sobo

and while on the subject, jimmy buffet's "volcano" is a great one when scaling such beasts "i don't know where i'm a-gonna go when the volcano erupts blow"

That took longer then I thought... You must have missed this part...

My "A-List" is long and distinguished. I'll probably be adding to this as time goes on... Round One, in no particular order: Doug Scott Chris Bonnington Joe Tasker Maurice Herzog Heinrich Harrer Reinhold Messner Mugs Stump Edmund Hillary Alex Lowe Jeff Lowe Jim Bridwell Warren Harding Carlos Buhler Walter Bonatti John Roskelly Marty Hoey Lynn Hill Alison Hargreaves Wanda Rutkiewicz Royal Robbins Yvon Chouinard Fred Beckey Layton Kor and lastly (for now), Frank Gibson Round Two (credits to wfinley) Paul Petzoldt Jack Durrance

And our gummint pays you to score these choice toyz, Brad? I wanna job like yourz...

This reminds me of great fun when we were kids... 1. Take two cats. Any two cats, but preferably not your own cats. 2. Duct tape their tails together firmly. 3. Throw them over a clothesline, so a cat is on each side of the rope, with their tails over the line (cats are upside down). 4. Sit back and enjoy the show!

Strong female

Just a simple "Happy Birthday" wish from me. And to you, too, ILS.

Here's my favorite... I'm a rock climber and I'm OK I sleep all night and I climb all day. Chorus: He's a rock climber and he's OK He sleeps all night and he climbs all day. I climb up rocks, I eat my lunch I go to the lavatory. On Wednesdays I go shopping and have buttered scones for tea Mounties: He climbs up rocks, he eats his lunch He goes to the lavatory. On Wednesdays he goes shopping and has buttered scones for tea. Chorus: He's a rock climber and he's OK He sleeps all night and he climbs all day. I climb up rocks, I skip and jump I like to press wild flowers. I put on women's clothing and hang around in bars. Mounties: He climbs up rocks, he skips and jumps He likes to press wild flowers. He puts on women's clothing and hangs around in bars?! Chorus: He's a rock climber and he's OK He sleeps all night and he climbs all day. I climb up rocks, I wear high heels Suspenders and a bra. I wish I'd been a girlie, just like my dear Papa!! Mounties: I climb up rocks, I wear high heels?! Suspenders...and a bra?!... Just the Rock climber : I wish I'd been a girlie, just like my dear Papa!!

Funny story: I had one of those almost 30 years ago, as a young lad fresh out of high school, back in my Dirty Harry days... The first time I took it out to shoot it, I struck a "Go ahead... Make my day" pose, complete with the hoarse whisper and Clint Squint. Pointing the weapon at the intended target with but a single hand, at arms length, a la Clint, I let fly with a slug. Goddamned thing whollopped me with the hammer. Left a big dent in the middle of my forehead that took weeks to heal. After that experieince, I always kept both hands on the wheel... Yeah that doesn't always work. Fixed it fer ya... _uZkvzYEXp0

Ah! Well, welcome back. Do stay around awhile, eh? We miss you.

WTF? So all that money that I have clients spend on MasterBuilders AE-90 is just going to waste? Shit, I'll never spec air-entrained concrete again. Ever! This does get my :tup:

Funny you should say that A...that is one of the things keeping me from squeezing the trigger...the other one is this damn "guilt" shit...everytime i get serious about it, i read about food shortages, talk to a bum, blah blah blah... seriously, my company would take me back...its an awesome company, my fellow staff absolutely rock, my boss is really solid and respectable, the projects are world class...i'm just siiiiiick of it...i feel so bad about not liking it anymore... this is why i haven't bothered to look at other firms...i don't think i can beat this one...or my job...i just don't want do it anymore... From the bold text, I'd say your decision is pretty clear, and mentally you've already made it. Good luck in your travels! Let us know what you're doing.

So you're turing in your lurker status now? You've been "quiet" for almost two years now, and this thread brings you out of "retirement." Boston, eh? Nice to hear from you again!

I can echo those sentiments. I've taken two extended "sabbaticals" in my life. First one was after I quit college the first time. Rode a motorcycle from northern VA to Daytona Beach, then to LA/Huntington Beach, then halfway back across the country. It took something like 6 months. That was 1980. I didn't yet climb. Eight years later, after finally matriculating from VA Tech (second try), I drove my dirtbag Volvo from northern VA to Walla Walla. That took something like 5 months. But at least I climbed along the way! At neither time was I encumbered by wife, kids, mortgage, significant other responsibilities. Now I do have all of those things, and I am doubly glad to have gone both times when I did (apologies to Rad for borrowing the phrase). Crikey! My last "sabbatical" was 20 years ago this month! I'm sooooooooo due for another...

