tvashtarkatena

4. Honey attracts more bees than vinegar. Use your sense of humor, such as it is, more, and I don't mean another posting of the BLT shot. Funny humor is what I'm talking about. 5. If your issue hasn't gotten any traction after - how many years has it been? - drop it. It didn't take. Not all of them do.

Sleeping is a common difficulty at altitude. Last trip I took was with a doc, who provided our tiny party with a before-bed pain cocktail consisting of very light doses of cough suppressant (a persistent cough is common), pain reliever (whatev works for you for headaches) and a sleeping pill. This really helped us maintain good health by getting good sleeping. It also made for a hell of a Heath Ledger style par-tay when combined with locally made beer. Some weird stuff can happen at altitude. Cheyne Stokes syndrome, for example. This is when you hyperventalate, then don't take a breath for 30 seconds to a minute. It's not dangerous (your lungs easily hold several minutes worth of oxygen), but it's quite strange to be happily sitting there for so long without the urge to take a breath. I had an out of body experience, too, while plying some neve penetente with a heavy load. I couldn't feel my body at all, yet it kept on climbing - not a hint of stumbling, so I just said 'cool, no pain!' and kept going. My partner eventually got cerebral embolisms - which can be a precursor to cerebral edema. If the blood vessels in your eyeballs start rupturing and you find that you don't much in the way of stamina, it might be time to bail. Check for it if someone's performance starts to inexplicably flag. That IS potentially very dangerous. Aaaand, of course, pink, gurgling sputum doesn't usually signal an imminent increase in climbing pace. Often, the afflicted is the last one who considers bailure...they can feel bad at night when hypoxia is at its worst, then sort of 'wake up' during the day a bit...but go down they must.

The day you fade away will be the day I urge my fellow church goers to vote Republican. You're not going quietly into the night, or anywhere else, for that matter.

or buy a GPS.

Ditto on climbing out of La Paz, Bolivia. The Cordillera Real is a mere 4 hour's drive from town...some 20,000 footers are even closer. The standards of the area: Ancohoma, Illampu, Pico Shulz, Illimani, Huayna Potosi, Condoriri, and the more remote Sajama, offer an efficient way to get in lots of high altitude experience in their winter (their dry season) which is, unfortunately, also our summer. Temps high in the Andes can be similar to the lower altitudes in the summer AK range - zero F at night, etc - but generally warmer during the day. Getting to La Paz isn't exactly a hop, skip and jump, however.

Back on topic, FOX has a piece today that explains sharp drop in church attendance: we're all disappointed in the 'church experience, but strongly driven to know God nonetheless'. Ie, we're all becoming Born Again. I was once invited to debate censorship with an Everett evangelical pastor in front of his congregation. I went to his church's website and noted that it kept referring to those outside the church as 'pre-Christians'. The good pastor cancelled at the last minute, unfortunately. Not an unsurprising narrative for a historically recent movement that, due to its fundamental inflexibility, must eventually meet a historical dead end. The Born Again movement is a reaction to the age old perception that we're all going to Hell in a hand basket (or is it hen basket?) and the world's going to end soon as a result. It is, in essence, just one more of a long line of reactions to modernity. In the end, modernity, which requires more reasonable, flexible, and philosophical beliefs, will win (no one really wants to go backward once they get a sour taste of it) and the Born Again movement will become a strange and colorful historical footnote in the annals of spirituality. Technology and a growing world wide middle class is killing xenophobia - the white bread and margarine of the evangelical movement.

Are there any carpool rendezvous spots closer to Seattle in the planning?

Or just buy the boots you want and some down booties.

My name translates to 'nobleman who is like God'. Not quite as grand as I would have liked, but I wasn't consulted. Oh, wait, I omitted the question mark. My last name roughly translates to "Foreign Helper" - a possible reference to a king who decided he'd best butter his bread on the side of the invading Norseman in 9th century Donegal. The Norseman eventually settled in, founded Dublin, and ensured that not every Irishman thereafter would go through life a sunburned midget.

