Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Let's Do Coffee, We'll Talk

I've noticed that many of the new folks on here really aren't putting where they are from, what they do, their hobbies and the like. Come on, let's get to know one another. "Let's do some coffee, we'll talk, coffee talk. I'm all feklempt, talk among yourselves....."
Paul

Hobby listing: successful.

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Brian

hehehe.. hmm.. I don't think I have uploading custom avitars turned on. If you REALLY want one, I can turn them on, I guess.

Nice SNL reference Paul.. and unless we can claim we saw 'em in re-runs, we're dating ourselves (LOL) I remember seeing those first run. "Talk among yourselves.. I'll give you a topic.. "

V.

Thanks for the offer V., but I've never had a custom avatar before -- wouldn't know how to work it. The building block avatar has two of my initials in it already! That's enough for me -- I'm a simple man.

As for "Coffee Talk": the original host was named Paul... Baldwin? Is that our Paul? (Linda Richmond came later -- she was the "buttah" lady).

Brian Cotner, M.D.

p.s. - Script for the first "Coffee Talk" with Linda Richmond:
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/91/91ccoffeetalk.phtml

Yes Vinny, I can date myself too. As you know Nancy and I are from "Da Bronx". If you really get her going she can really sound the part, and I'm the NJB (Nice Jewish Boy) of the family.

Brian, a thousand points for the link. "That was like most excellent Garth". Anyway, I just thought that us users should just shoot the breeze and get to know one another since we are always swapping ideas and advice around, and we share this common thing called AC.

Yes my name is Paul and I really am a Level 3 USA Hockey Official in my spare time nights and weekends. I love Jeeping and old "Mopars". My family and I will be doing some camping and light wheeling with the Mid-Atlantic Full Size jeep club in a few weekends. I Just showed my sleeper 4 door "Wanda" named after Jamie Lee Curtis's character in A Fish Named Wanda. But no she is not a Baracuda as one might first suspect, but instead she is a 318 small block, Ralley Suspensioned, Kelsey Hayse power disc braked, AC'ed (of course) with 904 Auto, sleeper 4 door sedan Dodge Dart. Basically all original except for some light body work and a repaint in modern clearcoat back in 1991. Nice show my local Mopar club runs, Mopar Madness here is Liverpool. We donate the door receipts to the local burn center as a good deed and to maintain our non profit status.

Anyway, talk among yourselves....
Paul

As they say on many Boards.... "BUMP".
I've just noticed we have a number of new users signing on, a good thing and that they seem to be hanging out watching from the sidelines and not getting on here. Plus many of them are not putting any hobbies or interests or even occupations on.

There recently was an editorial in a Jeep mag I read call Jrations and it spoke to all the new Jeep owners and how many of them watch from the sidelines and live vicariously thru reading the Jeep mags. But that many don't get involved and part of that might be intimidation with all the guys with their big rigs and tough equipment and feeling like they don't even know where to begin. This editorial ended with that it is up to all of us regular Jeepers to help bring these folks into the fold and turn them on to whole "Jeep Thing" and help them understand and more importantly make them feel comfortable so they will give it a whirl.

And so I was sort of thinking that this board might be having the same effect here. Lots of registered users but not a lot of people getting in here. Perhaps all the experienced users who know so much and give great advice might be like Jeeps with 6 inch lifts with 35 inch tires and tough winch bumpers; it's sort of intimidating and so kind of keeping people out instead of getting them in.

So as I did early this year, I posted a bit about my "real" self, the after "the office" self to lead by example. Many of us check this board a few times a day and write back and forth. We all share medicine, caring, and AC in common which probably means we all share small or solo pratice in common too since we are AC users. And that we all are probably folks who to some extent march to the beat of our own or different drummers. GREAT. I just think it would be great to know one another at a different and more personal level and to try and get some of you watchers in here. It is our job to try and make this place feel more inviting and inclusive.

That way instead of it being "It's a Jeep Thing, You Wouldn't Understand" it can be; "It's a Jeep Thing, and I DO Understand". Come on, everybody into the pool....And let me tell you as a stressed out Practice Manager, there is nothing like getting some mud in your tires, camping with your kids and eating pot-luck around a campfire with a group of regular folks to help reset your head and remind you that you are human. To all you Docs and staff I highly recommend it.

Have a great night....
Paul

Be careful what you wish for... I have previously posted a few times (if only to get my post count up!) but I'm assuming that many of us "newbies" aren't so much "intimidated" as much as feeling left out of the "inner circle" of you old timers. I log in a few times a day just to see if there's anything pertinent to our practice, but really haven't gotten the "warm and fuzzies" so far. Perhaps time will heal. In the meantime, I need to get more cheese for my whine...

