climbnjump

Don't forget the duct tape - 1001 uses for that. (Not the entire heavy roll. Just wrap a few yards of it around a water bottle.) And like others have mentioned, take a hiking pole - not two, just one. It's nice to have a "third leg" when the trail is steep or rugged.

Hard to know what "normal" should be. I mangled my meniscus during a tibia plateau fracture (skiing, not skydiving). My knee ached every day for a year and a half after that until I had surgery a second time to remove small chunks of cartilage and some scar tissue (and they also took the screws out of my tibia at that point). My knee was okay for a while, but after about 4 years, I couldn't even walk across a field while pheasant hunting without the pain bringing tears to my eyes. The surgeon didn't want to operate a third time because he thought the odds were better (worse?) than 50/50 that by removing more "material" he'd make it worse instead of better. Since I could no longer walk even down the street without limping, I kept after him. Eventually, he agreed. Two years after that, my knee had hauled my ass and gear up a number of mountains in So. American and Alaska with 4 of them over 18,000 ft. That last surgery was almost 10 years ago and my knee is still good. So what was normal for me after the first and second surgery was not what was normal after the third. And yes, I do take glucosamine and chondrotin. Some doctors believe it helps, some don't. I believe it does help me, but that may actually be only in my head and not my knee...

Maybe relationships are hard because we set them up to be. Sometimes, we can be attracted to people who in the long run are utterly wrong for us. But initially - and in the short run - man, is it fun! It's when reality begins to set in that the relationship becomes "hard". I don't have the answer for anyone else. But for me, I had to stop looking for relationships that were "exciting" and instead look for relationships that made me feel good. It took me a number of failed attempts to realize that being excited about a relationship wasn't the same as feeling good about a relationship. (Which isn't to say that I don't feel good about a relationship unless it is devoid of excitement. Oh, crap. Why is talking about relationships so hard...)

One need to take mr ellifson in as his entire picture and the attitudes of the district that he panders to. Check him out. He's a bit scary in that position. But no more so than many others. I'm sure he'll be the greatest hero in the west to about 5% of the population, and anathema to another 5%, and mostly just a source of discomfort and amusement to the rest of us. Perhaps more discomfort than amusement. For more background on Mr. Ellison, you can check out this: http://wrightrepublican.blogspot.com/2007/07/ellisons-strib-lte-my-response.html and this: http://wrightrepublican.blogspot.com/2007/07/keith-ellisons-dangerous-liaisons.html

Well, there is also tractor tipping - "Tractors is dumb!" Just remember to watch out for Frank...

I've got a couple of Garmin units that work great. A Nuvi 270 which has comes preloaded w/ maps for Europe as well as the US. (Used it in Sweden and Finland last month - it was great.) Also have a 76Cs for backcountry (climbing / backpacking) use. (Although my Nuvi doesn't have the FM traffic receiver, other more expensive Nuvi models do.) Also - especially for backcountry use - it IS a good idea to also have the old fashioned "analog" model available in case the new fangled one dies (or your (ex)climbing buddy DROPS the @#$@# thing off a cliff...)

Well, I haven't had enough wine tonight to be able to wax philosophically about why I see skydiving as a metaphor for life, but I do. I always pack my own chute. (Ok, that's a little fib. As a rookie packer several years ago, I did pay someone else to "tame" my new Sabre 2 - about 17 pack jobs - probably the best money I've ever spent...) About tandem jumps... I had no intention of becoming a skydiver. I "won" a tandem jump on a charity auction. I only bid on it because the jump was donated by a gal I knew and I thought I might get a date out of it. (That's another story...) Less than 10 seconds into the freefall, I knew that it wasn't going to be my last jump. As soon as the parachute opened, I started asking the TM questions. We discussed training, costs, etc., all the way to the ground. After landing, I walked into the office and signed up for AFF. So at least in my case, experiencing a tandem jump was the only reason I became a skydiver.

Funny, that's exactly why I'm in the forums right now - tax procrastination...

