skategoat

Someone here posted a link to a cat boarding/skiing outfit that does a no-frills trip either out of Montana or Idaho. I lost the link. I think you stayed in yurts and cooked your own food. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

You know you've always wanted one of these. Brand new, never worn. Everything still in original packaging. I bought this for my kid while I was in the U.S. last spring but he decided he prefers a shell. Never miss a call while carving the slopes this winter. $190, shipping included in Canada. Add $20 for U.S. to account for extra shipping and your crappy dollar. Features: * Integrated Bluetooth® System* * Storm-lite® 4.0-C Fabric (15,000MM, 10,000G) * 550 Goose Down Fill * Crossflow Venting™ * Mesh-Lined Pit Zips™ * Venting Chest Pockets * Contour™ Hood * Pass Pocket™ * Includes Burton Jacket Features Package Stock photo but remember, this is brand spanking new.

Thanks Scott, I figured you would know. Do you have a higher res version of that photo? Was it a one year thing only? Seems a strange marketing move to offer a product for one year only.

I know there are many brands in Japan that never make it to our shores - Gray, Okasaka, Yonex. I'm wondering if any of these are made by Head.

I heard a rumour that Head currently offers an alpine board in Japan but I see no evidence of it on the web. But then again, the Stratos boots aren't even on Head's websites and I know they exist. Can anyone tell me if Head currently offers an alpine board in the Japanese market? Did they ever? Perhaps under a different brand?

I also saw a Burton Factory Prime 167 with "Demo" stamped on the nose. Looked in pretty good shape. One small gouge in the base which could be easily p-texed. I think it was $150.

I've met women like this and what they don't understand is the simple concept of loyalty. Those plain Jane women with the rich husbands were there when the guy was a dorky law student or geek computer programmer. They saw potential in the geek/dork (not just financial) and stuck it out through the cheap dinners and simple dates. In fact, if you talk to these women, they'll probably tell you that those were actually the best of times.

I have two excellent condition F2 Race Titanium bindings with step-in heels, size medium. One set has 2 days on them and the other has 7-10 days. I'd like to trade these for similar condition F2 Titaniums with standard bails.

Big White for sure. It has more wide cruisers than you can shake a stick at. Sun Run was one of the nicest carving runs I've ever experienced. Perfect pitch and wide. Plus, being difficult to get to (ie. gapers don't like t-bars), there were no crowds. I went up and down that thing all day until I cracked three ribs <G>. Just don't take the wrong turn or you are on Cliff side and pooched unless you can do jump turns on an alpine board. Also, there are some sweet cruisers on the Gem Lake side. You just keep going further and further right (facing down) until you get away from the crowds. I've been there 3 times and only got the "Big White-out" once for a morning. At Silver Star, there is a definite divide between the blue/green runs and the black diamonds. On the difficult side of the mountain, it's a bit too narrow for carving. That means you have to run the easier side which can get crowded up very quickly. Also try Apex especially on weekends. Less crowded and very carve friendly. Best of luck.

Short term - Advil, ice and light activity and stretching. I find that laying around makes it worse. Bed rest is disproven as an effective treatment - http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/340/6/418 Long term - core strength improvement and time. Yoga helps. So does cycling (for me) which seems counter-intuitive. I have had a number of sciatic nerve episodes and the first few times, I took the active approach - chiro and PT. Last few times, I didn't see any professionals. In three to four weeks, I was back to normal - same recovery time as with active treatment. YMMV but the key thing to keep in mind is this - it will get better.

Ben: Didn't your Mac come with Front Row pre-loaded? It's supposed to work out of the box. Here's a great reference to help: http://macminicenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=Front_Row_121:How-To

Are you dumb? Find out for sure: http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=6798

I don't believe it for a minute. The people who quote those great investment numbers are usually biased - auction houses like Barrett-Jackson or car collector mags like Sports Car Market. What they always ignore are the extraneous costs of buying, maintaining and selling those cars. Buyer's premiums, seller's commissions, storage, shipping, maintenance and god forbid, restoration. Most guys I know who are into collector cars do it for fun. It's a relatively low-risk investment - your asset isn't going to go poof one day through accounting fraud. Plus, you get to enjoy your asset by driving it. The goal at the end of the day is to come out even. To make money at this game, you have to do it in volume. Buy multiple cars so that economies of scale are on your side. Or, you have to be damned lucky - eg. your Aunt Sadie leaves you a time capsule, Superbird. To jump in on the original topic - consider a early 2000s Toyota 4Runner. Economical V6, great resale, super reliable.

