rbw1966

Congrats!

Nunberg himself is a liberal. He provides a very colorful commentary on his field, linguistics, for NPR regularly.

Interesting how it was only the chicks (until this post) who responded to Trasks report. You da man Trask

34C

Automatic weapons are not banned but rather you need a special license to possess one. Unless by "ban" you mean they are not available as gifts for opening a savings account in a Texas bank.

Thats my point. Get them on the phone and its harder for them to blow you off. But what do I know? I just got a new pack to replace the one I had with two broken buckles.

You dont have to dip it in the ocean for salt water to affect it. The spray can start the corosion. Use the phone. Its far more effective.

I took an EMT-B course at PCC a few years ago and damn glad I did.

You didn't read the anecdotal site I referred you to. There were at least two instances of cams being held open by debris. I am sure you can find other reports. I seem to recall some mention in ANAM about this sort of failure as well but this may be wrong. Sorry I couldn't find more but I am actually having to do some work, while at work.

I am not a Gri-Gri fan and would be interested in showing evidence of these accidents to friends who do like Gri Gris please post some links to the supporting documentation. Thanks. PP The petzl website lists a few of the precautions about foreign bodies as well as other things to consider like threading the rope backwards. This website provides some anecdotal information about gri gri problems. That being said, I use a gri-gri as a solo device when aid climbing, and I have my wife use it when she belays me since I know if I fall I will rip her right off her feet and don't want her to freak and drop the rope.

You should have been in our hood to coast van.

I am reminded of a skit on saturday night live where will farrell sits in the bleachers at a sons little league game, drinking beer and screaming at his kid.

I must be an asshole right up there with Necro cause I read the statement "gri gris are COMPLETELY safe. . ." as sounding pretty arrogant, in not a bit ignorant as well. There's been quite a few people hurt while being belayed using a gri gri. Many people belayed with them and took their hands completely off the rope to take photos, smoke a bowl or whatever. Leader falls, a piece of debris gets swept up into the camo on the rope and the leader decks. I can't think of any time I would use the term "completely safe" to describe any piece of climbing gear, technique or method. Even sitting on my fat ass posting here is not completely safe.

You've got 26 posts Bill. Put down the pipe bro.

Gri-gri's work fine for belaying a leader. If you are paying adequate attention to your leader than you should be able to feed out rope adequately. I had problems with this at first but with practice it becomes easier. I agree with most here that you shouldn't use a gri-gri for trad leading as the impact forces on your pro are increased due to the decreased dynamic properties of the belay device. For this same reason I feel that reeling in the rope can be dangerous. I'm not a physics wonk but the only time I even think about reeling in slack is if there is a ledge or something the leader may hit on his fall. On overhanging routes I'd never reel in slack--too many ankles get broken that way. Beginner climbers should just concentrate on locking off the leader.

In order for my wifes income to be included in our mortgage funding calculation we had to be married. Tres romantique!

Yeah--I felt like a real moron not having any gloves on me. I still don't as the heat inside the car in the summer tends to melt them together. I am extra wary these days.

For what its worth, I was on the west side of Hood recently and I didn't see any snow on cathedral ridge at all.

Trask will love you for this!

In todays viral environment being a good samaritan can have its costs. For example, I was the first on scene of a beat up old Datsun that had rear-ended a Tri-met bus on highway 30. Judging from the starred windshield and bent seat he must have been going pretty fast. I managed to open the passenger side rear door and protect the guys cervical spine as the bus driver called for help. The guy whose neck I was holding was bleeding profusely from his head and as I talked to him I glanced down at the floor of the passenger side of the front and saw a few syringes laying there. Turns out the guy was shooting up as he was driving and didn't see the stopped bus. I was not wearing gloves. I spent many a sleepless night worrying about the implications of my actions.

I have met and climbed with Bill Coe as has quite a few of the Portland crew. I just joined the fun today so am not sure what the harsh criticism is but Bill struck me as a fine fellow. Maybe he doesn't translate to the written word as well.

Thats ridiculous! Call The BD warranty department and ask for a guy named Mike. Don't use email--talk to them on the phone. Its too easy to just blow you off on email. I had one of the first generation ice packs and the buckles kept breaking. I called Mike and asked for some new buckles. He told me to send the pack in. I did and two weeks later I got a BRAND NEW pack. If that doesn't work I'll sell ya my pole for $30. A word of warning though: BDEL's customer service is going to be changing dramatically. Get while the gettings good.

Our van was for the most part undecorated. Next year it will be bad ass. I ran my first ever 5-minute mile. Then quickly reverted back to my standard 7 to 8 minute miles. Consumed many beers but not enough to forget how badly my quads hurt. Highlights: one of the female attorneys in my van flashing our runner (and the other guys in the van watching); "My other van is your mom"; several runners making a wrong turn outside of Olney and running more than 5 miles out of the way; the stench of ben-gay overpowering the BO hanging in our van like a gray haze.

Nice Ivan! Learn to switch hands.

From Urban Legends : Claim: President George W. Bush proclaimed, "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur." Status: False. Origins: Yet another "George W. Bush is dumb" story has been taken up by those who like their caricatures drawn in stark, bold lines. According to scuttlebutt that emerged in the British press in July 2002, President Bush, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, and France's President Jacques Chirac were discussing economics and, in particular, the decline of the French economy. "The problem with the French," Bush afterwards confided in Blair, "is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur." The source was Shirley Williams, also known as the Baroness Williams of Crosby, who claimed "my good friend Tony Blair" had recently regaled her with this anecdote in Brighton. Lloyd Grove of The Washington Post was unable to reach Baroness Williams to gain her confirmation of the tale, but he did receive a call from Alastair Campbell, Blair's director of communications and strategy. "I can tell you that the prime minister never heard George Bush say that, and he certainly never told Shirley Williams that President Bush did say it," Campbell told The Post. "If she put this in a speech, it must have been a joke." I still think Bush is teh Barney Fife of the Republican party.