You just did. So your name translates roughly to "Neato Laundry"? I'm named after a king. An Irish king, so he'd have barely qualified for the janitorial staff among the Teutons. See, we are all related in a sense, depending on how little sense one uses for the analysis.

First pair I'd go with a Scarpa Charmoz or equivalent (whatever brand fits your feet). Over the long run, you'll probably use those the most. Second pair for me would be an insulated full shank boot. I've got Scarpa Mont Blancs. Got em cheap, but my first choice would have been the lighter, warmer, and better fitting (for me, anyway) Mammut Mamooks. If you want to hit it hard this winter, this heavier boot could be your first choice. Other than that, it's trail tennies and a pair of Sorel style boots for that occasional build-igloos-and-bonfires winter outing. If you're an BC skier (or planning on becoming one), modern ski boots (I've got Dynafit TLT5 Mountains) serve very well as double boots for many trips. They offer very light weight and great walking flexibility these days. I finally got rid of my double boots after not using them for a decade. I've seen many Rainier summit attempts dashed by the cruelty of rented double boots. In general, they can be bulky, awkward, and ill fitting. Alaska and Rainier in winter (pick a warmish day and its not much different than Rainier in summer save shorter daylight, however) are in a different category that begs for much more specific, expensive footwear.

1. Obtain a pair of binos that are out of alignment. Most folks have a pair like this in their closet. 2. Employ surgical hack saw. 3. Give the other monocular to a buddy and encourage him to carry it so you won't have to.

I hear you're one year closer to finding out in person, however improbable that outcome may have seemed on occasion. You'll always look like a big kid to me. OK, a fucking enormous kid. Thank God you're hairless or the Samsquanch sightings would be edging out the BIAS ALERTS on Foxnews by now.

Eh, what was that, Keenwash? Couldn't resist...

Perhaps this smart gentleman would prefer to expand his public statements to topics the venture beyond himself, his many persecutions, and bolts, his proxy for same. If respect is what he so painfully and obviously craves, one must give to receive. He might also consider actually joining a discussion sometime. You know, one that other people are having...the topic at hand comes to mind. Having a multi-millenium perspective on man's relationship with god (an assumption on my part - I know nothing about the man other that he is embarrassingly insecure about his professional life and how it is perceived) might actually bring something enlightening to the table, but one would need to be willing to share more than a cartoon cut out of themselves, and remove the word 'deign' from their emotional lexicon, to make something like that happen. I expect I'll get the standard '17000 posts little man!' response. The Dawg is nothing if not predictable. He might be a lot more interesting and engaging if he we a bit less so, at least here. Or not. Perhaps that's all there is to the man.

Never piss off an Irishman. This just in from FOX: debate rigged cuz the Obama's attended the moderator's wedding 'several years ago'. 'Several' meaning 20 years ago. They had actually printed that earlier but 'edited' it after Ryan's spanking. Not that any of the metal detector enthusiasts who read FOX daily would have noticed. Ryan's similarly math and memory challenged, as any good Republican must be to live with themselves, so he was red meat for an old pro.

An archeologist really isn't the best source for fresh material.

Both your moms told me last night as they were paying me that they want you two to play nice

Like everything you do and you won't have to worry about doing everything you like.

If you're gonna be a "numbers guy", it helps to be good with numbers. BTW, I'm now a "5.12 guy".

Ryan's one of those (Republican style) "smartest guys in the room". Just like Gingrich. Love American politics. How do you Kanuckistanis stand the boredom without all the Demons and Angels an Death Panels n shit?

Not his pants. Greenspan has promised to leap up onto the stage and blow him if that happens.

Lance is Bush's fault.

While practicing for the last VP debate, Sarah Palin's handlers realized that she would not be able to remember Biden's last name. She solved the problem with her "May I call you Joe?" moment. Clever girl.

Breathing new life into a tired Culture War.