Well, at least you aren't intimidated.

Maybe some of us do have problems that are similar to yours, but either a)They aren't top of mind to us "at the moment" or b)Some of us don't think anyone else would be interested.

Usually (but not always) if one person has a concern someone else has that same concern (even if they don't speak up).

So "Come On Down! The Price is Right!" We are interested in the difficulties you might be experiencing that we may not be. At the very least it will widen our perspective.

See, that's why I dislike emails... My rapier wit and charming cynacism is so frequently lost in the translation. I interpreted Paul's last post as an invitation for those less frequent posters to enter amusing anecdotes about their lives away from AC as a way to get better acquainted. By the way, I live in "Superior" Calif, or that 300 miles or so scenic area ABOVE SF and usually thought of as part of Oregon(who doesn't want us either). But we are blessedly close to mountains, lakes, rivers and the amazing north coast. Though I don't travel as much lately due to lack of disposable income that comes from working in a new practice, I love to go to Mendocino when the sea beckons. So much for now, I'm going on like Paul...

But that's why I'm saying we should all just shoot the breeze about "non" AC and Medical stuff. Remember all the talk about the donkeys??? That was great stuff. We need to just be people to one another. The hobbies and interests and the like. I was raised in NYC so even though we live up here now, I'm still a die hard NY Rangers fan, a kid from the Bronx. Yankees and Giants all the way. It's also why some of us were talking about having regional "meets". Folks in the Northeast, Midwest and other regions just get together and have have some coffee or dinner together, to both talk about EMR's, AC and this frustrating business called Medicine.

But to me this all seems so natural because this is what car guys and families do all the time. We love to get together at an ice cream stand or hot dog place, raise the hoods, and share the whole thing. Or my Jeep clubs, we meet at a trailhead or an off-road park, get out there and share the whole experience together and then sit around a campfire that night swapping stories and tech ideas. How'd you swap that axle out or where did you find those "sliders"? "Let me tell you about the nightmare I had at the machine shop with my diff...." That was great one. But would you understand? It's just so get yourself back to center. I've been doing it most of my adult life between Hockey, Mopars and Jeeps. And I haven't Jeeped until this summer for just about 10 years. Man did I miss it. Never again, I'm back. And it's not just the Jeeps, it's the whole community, people thing. That's what it's all about.

In some of our darkest hours last winter and early spring there were a few folks who were just "there" for me and Nancy. And you folks know who you are, It meant a lot to us. Thanks.

We here in AC land need to be a community, heck we are one already. I'm just trying to get folks to come on down. Who cares if you know how to network your printers or not. You still fight the same good fight that we all do every day.... One day you'll get your lift kit and big tires if you want to. Hey, I've only got what we call a "Budget Boost" myself when it comes to AC. We're just running a little Windows XP Pro peer to peer (P2P) network. I'm no Bert or Vinny by any means.

But I guess that this is something else that my car stuff has taught me so again it just seems so natural. If you've got a new something to maintain or run, seek out a club. Those guys will have lots of leads on parts, creative fixes and solutions, tech articles and all that good stuff. I probably know my way around an old Mopar small block a whole lot better than any database. But that is exactly why I am here. To learn about all this stuff so we can get good use out of this tool and help my Wife and our office have a good experience with AC. I kind of see myself as a good example. I am the "Joe Average", just smart enough to be really dangerous user. I'm the type of user that such things have to be designed for, because if not then you've missed the mark. It's got to work for Joe Average or Joe Normal or it will certainly fail. Most support staff and even the docs themselves are not Bert, Vinny or Jon. So things have to work for us average folks.

But anyway, I just thought that we should try and break down some social barriers and walls and just be "folks" with one another. Is that really so weird to everyone else? Perhaps that is why I really do need to go Jeepin' more often.... Maybe you all do too...

