg. He was feeling dizzy and thought he might even have sustained a concussion. He had trouble seeing from one eye and knew it was bleeding. From behind him he could hear the farmer moaning over what had happened. "Oh, my poor pig! You've got a nasty cut in your side. I'd best be puttin' you out of your misery." And the soldier heard the farmer fire his rifle into the pig. Then, the farmer saw his horse. "Oh, my poor, poor horse! You've broken a leg. I best be puttin' you out of your misery." And the soldier heard the farmer fire his rifle, again, into his horse. Then he heard the farmer coming closer to him. The farmer turned the soldier over and said, "oh, you poor soldier ... how are you?" The soldier said, quickly, "I never felt better in my life!" "

Trask reports that he is making money hand over fist now that he isn't wasting so much time on cc.com. He says being banned was the best thing that ever happened to him. Oh, and I almost forgot. He asked me to tell you this:

The thing I worry about is when the off roaders ask for motorcycle trails in the forest and the motorhome crowd asks for larger campgrounds complete with hookups, they'll get it because of their willingness to pay fees at licensing time. They will have the clout and we won't.

Chaucer was there in print too. Unfortuantely, in a modern English translation.

Was I just imagining it, or did it look as though his belayer gave him a very "dynamic" belay? He was no more than 10 ft above his last piece, but fell close to 40 ft, by my reckoning.

My partner and I have room for two more. Save $$ on gas. We leave Seattle around 7 am (negotiable), leave Vantage around sundown.

How is talking going to hurt? Diplomacy is much less costly than warfare. I say go for it.

There is a west ridge, a NE face and a SE face. The NE is the steepest one. Which were you on? I noticed that the north face has some real ice on it.

One never knows what issue will draw a our a lurker. Once they do, the feedback either grabs 'em and hold 'em or else drives them back into hiding.