Bill_Simpkins

May the Force be with you, and your shoe laces, always.

I would suggest tagging on a little distance to workouts. Take it beyond the normal jog, bike or hike to something that pushes you more into athlete territory. When you get back and you're starving, eat healthy, even if you feel like you deserve a Big Mac. If you can get outside Vs. the gym, thats better, like stated above. You end up hiking more and being more active in general. Plus, it is fun. Technique will come with the miles you put in on the rock. We've all seen week obese men climb 5.11. What you see as strength on the wall is usually just very tuned technique (wish I had that). Being strong helps, but I know some Biffs that couldn't climb 5.6. I would say in general: being strong helps but the same amount of effort put into technique will get you farther.

Why is it that most boots and shoes come with round laces? They suck ass and cost more. It must be trendy.

You know what I'm talking baout. The kind that comes on almost every mountaineering boot and outdoor shoe sold. They suck. Why? A) They create pressure points on the foot. B) They create space between the lace holes and your foot. C)The sheathe slips off the core. This is very annoying. And because of thise they don't last any longer than flat laces. D)They come untied easier. Take your favorite pair of mainaineering boots or outdoor tennies and put a pair of flat laces on them. You will feel the difference immediatly. You can get a tighter feeling fit but it will be more comforatble. They will fit and feel better! I just replaced some laces and couldn't believe the torture I've been putting myself through. Round laces are crap and a totaly market ploy because they cost 4x as much. Just ranting. Discuss.

Let us know what it is like up there at the top. I'm curious how the moat filled in with this crazy snow season.

Early season it's easy, late season there is a huge moat with a close by slot on 50 degree(ish) ice. I didn't bring a rope, but probably should have.

Trundling Physics Poem: (1/2)mv^2 GMm/r Trundling makes rocks scared Because they will fall very far.

Hey, call me at work and give me your new number, the message got cut off and couldn't get the last two digits. Or PM me. Thanks!

Yeah, it was pretty good. Pretty funny too. I agree though, adding love interest to sell totally blows. It's a discrase to art.

Brilliant comment.

I spent all weekend exploring my secret mountains in BC. I was stuck driving on logging roads in Ten-Buck-Two and was wishing I was in Squamish, but wasn't quite sure of the weather. This comfirms that I should have been in Squamish. I am going to cry now.

Here are some pictures for those who have never been up there. There are VERY large and detailed versions of these pictures in my gallery.

I've been thinking about that, thanks. Rock shoes can cause this too.

Since the weather is a little marginal, I'm going exploring this weekend in an area I plan to climb soon. Probably a lot of driving and maybe a little hiking. Sat and Sun PM if you want to tag along.

That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time. Deserves publishing.

Excellent! Well-stated! This is the type of simpliton rehtoric that is used to dismiss science, along with the dismissive snide comment. Basically this dismissal can be boiled down to "it was hotter (or colder) in the past so no big deal." If you actually read any of the research, even the National Academy of Sciences panel put together by the Bush Administration, you'll have a fuller grasp of the basics. Lobbing in the yert reference is great too - it infers that the only logical choices are full steam ahead and do nothing or some throwback to the commune era. It's a false analogy and a favorite of the conservative camp. It's as if somehow, through the power of benign neglect, everything will work out just fine. There are choices that can be made now, to both improve our energy situation, reduce our contribution to greenhouse gasses, invest in new technology, and prepare our economy for the next century. The oil crew of Bush and Cheney, however, have only seen the light at the end of their tunnel, and that leads straight into the pockets of the oil and gas industry. I agree with you mostly, I have however begun to CONSIDER the motives for Darth Cheney's and Bush's oil "endeavors". Their is a much larger risk for the US than maybe even the environment. The oil reserves are getting lower, the large reserves left will require better technology then what we have now to extract the oil efficiently, without losing money or simply just taking more energy to get the stuff out than what we get from it. This leads to an interesting and gloomy possibility: The last country with oil, may rule the world. With the rate that it would take to replace our fossil fuel relibility (transportation, plastics etc.....), there may be no way to replace these dependencies before we run out of oil. If we could replace our fossil fuel dependency fast, that would be great! If our cars are useless, if our farm equipment is useless, if our military can't function, what do you think China/ Korea or like countries would do next if they still had oil supplies for their military? The US would be a miserable place. We may be now at the MERCY of the oil suppying countries. I think the environment is #1 priority, however, I've been getting worried about the oil shortage and what could happen to us if we don't secure the last of it. The consequences could be even more tragic . Yes it would suck living in a human inflicted wasteland, but the immediate consequences of a possible US occupation would be horrific. It may truly be a war for the last drop of oil, going on right now. But wait! Environmentalism can help this too. The more fuel we save and conserve, the more fuel we'll have left fr later. I don't see why the repubicans are so uptight about energy efficiency, except for possibly pocket books. Maybe Darth Cheney and Bush are taking advantage of the upcoming situation by possibly hold governments hostage with privatly owned oil in the future. Just brainstorming. Please don't ream on me, just sorting things through. As far as global warming, it seems we got ourselves into a bit of a mess. What's sad is that we as a race ARE capable of overcoming such problems, but we have become too divided, lazy and afraid.

