rhaskins

My left leg gets sore at the knee everytime I use softboots. I attribute it to the severe twist I have to put in my leg in the lift line and any other time I have the rear boot out of the binding. That is a pretty un-natural position for the knee if you are regular stance, 30 degree front binding angle (which I am) and have your boot on the toe side of the board moving on the flats and lift lines. After a couple of hours riding our small hills here - lot of time in line - my knee is sore. It gets fixed with a few beers, usually, more or less. OTOH, when I was riding duck, both knees hurt plenty. I don't do that anymore. Other than that, I don't have the issue if I stick to hard boots and/or skis. Rick

I'm a registered engineer. I'm mechanical, but I have read the entire electrical code; repeatedly, also the fire code. Something to do in my spare time. Anyhoo, I walk into this manufacturing facility one time, and into the clean room on a job. One-half of the electrical in the room consisted of a plug strip, with a plug strip plugged into it, with another plug strip plugged into that, with another plug strip plugged into that and all the equipment on that side of the room plugged into the strips. Very warm electrical plug. I "mentioned" to the people I was with that was against both the electrical and fire code, and they dumped on me like you would not believe. The maintenance people told (yelled at) me "where is that written down". Really a hubbub. I was there for an entire different purpose, and had to retreat telling them that they can do what they want, I'm just a mech E. A couple days later when I showed up, the manager of the joint asked me to show him what the issues were and explain it, which I did (electrical overload, burn building down, no one has a job), but referred him to consult with an electrician or electrical E. He asked me to bring him the code sections if I would, which I photocopied and gave to him a few days later. He then asked me to inspect another production area, I told him it was outside of my expertise, but he insisted and stated that it was all verbal and nothing written. I got to inspect the area and the same thing only worse: extension cords running everywhere (some over 50 ft.), extensions cords running thru walls (!!!) all in lieu of proper outlets and circuits, and the same crew that dumped on me a few days before was with me on that day, very polite and thoughtful this time. In the ensuing days, there was a flurry of electricians working running appropriate electrical outlets and circuits. Yeah, and splices in electrical work, they were eliminated, but we won't talk about that. Sometimes it is the culture of a place that gets in the way of safety, and a lot of times it only takes the right person to be indoctrinated to make things turn around. And I did put myself thru college working as an electrician, so I do know something about how to wire a facility. People do funny things in relation to safety. Most people have no idea what risk acutally is or what it means. But the accountants listen in my experience, especially if the insurance company insists on an inspection. I have seen more risk and safety turn-arounds initiated by accountants than by other groups, depending on the professionalism of the group. Did ya hear about the bridge pour in Atlanta that collapsed? Can't wait to hear the post mortem on that one. Rick

I backed out of the garage this afternoon and the UPS truck with the brown suited Santa was blocking my driveway. He then drove off. First reaction: *sigh*. Then I glanced at the front door and there was a white box on the steps!! Thanks guys, got the Fin-Tec's on Xmas Eve!! Merry Xmas to Bomber. Rick

Its great. Its all good. Rick

Should we throw in torrential rain and mudslides with out of control wildfires and drought? Feel at home then? Rick

I just thought of that same thing last nite, no time to try it out yet. Thanks Rick

I'll be skidding in tomorrow morning also. Rick

Too much time on your hands C5. Get a hobby, knitting or something. Volunteer with the local shelter for unwed mothers or something.

I am also hoplessly conformist to what everyone else is doing. Actually, I have heard of ray's way (raysway) before, just have not taken the time to investigate. Thanks, Rick

MUD: I'll get right on that mill with flycutter. Shouldn't cost too much . . I'm perpendicular angle estimating challenged, so I am looking for an easy method of setting a 90 degree angle along the entire edge that is straight. Getting the edge sharp is the easy part, keeping it straight for 10 inches or so is a lot harder. I have looked at the SWIX ($35) and the Toko ($45) scraper sharpners. They would pay for themselves in the long run I guess. Marty: I have fixed angle edge tuners, SVST fixed angle, none at 90 degree. I'd have to purchase another at about $31. The fly cutter would be the truest tho. SlideWright has one of these that would do the job nicely: http://www.slidewright.com/proddetail.php?prod=MT0716 Rick

I grew up in North Dakota, there were a lot of descriptions about how cold it was. Since I didn't speak (and still don't speak) Norwegian, I don't even know half of them. Oaff dah! One morning I go out and get my 57 Chevy started with the help of a lot of ether, and go back inside to let it warm up. I go back out and there is smoke coming out from under the hood. I open the hood and the exhaust manifold was cherry red - the cross-over valve for heating the intake manifold has seized because of the cold. Turned that off immediately. It was about -45 F. Having read all those Jack London stories, I summoned up a big loogie and spat, and got the CRACK when it hit the ground, frozen to ice. That was really cool. It was so cold, it frozed the balls off a brass monkey that morning. I swear. Colder than a witch's tit it was. Rick

We will have to agree to disagree. Rick

I have a whole clutch of scrapers in various state of dullness. I just keep acquiring new ones, and ocassionally I set a file flat on a workbendh and attempt to sharpen one. They sharpen up, but it does not appear that they are necessarily "square". What brands of scrapers do you all use, and are some better than others? How do you sharpen them? I use Swix and Dakine plastic scrapers. I have one metal scraper that is sharp and square, but I only use it for special occassions, like a new moon & etc. Help please. This is getting somewhat expensive. I'm cheap. Rick

Saturday, no contrast, I hit one of those little kickers and did not see it at all until I was in the air. I was in soft boots, but still splayed myself across the slope because it was unexpected and I had no time to react. I really don't want another broken leg because little Timmy, thoughtless little Timmy with no judgement nor consideration for anyone else, thought it was a great place for a jump. OTOH, if I break my leg by going into the park and trying jumps and etc., my own fault. Have you never had one of those no-contrast days where you can't see detail on the slope? or are all your days technicolor in pristine focus? I suggest that if you want to build a jump anywhere Just ask the management. See what they have to say. Really, it is the only responsible thing to do. Rick

it's an acquired knowledge . . . Rick

It is colder than a witch's tit, it is so cold it would freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Two colloquial descriptions of how cold it is. Everyone knows that. Rick

Foot pregnancy. A little known condiiton . . .

