selkirk

I suppose I should specify that I live in North Seattle, between Lake City and the Freeway

Don't forget the Chimney on Orbit. Oodles of fun that one.

I'll be at home drinking heavily, eating cold pizza and throwing the frisbee for wonder dog. If anyone wants to stop by for a beer or a whiskey send me a PM and I'll send you an address

Linky Linky

It may also depend on the muscle group your training. One thing I always keep in mind is that you don't get stronger while your doing the pullups, but during the rest period afterwords when the muscles repair themselves. However I usually have more intermittent workouts so I shoot for burnout to maximize the workout and then give a good recovery. Seems to work ok so far.

Woohoo... step one to salvage the climbing season was a success Managed to get up Squamish for climbing on Fri/Sat and drinking coffee in the rain on Sunday. Friday: Burgers and Fries: Hit both of the trad 5.7's, then got redpoints on the 5.10a (gear w/ 2 bolts) and 5.10b (gear). Then putzed down the wall to the area recently cleaned of brush to climbers left, and got the bolted 10a slab :tup: Thin, fun and sustained! Had a nice time talking to Al and Ginger Then wandered down past the crag immediately below burgers and fries on our way to The Zip. On the way an arking crack below a bolted slab caught my eye so I had a go at it. Crack goes 5.9 (I think) then clipped the anchors and transitioned onto the slab. Turns out the slab is bloody thin, very sustained, and a wee bit lichen covered After a few attempts and 1 french free move I managed to get to the anchors. Later found out I climbed "This" (of This, That, and the Other Thing) at 5.11b (I assume that's without the lichen) neat but uber thin, with an interesting little lieback move up top Then onto the Zip (10a) Definitely deserves it's 5 stars Saturday: Started off at Neat and Cool, hitting the 2 5.8's (something or other, and Corner Crack) then jumped on Flying Circus and got my redpoint (I had top roped the 10a, 10b, and Flying Circus last year). Surprisingly good gear the whole way with some cool climbing. Then around the corner for a go at Kangaroo Corner (11a), looks really dicey but actually takes small nuts very well. Ended up screwing up a sequence and having to hang, but fired it on the 2nd go. (Should have committed to stemming earlier.) Then it was off to Penny Lane, where a buddy led QuarryMaster (stiff 5.8) , and I jumped on Popeye and the Raven (10c, thin delicate, and of course I pitched not a good weekend for me getting stuff clean), then managed to rest on the 2nd go. Well bolted, and just appropriately runout, then bust left from the last bolt for one spicy move before topping out. And finally off to Penny Lane where Sprocket ticked one of his climbing goals for the year and got Penny Lane clean :tup: All in all 14 pitches for me, 18 for Sprocket ! Well above my 4 pitches/day usual average Sunday: Drinking lots of coffee and driving home in the rain. Now, part two is this weekend! Everyone cross your fingers for a dry forecast at Smith

Sorry to hear about your loss! That truly sukcs My wedding ring always stays at home or attached to my keychain by a little screw link when I'm climbing, Mrs. Selkirk's just stays home. No real need for a diamond once your off the ground.

Jeebus, Who did you piss off this year! Get well soon! At least this one won't impact spraying or drinking

Well, once again, so long as gas and oil is expensive we should be in good shape (We make winglets which deliver about a 5% fuel savings, and are priced for a 2 year return on the customers investment at current fuel prices, give or take a bit.) So unless people stop flying..... And it's not that we are looking for only the best and the brightest or some such thing, but we can only sustain a certain ratio of new hires to experienced engineers, and right now were about at that limit (1:1). The Loads community is just a very very small one, that pretty much regardless of education requires an apprenticeship. I heard an estimate last year of 300 to 400 people in the US. And Tell HR to deal with it :roflmao: We don't have an HR group She left a month ago. The engineers do all the recruiting anyway.

Actually I work with several consulting engineers who are working on their 2nd or 3rd retirement and just can't seem to make it stick, they seem to get bored and come back. One guy actually started at Boeing on the original 727 design team...... Further they're experience is absolutely invaluable to what I do. Quite a few folks over 50 to tell the truth, and if we could find people with the right experience and background, we'd hire a couple more in a heart beat. We've had open positions for a year, and can't find qualified people to fill them all. We shipped our first 1000 unit between the late 90's and early 2006. We'll ship our second 1000 between 2006 and the end of this year. However were a partnership with Boeing, (even though we only have 45 people and are completely independent) so no chance of being bought out anytime soon People have tried to rip off our design... It's usefull having the patent, and the original designer, and the OEM all on your side, not to mention a corner on the market by contract for half the commercial planes flying A few companies have ripped of the design for business jets but that's actually the purvey of our other parent company so it's a rather indirect and minor impact, Airbus considered it and after much noise it suddenly and very quietly dissapeared. And we can still do it better and cheaper.... Pretty much we're awfully secure for the forseeable future Well, and that's not to mention that we have a patent on the next gen. and are pretty much waiting to develop it until the current gen is pretty much sold out. I suppose we could go public at some point..... In which case i'm buying all the stock options I can leverage and retiring shortly thereafter I'd certainly be willing to admit that I lucked into a pretty unique and incredible engineering workplace though! So pretty much I'll come join you on the wheel when I decides it's a good career move to go manage a program or two at Boeing