You're right on about nuclear energy. The only challenge - what to do with the waste. Still, I think spending money on solving that challenge makes a lot more sense than spending it on ethanol, hydrogen or other half-assed measures.

Windmills have about a zillion moving parts. Maintenance is a big headache. Costs are very high. If you can spread the cost over a huge windmill farm like you see in California or Nevada, it makes sense. For a single windmill, payback is long given the fact that electricity really is quite cheap in North America.

You're joking right? Before you're a pro athlete, you're an amateur one. I don't really care if pro athletes want to endanger their health with performance enhancers but I do care if the trickle-down effect leads to juiced up, balding 14 year olds.

Forget about the wine. Someone bring some real maple syrup to next year's SES.

C'mon Jack, Maris was a good but not great hitter who caught lightning in a bottle in '61. The 61 homers that season was the result of hitting before Mickey Mantle. He never hit more than 40 before or after that season. As for Bonds, people wouldn't be so negative towards him if he wasn't such a complete jerk. He will retire from baseball and be a pariah. Will probably die a bitter, lonely old man. The thing is, he would've been a first ballot HOFer without the 'roids. But he got greedy.

Ya, that's exactly the problem. I tried to ride a bike every day in Toronto. Too much traffic and most of the drivers are oblivious to anything on two wheels. In the wilds of Colorado or Saskatchewan, it'd be a different and much more enjoyable experience.

I went through the bike thing when I was 20. Got over it after I laid down my bike in the rain and got knocked down by a car twice in two weeks. The final time, it was actually a guy I knew who hit me. I see neighbours with nice bikes and I think I'd like to get one and then I remember how helpless I felt sliding across the road on my back. I side with your wife on this one. You can be as careful and skilled as you possible but you can never account for bad luck.

Geez Neil, I know investment bankers aren't usually nice people but really, it was meant in jest. I know you are a Camry driving engineer or something like that. And just to cover my bases, I like Camrys and my brother's an engineer. And to backtrack to your snowboard example, I thought of a good analogy. The Sims Burner. Think of a classic sports car as a Sims Burner. A Barfoot would be more like a Model T.

If I had vintage snowboarding equipment, I'd probably ride it and wish I was on newer stuff. That doesn't happen in a vintage car. The new technology doesn't add to the experience for me. Hell, I don't even have a working stereo in my car. I don't need air-conditioned, GPS-guided, heated-seat comfort in my sports car. I want to feel the road and the car. I can't be the only one or '73 911 RS's wouldn't be going for half a mil at Barrett-Jackson.

A lot of guys would rather own an old, mint Barfoot than a brand new Prior. And ya, I would be impressed as hell to see a guy rip a black diamond with it.

Neil: Never figured you as a yuppie investment banker. Anyone can buy themselves a trophy car. You just walk into a dealership and plunk down your money. But bagging a vintage sports car takes knowledge, research, hard work. Far more satisfying. Plus, speed is all relative. You can go 140km/h in a new 911 and you don't even feel it. Try it in an old Healy or Jag and your adrenaline will be pumping. HK

It was the last of the pure Porsches with direct lineage to Porsches built for racing. After 1989, the 911 got soft. Body work and interior trim was added for comfort and cosmetics as opposed to performance. My '88 is a lean, mean, fightin' machine. You remove the floormat and there's the steel floorpan right there. No insulation that just adds weight. After 20 years, the proof is in the pudding. It's not unusual for a 3.2 Carrera to go 300,000kms without a rebuild. My car has 133,000kms and I have the original shocks and original exhaust. The engines are bulletproof. What are deemed to be consumable items on other vehicles seem to last forever on these cars. My neighbour has a '80 SC with 200,000kms and the thing looks like it rolled out of the showroom. No repaint, no rebuild. Just normal maintenance. Last year, his fanbelt broke and he drove 10kms home without a fan. The temp gauge was high but the car did not overheat. He just replaced the belt (took 2 minutes), changed the oil and the car was none the worse for the wear. Try that in a Chevy. It all ended in 1998 when Porsche dropped the traditional air/oil cooled engine for a water pumper. A sad day but it was necessary for emissions and in order to drive all the electronics that are on cars these days. The Porsche is a luxury car now, not a sports car.