Have a Good Night,
Paul

Donna,
We really love your wit and you understood me just fine....
Paul

OK, I'll jump in and, rather than whine about my lack of Medicare reimbursements for almost 5 weeks, I'll reveal my inner self. I live on a 300 acre farm in the rolling hills of southern Indiana with my husband. He farms full time and raises beef cattle. My sister (who chucked her job of 30 years and moved to an old house on the back of the farm) and I raise horses, donkeys and mules. Many of my patients lovingly (I think) call me that JackAss Doctor. She and I put up our own hay, build fences, bushhog,trail ride when we can and love to camp. We have a neat spot on the farm at the base of a bluff which overlooks a small river where every year we set up a tent city. We spend every available weekend camping there. We read mystery novels by the campfire, drink amaretta coffee and ponder what our next campfire meal will be. My office staff and their husbands frequently join us and on those occasions, we drink some beer and play some Texas Hold Em.
My other favorite past time would be traveling (which seems to be harder and harder to do because of the pressures of maintaining a cash flow in a solo practice). A perfect vacation for me is to fly into Seattle or Vancouver or Denver or Jackson Hole, rent a 4X4, hit the nearest camping store for a cheapy tent and head for the mountains. Even better would be to take a bush plane to the costal mountains of British Columbia and then horse pack into the mountains...no cell phone, TV, computers (or snakes!!)..and watch the Dall sheep, elk and bears. I honestly think the worst part about getting older is that it becomes increasingly clear that you have so little time left to see so much beauty and to realize your aging body simply will not accomodate your youthful mind.
Anyway, I am so fortunate to have seen and done the things I have. I also feel fortunate that I at least got a small taste of medicine "back in the day".
And I will have to fess up and admit that I saw the original episodes of SNL

Thanks Paul!! I actually felt a little warm and fuzzy (course it could be a hot flash, but I prefer to think positively!). You're a good soul.

See all that donkey stuff was great. Can we come in our Jeep and meet you at base camp next summer? Although you are getting beat-up today as a modern doc at least you had a chance to do it back then. You sound like you grabbed yourself a little bit of "heaven" there. It sort of is what I was hoping Nancy and I could have done for ourselves and our kids with her being a doc and all. But not anymore... Today we can't figure out how to fix our roof or fence, replace our leaky old windows or what to do about the older of the two 182K mile old Jeep that is starting to rust from the Great Lakes Salt. Does anybody remember taking an oath of poverty to be a PCP??? I sure don't. There's got to be a better way....

I love your idea of the perfect vaction too. Count me and mine "in" nest time. We are finally going to try and get the kids to the ocean next weekend. We live in-land now and miss that salt air sometimes. My Jeep club is having a Surf Fishing get together, very little Jeeping but let's get our lines wet, catch a few stripers or blues, eat well and camp out. Just simple Lean-To camping at a near by state park in southern NJ. What did Curly say? "You city slickers come up here with knots in your rope..."

We need to get our poor kids out more often too. They deserve better than mom or dad working late almost every night while the other one is home with them alone trying to do all the every day stuff with them. Homework, dishes and clothes, dinner and all the rest. By this time in my life (our kids are almost 7 and 9) I had seen the Museum of Natural History over a dozen times, and my guys haven't even seen it once. Only because my mom, a retired school teacher is treating us to it and picking up the entire freight are we finally taking them to see Disney World this winter. My wife is an f'ing doctor, we both work our butts off around here and my mom has to help us buy a used car or our only real full blown family vaction.

But anyway, great stuff there. I can't wait to see base camp. Hey Vinny on my other Jeep boards that I get on, the folks there can share photos and stuff too. Is there a way we can post pictures here??? It's great for both tech and personal stuff. A picture says a thousand words ya know. Nothing like a photo of a part or a port.

Where exactly are you anyway? I may actually be trying to buy that nest nice used Jeep from a guy in your state. Wouldn't that be funny?

Have a Great Night...
Paul

Paul,

Thanks for reviving this post. But, I must say, I have a Jeep and don't understand. I guess I am happier sitting around discussing why my friend uses RAID10 while I use RAID5 and if ISA 4.0 is more secure than a Cisco PIX 501-10.

One reason users stay off here is because they want to get home at a decent hour instead of reading every single post like I do. Plus, not everyone "sits on the sidelines." Some may not even know it's here. I have noticed a dramatic decrease in posts though over the past two weeks.

Donna . Wow, I am sad to hear your comments. For me anyway, this is about as warm and fuzzy a message board as I have seen. I hope I didn't have anything to do with it in my post on the fix to the double login and ghosts, etc. You had five posts there . You were very witty in that one. We all want you to post Donna.

OK, I may as well post it here so as not to come across as too self-centered. But, this post should put me over 490. So, I am about to pass the big 500. Are Roy, Brian, Wendell, Barbara, Leslie, Wayne, Paul, Vinny or Donna going to take me out to celebrate? Feel free to give me CHITT for bringing it up. <G>

But, seriosly, I wrote about three years ago that it would be nice if more users put their email addresses and names in their profile. The response was that people don't want spam or to be bothered. I guess with 40 to 50 spams per day, I welcome comments from any AC user. It's ironic, though, that I went 490 posts before realizing it would be good to give my specialty and location in my signature. I just posted in MDNG in response to Jon's article, and you have to give your email address there.

