catbirdseat

Anyone who has kids who chew bubblegum or used marking pens ought to know about Goof Off.

Who's pole did you take?

How could we flip you shit when carpet is a stake?

I can't think if an instance in which I have used my tricams in the passive mode, that is not their best use. I'll use a wired stopper instead. They fit better and are easier to remove.

Last time I was at Vantage, I was heading up a route and some guys told me, "there's a fixed red tricam about half-way up. But don't bother trying to get it out, we tried for a long time and it wouldn't budge." That tricam was mine in ten seconds.

Ode to a Pink Tricam Oh Pink's the one I love to place when I'm alone way up in space on some exposed and airy face. They sink where other gear won't go. When all you've got is manky pro, This tricam saves your butt from woe. But it's often hard to get them out; They make your second moan and shout And wave his nut tool 'round about But that's why you're the one on lead Your problems are a different breed As long as someone does the deed... "Oh quit your whimpering," you rumble, "And get it out or there'll be trouble" "Get to work now, on the double!" Although it sometimes takes a while, They do come out with vim and guile, (or chiselling and curses vile.) Pink will do what all the rest. Won't do when they're put to the test. Oh pink tricams are just the best! -- Charles "Pinky" Danforth

Dru, I'll send you my gopher just as soon as I can trap him. Please send mailing address.

I think Dwayner has done it, but he was banned.

Cool. It works.

So trask, you probably think that it was a mistake to offer Gary Ridgeway a deal to avoid execution in exchange for leading investigators to all the bodies he stashed?

On Monday, Mr. Inslee paid a visit to our laboratory on a sweep through several high tech firms in the Canyon Park area. He was only here for 30 min, and I was only able to introduce myself and shake his hand before he had to go. However, a poster went up about a "Brown Bag Lunch" Community Conversation for today at the Puget Sound Center. I showed up for the lunch and it turned out that there were only about 7 or 8 people there and except for two of them, they were rather shy, but I wasn't. I got to ask several questions. Several of us introduced ourselves and I mentioned that I was a member of cc.com and that I had questions from you that I wanted to address. He said he had just been to a meeting with members of the Access Fund. I asked if they brought up Cave Rock and he said no. He brought up the Roadless Rule and said he was in favor of the rule, and he was "in favor of more money for maintenance of existing roads", that money spent on new roads takes away funding that would otherwise go to the road currently used by various backcountry users like climbers and hikers. On behalf of Bug, I brought up H1B which is the program by which foreign workers can obtain work visas for jobs at high tech companies. He said that he has looked at the paperwork that these companies must submit and he believes that they are being honest about not being able to find qualified workers in the US. He says the process is very costly and time consuming for companies and that they don't go through it without a definite need. He said that no one has yet brought up to him an abuse of the system and that if there is, he would like to hear about it. One of his aids mentioned that this year the number of visas was reduced from 165,000 to 60,000. He brought up the issue of "outsourcing" on his own and that it is something he is concerned with and is looking at ways to deal with it, but it sounded like it is a trend that is hard to reverse. I asked about his position on Fee Demo and he said that "I really hate it! Why should a family who wants to go for a picnic have to pay $30 for the priviledge." Funding for trails maintenance should come from the General Fund. He voted against the recent House Bill that would make the Fee Demo program permanent. The bill passed, unfortunately. It turns out that one of his aids is a climber who lives on the east coast. I talked with him about problems with FS administrators in the Leavenworth Ranger District. He asked me to send him an e-mail detailing our concerns. I really think this is a great opportunity to see about getting Larry the Tool fired. I do intend to follow up on this. It would help if people like Mattp, who have written letters of complaint in the past would forward the information to me. Other issues he talked about: Iraq, SBIR loans, Patent Fees, Medicare (against GOP bill), Reimportation of drugs (for) and how the US subsidizes the rest of the word on drugs.

We shouldn't make laws based on exceptions. You have to look at what represents the rule. Case in point, in a story that I saw on the TV news last night, a young woman gets pregnant and takes the abortion pill RU486. She got an infection and died. Her parents are suing the government to take the drug off the market. It doesn't matter that 150,000 women have taken the drug safely in this country. It was the hospital's fault for sending her home with a Tylenol, rather than examining her properly.

I saw this on rec.climbing: "John Sherman, "Stone Crusade:" Many climbers are eager to emulate the highly successful French climbers, and rightly so. They can teach us much about training, injury prevention, technique, and fashion. Nevertheless, we should learn not just from their successes but from their mistakes as well: The use of rosin being their foremost blunder. The use of rosin (pof) is unacceptable anywhere in the United States. NO POF. POF VERBOTEN. It forms a slick buildup on holds and will not wash off. With continued use it permanently alters the rock, forming a glassy surface impossible to grip without more rosin. Rosin is commonly carried in tied-up dishtowels that resemble miniature halloween ghosts. The pof rag is whacked against holds and rubbed on boots. If you see climbers using rosin, kindly ask them no to. If they persist in using it, take their pof rag away from them and tar and feather their sorry asses." So, do the French REALLY use rosin on climbs? To what extent? From what I've been able to find, it is mostly inconjunction with bouldering. I haven't heard of it being used here, thank God.

I am no fan of Brodeur. She seems like a lightweight to me. I don't imagine guys like trask and fairweather are too fonder of her.

That sucks.

That's bloody great news. Here's some more good news: EPA drops plan to reverse wetlands protection.

Now here are the articles. Read them, if you feel like it, and decide if the particulars of each case justifies the sentences. Geoduck Case- 14 years Baby Rape - 6 months

Citrus cleaner yes, Goof Off, no. Goof off has toluene in it, I believe. It likely will damage the rug. Whatever you try, test it on a sample in the corner or on some snipped fibers.

You left out the Tooth Fairy.

The two cases represent the extremes of harshness and leniency. I only presented them side by side because they happened to appear together on the same page in the newspaper.

We have to convince the Iraqis that there is a new paradigm going down in Iraq. No more does one group get all the goodies, while the other get's the shaft. Bush should talk to the Iraqis instead of just to Americans. He should say, "You, who were beaten down, you will have equality and justice. You who were Saddam's favorites, you will be protected from retribution. You will be treated like everyone else. You will know prosperity if you work hard."

In the Seattle Times local news section yesterday (12/16/03), there were two articles on the first page. The first one was about a geoduck smuggler who got 14 years for poaching clams in Puget Sound. Granted, he was doing it on a grand scale to the tune of 200,000 lbs of clams. The second article was Nicole Brodeur's column, "Baby raped: Will justice be served?" She reviewed a story that was in the news last month about a man who raped his girlfriend's two-month old baby girl. The man got six months in jail versus the standard 10 year penalty because he pleaded guilty. "Court officials stress that this impropably light sentence has nothin to do with the fact that (the man's) father heads the Washington State Department of Corrections." Poach clams- get 14 years. Rape a baby- get 6 months. Does that sound fair?

Insert vomicon here.

You hit the nail on the head. The Democrats need to get some backbone.

Chuck, it begs the question, why DON'T they take off the kid gloves? Do they all have skeletons in their closets that the Repubs haven't already revealed? Is it that others will see it as being unpatriotic?