Well, a sample size of 1 isn't very scientific, but in Dec. 2005, I - along with 2 other people - performed no-breathing CPR on a 60-something man for about 15 minutes before the cops showed up with oxygen. We continued chest compressions with the O2 for another 7 or 8 minutes before the EMTs showed up. We did have an AED and I shocked him once with that about 5 minutes into CPR and then again just as the EMTs arrived - more than 15 minutes after the first shock. The second shock restarted his breathing (and returned his heart rhythm to some semblance of normal as displayed on the EMT's EKG). We only paused the chest compressions long enough for the AED to do its analysis when it requested us to stop. The man had a large chest and it was obvious from monitoring that we were pumping air in and out of his lungs with every compression. Just 2 weeks ago, I did my Red Cross CPR recertification. Besides the change from 15 compressions / 2 breaths to 30 compressions / 2 breaths, there was another major change to the routine - checking for a pulse is no longer done. Why? Well, a non-healthcare professional probably isn't going to find the pulse even if there is one. (That was exactly my situation when I was checking this fellow for a pulse. He had a large neck and I had no idea if he didn't have a pulse or I just couldn't find it.) You still spend 10 seconds at the start checking for "signs of life" - breathing - but if they aren't breathing the assumption is that their heart has stopped also and you begin CPR. The guy made it. He spent only 5 days in the hospital and was back at work full time 2 months later.

About not remembering the trash can peeing - he might not be fibbing about that. I had a sister who would pee in the clothes hamper and never remember doing it - she was sleep walking. My Mom caught her a couple of times. The funny thing is that my sister was always wearing a plastic toy fireman's hat while doing the deed. Anyway, about teaching proper aiming... Even when we learn how to aim properly, there is still the splash effect. The way to eliminate that is to sit while peeing. Yeah, it's hard to convince 'em to take the time to drop their pants and sit, but it's sure more sanitary in the long run. I was taught that urnals are for standing, but toilets are for sitting.

Three weeks while climbing Denali in Alaska. But I did have two sets of underwear. Ok, mountaineering joke: How do you get by on one set of underwear for a 3 week climb? - Wear 'em for a week. - Take 'em off, turn 'em inside out, put 'em back on and wear 'em for another week. - At the end of that week, take 'em off and exchange with someone else...

American wine or French wine? (sulfites added or natural sufites only?) Well, any wine labeled as "contains sulfites" in the US has at least 10 ppm of sulfites. This is generally the level that occurs due to natural fermentation, so even wines with no sulfites added during production will probably be labeled as containing sulfites. You can visit your favorite wine shop and try to find a French wine that DOESN'T have the label, but it will be a long search. And contrary to popular belief, most wine made in France has had some sulfites added during production. It is extremely difficult to produce a consistent, good tasting wine without it. Most winemakers, however, strive to use the smallest amount possible. US law allows wine (regardless of country of origin) to contain up to 350 ppm. (Very few wines contain sulfite levels this high - the average is around 80-90 ppm.) Organic wine producers are most sensitive to the addition of sulfites as the upper limit for organic wine is 100 ppm. However even most of them add sulfites during production. One US importer of organic wines has compiled a list of the sulfite levels of some of their imported wines: http://www.chartrandimports.com/levels.html You will note that quite a few of the French imports have considerably higher than "naturally occuring" sulfite levels - which obviously means that even French organic wine producers add sulfites. (Interestingly enough, the lowest sulfite levels on the list are US wines.) So it is pretty safe to assume that most non-organic French wines also have sulfites added. In the US, dried fruit can contain up to 2000 ppm of sulfites, or about 20 times the average concentration found in a bottle of wine. So, the couple of ounces of dried apricots mentioned above will give you about the same sulfite dose as an "average" 750mL bottle of wine - either French or American - take your pick.

I just talked to some wine experts at a wine festival this past weekend about the very topic. There are wines without sulfites, they just have a very short shelf-life. French wines in general do have sulfites, they just aren't required to state it on the label like American's are. According to the expert I talked to (who was doing a myth-buster presentation about wines), people who believe they get hungover from sulfites are generally getting sick from the tannins, not the sulfites. He could be wrong though. I don't claim to be an expert on the topic. Just reiterating what I was told last week. While sulfites are sometimes (usually) added at any number of points during the winemaking process (they are used as a preservative and to prevent excessive oxidation) they also occur naturally in the wine as the result of the fermentation process. So while the French winemaker who stated that they didn't ADD any sulfites might not be fibbing, it doesn't mean that his wine doesn't contain naturally occurring sulfites. If you think that the sulfites found in wine give you headaches or cause you to break out in hives, etc., then you can try a little experiment. Buy a bag of dried apricots and eat about 2 ounces worth. You will be consuming about the same amount of sulfites as drinking an entire bottle of wine. If you don't suffer any adverse reaction, then it ain't the sulfites in your wine that are causing you grief. Sulfites ARE a serious problem for a very small percentage of people whose bodies lack sufficient quantities of a certain enzyme required to break it down. That's why the US government requires the label.