Bert,
I already feel free to give you tons of CHITT. And so does the federal government by the way..... But I guess we are all on "Bert Watch" now as you approach the big 500!!! Ya know there is a great Jeep club up your way in Maine and they do trail restoration and clean-up runs too, "tread lightly" my friend. So you never did tell me, what year and line of Grand Cherokee do you own? And the heck with you 4.0 software, it's the 4.0 in-line 6 under your hood that matters most. Great motor, shame they discontinued it. It was a very said day indeed. Anyway, we should get you hooked up with those good old boys, get you out of that office now and again, put some mud in your tires, so you can really see the great state of Maine as it was meant to be seen.

But since you memtioned it, I think I half understand what RAID 5 is, but only recently have I seen RAID 10 start popping up. So for us less informed, could you please give a brief disertation on the two. And I think even most of the clods like myself already know that RAID 1 is an exact Mirror of the original drive. Cost more space but seems pretty fool proof to me. Thanks much

Was that enough CHITT for one night????

Paul

RAID or Redundant Array of Independent Drives is probably a little too complex to go into here. Basically, there are a number of RAIDs which generally lead to differing effects of fault tolerance and read or write perfomance. RAIDs combine two or more hard drives as one logical drive and are almost always on a server.

As you stated, RAID1 is a simple mirror of two hard drives so that all data written to one hard drive is instantly copied to the other. If a hard drive fails, you "break" the mirror, put in a new hard drive and it quickly copies the other.

RAID5 requires at least three drives and uses data striping to spread data across the logical drive. If a drive fails, it can use the parity it established to rebuild the array when a new drive is added.

RAID 1 + O is This is two or more series of mirrors which are then striped together. It is often referred to as RAID10. (A stripe of mirrors)

RAID 0 + 1 is the opposite: Two or more series of striped drives which are mirrored. (A mirror of stripes)

It is often popular to combined RAIDs. Many IT people will use RAID1 for the operating system and RAID5 for the data.

Well, there you go, I got all technical.

I do need to join that Jeep club. I have a 2007 Grand Cherokee with a Hemi 5.7. That's all I know. What did you expect from a computer geek?

Thanks much for that wonderful answer. And now for your very interesting Jeep. It is both great and weak. Your 5.7 Hemi engine is one of the best modern high performance motors ever to grace production cars. Shall I get technical???

Mopar is the Part division of Chrylser corp and so many fans of the various brands of the family simply refer to themselves as Mopar fans. I personally own a '72 Plymouth Scamp that is great mechanically and looks like hell, needing a full resto one day, my pride and Joy '72 Dodge Dart and 3 Big Jeeps, not those puny Wranglers. Anyway, Mopar first designed the "Hemi Head" engines back in the late 1950's I believe on what is basically their small block platform. These were quite popular and came in many interesting configs with various intake manifolds and carb combinations. But the Big Momma of all Hemi's was the introduction in the 1960's of the Big Block, 426 Hemi.

The Hemi refers to the Head design for it is short for Hemispherical. With domed shaped head and properly routed in and out runners air can really flow and valve sizes can be increased. Furthermore, with the two valves on either side of the head one can place the spark plug in the center top of the head, combustion chamber. When combined with fairly high compression and a some what matching domed piston, one gets incredible amounts of air flow in and out of the chamber, an almost perfect flame front the radiates down in all directions leading to increased power via almost perfect and complete combustion.

There were problems in the 1970's with meeting other federal clean air standards that just couldn't be solved on older analog cars. Hemi's only really work well at a certain min. compression. but high compression has a bad side efect; Mainly NOX or oxides of Nitrogen which all you doctors should know is murder on soft tissues in the sinuses and the lungs. This is why there are now catalitic converters, yes they also break down the other stuff, but most importantly, NOX. In the early days of pollution controls, the way the first solved things on carburated cars was with "de-tuning" engines, and getting compression down.

But today with modern fuel injection combined with better tempature controls and aluminum heads we can again begin to increase compression while still controlling for nasty NOX. Your modern Hemi is an all new design, not based on any previous Mopar engine for the most part. You have two spark plugs per cylinder and most Hemi's are now even coming with the feature of turning off the fuel and spark to up to 4 of the eight cylinders to save gas and reduce emmissions when load demands are low, like cruising at steady speeds. And just as quickly with "fly by wire" throttle your Hemi can wake up and become a beast like it's forefathers if you dare to use the go peddle.