I don't think engineering and high end technical work is ever going to disappear from the US any time soon. We still have the best collegiate education in the world. There is a good reason so many foreign nationals still come here for advanced degrees. What i've been thinking for some time is that America is slowly shifting towards an information based economy. Consumer goods, manufacturing and service will all remain as support to some degree, but in general we can't make stuff as cheaply as most 3rd world countries can. The one asset we do have is the density and availability of higher education, and thats not something I see changing in the near future. As for "good" employers.... I think they exist and will continue to exist. Almost more importantly good groups within bad employers will continue to exist. As for greater productivity from more hours, that's only true to a point. Oh, and for the most part my job is an 8hr a day engineering job. The company is booming and will continue to do so as long as gas is expensive. I don't know that I'll be here indefinitely due to potentially limited upward mobility, but it'll be good for the next 4 or 5 years. ... So what made you so cynical? I'm Gen X and I'm not even that jaded

I'm a moderately sized cog in a small machine. It's a pretty good life. Yep, and sometimes this means problems get solved twice as fast. Though sometimes it means data is transfered at half the rate. I like my French counterparts, great to work with And now I know people in Merignac Don't get one until your company buys it. Same with a cell phone. I still don't have a cell phone! Though it's amusing when I occasionally get home to messages when my Boss forgets that I don't have a cell phone This is your own damn fault. When I'm done, I'm done. If it's critical I'd rather work late and deal with it. If not, will dealing with it now really affect the long term outcome, or is it another part of the hurry up and wait game? A few people at my office share a hot-phone for customer support poor bastards Sounds like you need a different job John! As opposed to you climb too much? It's all a matter of priorities and keeping them. I worked too much overtime this spring. Now I go home at night to my wife and play with the dog And tomorrow is another chance to learn something and play with the dog All this means is be very very careful about the work environment and the position you choose. That won't ever change. Make sure you like what your doing and more importantly like the people you work for/with. Or if you don't be sure that the position is worth the advancement it had better might offer. A ever upward rising career with a continually growing salary may be nice and may be "successful" in many peoples eyes. But at the end of your life, will you have wished you spent more time at work? Success at work won't necessarily make you happy. Being happy is all about perspective and balance.

Same comment as Jens-- Went from a pair with Stealth, and resoled them with C4, and I can't really tell the difference. Though as I tend to drag my toes and peel the rands, the durability hasn't been significantly different either.

Getting your PE can be very usefull if your practicing in ME or CivE. I'm in Aero. and unluckily it means jack. Which is kind of a bummer as I only need 2 years and my exam to get mine. Might still do it, but it caries no weight in Aero. For us it's all about the DER-ship which takes a good long while. Contracting is usually good for about a 20% higher salary, and increased flexibility. Some sick leave, but "vacation days" are unpaid. The other twist is that where I am, all of the program management stuff gets funeled to direct hires. So even though some folks have more experience than I, I often end up with more responsibility. Not sure about the Boeing effect on salaries but I have a few friends who enjoy working for them, and a good number who left disgruntled. Seems to be difficult to advance there. The saying is that you have to leave Boeing to get a promotion... Of course I've only been in the Aero. work force for 18 months or so now. Would be happy to talk to you about it if your interested in Aero. Good luck! Engineering does seem to be in big demand still The MBA/Engineering degree combo can be very marketable, but only if you want to manage engineers, with a heavy dose of management. You'll be doing way more MBA stuff, and probably little or know technical engineering. Pay can be good, but make sure it's what you want to do!

Congrats! Oh, and Baking soda paste for bee stings is the Shiz

Hey, I got edited That might very well be a first!

I HATE that fistcrack Hush now, that fistcrack is fun Just make sure you have your big Hex/Cam, and like forearm jams Congrats Sherri!

