It's nice that we have some conversations going

Hey Hips -
The Greenback is the sought-after currency - no matter what! There was a time in my banking career, (Mid-70s), when the Canadian dollar was "pegged" to the gold standard, that our dollar was worth about $1.10 US Didn't matter - money changers didn't want the Canadian dollar. They wanted US - despite the fact it was worth 10% less. Then our stupid government "un-pegged" our dollar and let it trade on the world market..................FLOP!

That WAS a left turn......wasn't it?

I used to get those 20 something wiz kids in my specialty climbing shop years ago. They just got the job at Nike or Reebok and they were there to tell me which direction the outdoor market was currently headed and how THEY could help us see the light and get with their program. They had absolutely NO experiance in climbing or backcountry sking , but they somehow had a sense for the market that had eluded us for 25 years of business. ...........NOT !!!!!!!!!

Long story short.........what i was asking them to make was all the rage two years later ( classic looking gear with modern refinements.) , while what they were selling at the time was anything but a hit. But....what the hell did i know.....i was a virtual dinosaur to those kids.

Beck

It is interesting how some feel about different currencies. Last time in PV I bought 9000 pesos at over 15/$ Now it is trading at under 13/$ so a nice profit on our next visit.
Odd how the $ drops now and the market goes up.

Both of MisT's kids are rock climbers. Don't know what they use, have never seen them climb. They don't do much locally.

JJ -
Wife of my best friend has been VP of Marketing for a number of large retail corporations including, currently, Staples, (Office Depot in the US, I think). Anyway, Lori's description of MBAs is priceless. "They're like PCs. They do everything quickly, efficiently and correctly. But, the moment you stop telling them what you want done, they stop and go into Stand-by mode."
My personal experience as a Project Manager is that, when Murphy's Law comes into play and the "stuff" goes pear-shaped, if they can't make the situation fit into one of the business models they studied at Harvard, York, NYU, where ever, they're completely lost.
Don't get me wrong - these are bright people. They wouldn't have those initials after their names if they weren't bright, dedicated and very resilient. The program to earn an MBA is BRUTAL - in spades. For me, I think the program is flawed. I liken it to giving a person a book on how to fly a Boeing 747. They can study the book and very likely fly the aircraft - as long as everything goes according the to the instructions in the book. But - what happens when you're in your take-off roll and the #2 engine kacks just as you rotate? The 20-year pilot knows exactly what to do. The book-schooled newbie makes a really big hole in the ground with a 200 ton airplane 1,000yds past the runway 'cuz he has no clue how to react to the power imbalance and partial loss of thrust.
JMHO
Tele

Can't imagine rock climbing, Hips. I get hinkey if I have to go up a stepladder past the mid-point.
Seriously - I really don't have a big problem with stepladders and I can even go up an extension ladder, so long as I have something I can hold onto, like a downspout or window ledge. But having to step over the ladder onto the roof or something like that - NOPE! It's the one fear I have to admit since it's the one fear I've never been able to conquer. Have managed to get by other fears but, that one - no way - it's ingrained. And that's ironic since I LOVE to fly - and you're 35,000+ ft up - without a net.
Tele

Same here, don't like it up high. Should have seen me at the Grand Canyon a couple years ago, no rail, I'm not going close.
We have both Staples and Office Depot here plus Office Max...at least for a while longer

I climbed up there in your neck of the woods in the early 80's with friend who i went to highschool with back east. We climbed fairly high on Ranier , but got stormed off. Really tired after that one. After that we went out west and climbed some nice rock climbs near Index , etc. We were based in Seattle. I had a great time.

I was always comfortable climbing things. As a kid , i climbed bluestone cliffs near the lake where i grew up. I would climb giant white pines all the way to the top until the thing started to sway. I would climb stone chimneys on vacation homes and then have to find a way off the roof

I soloed ( Climbing with no gear , by myself , with just my climbing shoes and a chalkbag.) easier and moderate climbs throughout my climbing "career." I soloed things like the Crestone Needle in the Sangre de Christos.........The Bastille Crack in Eldorado Canyon near Boulder (where i learned to climb) and countless other climbs in Colorado including the First and Third Flatirons very near Boulder. Those are the rocks you see when The Colorado Buffalos play football on television.

The intense concentration and sense of freedom you feel when moving over the stone with nothing but air between your shoes and the ground is unlike any other feeling in climbing. A fall is death ............................i don't do that anymore.

I do a little light bouldering these days and i have some plans to do an easier route or two this summer. I'm not in shape for any "real" climbing............6' and 182 lbs.......i'm much too heavy and my strength to bodyweight ratio is not where it should be to climb rock. Golf is much safer .......although just as hard in it's own way.