But the weak side of your Jeep is that probably because of idiots at the company's old German ownership, all the big Jeeps have been emasculated in terms of their front suspension. They wanted to market to stupid Ford Exploder owners and have now put a weak independent front suspension on the front of all the new big Jeeps. Which is a shame because on the WJ's the 2nd generation Grand Cherokees, that still had a solid axle front suspension, they borrowed tech from the off road crowd and used an innovative three link rear suspension that offers increadible amounts of travel while NOT transfering the annoying trackbar rock that most modern solid axle coil spring cars come with. Your 3rd generation grand and the Liberty (yuck) both have versions of this great rear suspension saddled with the weak independent one up front. Very strange and very sad.

Real off-roaders want two solid axles for a number of reasons. One they just can be lifted a whole lot easier. Two they actually work much better off road, and three they are always stronger. We own a 2000 WJ, 2nd generation Grand and if that car is not smooth enough for you to go get groceries in or to get grandma you must need preperation H or something. The real problem with the indi suspension besides being weak is that as a tire gets stuffed up into a fender well to trave over a rock lets say, is that it actually lowers the center of the car, your vunerable gears, our differential, back down towards the things you are trying very hard to avoid, like other rocks and tree stumps. Where as in a solid axle car, as that same wheel gets stuffed the whole axles assembly is traveling up and out of the way of other problems on the ground. Very simple. Real Jeeps have two solid axles.

So keep you Hemi for fun on the highway and at traffic lights. With the right 4WD system I bet its still a Jeep in that respect for your winter driving in Maine. Quarda Trac or Quadra Drive II? What we need to do is get you a slightly used solid axle Jeep as a 2nd car and trail toy. That is what we are doing with our old '98 that has 182K miles on it as it is now getting a bit rough to say the least. If I could only post pictures of the Christmas Jeep, Green with a red door, missing front bumper and rusting rocker panels. Now it is my go to hockey and trail toy. The first generation Grands are know as ZJ's and they are becoming quite popular to play in. You get a real Jeep with a great suspension and a few great engine choices and all the comforts of a Grand. This past summer I was wheelin' with the windows up to keep out the bugs and mud, stayin' cool as a cucumber. And did my son Adam have a blast..."Daddy we shot the hole, did you see that we really shot that hole". A hole so deep that it was almost 2-3 feet over our roof rack... The sun disappeared for a moment.

So how was that for technical??? Start searching the local paper for your first trail rig. Have a Good night....
Yawn.....

Bert: Congrats on hitting the "Big 500". I doubt I will ever make that lofty goal. But with your encouragement, I promise to add my two cents (or less due to inflation) in every once and awhile. I'm naturally mouthy... As to the celebration outing, we'll have to meet halfway, you guys are on the wrong coast!!

Paul: Wow, you guys and your jeeps. It makes one wonder if there is a little "compensating" going on here??

Maybe we should open a thread where everybody can just say "Howdy" so we know how many warm bodies are really out there. Personally, I'm a daily lurker and an infrequent poster, but I do enjoy following the adventures of Roy, Joseph, Vinny, Rainy, etc. (Live theater is so much more interesting than television) I do wish Jon would make more than an occasional cameo appearance.
PS: Again, the dreaded Double-Login!

Dave,

OK, I will bet you a lobster dinner that you are getting a double login by logging into a redirect site.

You should not get a double login, and after entering your username and password and clicking on Remember Me, you should never have to log in again. Try using this URL to make a shortcut on your desktop: (Right click on desktop -> New -> Shortcut. Enter the following URL where it says "Type the location of the item." Click next, then name your shortcut -- maybe Amazing Charts Userboard without Double Login. No, actually, just call it AC Boards or something.

http://amazingcharts.com/ub/ubbthreads.php

Hey Paul: I guess we aren't that adventurous, lol. <G>

Thanks Bert,
That URL works like a charm. Can't help you with the lobster dinner. Now, Dungeness crab...

Dave,
This is exactly why I made this thread. To hopefully get some more sideliners out and into the limelight might we say. It is an open invitiation to one and all.

Yes, I too love dinner and movie or dinner theater. I still have my IATSE union card, used to do Audio and Lights for the most part, a little props and flyrail too. So you get a free theater or movie ticket with every log-in to the AC board.

