climbnjump

Uh, no.... You're not the only one.

Wine - especially red wine - is a chemically complex substance and, of course, so is the human body. People experience a wide variety of undesirable effects from drinking wine: http://www.nobody-knows-anything.com/2003/10/wine_allergies.html Sulfites have gotten much of the bad rap, but research seems to indicate that the amount found in most wines isn't the culprit for the vast majority (about 99%) of folks. Usually it is something else, like the histamines mentioned in several posts. This article addresses the headache issue (but you have to read down past the real cork vs. artificial cork debate) and backs up the idea of taking an antihistamine: http://www.wineloverspage.com/oxford/corked.shtml The amount of tannins in a wine also can cause mild allergic reactions for some people. Full-bodied reds, of course, typically have the most tannins. If you get a headache from "heavy" red wine, try a lighter red and remember to drink as much water as you drink wine. And pop an ibuprofen tablet BEFORE you start drinking instead of after your headache has started.

Yeah, what he said. DeHavilland C7 Caribou. STOL capability and used by the Army in Vietnam. Doesn't really sound like a "very special aircraft", though.

I was only half-watching the CBC coverage, so if they explained it, I missed it. NBC will probably take the same approach they did with the opening ceremonies and explain exactly how it fits in with the overall theme. The NBC commentators said only that the brides (400 of them) were "a symbol of hope".

...free range in big cages... Now that was funny. (Or maybe it's the two Manhattans I just sucked down...)

Now the things that I remember seem so distant and so small Though it hasn’t really been that long a time What I was seeing wasn’t what was happening at all Although for a while, our path did seem to climb But when you see through love’s illusions, there lies the danger And your perfect lover just looks like a perfect fool

Man, talk about havin' a woodie...

DAT file updates are usually quick, however sometimes they need to update the scan engine. That's more code and will take longer. Don't know if that's it or not, but maybe.

On Dec. 14th, a 60-something dude collapased at the health club - cardiac arrest. With help from two other folks, I keep him alive for 20 minutes until the paramedics got there. I hit him twice with the AED in that time interval - wonderful device. He was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 19th. All those hours of first responder training finally paid off.

Um... Well, climbing and jumping are my two main pastimes, so...

QuoteIt really does exist, doesn't it? Quote It's a matter of opinion, of course, but I believe the answer is both, "Yes it does" and "No it doesn't". How one experiences love, or chooses to love, is a very personal thing. You get to create your own reality. If you believe in unconditional love and you practice it, then yes, for you it exists. If you don't believe in it, then it doesn't exist. Neither belief is "more right" than the other and neither belief is wrong.

It isn't, of course, possible for me to know what you are experiencing. But for me, the following was what I kept repeating in my mind when I was faced with more than I thought I could deal with. Just. Keep. Going. I will beat this. You said that you didn't know if you have what it takes to go through this again. You do. It's in you. Find it.

Reminds me of my mother: "What is oral sex - talking about it?" I kid you not, she actually asked that question and she was over 40 at the time...

Yes, Harold. You are absolutely correct. Your tonsils are infected and will have to be removed.

The quality isn't so good (cheap camera and I was about 13 years old) but here's a pic of the A-4's.

Well, replace the word "husband" with "S.O." and then I'll say: My thoughts exactly..

- Where does time come from? And where does it go? - Why do we have to have dust? Does it really serve any useful purpose? - Why do two people standing side by side and witnessing the same event, have totally different memories of what happened? - I know that green means "go" and yellow means "gun it", but does red really mean "just one more car as long as it's me"? - Why do people who are tone deaf think they have great singing voices? (Oh, wait... I think the answer is in the question.) - Why does the neighbor's dog hate me? I don't hate her. (But that could change if she ever actually bites me.) - Do random thoughts actually have a random distribution?

Thanks, I'll probably check that out (eventually!)... I guess, by the definitions you put forth, I am a "materialist"... I do believe that the brain and the mind are the same thing. And I believe that the brain itself can cause physical changes to take place within the brain... which sort of matches up with the "dualist" way of thinking... except that I still think that the brain and the mind are pretty much one and the same. (The "mind" just seems to be that "conscious-thought" part of the brain.) There is then the definition of brain. That stuff contained by our skulls is sometimes defined as three brains. The first is the reptilian brain or brain stem. The second brain is the limbic or emotional brain and the third is the cortex. The "conscious-thought" processes take place in the cortex. Every wonder why we do things that we "know" are bad or wrong? The "knowing" part of our brain, the cortex, is overridden by either the emotional or reptilian brain. It takes focused attention from the cortex to keep the limbic or reptilian brain from overriding the cortex. It's no secret that effective marketing takes advantage of the fact that the reptilian and limbic can override the cortex, e.g. http://www.brand.com/NeuroBranding.htm But it gets even more complicated. For some, the three "brains" are defined differently - the three being, basically head, heart and gut. There are about 100 million neurons - similar to those found in your head - in your gut. (So maybe that phrase - go with your gut - just means you are deciding with one of your alternate brains.) The heart gets the short end of the stick with only about 40,000 nerve cells called baroreceptors. Yet the heart is functional before the development of either the central nervous system or the thinking brain. And both the heart and digestive system will continue to function in a completely brain dead body as long as there is a mechanical ventilator keeping the lungs going. Any way you slice it, we're a pretty amazing piece of engineering! (...and I think I've wandered way off the original purpose of this thread.)

