sobo

Mine was kinda like ken4ord's, not so much a "fall" as it was a jump. It was several years ago at Vantage on a column that separated from the main wall. I was in a crouch, ready to make a mantle to the top of the pedestal when I noticed that the main wall in front of me was receding. I thought to myself, "Self, that's really wierd..." After a millisecond of what can only be called stunned confusion, I decided that I had to spring off the thing, a la Spiderman, as taking my chances in a long swan dive seemed infinitely better than being on the underside of that big hunk o' rock when it hit the talus slope. I didn't think of much of anything while sailing gracefully through the air (I was told later by nearby parties that my dive was one of the most graceful "falls" that they'd ever witnessed). I was brought up short after a 40-foot+ swan dive, kinda like Wyle E. Coyote stops in mid-air before he crashes, when my first piece off the ground held, absorbing much of my kinetic energy. I flopped on the talus slope from about the height of falling out of the top bunk, and the remains of the pedestal, now about the size of a VW bug, rolled behind me. It melted my rope through about 3 feet from the tie-in knot. I can still hear old Bill Robins's voice through all the dust and haze, "Oh my god! We finally killed somebody!" Truth was, I literally walked away from that one.

From the August 23 edition of The Morning Report... Mount Rainier National Park (WA) Search For Missing Hiker Ends Searchers combed rocky terrain, dense forest, and glaciers for seven days, but were unable to find Zachary Weston, 22, of Meriden, Connecticut. Weston was reported missing at midnight on August 11th. Over the course of the following week, more than 20 searchers, on foot and aboard helicopters, looked for evidence of Weston's whereabouts in the rugged Mount Rainier backcountry. The search area extended from the Nisqually Glacier west to Success Cleaver and from 3,600 feet to the 14,410-foot summit. As the search progressed, more and more clues pointed to Wapowety Cleaver above the Kautz Glacier as Weston's route of travel. These included conversations he had had about the route, tracks ascending to 10,000 feet, and a stuff sack containing some of his belongings stashed at 9,000 feet. But no sign of him was found. Incident commander John Piastuck called the search to an end at the close of operations on August 18th. [submitted by Lee Taylor, Information Officer] RIP Zachary Weston. My condolences to your family on the passing of a life too soon.

My trip up the North Lyman Glacier was my most memorable ascent of Mt. Adams, ever. It even eclipsed the trip up the Adams Glacier Icefall two years earlier, a route that I thought I would never put beneath another for that particular mountain. Now I want to get around to the east side... Durned In'juns...

That's always worked for me. Swear by it!

That would have been a nice adventure, and on the northerly side, no less.

OK everyone, it's now been four pages since we high-jacked willstrickland's thread. Can we give it back to him? O_W, timmay:, minx, someone, can this thread be split? I would love to continue this discussion, as it has merit in its own right, but not at Will's expense and angst. TIA

In my research of the Big Three credit reporting agencies, and on-line research about credit/debt, it was my conclusion that the actual number of $0 balance accounts open was every bit of interest to the potential creditor as was the amount of available (unused) credit on those same accounts.

It's not fraud if the parents are acting as the "guardian" of the account. We have two accounts set up for our boy Nicholas, and he turned 3 years old last Sunday. We are the "responsible party" for any "debt" that he may incur.

The Big Three sites that you went to will try to SELL you a package for about $20 or so to give you your SCORE periodically, but like I said, you don't really need to know your score unless you're going to buy something big, and then, the lender will tell you your score anyway. Ask if he/she doesn't come right out with it, if you're interested in knowing what it is.

Holy shit! I guess they haven't caught up with us yet, then! Whew! Good thing we got into the house when we did!

Yes, ryland, you're entirely correct. I wasn't clear in my recommendation about closing accounts with $0 balances. I was putting it out there for Marie and others who do not have the benefit of extended credit experience/histories. It is good to have a couple accounts with $0 balances that are open. You have a "safety net" to fall back upon in an emergency. I have 2 such accounts (make sure that there are no "maintenance" fees that automatically get billed to the account that you might overlook paying in a timely manner) that provide about 3 months of gross salary coverage. But as you say, 5 or more such accounts is not good, as banks will look at you as if you're living off your credit cards and not within your means. It goes back to my earlier comment about Utilization/Obligation ratio. And closing accounts and then opening new ones also doesn't look good for the debtor, either.

Oh, man! I didn't want to be the one to say it, but that is soooooooooo true!

But it's true, no bullshit! To the bank, you can't be counted upon to hold a job, or be able to be found to pay your debts when you lose any job that you had. They're looking out for their ass, not yours.

There's an old saying of which I am continually finding myself needing to remind others: A poor man can't afford to buy cheap shoes.

My favorite PNW beer? TNTC (that's Too Numerous To Count, for those of you who didn't take microbiology...)

I'm going to lunch now. I had to teach a class on credit responsibility...

There's been more than a few. And some of the eastside routes are not for pussies. Some westside routes as well, for that matter...

Arch... shhhhhh! Let's let will have his thread back.

Note my timely edit! We now return this thread to willstrickland and the discussion of franchise experience. Thank you for your attention during this brief discourse on credit reports.

Ya know, I wish there had been a course in high school about this sort of crap that I (and the rest of you, by the looks of it) have learned the hard way. My folks never talked to me about credit and shit, only about not getting girls pregnant. Pffft! that was easy! edited to add "not" !

See my post immediately above. ^^

Although your balance is $0, you were late with your payments. You stated so yourself that you didn't make some at all!!! A late payment is bad, but a SKIPPED payment is even worse, and you skipped for 6 months! So do you think they'd put you in any category other than "Deadbeat CardHolder"? And they keep this stuff on your record for as much as seven years. Sorry, but I think there's nothing you can do about that card's record now. At least you closed it! Which is another thing... accounts that are open, even with $0 balances, CAN hurt your credit score. Close inactive accounts! For potential creditors looking to give you a loan, it looks a lot better on your credit report to have "Account closed by card holder" rather than "Account closed by card issuer".

One on mine as well, but I had already paid it years earlier, but The Bon still showed it as an unpaid late payment charge. I had contested it because the payment wasn't late at the time it was made years before. I went to The Bon, told the CS agent that it was all BS, showed her my old statements where it had been paid and credited, and they wiped it off the slate. Don't know why their bill processing software didn't do that for them three years earlier... I checked back with the credit reporting agencies to see that it was removed from the "negative" side, and it was. Bummer for you about having to pay yours again.