skatha

....the massive privatization and outsourcing of both security and intelligence work in the country...now companies like Xe need to invent "terror threats" to justify their massive governmental contracts. Robert Gates himself said there were a tremendous number of contract workers in the DoD and he didn't know what half of them were supposed to be doing....don't get me started on how private prison companies invest in lobbyists hired to fight legal reform of drug laws...

VD is fast approaching....and I mean Valentine's Day, although I find that one leads to the other, medically speaking...I have had the opportunity to sample these and find them very appealing...so, if you are of a mind to purchase them for your sweetie, rest assured they are well worth the expense...

We really have no idea that this is Jack's kid-the whole bandana thing makes me wonder if it isn't Shaun White:biggthump

I hope you didn't buy any of those boots! I'd go to another vendor if there's one available to try on some more shoes.... Superfeet also makes a moldable insole out of cork-my lost boot set up had some of those in them

Judges score off of clearly defined criteria in all of those sports you listed and are both trained and experienced. You don't just show up one day in London or Sochi and get to judge skating...you ascend thru the ranks of the AAU as a judge. I'm not a huge ice skating fan but, a few years ago, Debbie Thomas of the US did a back flip in her routine in the Olys-a clearly illegal move in the realm of ice skating. Do a new trick in the XG and you're "progressing". Do a new trick in diving and you're DQ'd. People shouldn't get an "100" just because they've cruised to 5 gold medals-their routine should reflect perfection and, ideally, it should be unattainable. Once Nadia Comanechi scored a 10 in the Olys, the scoring system in gymnastics was reset...

FYI....translate findings from motorcycles to hardbooters at your own risk http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18676782 http://www.medpagetoday.com/CriticalCare/HeadTrauma/24780

They may be getting checks from Ping or Callaway, too......:D

Got it! Silly me, I usually remember to "follow the money" first...

I just saw that on the WXG stream on ESPN3. Weird....kids today!

I'm on twitter only to read stories posted by people I'm following-usually in the form of links. I'm on FB for mainly networking. In fact, I rarely post personal info on FB...most posts are pics of my dog or forwarded pics from other sites I follow. Since my 30th HS reunion is coming up, I'm interested in reunion news and my class has a FB page.... I had a friend who recently had a cancer scare and posted updates on FB-I would never do that...nor would I post lots of pics of my kids or any information that would compromise their safety

Alignment issues......I adjusted the cuff cant myself with my snowboard boots. My first pair of ski boots didn't have a cant adjustment but the insoles I had molded made up for it to some extent. The bootfitter at Winterpark didn't think cuff cant adjustment was that big of a deal even after I mentioned having no right knee medial meniscus and having 2 screws holding my left ankle together with a permanent post-op contraction medially..... My current pair of Salomons are aligned correctly.... Skiing with no poles.....seeing those pics make me feel better about not using my poles either....:D...except, of course, in the lift line Skiing halfway decent.....depends on what your definition is. I took my first lesson after skiing for a season with no lessons and coming fresh from snowboarding. I also could ice skate so that helped. A lot of what instructors cover with newbie skiers you've already overcome-slipping down a slope on wooden plank(s). If I were you, get some boots, demo some skis, and just experiment. You can always get lessons later

Core exercises? I recommend the exercises on the Mayo Clinic's site for my patients with low back pain...or you can do planks..

Snell has a ratings system for ski and snowboard helmets. I imagine if you buy from a major manufacturer, they are going to use those standards. My helmet's from Giro-as is my bike helmet. There'd be a huge liability on Giro's part if they used Snell standards for their bike helmets (they do) and not their winter sports helmets

Your stoke may return if you and I traded places for a few days-come live in polluted, flat, hot Houston for a few weeks, then go back to your readily accessible mountains!

On Sept. 9, we were camping in Sam Houston state park, just north of Helltown...Sam Houston has lots of pine trees but it's pretty flat. After Sam and I had spent about 3 hours kayaking around the lake, we headed back and I told my Nintendo DS playing kids to do something. Tim got on his bike to go biking with Sam while I decided to start dinner. I had forgotten to bring the helmets but Sam assured me he was going to stick to some easy flat trails. Needless to say, Tim hit a root and careened into a tree and had to sit out the rest of football season because he'd fractured his skull....and, yes, we drove him to the ER after packing up camp because I, with my medical training, ATLS, 10 years ER experience and 22 years total medical experience, thought he just had a concussion....(this is a reference to the Sugarloaf widow's experience with the EMTs and clinic personnel-it can happen anywhere)

I have one of those-they are great for kicking around the cabin with small handmade booters...any slope higher than 5 feet, tho:smashfrea

And we call them "woo-woo"s because riding around fast with a siren on is one of their biggest motivations...