Is there a reason you need to post the identical question 7 minutes apart? Stealth delete, eh?

sick, man. just sick. at least trade the kid for some decent drugs. Question for Mods: How does one edit a link so that it points to a particular post, and not the entire thread where the target post appears?

Technically, ~9 months to get a "new one." 21 months to get back to the point where she lost the first one. But your point is well-taken.

Brian- Was it a job she really wanted back? Rudy- If you don't really care if you get this job back, go ahead and go. If you do want it back, perhaps you should get something in writing. Maybe even have it reviewed by/consult with an attorney that specializes in employment law... I'm just sayin', look what happened to Dryad...

Some of those were perty funny, yah. Happy (belated) Mother's Day, Mel!

Like this guy?

They're going for about 6 GBP right now, which converts to about $12 each, so yes, pretty spendy indeed. I've never used them/seen one used. RE the self-drilling ones, I like my kit just fine. It's pretty compact; fits in a small stuff sack (except for the hammer). Sometimes it's difficult to extract the "snap-off" portion of the bolt head out of the holder. It comes with a tapered drift pin to assist in that effort, but sometimes it can be a real bugger to get the spent head out. Good thing is, if you're only placing one bolt (like to bail from, or because you only need one bolt), you can complete the entire installation without removing the spent head from the holder. But as you have probably surmised by now, the down side is that you need more than just a hammer to place them. You also need the holder. It holds the bolt with one side, and the other side is the strike plate for your hammer. Then you need the drift pin to extract the spent head out of the holder. And you need the Allen wrench to tighten the stud that holds the hanger, but that's machined into the other end of the holder, so no BFD there. I should take a pic of the kit for you and PM it to you, since I can't find one online.

IMO, the 1,000 footer is the worst, because it's the shortest of the three, assuming that all options are full-on air rappels (i.e., no bouncing until primary impact with terra firma). Logic: If you're going to die in a fall, why not make it the longest fall possible? Enjoy the ride, as Mazda sez... Am I the sick one here, because I dream of dying in a scrumptiously long fall almost every other night? Mebbe that's why I love that mountain wingsuit video so much...

You got any kids, rob? Just askin'...

Say what? If we are talking about any bolt that I have ever seen, one is supposed to drill the hole deep enough so that the bolt doesn't bottom out. Drilling deeper holes has been postulated to provide a pocket for water to collect and lever out the bolt, but many climbers using wedge anchors drill extra deep so there is room to tap the bolt in an bury it if you need to subsequently chop it. I have never heard of anybody suggesting a hole was "too deep" for a reason like what you are describing. Matt, There are bolts that require one to drive it with a hammer into the bottom of the hole for the shaft to expand. Some manufacturers of these expansion-style bolts are Hilti, Mammut, and Petzl. Here's Petzl's version. I have a kit made by Mammut that I bought in Italy, but I can't find a decent pic of the bolts that go with it. But the same principle applies: Drill the hole to the same depth as the bolt shaft/cutting unit is long, blow out/clean the hole, insert solid cone into cutting end of bolt, drive bolt home with hammer, place hanger over bolt, screw in Allen head stud to secure. Note that the Mammut style of expansion bolt is NOT the same as the more common Rawl/Powers/Hilti/Petzl expansion bolts that achieve fixation by tightening a threaded bolt, thereby drawing a tapered cone inside the sleeve toward the nut, hence expanding the sleeve against the walls of the hole as the nut is tightened. Clearly, those bolts should have a deeper hole. The kit I have is a hand-drilling kit. The bolt and cutting unit are integral - the bolt is the drill bit. The stud threads into the bolt after you've embedded it, and the stud secures the hanger. It does nothing toward increasing the expansion/holding power of the bolt. The hammering of the bolt into the rock after placing the solid truncated cone in the drilling end is what expands the bolt into the hole. If you drill the hole too deep, this expansion will not take place. Kurt Hicks used my kit to place a needed bolt on a FA at Lightning Dome two years ago. He needed a short lesson on how it worked, but he got 'er done. You could PM him for more info, if you care.

Yes, I believe he employs it in a BD Megamid style. Attractions: super light super tough super cheap makes you look like a real dirtbag climber, not a poseur DB climber Distractions: requires poaching to acquire