Who knows if I'm compensating for something. I've just loved cars since I was old enough to remember which is about 4 years of age. My dad had an old VW bug and a Dodge Dart and it just took off from there. Part of it was the typical boy, just like my Daddy thing when I was very young. My first Dart was a hand me down from Dad for college and work. In 1984 he gave us his '73, 225 Slant-6, manual drum braked, 4-door, Dart. We drove the wheels off of that thing and I learned a whole lot about how to fix my own cars with that old thing. One thing dad always did was he bought the original factory service manual whenever he bought a new car, and so old "Sierra Sal" came with that too. "I've got a Dodge and her name is Sal, 180 thousand miles that I've got on her now; she's a good old worker and a good old pal....." Who would have known, that one day I would be living 10 minutes from the Erie Canal.

Anyway, all you other wall flowers. Please introduce yourselves, sign-in and come on down. Most of us don't bite....

Paul

Dave,

That's my one goal in life. To make sure everyone has that URL, lol. You can ask Paul. I made him wait eight long hours before I would post it. Right Paul? Now, about that crab...? <G>

Bert,
Next summer you should rent a lobster trap in down east Maine for the "first annual east-coast AC users picnic". I just turn "Pavlovian" when I think about eating fresh lobster with the sea breeze, that smell; outside at a pinic bench, with potato salad and buttered corn on the cob on a cheap paperplate, and that slimy fingers from all the butter. I almost moved to Maine just so I could do that as often as I wanted. Man I miss the ocean. But we are going to the shore with the Jeep club this weekend. Stripers, blues the family and a Jeep, and good folks to hang with. What more could you ask for???

We have just got to get together as a gang sometime soon....Come on folks how and where should we do this???
Paul

BUMP!!!
Come on all you wall flowers....Marco; Polo; Found You.... Everybody into the pool!!!

With the AC convention coming up soon and so many new members showing up on the side list, yet so many just sitting it out, I felt it was time to give this thread a bump and see if some of our newest members might just take the bait might we say...

And I'll lead by example....
Adam (my 7 year old son) and I just got back from camping and off-roading in our old '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee at Rausch Creek in Souteastern PA. We had a blast. We ended up wheelin' with with some of the bigger dogs this weekend and they ended up leading us down a few trails we really had no business riding on in basically stock trim. But with a little good spotting and careful, skillful driving we never got hung up and came out basically un-scathed and covered in gumbo. There is now red clay like mud all over our driveway as the rain slowly helps it drop off.... Weeeeeeeee

Come on folks and say hello....

Since I am in the Blue Marlin capitol of the world I guess I should fish or cut bait and say hello. To be honest I have been on the sidelines mostly because I am preparing to open my new office. I wanted to jump in here though and comment on the great forums there are here and the advice. I have spent the greater part of my time searching and reading up on AC so I have a better idea of what to expect in the very near future!

I live on the Outer Banks of NC with my husband and our four children. The interesting thing (office wise) most likely is my husband is family medicine in a practice with another MD and two offices, my new office will be exactly midway between the two.

4 wheelin is great fun Paul. We are lucky at the present moment we are able to drive on the beach. Unfortunately there is litigation occuring with the National Park Service and bird groups etc that most likely will hault this at least temporarily if not permanently. After hurricanes that has been a primary mode of transportation. It is great fun but also a wonderful way to go to the beach with kids.

Have a great evening everyone.

Alexis,
Way to go and get in here. I keep telling Bert that he needs to, "get some Mud in his tires". Yeah, I hadn't gone wheeling in years and then I saw that an old buddy of mine that I met thru the old "national Jeep Registry" club had started his own Jeep club dedicated to full sized Jeeps, like I used to run when he and I met and both learned how. He was so impressed with my old SJ Cherokee that he went out and got himself a beautiful '91 Grand Wagoneer and started an entire club, because of me and my old "Jack Jeep". Jack and I were quite honored.

Matter of fact I just sold old Jack to a fellow club member who is going to use his strong running rebuilt 258 I-6 in a donor body and frame. Unfortunately the winters and salt up here in Syracuse had not been too kind to our old friend Jack and he is just too far gone to be salvaged. It sure was weird watching my old ride go down the road on someone else's trailer.

Anyway, welcome to the board and getting in here...
Come on one and all... Lets do coffee, we'll talk.

Well you guys this was a fun diversion to read through this bump. Now I get the Donkeys reference! My father had two gold claims in the Mojave Desert (the area NorthEast of Los Angeles)which he prospected just enough to keep the claims open for many years. I grew up camping and exploring the deserts, and while I enjoy the mountains, it is the vast empty solitude of the desert that I find most relaxing and renewing. My friends even refer to it as "desert time" as in sit down and relax for a minute, you act like your still on 'city time', you got to get on 'desert time'.

