FlyingJ

That's where I met her in person too. One cool chica. Killing threads since 2004.

Haven't tried peanut butter on brownies, but haven't found many foods that peanut butter can't make better! Killing threads since 2004.

I say it to people all the time that get on my case about putting peanut butter on a hot dog! For all of you that just snickered...don't knock it till you've tried it! Killing threads since 2004.

I witnessed my new roommate dipping an Oreo in a jar of peanut butter and eating it. I couldn't believe he was doing it and told him how gross I thought it was. Of course, as soon as he wasn't around I tried it and HOLY CRAP!!! it's a tasty combo. Not gonna help anyone out in the how can I stop eating Oreos department, but if you're gonna go, go big! Killing threads since 2004.

It sure is! I lived in "FLORENCE Y'ALL" for a year while in college at Univ. of Cincinnati. Killing threads since 2004.

Orange! And orange w/ black as a combo. Killing threads since 2004.

Big Bone Lick - I presume you are on I75S through Kentucky? Used to get a pretty big kick out of that every time I drove between Cincinnati and Atlanta during college. Killing threads since 2004.

Not quite, however... This past week I was working in the Davis Mountains in West Texas. My breakfast of piles of bacon on piles of biscuits decided it was done hanging on a couple hours after we started working so I had to go find a place to do my thing. We were working on a slope of about 45 degrees, so balancing was a bit of an issue. I found what I thought was a sturdy tree and held onto a branch for balance and began to do my thing. All was going well until... SNAP! ...the damn branch breaks and I go tumbling ass over tea kettle (I really don't know what that means) about 15 feet down the freakin' hill with my pants around my ankles. I only wish I had it on video. Probably not one I'd share, but I'd certainly get a good laugh out of seeing it. Killing threads since 2004.

My favorite car ever! I had an '89 Volvo 240 that I sold with just over 315,000 on it. I put about 3/4 of those miles on it while in college in Cincinnati making several trips a month to Atlanta and New York City. Only sold it because I moved to NYC after college. It was a champ until I moved there, but it didn't hold up well only being driven a few times a month. My main repair on that thing was a computer replacement. That one hurt, but everything else was just routine wear and tear. Killing threads since 2004.

I just saw it last night too. Lauged my ass off. Now I wish I had gone to see it in the theater. Killing threads since 2004.

You know, it never dawned on me how ironic that is. Killing threads since 2004.

Right - don't go in and plead not guilty if you just want alternate means for paying for your error. Plead No Contest and then ask about what might be possible. Big difference between trying to get out of it, and admitting your error and looking for alternative forms of settlement. Community service is always an option, and it doesn't necessarily have to be picking up trash on the highway. While working in state parks in Florida we had folks call up and come in all the time to do community service hours. One guy that was a mechanic came in an afternoon or two per week and did upkeep on park equipment to pay off his hours. When we would get someone that seemed like a pretty good person I would even take them out with me to do trail maintenence or water monitoring, the latter of which required spending the whole day canoeing out on the lake. The last ticket I got I was forced to postpone the court date twice because I was deployed with Red Cross for a couple months following a hurricane. I explained why I had to postpone twice and when I asked about community service hours the judge suggested that we just call it even and let me off the hook. Make sure to investigate your options! jason. Edit to add: If you do go the park route, make sure you keep in mind that it's extra work for the park staff to deal with your lousy ass, and that it's them making the opportunity available to you. More than a couple people that gave me attitude ended up knee deep in shit helping to fix broken septic lines in the campground instead of spending the day canoeing on the lake. Killing threads since 2004.

Sometimes it's worth it. My very first ticket - 17 years old, Driving on I-75N out of midtown Atlanta I got a ticket for going 95 in a 55, with a note on the ticket that I was paced over 5 miles at a top speed of 102. Mom's Buick speedometer only went to 80, how was I supposed to know! I still wish I had asked the cop why he let me drive for that long before flashing the lights. Anyway, obviously my license was yanked until I went to my required court date. At court I guess the judge was just having a good day, but she gave me defensive driving in return for erasing the ticket completely. When I took the defensive driving course I made a copy of the certificate that I gave to the court and sent it to my insurance and they lowered my rate approximately the same amount as the class cost me. Not a bad deal if you ask me. Killing threads since 2004.

Speaking of starting fires...we use flare guns all the time in prescribed fire and wildfire fighting. Most often it is the larger gun type but I know a handful of guys that carry this smaller version. Obviously it wasn't designed specifically for starting fires, but it does a darn good job! Oddly enough, though I've probably fired upwards of a thousand or so rounds I've never seen one explode in the air - we always fire them with a trajectory so that they explode on or very near the ground. Killing threads since 2004.

Well, I'm afraid you might have to give one up to your son. I'm pretty sure they are a fruit. Killing threads since 2004.

Don't know anything about the past, but you've got my vote for the future. I'm just up the road in Victoria. Killing threads since 2004.

