Yellow Jacket

$80.00 and change for beer and a bottle of wine at Green's on Ponce in Atlanta

Gerd, How do you make your fish broth? Also, a translation note for Americans: What he called celery is also known as celeriac. You want the root vegetable not the green stalks.

It's me for the ski season. I used the pencil drawing special effect from an old photo CD. The picture is of me on the chairlift at Vail, CO.

I spent $39 and change for an ~8ft Leyland Cypress Christmas Tree at the cut-your-own tree farm.

The pic says it all

I do not think that most people should be fearful of starting new threads. Even if you miss a related topic in your search, as long as you had something interesting to say, the attitude from the mods is "please discuss that over here" and the response should be "ok no problem". It is not a personal attack or insult to be asked to continue the discussion in the appropriate place. As long as it is an isolated incident, there is nothing to be worried about. Now if a person posts an unpunctuated collection of poorly spelled words vaguely resembling a sentence fragment (for the third time today)...well all bets are off

Here's my Spring/summer version for this year...soon to change to something fall/winterish.

Here is a link to an interview with somone from Landry's at the Boardwalk. Lots of damage--no decent shots of the coaster. http://www.khou.com/video/news-index.html?nvid=282748

I would think that there would be a significant chance of people losing their footing if the inverted elements have as much hang time as zero-g rolls should have. Same for the stand-up water coaster idea floated earlier...having people with questionable footwear choices standing up on a moving, wet surface is not a good idea. If the restraints touch your crotch, you either have an unusually long torso or you are doing it wrong--like most people who ride these things sitting down. Stand-up coasters tend to be capacity nightmares because the sheeple are either too stupid to figure out that you actually need to stand up on a stand-up coaster or they are goofing-off/not-paying-attention and the restraints get locked before they are in a proper riding stance. Couple that with the fact that some people have issues with leg pain and you have a coaster that isn't worth the headache for the park.

For full scale parks I would lean towards Rampage/Alabama Adventures over Kentucky Rumbler/Beech Bend (Spinning Mouse beats Boomerang). How about Dania Beach Hurricane at Boomers? There was nothing there that appealed to me beside the coaster.

I know from experience that days 15-21 work quite well in that sequence. I did that as part of a trip in July 2005. The drive around/through New York to SFGadv might be challenging depending on your timing. On a week day, you could easily double up SFKK and Holiday World if you don't plan to do the waterparks at either location (you gain an hour with the time change which essentially covers the drive time). Closer to your trip, be sure to check for major road construction that may impact your route. Do you have experience pitching your tent in the dark?...in the rain?...in the dark and the rain?...when you are tired? Can you sleep in a tent at that time of year? I know July (when I normally do coaster trips) is way too hot for me to camp and June probably would be as well. YMMV You need to sleep well to keep up that schedule. My traveling partners hate it when I sleep while I drive Remember that many campgrounds frequently close the gates at ~10pm or so. Whether you choose motels or camping get reservations. Nothing is worse than driving from say Front Royal, VA all the way to Roanoke at 2am looking for a room and feeling lucky to get the last spot at the "it's not much, but it's a room" motel; unless it's driving from Cleveland to Buffalo during the same time frame when there is nothing but Polka music on the radio and getting "the last room from here to Syracuse"...not that I would know from personal experience or anything like that I say go for it while you are still young and obligation free.

I will be doing all the chores around the house on the 4th to get ready for leaving on vacation on Sunday the 6th. One week of coasters and the second week at the International Juggler's Festival in Lexington, KY. Woo Hoo! I got my fireworks fix last Saturday as my town always does "Summerfest" the Saturday before the 4th to allow people to celebrate once there and then go to one of the other Atlanta area celebrations on the 4th itself.

Band Name: Days of Speed Album: Rest of Your Life Cover:

That would be the American Robin. His photo appears to be a male--the female would be a bit paler about the head. It is one of the most widespread birds in North America http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Robin.html

I think some people's problems with vegetarians is due to attribution error. They do not notice all of the "normal" vegetarians out there and only take note of the extremists. Any random group of people is likely to have a few jerks in it; but when they are specifically linking themselves to a certain group, the whole groups reputation gets tarnished by their bad behavior. I had a friend, almost family member, who identified herself as a vegetarian--even though she ate fish, just not red meat or chicken. She caused a spectacle when her husband's employer was having a banquet. They published the menu choices as London Broil, some sort of chicken, or a steamed veggie plate. My friend threw a hissy fit demanding that they provide some salmon (they didn't). I'm sure, in addition to the embarrassment she caused her husband, she left several of the organizers of that meal with a bad taste in their mouth concerning "vegetarians". My nephew was a vegetarian of convenience for a while the last couple of years (my turkey last Thanksgiving caused him to return to the dark side). I think he went veggie either because there was a cute girl in the PETA club at school or just for the fun of being anti-establishment. I used to rag on him a little by asking if he was still a vegetable....because you are what you eat, right? --ATT Since no one else has, I have to include this old line: I respect people who are vegetarians, not because they love animals, but because they hate plants.