My toes really froze, it sneaked up on me. The UPZ liners don't seem to be as warm as the Deeluxe. I just purchased a set of Hotronics, so we will see what happens there. Otherwise I was just fine with the cold. Still suck carving tho. Thanks Karl for you time. Rick

Buck in the morning! At Buck today, when Bobble had to take a call of nature, I was able to slalom around the ski jammers, and then terrorized the terrain park for a few runs on alpine gear! Fun. But after that I launched a few times on Crossroads and Warners Way, so I switched to soft boots for an hour or so. Traffic got pretty bad around noon. I spotted Bobble a few times but could not synch up with him. I took off for lunch and came back. Ever have a day where everything comes together? I waxed my Salomon Hurricanes last nite. This afternoon I took them out and it was like being on a floor of ball bearings. I got off the lift and was at the bottom of Teacher's pet before I was really in control. Honestly, it was scarey fast. 2nd run on Crossroads was identical, so I went to Warner's way and the same. The wax, the temp and the snow were just right to make it the fastest day I have ever had on the snow on anything. I got these ski's last February, and have skied Buck, Afton Alps, Sprit and Lutsen with them, and this was way unexpected. And they are not my fast ski's, my Volkl Supersports are faster. Same wax as on my board I was using today, and the board was a lot slower today. I am really glad that they are real stable in chopped up crap or I would have been road kill. Lotsa fun. At 3:00 the wind had picked up quite a bit - my chair mates and I were freezing. packed it in at 3:30. Rick

They get me a plane and lift ticket and lodging and I'm in for a 100 test runs. Min. Rick

Is that redundant? F2 Intec Titanium, Intec Titanflex or Intec RS (in order of preference). I need the Medium size. email me at ricohaskins at gmail dot com. I wanna use PayPal. I want to acquire ASAP. Rick

JFluff: I live in Maple Grove, northern border of Plymouth. I will be heading to Buck Hill a good portion of the days you are in town. I usually try to get to Buck about 8:45 am, so if I see ya along HWY 494 with your gear at about 8, I'll give ya a lift. I know where every coffee shop is on the way to and back! Seriously, I spend 3 to 5 hours usually before decamping unless there is a snow storm - then I stay longer. If you need a lift, let me know. BTW, Bobble is a permanent fixture at Buck. Rick

Someone should write a book . . . I know a lot of people that tried snowboarding and gave up after one or two attempts. I'll bet that simple setup or lack thereof had a lot to do with that. I left my stance as it was set up in the showroom (21 inches) for about 10 days on slope before I started to play around with stance and angles. I took snowboard lessions and neither of the instructors I had commented on stance for either class. I have a couple of books I purchased on snowboarding, and they all give passing attention to stance width, a vague "shoulder with" or so. Kind of short shrift to something that can really hinder progress. Just think of how many more snowboarders we could have out there on the slopes! Rick

On a related note: My stance for my softboot board was set by the fine folks at "The House" at 21.5 inches. The House is local here in the Twin Cities, great selection of equipment (2000+ snowboard models, 1500+ Jacket styles etc. ad nausium) That is the stance I learned to ride on. After getting some slope time and feeling fairly stable on that, I moved my stance around and settled on about 20 inches. My son, who is about my height at 5 foot 7 inches, got a similar 21 inch stance by the same folks. I changed my softboot stance at random at the start of his year to 19 inches and it felt good. Now, after changing my hardboot stance with good results, I tend to watch all the softbooters when I am on the lifts, and I have seen some humongous stance widths on some really short people. Honestly, it seems that there is such a huge variation on stance widths between different shops. When I was learning to snowboard, not once did the instructors talk about stance and setup other than to not let the toes and heels overhang too much. After messing around these last couple of weeks with stance width, the narrower stances work better for me. If the half-pipe is open at Buck this next week, I am going to knock my softboot stance down to 17 inches and see how that reacts also. I have never rented a snowboard, so I don't know how they set/recommend stance width. Does anyone actually watch snowboard students and change their stance based on their performance or learning problems? Not in my experience. Rick

I guess on of my points is that I really had no good reference point and needed the beta. My softboot stance was a little over 20 inches (WAS, not now), and after rearching and reveiwing a lot of posts here and in the Carver's Alamanac, I came up with 19 inch stance because I didn't want to be too narrow. And because the way I had it set up at 19.25 inches felt very good. I tried working my carving form off that stance - I did juggle around stance, cant and lift, but really go nowhere. Until Karl gave me the advice - he is a snowboard coach in town. After moving in 1 inch, it felt like such an improvement that I went 1 more inch, and WhooooHoooooo! Very much better at 17.25 inches. I am improving (at least in my own mind) every time I go out now, and my frusteration level has gone way down. Over the next 2 weeks I am going to try a little narrower stance and try to move the stance out a little to see if I can feel the change. That piece of advice from Karl is priceless for me at least. Rick