Sorry, a human body isn't going to survive a trip through a J52 engine (or any other jet engine). As someone else has noted, his helmet went through and destroyed the engine. But he didn't. There are airflow guide vanes in the inlet of the Intruder. That's what stopped the man's body from actually reaching the engine. Here's a pic of the front of a J52 undergoing maintenance: http://www.answers.com/topic/p-w-j52-engine-jpg It really doesn't look "body friendly".

Okay, I'll play. How about lowering yourself into a wood chipper feet first.

Lots of 9/11 stories on front pages today - no surprise. I was clicking around and saw this one: http://www.newseum.org/media/dfp/pdf10/MN_PP.pdf The full story can be found here: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/15476714.htm Don't particularly know why I found that so interesting, but I did.

Man, what a perfect answer to an idifuckinotic question.

You posted in the right place. Skydemon2 was referring to the post from P.F. Great story, by the way.

Perhaps you're both wrong? Origin of the phrase "Liar,Liar pants on fire." LIAR, LIAR - "Liar, liar, pants on fire, hang them up on telephone wire. (Said to a lying child)" This is a "derisive rhyme" used by children. "Tradition teaches the child to use sayings in certain situations to make a point emphatically. Such sayings can provide a quick and easy response to the taunt of another child, or a powerful demonstration of the child's stand. The sayings contain a collective wisdom that exerts a certain amount of pressure on children. In other cases, sayings offer a form of play with words; children use the traditional structure of such sayings to play with the rhythm, rhyme, and meaning of words to draw attention to themselves." From "American Children's Folklore: A Book of Rhymes, Games, Jokes, Stories, Secret Languages, Beliefs and Camp Legends for Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, Counselors and All Adults Who Were Once Children" by Simon J. Bronner (August House Inc., Little Rock, Ark., 1988).

Not only ugly, but 3 weeks since my last shower, I didn't smell too good either...

Climbing can be a great experience whether you are interested in rock, ice, alpine, mountaineering or all of them. There are "gym rats" who only climb in indoor climbing centers. There are rock climbers who hate being cold and never venture into ice climbing or mountaineering. (Sport climbers might climb a dozen or more routes in a day - big wall climbers might spend several days to a week or more on a single climb.) There are ice climbers who think it's cool (sorry) to ascend frozen waterfalls. There are alpine climbers who don't mind being cold but only for a few days at a time (ok, not all alpine climbing is cold). And there are mountaineers who spend weeks (or months) on a single climb with Everest being one of the more obvious examples. Whether it's rock, ice, alpine or mountaineering, high altitude climbing obviously introduces additional challenges. (Actually, 8000 ft is considered "high" altitude, 12,000 ft "very high" and over 18,000 ft "extremely high".) As others have mentioned, the book "Freedom of the Hills" is a great place to start your education (it's kinda the "SIM" of climbing). Whatever climbing discipline you choose, get training from multiple sources. As in skydiving, no single source has all the answers. I'm not sure how to answer your question regarding personal experiences - it's hard to put in a nutshell. But climbing pretty much mirrors life in general. Some of it is challenging, some boring, some exhilarating and rewarding beyond belief, some is shear drudgery, some of it is tragic. But with climbing, the scenery is different...

Like most psychotherapies, EMDR is somewhat controversial. You might want to read the following book for background info: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465043011/qid=1151904312/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0563848-3883020?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 It is somewhat biased as it is written by the person who developed the method. The old phrase, YMMV certainly applies here. Whether or not EMDR can/will help you depends on many factors including the skill of the person you are working with and your mindset (with regard to EMDR as a treatment). Some years ago, I witnessed - and subsequently became involved in - a particularly tragic climbing accident. The affect that that had on my ability to climb was profoundly negative. It was either get help or quit climbing. The upshot is that EMDR did work for me and I'm still climbing.

If I pull it out now will it make me a dumb ditzy blonde???? Um, no. The above mentioned bleeding would make you a redhead...

Damn. Gotta read the whole post first...

Um, so that was you, was it?