Sherri

You're probably low in your B vitamins. That's when I get the cravings for it too. Used to eat it all the time in Australia on salty crackers with a thick spread of butter to balance out the flavors and textures. Kind of like a savory version of peanut-butter-and-jelly.

Marmite's a poseur. Vegemite's the real deal.

If you can bring your Bro, we won't need the pile of money. Sounds like with his negotiation prowess, you guys went first class all the way. I bet Millie and Don are gonna want to come too.

Shouldn't that be checked baggage?

If you hide under a pile of money, I'm sure I wouldn't notice you at all. Looks like you had all the fun, though. Shoulda saved sum for me.

Mebbe going to Red Rocks for New Years.

Don't they come with hats?

You go, M! Can't believe you beat the rest of the pack to that one!

I always hoped Susan played for the other team.

Thinking of Sobo's picture just made me smile, too. Here's a joke from online that had me chuckling: Girlfriend 1.0 software Last year, my friend upgraded his GirlFriend 3.1 to GirlFriendPlus1.0 (marketing name: Fiancee1.0). Recently he upgraded Fiancee1.0 to Wife1.0, and it's a memory hogger! It has taken all his space; and Wife1.0 must be running before he can do anything. Although he didn't ask for them, Wife1.0 came with Plug-Ins such as MotherInLaw and BrotherInLaw. These too slow down the system and cause a slow drain on the resources and well-being of the computer. Some features I'd like to see in the upcoming GirlFriend4.0: 1. A "Don't remind me again" button. 2. Minimize button. 3. Shutdown feature - An install shield feature so that Girlfriend4.0 can be completely uninstalled if so desired (so you don't lose cache and other objects). I tried running Girlfriend 2.0 with Girlfriend 1.0 still installed; they tried using the same I/O port and conflicted. Then I tried to uninstall Girlfriend 1.0, but it didn't have an uninstall program. I tried to uninstall it by hand, but it put files in my system directory. Another thing that sucks--in all versions of Girlfriend that I've used is that it is totally "object orientated" and only supports hardware with gold plated contacts. Bug warning Wife 1.0 has an undocumented bug. If you try to install Mistress 1.1 before uninstalling Wife 1.0, Wife 1.0 will delete MSMoney files before doing the uninstall itself. Then Mistress 1.1 will refuse to install, claiming insufficient resources. And, just in case you're still down in the dumps, here's one more little gem: a friend of ours likes to watch "Larry the Cable Guy" on Comedy Central. One of Larry's trademark lines is, "I don't care if you're the Pope, that there's funny." When his three-year old girl tried repeating this--in front of company-- it came out, "I don't care if you poop, that there's funny."

I like lavender. Pink, not so much. Cool webpage, though! Thanks for sharing that. Have a great RR trip. Maybe see ya down there(I'm hoping to go on New Years, if the wedder holds....fingers crossed....)

If you make it to the Red Rock Rendevous in March, you should be able to catch a couple self-rescue clinics there, too. The one I took last year, "The Fine Art of Bailing," was pretty helpful, and I plan to take more of the same this year. Easy to forget all that stuff if you're not using it everyday.

Well that just made my day. Thanks, T. :kisss: I know I don't have it as bad as some of you folks who are biking around bigger cities, but small towns have their share of hazards(besides old drivers). Ours just put in a couple new roundabouts and I swear they are going to be the death of me. People don't understand how to drive through them, let alone how to deal with a biker in the mix. I've almost met Jesus in there on more than one occasion.

That's a good question, M. One thing that I consider valuable about a site like this is that we do get the chance to learn from other's mistakes or experiences. When people post about their accidents and epics, it's a good reminder that stuff can go really wrong out there and that it can happen to anyone. Hearing how they responded to their challenge gives us all more to think about, should it be us in the hot seat next time. Aside from a self-rescue course, there are also some good reference books on the subject, such as Self Rescue, by David Fasulo

Sequim being a retirement mecca, we have a LOT of elderly drivers on the road that don't seem confident about maneuvering around a cyclist. More often than not, they opt to slow down and "lurk" behind me for what seems like miles on end unless I wave them around or just pull over to let them by. Makes me nervous while they are behind me like that. By comparison, I've noticed that when I bike around Bainbridge Island, the cars usually whiz right by at full speed and get the passing overwith like it's no big deal. Even though they are passing at a higher speed and closer to me(many of those roads are shoulderless), it feels safer because I can tell they are taking control and driving decisively.

Anything for you, Sweetie. Now be careful you don't get those new shoes(or any fingers or toes) caught on sumpin when you're climbing.

M, this Elwha Wall pic is not of the line Tyman was on, but it does a good job of conveying the pumpy and balancy character of the routes there. The route Tyman was on, called "It Goes", is at the bottom of the page linked here: Olympic Peninsula Climbing Now you know all our secrets.

Neither. Routes there are stiff but are decent length(avg 80 ft) and well-protected; they do tend to throw multiple cruxes at you, though, and because of the overhanging nature you tend to get just one shot at clip before you peel off. Would suck to find out your shoe was caught in your last pro just then.

Thought so. A 5.11 with "several crux moves" sounded suspiciously familiar. (The whole wall feels about like that, unless you're Kevin. ) I'd guess that anything getting caught is a possibility as you move past pro. The velcro on my shoes often catches the slings on my pro, but having a biner bite the shoe itself is an interesting scenario. Thanks for pointing out the possibility.

That Cassie sounds like an awesome woman, BTW. For her to have posted here about your illness, knowing that this was your "tribe" and how much it would mean to you to have your support to come from here, speaks volumes about the level of support and respect you two share. A rich man, indeed.

That's wild. Was this at the Elwha Wall?

Same goes for cars. If a car doesn't have its headlights on, I can't really see it coming in my bike mirror until it's practically on top of me. Even in the light of day, the darker color cars blend in with the color of the pavement when you're looking at them in a tiny, vibrating mirror.

Some of my best friends are ghey! Thanks for sharing more about your experience and about how the journey has changed you. Glad it hasn't changed your passion for the rock, buddy!(I was afraid that was where you were going with that...whew!) Looking forward to roping up with you again this spring! Happy Birthday!!!

Welcome aboard, Matt! Watch the events forum for the weekly pub clubs, and I'm sure you're bound to meet plenty of other deeply conflicted folks.