I never said he was the dumbest, or the worst (I don't know my history well enough to say that!). He (through his actions) does come across as narrow minded, and I do think he's done as much harm as good in any given arena though. He is decisive, I'll give him that

I spend too much time working with the French at the moment Lets say for the most part it is not an amicable relationship. Though my direct counterpart has been great to work with Saturday, put in a bit patio/paving stones to frame the new deck and avoid the inevitable mudpit in front of the door from dog traffic Followed by the illegal/unofficial neirborhood dog park and the resulting sleepy/mellow puppy :tup: Sunday, went to Index, decided not to climb the buttlips onsight first thing in the morning ran into some other mounties avoiding said buttlips Then made a go at Princely Ambitions. Made the idiot mistake of trying to drag 2 ropes (party of 3) and got caught by heat/ropedrag resulting in my running out of gas trying to clip a second piece on the traverse (I figured if I didn't protect the traverse my seconds might make me walk home ). Ended up having to take and blew the onsight :( Rested a bit, dropped the second rope (note to self: dragging a second rope and clipping through critical pieces, even if you aren't belayed on it, creates a shitload of extra rope drag . Then finished the pitch and did the 2nd pitch as well :tup: All in all a good day. Though I hate climbing in the sun, and am desperately out of shape Granted that 3 is an odd number but for some reason I almost never get more than about 5 pitches in any given day of cragging Not sure what that's all about

Unluckily this is true of the majority of technical programs I've come across (math, science, engineering, etc.) Really f-in sad. We're graduating people who understand a very narrow technical field, but have little broader education or understanding of their/our place in the world/history. Makes them easy targets for anyone with a broader education and understanding.

Not true at all. Statistically, there is a strong correlation between intelligence and higher education, especially post-graduate degrees. The correlation is even stronger w/r/t tier-one schools. And I'm sure Bush's credentials compared to those of a huge chunk of the participants on this forum will bear those statistics out - with only a very few counterexamples. But, taking that aside, Bush's malapropisms and mangled statements are no worse than those of the average smug, arrogant, Bush-hating detractor on this internet forum. And it's ironic to listen to some vitriol spewing dimwit with no higher education dismiss Bush's educational pedigree as "meaningless" (a la No. 13 and Adam 13). Bush's intelligence or supposed lack thereof has been discussed ad nauseum both here and elsewhere. The fact is, he is a highly educated man with above average intelligence. He's obviously not in the 99th percentile but I don't really want a quantum physicist running this country (or our dear Gary Yngwe for that mattter) for the very reasons stated by you - high intelligence often does not map to practicality in the real world. But you can be damn sure that neither Gore nor Kerrey is much different in intelligence than Bush (in Huxleyan terms they are all typical BETAs and nothing more). To state otherwise is a laughable claim easily explained away by rose-colored glasses tinted by political group-think. Correlation between higher degrees and intelligence yes, but it's neither causative or necessary. You could probably find quite similar correlations between wealth and advanced degrees, and parents/children with advanced degrees again with no causative/necessary connections. And while high intelligence does not always map to the real world practicality I would imagine that highly intelligent people probably have the same distributions of practicality/common sense as anyone of moderate intelligence. (After all, I would say Clinton was both intellectually brilliant, and had enough practicality/common sense to function extremely well both socially and diplomatically as the president.) And your right, Gore/Kerrey may not be significantly more intelligent than Bush. However I would be willing to bet that they would be more likely to listen to rational arguments from opposing viewpoints, and less likely to appoint/mandate people who only agreed with their agenda/politics. I think the intelligence of the president is secondary to his ability to select and listen too good advisors chosen for their technical expertise and not necessarily party allegiance. Unluckily the impression I have of the Bush administration is not one of technical impartiality and a tolerance for diverging viewpoints, but one driven by cronyism and the necessity of toeing the Rove/Bush Party Line, and anyone who disagrees can pack their backs.. Granted their will be some degree of this in any administration, but from my admittedly limited perspective the level of cronyism/tolerance of divergent viewpoints in this Administration seems excessive. He may be the decider, but it seems that he often has his mind made up well before he has any facts to back up his decisions, then any inconvient facts are just ignored.

Advanced degrees are much more about persistence and stubbornness than intelligence. That said, I've known some folks with advanced degrees that I wouldn't trust to manage a McDonalds. An advanced degree says absolutely nothing about your level of common sense or your ability to apply classroom based knowledge anywhere but in the classroom. And if you'd like i'd be more than happy to give you my credentials

i am a mom it is my job to be up tight. they have a dad to introduce them to the wild and crazy side of life a person can not be muffy and mommy all at the same time.... They will discover your true identity and use it against you when they are teenagers. Better to get it out in the open now. oh shit BTW The "uptight" comment was at parents in general. Not a personal attack. Although you do seem to have a nerve ending there. Oh and one more thing, your kids are going to figure out how to search the cc.com database on "Muffy_The_Wanker_Sprayer" before you figure out they have. Get your rationalizations ready now. Time to cut the landlines!

Pissed off. Would definitely be time to move back to North Idaho.

Definitely doable! Leading 5.9 is all about headspace, if you can keep calm, manage your fear, and focus on your footwork you'll be golden! Are you shooting for 5.9 trad, sport, or both? Some good stuff out at Vantage, and Tieton that will be in till the end of October