ericb

Same here...I've got the Montbell UL...synthetic....a couple ounces more than the down, but don't have to worry about getting it wet. It weighs 9 ounces, and packs down to the size of a nalgene. It plenty warm for summer alpine, when I don't need a 2lb down coat. The other nice thing about it is it fits nicely underneath my softshell, which a larger down coat wouldn't do.

Ya but he heard it on the radio!!! We are planning it a year in advance!

What heard was one year from last week. I also heard (on the same show) that if Bush decides to bomb Iran without congressional approval that the congress would move towards impeachment. Which is why he would wait until his term is almost up. I agree with you Pink. Left/Right, there is no different anymore. It is all about power now. And once you have it, it is hard to let it go. Any relation to Michael Moore?

Because protestors might block traffic and make me sit in my car for an extra few minutes, causing me and everyone around me to use more gas than we would have which would contribute to global warming and make all of the glaciers melt, turning our volcano slogs into scree slogs, which is way worse. Worse still, I might be late for something big, like my afternoon expresso. Screw the Iranian people, when it comes to something like war you've gotta think about your own needs. Did they say this Thanksgiving, or next, like 2008? I think that it would be a little late to do it in 2008, as they would only be a couple of months away from having to leave office, and that would be quite a mess to leave the next president with. On the other hand most things that the Bush administration does aren't that well planned out so who knows. Our Thanksgiving or theirs?

Yep, and the legal position is that whether it is abortion or murder in the case cited seems to depend on whether the mother was in agreement - seems a bit inconsistent.

... Roe v. Wade ruled that the 14th amendment does not grant personhood to the unborn. The court did recognize, however, that the states do have two legitimate interests: to protect the health and well being of the mother and to protect the unborn. .... How is this NOT a contridition? Our law does not grant personhood to the unborn, but at the same time is called to protect the unborn; the one who does not have personhood. Last I checked, it was not OK to kill a 3-day old infant, even with its mother's permission

So the protesters marching the streets with swords, people shaking their fists from buses, banner carriers, etc. in the accompanying video are just a vocal minority I suppose.

gargling doesn't necessarily imply not swalling AE...come on - you should know better than that

I don't see any mention of the attacker using the term "jizz gargler"

They are probably making the logical connection between this stuffed animal, and it's namesake, Teddy Roosevelt. It's not just a stuffed animal to them, it's a symbol of Western imperialism.

Fortunately, I'm a boob man

I'm cancelling my Smart Car order!

Wow…she owns a rifle, hand-washes dishes, hates TV…and those pumpkins! ooh la la, archenemy, can I stalk you? You have aced my cupid settings! Need help deciding? My shoe size is 12 extra wide, if you get my meaning. If you really want to get her all hot and bothered, take a dump in her parking stall.

golf cart?

Fast times up Mailbox Peak perhaps, but certainly not intelligence

In the original quote, my quote for $750K term life went up from $70 to $220 a month based on my climbing....roughly half the premium you are talking about, but a sizable amount nonetheless. I ended up getting it back down to only a slight premium by the time the policy was issued, and while I can't finger exactly what it was, here's what I did. 1) Explained that my climbing frequency was going to drop relative to past years due to fatherhood - which was true. 2) Took advantage of the addition comments section to write a short essay on my conservative climbing philosophy - no big mountains, climbing in my home range so highly selective with respect to weather, etc. Some companies are more sophisticated with respect to their profiling of climbers as well, so do try other companies. There's also a guy named Steve Kobrin that specializes in high risk policies. He gave me a pretty competitive quote, but I was ultimately able to beat it by sticking with my current insurer and "measuring my words". Feel free to PM me if you want more ideas.

I hear this a lot, and I guess what I come back to is that resentment is a choice. If you really believe that your kids are better off having a father growing up (both financially and emotionally), and that it would seem selfish to deprive them of this, even if you died "doing something you loved", then why would you become resentful of this. Our attitude is something we control. If my wife was the one that was spelling out what I could and couldn't do, I suppose I might be a bit resentful of her, but that's not the case. I know she craves time with me, and that she does not want to contemplate a life without me. I know she feels my son's emotional well-being is highly dependant on the quantity and quality of his relationship with me (as do I). Ultimately, she leaves it up to me to decide and set the boundaries around my activities, and I choose to climb less, and with less tolerance for risk. If I become resentful of this, shame on me...I chose to get married, and I chose to have a family.

FWIW, my wife would much prefer my son having a father growing up than having $750K in her bank account

Great question....his thread got me thinking as well as I just recently became a father and was thinking about starting a similar thread. I think one question is as far as rock goes, are we talking trad or sport. I'm guessing trad is more dangerous as the protection is less sure. I think you can get hurt or killed doing either one, but perhaps the big differentiator is objective hazard. I think making a mental error in either rock climbing or mountaineering can be fatal, but I think you are more in control of your own destiny when rock climbing...that is assuming you are not on a multipitch crag route with people potentially kicking rocks down on you. Those are my first thoughts but I look forward to the discussion.

Swung by on my way back to Seattle Yesterday...sigh....why we can't have a retail store with that amount of high-end selection in Seattle is beyond me.....love that place.

I have a Polk Audio surround system that was less than a lot of anything equivalent from Bose....satellite speakers are a tad larger but much fuller range sound. Bose is good at one thing....marketing

driving to Spokanistan and then north to BFE First road trip with the munchkin

As are all the Dems he "tricked" into authorizing an invasion of Iraq apparently

Agreed....he's far too intelligent to be the victim of misinformation.

now that all depends on you, doesn't it? the prospect of scraping a few cells off an old fogey and fixing his problem is pretty awesome. what good does embryonic stem cells do those of us who have progressed beyond the embryonic stage of life? ok, maybe they can grow an organ for me someday but I'd still suffer the trials of being an organ recipient & all the anti-rejection meds because the new cells are from somebody else. even if you did have a couple of your embryo cells saved, this new process eliminates the 80 years of storage in the freezer, which would be a huge waste of energy. Enough with your scientific mumbo jumbo. This is a religious issue.