You know, I like wasabi, so I've always wondered why I don't like the wasabi peas. Reading your post just made me realize it is probably because I feel like wasabi peas are just some plan my mama devised to get me to eat my peas! Ain't gonna' happen! Funny side note about peas - my brothers and I suffered through eating peas for years, until at one meal one of them mentioned that peas look like little cannonballs, and demonstrated how you could fire them from your mouth. That was the last meal that my mom ever fixed peas. Killing threads since 2004.

Hopefully you can make it happen! If you do go, do some research about the primary features of the parks you are going to and when their peak times are. On a Saturday afternoon in Yellowstone you can feel like you are in the middle of Disney World, but hit some of those high use areas at sunrise on a Tuesday and you could have the place to yourself. Whatever you do, take your time and take in everything around you. I've found I get a lot more out of trips like this if I focus my energy on getting as much as I can out of a few destinations vs. just scratching the surface of a whole bunch. Have fun!

hehe...it was pretty funny. It kinda left in a hurry, then came back and tried again and buggered off again, and then a third time. It must have liked the taste, but just couldn't handle the heat! Oddly enough, kind of like me. I tried them frequently thinking they would become an aquired taste, but it never happened. I like hot stuff, but they never did the trick for me. We used to feed them to our neighbor's cat that would pee in the hallway of the building too. The cat was dumb enough to take them from us the first few times, but it put two and two together eventually. Killing threads since 2004.

Wow, haven't thought about those things in a while. Never been a big fan, but a former roommate used to eat them non-stop. If he was on the couch, he had a bag of wasabi peas, typically just about empty, in his hands. We had a substantial number of mice in our apartment in NYC, to the point that on occasion one of the little buggers would run across the floor in front of us and we'd decide it wasn't worth it to try and get "that one." We knew one was around one day and tossed some wasabi peas on the floor near where it entered the room and got a pretty good laugh when we saw it come out and take a bite. Hot stuff! Killing threads since 2004.

The guy with no arms is the one that's screwed (literally...hehe). Now that he won't be able to give a reach around any longer, looks like he's on "all-time catcher" status. Killing threads since 2004.

>>>I also had the coolest shooting gallery... I had one of those too - weren't they great! And what about key cars? Killing threads since 2004.

Definitely consider your options for layering. My bag of choice is a 40 degree that I use with a fleece sleepsack when necessary. Those two together pack down smaller than any of my colder rated bags, and it gives me the wider comfort range since I can choose at the time to use one or both. If you go with a sleepsack, I 2nd the suggestion of picking up some fleece and making your own. I've had Kelty and REI brands in the past and they were both much more bulky than what I could make on my own. The store bought sacks are one size fits all, so unless you happen to be at the top end of that "one size" you can probably cut out a good chunk of fabric by making one to fit your size. Rather than bulking it up with a zipper, etc. I just sewed a few small pieces of velcro along the open edge to help keep it closed when I use it alone without a sleeping bag. You said you are buying it for your wife. Not sure if it is a gift, etc., but if you can check out an REI scratch and dent sale. Two of my favorite sleeping bags I've owned were purchased for less than $20. One of them had a missing zipper pull but was otherwise fine, and the second one was returned because "the owner stated the mummy bag made them feel uncomfortable." Both were high quality bags. Plus, if it turns out you don't like it, you didn't spend much! Though I guess if you buy at REI you could always return it anyway - help fuel the good bargains at the next scratch and dent! Killing threads since 2004.

The pics posted of the wildfire in Austrailia made me think about some pretty amazing fire intensity I witnessed the other day. My wildland fire crew does primarily prescribed fire during this time of year and a couple days ago we saw some pretty intense fire created weather. Most people are aware that fire requires oxygen to burn. When a fire gets big enough it can actually create its own weather patterns in the process of sucking up every bit of oxygen it can get to. The videos linked below are from a prescribed burn a couple days ago in southeast Texas. Our winds died completely, so in order to keep the fire moving we fired off all four sides of the unit at once and then ignited the interior using flares. Once the fire got good and hot in the center it began creating its own wind and pulled the fire in from the lines, eventually resulting in some pretty intense fire whirls. When you look at the video, keep in mind that a couple hundred yards away, out of the area effected by the fire, the winds were completely dead, so all of the wind you see is being created by the fire in the center. The third link is to a fire whirl we saw after pulling out of the unit and taking a break while waiting for the national weather service to give us a new spot weather forcast. The videos don't show big massive fire or 50 foot flames. What you are seeing is the weather created on site by the fire further into the unit. Close up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_pVyZ7cpIw Close up, continued http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f48CaWQKlnk From staging http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1EcifWRZpU jason. Killing threads since 2004.

Pretty amazing, isn't it. I hope all goes well for you and your neighbors. I know a number of folks from the US that were dispatched down to Austrailia for the fire season and I've heard about some pretty intense fire activity. Activity is starting to pick up in the southeast US and my crew goes on the availability list to get on some fires in the near future. It's always a tough line between hoping the fire season is light for the sake of the homeowners, etc., and hoping for an active season for me. It sure does make for more fun (and more overtime!!!) when things are really cookin'. jason. Killing threads since 2004.