First off-there is a huge difference between a "first responder", an "EMT", and a paramedic. EMTs, at least in Texas, cannot start IVs or intubate. First responders are basically just lifting help-no one expects them to really do anything except call for help if the person is really injured... Calling a helicopter...not if it's cloudy or there's any precipitation....they won't fly.... Thirdly, if this clinic was staffed by a doc, the way EMTALA is written, he can't call for a helicopter for transfer without an accepting MD at the receiving hospital. Paramedics at the scene of an accident can call for a helicopter, tho....figure that one out... As I've said before, if you are in a trauma code, you are dead. A better manuever at the clinic would have been a needle decompression of a presumed tension pneumothorax-those can make you go from talking to dead pretty quick. But, those clinics may not be staffed with ATLS trained personnel.... In November 2005-my husband was involved in an accident. I was working as a hospitalist at a hospital 20 minutes away and finished admitting a patient prior to driving to the hospital where they took him-he had a open tib-fib fracture and was the driver of a car that was hit on the driver's side, "T-bone" style. I still had on my white coat....My husband dropped his pressure while the nurse was covering his exposed bone with gauze. I asked for a BP to be checked. Then I asked the nurse to bolus him with some fluids. Then I went into the ER control room and asked that my husband have an abdominal CT. I went to the scanner with him and saw the splenic rupture on the monitor. Did I mention that I do this same thing routinely with my unstable patients? I then went back to tell the ER doc (who, BTW, hasn't even come in to see my husband yet, nor did he) to call the on-call surgeon. The ER doc told me some claptrap about getting the "grade" from the radiologist first-I told him the "grading scale" is only used in pediatric trauma. Needless to say, my husband got his spleen out that night. He was mismanaged by the ER staff who did not give him adequate fluid resuscitation prior to surgery and he was as shocky as I've seen in 20 years of practice. So, can I believe some little doc-in-a-box clinic at Sugarloaf was in way over their heads with this? Yes. Should the team on scene considered a helicopter given the mechanism of injury and disregarded the fact the guy was talking? Possibly...if the helicopter was cleared to fly...the sad fact is, we've chosen, as a society, to put people in a position to make major medical decisions and because we, as a society, have decided not to pay those people well, the smarter people don't go into those fields...heck, most first responders and EMTs are volunteers

Very cool-we're going that way in a few weeks. I'll tell the kids to be on the lookout....

While I agree to some extent to what was said about boot fitters, make sure your boot fitter works with more than 1 brand of boots. I made the mistake of spending 3 hours with a fitter in Winterpark that worked only with Dalbello and, believe me, those boots hurt in the store and, while I was there, 3 people came in with painful boots wanting adjustments. I did not take the boots-just the molded insoles.... That being said...I'd look at reviews on epicski and ski review.... My experience has been, for my narrow feet, Salomon fits well. My son has bulky calves and wide feet and Nordica fits him better. Before I go to a boot fitter, I'd at least try on some brands to get an idea how they fit before you do to a boot fitter....the boot fitter molds insoles and liners and stretches the shell. He can't make a boot narrower or wider My Salomon liners never packed out (my husband lost those boots). I bought a pair of Dalbellos that packed out the second day I wore the boots (this was prior to trip to boot fitter). Dalbellos run really big but people love 'em, too-just not me:freak3: As for liner packout, I've seen people rave about the Intuition liner. If my new Salomons ever pack out, I'm going to replace the liners with those

I bought a 68 "Stang from my vet in 1991. He was the second owner and the car had 47K miles on it. I recently had it repainted to match the color the blue had faded to and the engine worked on-it had a massive fuel leak and the carburetor was crap.....it cost about $5K to have someone else work on it

Hmmm...right before I broke my ankle in UT, I was riding the lift with a guy from NY....I mentioned that I was thinking of taking some trips to resorts there and he said "Why bother? It's 10 degrees warmer here and the snow's better"...needless to say, 10 years into my snowsliding adventure, I have yet to go to an Ice Coast resort

Where is this?

I wouldn't plan on spending my entire day riding...you just acquired a new life that doesn't know you and your habits. You need to spend a few weeks letting the dog get used to you and vice versa

....the Canadian govt. picks up the bill for Canadians injured in the US. The "billed charges" are an obsolete holdover from the days of indemnity insurance and those policies paying a certain percentage of billed charges. I'm sure the hospital will agree to Medicare allowable rates with the Canadian authorities. Hopefully, the parents will have a lawyer set up a foundation with the money raised so far. As for the artery injured, it was most certainly the basilar/vertebral artery. That artery is practically connected to the cervical spine and a disruption at C1 and C2 would avulse it.... I posted A.E. Housman's poem To An Athlete Dying Young a few years ago... Here it is again..... THE time you won your town the race We chaired you through the market-place; Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. To-day, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high we bring you home, And set you at your threshold down, Townsman of a stiller town. Smart lad, to slip betimes away From fields where glory does not stay, And early though the laurel grows It withers quicker than the rose. Eyes the shady night has shut Cannot see the record cut, And silence sounds no worse than cheers After earth has stopped the ears: Now you will not swell the rout Of lads that wore their honours out, Runners whom renown outran And the name died before the man. So set, before its echoes fade, The fleet foot on the sill of shade, And hold to the low lintel up The still-defended challenge-cup. And round that early-laurelled head Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead, And find unwithered on its curls The garland briefer than a girl's.