I have mostly made due with two wheel drive as it was available and with skill could get through most places. When I was 11 my parents and sister and I wandered into a canyon near the Calico ghost town in the Mojave Desert. Calico was a ghost town, but is a thriving tourist attraction owned by Knotts Berry Farm now. Anyway, my Dad wanted to 'look around' and followed a ridge of promising quartz up a canyon until we came to a sign that said, " stop do not enter..Four Wheel Drive Only". My Dad insisted the sign applied only to the right hand road, (at a fork in the road) and he headed up the left fork. My sister and I began to whimper in the back seat that we would all surely die in the desert. Even my Mom had her doubts. The canyon was so narrow that the car doors could not be opened. There were no real steep climbs, but there were some drop offs that the car fairly slithered down, with all manner of undercarridge dragging on the rocks. I scampered back and forth, first leaning over the seat, head in front of my Dad's face pleading for him to give it up, then climbing to the very most remote corner of the rear package shelf looking out the rear window, hoping to be the first to spy the telltale puddle of oil or gas that would surely confirm our fate.

We went on for over an hour until we creaked and groaned out of the canyon, only to find we had come full circle on a jeep trail, although we went backwards, avoiding the most difficult climbs, by turning them into drops, slides and slithers. Did I mention his choice for off roading? A blue 1962, FOUR DOOR Ford Galaxie! In retrospect it was a pivotal experience. As long as I had a shovel and rope, (and someone with a 4x4!) I was never afraid to venture into dumb places. Never in a dam Galaxie, but often with a Pick up that had only 2 wheel drive.


I can't get any new pictures into Putfile past our office firewall and I am darn sure not gonna be the one to let the firewall down. (not again anyway). I'll load a couple of pictures of the back canyon country of the awesome Death Valley and offer to meet any of you with a 4X4 (or a good truck with shovel and rope). I will show you a place where you can sit with a good book and a cup of coffee and feel closer to God than any Cathedral in Europe. The solitude is as close to travel in outer space as you can achieve on Earth.

Paul my first jeep, (and first 4x4) was an M170. Do you know what that is? Like a long version of an M38A1?

Best Regards, Martin

Martin,

How terrific!! I loved your story-telling and don't be surprised if I call on you someday with rope and shovel and a good book in hand. I so enjoy this board and its interesting people. We all have so much in common in medicine and yet are so different and interesting in other ways....kind of like a good marriage.

Leslie

I would like to use my practice logo for my Avatar-how do I import it?

I am trying to figure out if putfile links work here.
If it does, then this would be a good dinner cooking in our campsite: [img]http://img
If you haven't used Dutch Ovens, (and I guess if you are a back packer it wouldn't be likely!)

[URL=http://www.putfile.com/pic/8076544]
The ovens are designed to stack up, and if you put charcoal briquets, (Diameter of oven in inches + 3 under oven, -3 on top) you get remarkably close to 350 degrees F.

If you get some rain on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, it gets muddy:


If you are on the East Fork of the Kern River (Calif Sierra's) you can wash the WHOLE truck:


And if you go fishing on the beach in Baja Calif, you can always find work, helping the 'tourists':


And if these pictures came through, then it must be time to head home!!

Now we have access to the Death Valley Pictures. This is not the main entrance to the park, where a paved road takes you past some terrific sites, 'the Devils Golf Course', 'Badwater', 'Dante's Point', 'Death Valley Scotty's', but this is sort of the back door, entering a place called 'Saline Valley' which is between the main park, and the Owens Valley where 1/2 of California goes up highway 395 to ski at Mammoth Mtn. Stark contrast from the desert valley to the ski resort. Here we go in the entrance, :


(If you are an old time long board surfer you will recognize Bruce Jones from Sunset beach.

Do you have any Joshua Trees where you live? (I didn't think so!)


Looking down into Saline Valley from a mining site that we explored:


From a long distance we could see that something was unique at this spot. I thought the mesquite was 'greener' (meaning water) but it turned out the shadows were darker, meaning the mesquite was taller, (still meaning water). We were not the first to find the water in this spot. Others over the past 100 years have been piling up the rocks to minimize the exposure when the wind comes up. When the wind is blowing all you can do is hunker down and wait.



Far back in the rocks, being fed only for a few weeks each year by the snow melt in the White mountains, we found a water fall.



The first cup of coffee. Every voice is held to a whisper.



The road out thru 'Steel Pass':



The photos were of course taken to maximize the drama. We had fun, but in truth this is an easy road, we stayed in two wheel drive the whole way. Nothing like the Rubicon or other real tests that the die hards test themselves against. But we had a wonderful time.

I hope you enjoyed this diversion, and I hope no one minds the lack of 'on topic' amazing charts content.