I ski. I typically get out for two weeks per year. This year I did Snowmass/Aspen, CO in mid Feb and Beaver Creek, CO in early Mar. I haven't gotten bored on skis so have never felt compelled to take up boarding and spend half my vacation on the bunny slopes. I am an advanced skiier who skis expert terrain poorly. My favorite runs are glades. The visibility is better, the snow is better, and I can see the line through the bumps better than on an open mogul run. My favorite area for a ski vacation is Aspen (great town and four mountains to choose from)with Whistler, BC a close second (I have been very lucky with the weather in Whistler--no rain). For pure skiing Alta and Snowbird are hard to beat. I learned to ski in Breckenridge, CO, have been all over the western U.S. and Canada, and spent one week in Champery, Switzerland. The major resorts that I haven't been to yet--and most want to visit include: Taos, NM; Mammoth, CA; Big Sky, MO and some of the smaller BC resorts like Fernie and Red Mtn Snowsports are great fun; but they are not cheap. If you thought amusement park prices are high, try $87 walk-up lift ticket prices and $30/day ski rentals at Vail or Aspen. Highland Bowl--One of the steepest (over a sustained distance) things I have skiied. We came down on the right side between the trees. The right center of the bowl had avalanched a few days earlier and we did not want to hike all the way to the top. Me at lunch time on a powder day at Snowmass.

I would chime in with the others about KI. Once they took the head bashers off Flight of Fear, nothing in the park, other than SOB, "actively" sucks. It is a more insidious passive suckage that leaves you unfulfilled without knowing exactly why. I would get a room as close to HW as you can. ERT on Voyage can be quite exhausting.

icanhascheezburger.com Funny/cute photos (mostly cats) with humorous captions

USA (39-42 states depending on how I count)* Canada (BC, AB, ON, QC) Panama Honduras Switzerland France * I have only been to Texas airports; although I have probably spent more time there than I did driving across Rhode Island on I-95 or Arkansas on I-55 (I haven't experienced anything truly unique in any of those states; but I have been there).

I have only been to WDW. The first few times with the parents--we could drive down from Atlanta and camp-- and the last time we were in Orlando for work and stopped by EPCOT for a day. The first time we went, the building for Space Mountain was complete but the ride wasn't open yet. The second time we went, the Space Ship Earth globe was complete but EPCOT wasn't open. The last time at EPCOT, Test Track was mostly built but it wasn't open. I've only been to California a few times for skiing in the Tahoe area and once when we drove down from Vegas for a weekend on Catalina Island back in 1998 (the year before I started planning coaster trips; otherwise I would've made time for at least one of the SoCal parks).

Joe...stock up on the Monster. I just drank the last of my 2006 a couple of weeks ago, and although not quite as good as fresh, it still held up quite nicely.

The cover story in the latest Atlanta Business Chronicle is about a proposed resort called Mount Pegasus to be built near Lake Lanier north of Atlanta off Ga 400 at Ga 53. Its ski dome would be 4 times the size of Ski Dubai. If approved, the earliest opening would be 2009 or 2010. It seems like a bit of a long shot because they will need special tax breaks and bonds for road improvements; but we can keep our fingers crossed. http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2007/09/03/story1.html

I am sorry to hear of your loss. It will hurt for quite a while and random things will make you remember your pet and bring back the pain; but it will subside. There may be a temptation to think that you don't want to go through the pain again and refrain from getting another pet. Do not fall for this, as the joys of having a pet far outweigh the pain of the loss. The new pet will never "replace" the lost one but it will fill that role in your life. --Yellow Jacket--current cat and turtle caretaker, 42 yrs old and have no memory of ever not having a pet. Over the years my family has had over 15 cats, 3 dogs, 3 mice, gerbil, guinea pig, hamster, lab rat, 2 canaries, 3 breeding pairs of finches, 2 lizards, countless fish etc.

A weekend challenge: Dinner came out nicely. Smoked hot wings basted with Bourbon, soy, and homemade cayenne pepper sauce--and then finished with the habanero honey glaze; a nice mixed green salad with balsamic vinagrette; oven roasted rosemary garlic potatoes; grilled bread; and a Yuengling Black and Tan to wash it down. Me! I get to drink them both on a regular basis. I have the Sweetwater nearly every Thursday when we go out for pizza after Juggling Club and I keep a regular supply of Terrapin in the beer fridge too. OK back to the grueling task at hand...as the beers warmed up, the malt in the 420 started showing up and it got much more balanced than the initial impression. The rye flavor that gives the Rye Pale Ale its interesting backbone (which may be an aquired taste for some--but I like it) also stayed prominent. They are both mighty fine pale ales and the clear winner is... Time to baste the chicken The head dissipated after a few sips. The initial impression of the 420 was all citrusy hops while the Rye Pale Ale definately had a bit more character in the backbone. It's time for a showdown [cue western music..wah wah waaaah!..whip crack and whistling] between The Sweetwater 420 and Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale. They look very similar with the 420 having a slightly thicker head. I decided why not two? Saturday evening found me firing up the grill; and since it's against the law to do that without having a beverage in hand... Friday night dinner had me enjoying a Rye Pale Ale with dinner--Habanero honey glazed chicken strips, summer veggie medley over wild rice mix and some hearty whole grain bread. It got me to thinking...which of the Atlanta brewed pale ales is the best?

It is a raised seam metal roof weathered to look old and rusty. You can sort of see it behind and to the right of the sign in this picture.