When she says, "Don't worry. Natural Family Planning is easy - AND 98% effective!"

Crick was a "materialist". Basically a materialist believes that the mind and the brain are essentially the same thing - they cannot be separate. The opposing view is that of "duality". Dualists believe that while the mind does "depend" on the brain for physical expression, the mind and the brain are actually independent entities that interact using the principles of quantum physics. Materialism has long been the dominant scientific viewpoint, however dualism is more recently gaining momentum. The advent of fMRI has made possible the exploration of the concept that the mind can actually cause physical changes to take place in the brain. The dualists believe that this would prove their theory to be the correct one. (The existence - or not - of a "soul" is actually separate from the mind/brain question although Crick lumped them together. Most neuoscientists avoid exploring the issue of soul - at least publicly - for fear of getting caught up in a religious, rather than scientific, debate.) If, after reading Crick's book, you'd like to explore the dualist viewpoint, a good start would be The Mind and the Brain - Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force by Schwartz and Begley.

Accidents in North American Mountaineering - 2004 American Alpine Journal - 2004 Mental Training for Skydiving and Life Synaptic Self The Society of Mind Mapping the Mind ...and a couple issues of "Rock & Ice" and Parachutist

Cut Away Lawn Service - You Call, We Deploy!

The fellow who was the source for the article above has a web site with a number of other articles that can be found here: http://www.lubedev.com/articles/ In one of those articles he states that Texaco gasoline provides him with 30% better mileage than other brands - and that's without the added magic of acetone. For most of his mileage testing he is using his (sometimes referred to as his son's) personal Dodge Neon and he's just driving around town, or down the freeway, or wherever, calculating mileage per tankfull without taking any number of rather important other variables into account. So we're not talking any sort of scientific testing here. He states that the acetone is a fuel vaporization aid. He explains it several different ways, but this is my favorite: "The acetone molecule works physically to vigorously shake up every drop of fuel. It acts like an internal vibrator to shake up each tiny bit of fuel so the fuel does NOT ball up or glue together into large aggregate particles. Instead this important additive guarantees more complete vaporization of fuel inside the combustion chamber where it really matters to defeat surface tension." Keep in mind that he's talking about a physical - not chemical - reaction here. How can a couple of ounces of acetone possibly have that physical effect on 10 gallons of gasoline? It makes no sense. And another one: "Most fuel molecules are sluggish with respect to their natural frequency. Acetone has an inherent molecular vibration that "stirs up" the fuel molecules, to break the surface tension." Molecules that are "sluggish with respect to their natural frequency"??? This doesn't make any sense either. One quote regarding the use of alcohol in gasoline: "Most of the alcohol that enters your gas came here from Europe as stale wine." Hmm... But my real favorite quote: "A V-8 has half the time available for combustion that a 4-cylinder engine gets. Each cycle takes half the time in a V-8 as in a 4-cylinder engine at the same RPM. " This one is really bizarre. The cycle time that he's referring to is dependent on a number of variables, but one variable that it is NOT dependent on is the number of cylinders in the engine. He is pretty big on conspiracy theory, that is the oil companies and auto manufacturers are in cahoots with regulators and politicians to swindle the rest of us by providing low quality fuel (with the possible exception of Texaco, I guess) and poor mileage vehicles. A favorite quote here: "What have the (mighty and powerful) car and oil industries been doing since 1936? Not to mention the ineffective job the DOE is doing--because it seems they are in bed together: DOE, car makers, Big Oil, API and some members of Congress. " There are many more perls and gems in his writing if you go read the articles. And very little of it would stand up to serious scientific review. So, based on this fellow's scientific acumen, does adding acetone to your gas increase your mileage by 15 to 35%? Well, maybe, depending on how much you change your driving habits at the same time. Many folks could get an easy 15% increase in mileage just by changing how they use the accelerator and brakes.

Well, rumor has it that in this case, the "Blower's Daughter" is simply the daughter of Damien Rice's clarinet teacher... Apparently he had a thing for her???

Um, you probably already know this, but McKinley is a climb, not a hike. While the West Buttress route isn't really a technical climb, it is still a serious undertaking due to crevasse hazards, weather and of course, the altitude. While the summit is only 20,320 ft, this altitude in Alaska is the equivalent of about 23,000 ft in the Himalayas due to the difference in latitude. This difference in latitude also means that McKinley is routinely (but not always, of course) colder than the higher peaks in the Himalayas. Most people will use up the better part of three weeks on this climb due to the time it takes to acclimatize as you ascend. Base camp on the Kahiltna glacier is about 7000 ft, but you'll descend to about 6000 ft to turn the corner to head up the glacier for the approach. This works out to about a 14,000 ft vertical gain on the climb if one makes it to the summit. But most folks have to double carry at least part of the climb, so total vertical gain will be closer to 22,000 ft. If by solo, you mean "no one else with you", the rangers in Talkeetna will "greatly discourage" you if you have a good climbing resume and it is possible that they might not even let you on the mountain if you don't. But the views ARE worth the effort (that is, if the weather ALLOWS you to actually SEE the views).