That's the "tree move" on Banana peel in Squamish. Pretty funny stuff.

Hear is a typical conversation I hear at work: "Did you watch CSI?" "Yeah, I balled my eyes out when...." "Me too, it was sooo sad" "and did you watch American Idol?" "Uh...like....I can't believe that she one, I don't like her" "I know, isn't she ......." "Desperate housewives was pretty good too" "I wonder of Ken will ask her to....." "Are you watching ........ tonight" "Yeah...and then ..." Makes me wonder ....

It worries me that some people discard this information as biased liberal propaganda, when in-fact, it's just science. There does not seem to be bias in this science. It's time for some waking up. What's it going to take to convince people? Do their front yards have to be flooded from the ocean? Do they have to be diagnosed with lung cancer from air pollution? What's it going to take? I really think that if the opposition was on the front lines, collecting this data and seeing the results pop on on the screen, their minds may change. Instead, they just read the news and form their own oppinions. A lot of people when they are young don't believe vthat inegar and baking soda fizz out of control when mixed until they do it themselves. The problem is that peoples opinions are very defined and it goes as far as effecting what they get involved in. To dismiss science as liberal bias is cheating yourself and your family from a healthy future, or future all together. It's ok to be a skeptic, that's what makes a good scientist. But there is a difference between being skeptic and being ignorant. If this world dies because of ignorance, then maybe we are not worthy of living in such a place. Live Long and Prosper. \V/_

We should all start marking hangers with a metal etcher to see where they end up.

Does the Polish Hardman clean? My basement needs a little work.

I have the Marmot Alpine Bivy. It weighs 1 pound and is very spacious. I have slept in the rain and kept dry. It is a very simple sac. I usually just keep my bag in it and stuff it all in the bottom of my pack. There is enough head space inside to keep some gear in it while sleeping, and I'm 6'2". I usually can keep my shoes, rope and clothes in the thing comfortably above my head inside.

My two cents. In mid June: Follow the horde of people going up. Follow the horde of people going down. Eat burgers and drink beer. Rejoice!

Agreed. I'll start by donating 15 pounds. Want to add. Many cases are investgated, but they have to pick and choose. They choose ones that will have the most impact and hopefully persuade some not to do it. One thing to remember is things like this take time. It takes at least a couple of years before things start turning around. but, believe me, the people at Medicare are just as concerned as you are. They talk about this stuff all the time.

Come on, come on. This "war on terror," which apparently works better to incite terrorism than to prevent it, probably vaporizes more money in the time it takes DFA to write this post than Medicare shells out for motorized wheelchairs all year. This is the same bullshit logic that people drag out to complain about "overpaid" educators and their outlandish need for health insurance. The government could probably fund the entire educational system to the highest standards just by cutting funding to one black budget military contract, or by actually allowing congressional oversight & control of all military spending, but no one complains about that, because fear and scare tactics have you thinking "it's for our safety." Whatever. I know first hand. I used work with this stuff every day. I PERSONALLY reviewed claims of this matter and studied the impacts. Old people are buying these things like crazy and getting their doctors to sign off on them. There is not enough money to investigate all of these cases. It would simply be an astonomical investigation. Not to mention the other equipment and health care services billed fraudualently.