KaskadskyjKozak

You are a rare exception... Typically the ring is just the first part of the pecuniary blood-letting - then comes the elaborate, expensive wedding. I think the impetus is more than peer-pressure - perhaps it is innate or instinctual.

Dear Erden, Not everyone here is a cynic. Don't let the bastards grind you down. Just smile and give them the one-finger salute. Good luck on your impressive, epic quest, and please keep us posted from time to time!

The original poster also inquired about what it is like to work for RMI - not just how to "get hired". As for the latter, the best way to find out about a company's "corporate culture" is to ask people on the inside. Also, networking is key to getting a job - often it is not what you know, but whom you know.

English chocolate is vile and disgusting, as is their other candy. I'll take an American candy bar over the English s**t any day...

Yeah, that would go over *real* well - even for someone who claims a ring "isn't important"...

I've seen people drink right out of Pebble Creek... And then I've seen toilet trouts lying in the snow a few hundred feet higher up on the Muir snowfield...

I have. The last time was coming off a late climb in Boston Basin. I was dehydrated and it was dark. I had tablets but no pump, said f**k it and downed 2 liters straight out of a rivulet flowing over some slabs. That hit the spot.

How far up the road do you think you'll get before there is too much snow to bike?

This applies to Erden. Where he is starting in Seattle, riding his bike to Miami, rowing his boat to South America, then riding his bike to the base of Aconcagua, then climbing the mountain....only to reverse the whole thing. I think the classification of the ascent as Winter or not is the least of his worries. That guy is a true iron-man...

Yes. What if the approach begins in one hemisphere and the summit lies in the other? Are there any mountains that are located right on the equator - say in Ecuador?

I was in O.C. this August. Everyone drank bottled water. The going price as $2.75 for a 20 oz bottle.

Enough! You guys have clearly demonstrated that France is full of a bunch of pussies!

In the vein of the seven-deadly ones: slothmobile

Yeah, talk about "deja vu".

erlenmeyer flask? That's some kind of deformity!

Good things DO happen - you just need to pay attention and recognize them when they do (sometimes easier said than done).

I think Rudy is a great name for a bitch.

Ha!! My dog actually responds to that name! Are you a Steve Martin fan as well?

"shithead"

A company I once worked for eliminated a whole department - all employees in that department were told that they were "redundant".

or anybody who remembers their o-chem at all...

He was poisoned well before the election. It is only now that his Austrian doctors finally announced what the cause of the poisoning was.

I could definitely live with that! I've never heard a Republican articulate an environmental policy of any sort. Lack of a policy leads to bad outcomes. I think conservation and regulation of industry for clean air, water, etc. are legitimate roles for government and are needed to balance "pure capitalism".

I wonder how many other "Robert Loria's" there are though.

I've heard arguments on both sides of this. One explanation I've heard for this is that since WWII vets are dying off quickly, there is less need for VA services and cut-backs are legit. Also, cuts in bureaucratic excess would make sense to me. Comments? Do you know the specific breakdown and size of these cuts?