Doc M,
Man I am so jelous... What wonderful pictures of wonderful trips at such great places. You lucky dog you. Those are the types of places I am really craving to take my kids on. I love the way you make sure to get the truck in most of the pictures. We try and do the same. We even used to have a great old mule of a slant-6 Dodge Dart that I named "Sal" after the mule in the Erie Canal song. Come on old gal! "Here's Sal in the Catskills, and here we are with Sal at the Delware Water gap." Just awesome. we have definitely got to hook up and do some of those ghost towns and the Grand Canyon. Just Great.

Hey Guys, help this neophite out. Just how are you able to post those great pics on the board here? I just might throw a few up myself. You are a lucky man Doctor M, truely lucky.

And please this is the topic of this thread, to talk and share and get to know one another as folks instead of just as fellow providers and staff of providers in healthcare... Coffee Talk.

Paul

Gosh, I see the word coffee and pop right in here only to find trucks!

Sheesh!

We are craving Starbucks and sunshine here in the Evergreen state!

I just started drinking coffee this year. I never liked the stuff, but Alton Brown did a coffee show on Good Eats last year, about the "right" way to brew a cup of coffee.

I took his lesson to heart, went to T.J. Maxx and got a Bodum French Press coffee maker (50% off!) and a blade grinder from Wal-Mart (didn't splurge on the burr grinder). I only buy small bags of fresh beans, and the bag has to have a little valve to "breathe". These little factors make all the difference in the world.

Now I am addicted to coffee, especially with my wife's buttermilk pancakes and real maple syrup (you gotta splurge sometimes).

I like real cream in my coffee, no sugar. Sometimes I use goat's milk and make cafe au lait (we have seven goats).

Of course, I still can't drink "bad" coffee (which is what 99% of all coffee is).

Rainy, look again. The third picture from the last is the fresh brewed, sunrise in camp, cup of coffee. I am sure it is better than Starbucks, although I am not fussy enough to be a good judge of that.

Paul you need to open an account on 'Putfile'. It is free, (but they get to have your pictures in the database, and I never read the fine print, no doubt a picture will wind up in a ten billion dollar ad campaign for Nike and I will get zilch). Oh well.
It is easy to use, and after you have loaded the files you can browse them, and double click a picture which causes three links to appear below the picture. One link is HTML code as used on my space or ebay. The second is BB code as used on forums like this. The third is url code as used for e-mail. When you click on the line of code, it instantly turns all blue as if you highlighted it. Then you right click, click copy and return to this forum where you paste it.

Brian what made Goats the logical choice? Your in Arkansas so is it a property with elevations that are hard to mow, but easy for a goat to maintain? 4H? Atopic kids that were raised on Goats milk or something more along the lines of "it just followed me home?"

The property maintenance angle is one of the big things. Lots of hills and slopes, rocks and clay around here. Goats improve the soil tremendously. They actually prefer to eat cactus, weeds and brambles. They leave grass alone to thrive, and they fertilize the soil to boot.

We thought to improve the grounds to support some cattle, but we really enjoy the goats, and may just stick with them. They are extremely cute, and easy for my wife and kids to handle. We were surprised at how much we enjoyed the milk (depends on the breed and the handling of the milk). My wife makes goat cheese.

The kids do enjoy the animals a lot. We made a conscious decision for them to have real animals vs. virtual pets, and I see it paying off. They are taking a real interest, and even doing the veterinarian tasks when I'm not there!

Paul, this is a picture of my old M170 (also called a Front Line Ambulance). I only owned half of it, the rest belonged to my brother and he bought my half when I entered Med School. He let me borrow it back for this trip to Baja. My brother in law had the idea of putting a 4x4 post across the back end, held on with bungee cords, and drilled to hold the fishing poles. Boogie boards on the roof, chairs on the hood, and people and ice chests crammed inside. Perfect! The young man hanging around my neck in the picture will graduate from USC this month. (Finally!) and the one standing in front of me went all the way to NY with me last summer, and he was riding a Ducati 749S superbike. The one sitting on the hood is in high school, and just got his first car, (but its a truck, 2WD of course).

The M170 is 14 inches longer than the M38A1 which is the one that looks like a CJ5. The 170 has a rear tailgate and can accomadate 3 stretchers when the right seat is folded down and the rack is in. It has a tiny F-head 4 cylinder engine, (not a flat head, but an overhead intake, flat head exhaust) and still has all the fording gear with a valve and pump that puts positive air pressure to the tranny, transfer case and both difs, to keep the water out when you are fording.