In article <36A11AF9.5E744...@indiana.edu>, Media Goddess <rduf...@indiana.edu> wrote:
>A friend here at IU, who is an otherwise brilliant person majoring in >Cognitive Science and at age 22 is the Network and System Administrator for >the Music School's Digital Library, making $35k a year, *loves* caving. Why >anyone would want to go hang out in a cave, with the possibility of human >excrement floating past you as you're up to your nose in water, is simply >beyond me.
?!?! Did some "friend" take you down a really really nasty cave, then? Otherwise I have no idea where you could have got such a weird perception from.
Excrement is an unusual thing to find in a cave; there are the odd one or two caves that are near farms and known for being a bit "whiffy" (Manor Farm Swallet I believe if memory serves right, for an example) but it isn't difficult to avoid those out of the hundreds of ones you could do! Never in all my cave trips have I ever seen such a thing, the worst thing I ever saw in a cave was a squished Mars bar that had been in someone's helmet a little too long...!
Up to your nose in water isn't something that routinely happens either unless you have deliberately chosen to go an extremely water-logged route. Typical routes involving water are more like an ankle-deep splash in a streamway (jolly good fun!).
Why do people like caving? Lots of reasons, it's like doing a challenging obstacle course, so you have a physical challenge, combined with seeing some of the wonders of the natural world, plus also if you're into the exploration side of things you really do have the possibility of treading where *noone* has ever trodden before....
David -- http://users.ox.ac.uk/~coml0031/ v 3.12 GM/CS d s:++ a-< C++ U+ p L !E W++ N++ o+ K W-- O? M-- V-- PS? PE? Y PGP- t-- !5 X- R- tv--- b+++ DI+ D- G e++++ h- r z+(--) -=- For true relaxation, try a hot bath and a squeaky bath toy -=-
In article <BtF7UHAovSo2E...@antler.demon.co.uk>, Alan H Jones <a...@antler.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <na.42f7ff48c4.a70250gill.matth...@argonet.co.uk>, Gillian >Matthews <gill.matth...@argonet.co.uk> writes >>In article <77ntnu$jd...@news.ox.ac.uk>, coml0...@ermine.ox.ac.uk (David >>Curtis) wrote: >>> >You ought to be careful that you don't miss out on a whole lot of life >>> >because you "know" that you won't like stuff.
>>OTOH If you are afraid of the dark,claustrophobic and dislike getting wet, >>you can be fairly confident that sump diving in caves is probably not your >>sport. :-)
>Possibly, but hearing from enthusiastic sump divers about the wonders to >be seen might enable one to overcome such phobias.
Piffle.
What can be seen by sump divers can be summed up in one word: murky.
David -- http://users.ox.ac.uk/~coml0031/ v 3.12 GM/CS d s:++ a-< C++ U+ p L !E W++ N++ o+ K W-- O? M-- V-- PS? PE? Y PGP- t-- !5 X- R- tv--- b+++ DI+ D- G e++++ h- r z+(--) -=- For true relaxation, try a hot bath and a squeaky bath toy -=-
In article <i93zwDAhNSo2E...@antler.demon.co.uk>, Alan H Jones <a...@antler.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <77ntnu$jd...@news.ox.ac.uk>, David Curtis ><coml0...@ermine.ox.ac.uk> writes >>I know it sometimes happens that there are activities that someone >>really doesn't want to do, having never tried it, does eventually >>try it, and thinks it is wonderful! >>However, there are also occasions where you don't need to try something >>to know you won't like it, or at any rate will in all probability >>not like it, because there are some very solid reasons as to why not. >>Not fear of the unknown, but fear of the partially-known-and-doesn't- >>like-it!
>Yes, but you will only *know* you don't like it after you've tried it... >and what if you're wrong!
For the things I have in mind, finding out I liked them would be a much worse outcome than not trying them at all.
>I'm reminded of the old saying, "One should try everything once... >except perhaps brass bands and incest!" (Does anyone know who said >this?)
I believe it was Oscar Wilde, and he said it about Morris dancing and incest, not brass bands!
David (nowt wrong wi' brass bands) -- http://users.ox.ac.uk/~coml0031/ v 3.12 GM/CS d s:++ a-< C++ U+ p L !E W++ N++ o+ K W-- O? M-- V-- PS? PE? Y PGP- t-- !5 X- R- tv--- b+++ DI+ D- G e++++ h- r z+(--) -=- For true relaxation, try a hot bath and a squeaky bath toy -=-
>In article <VH3p6ZAL2mo2E...@ways.demon.co.uk>, Steve ><st...@ways.demon.co.uk> writes >>In article <5t1r+DAORNo2E...@davita.demon.co.uk>, David Reid >><da...@davita.demon.co.uk> writes >>>In outpouring of consciousness known as <na.42f7ff48c4.a70250gill.matthe >>>w...@argonet.co.uk>, Gillian Matthews <gill.matth...@argonet.co.uk> spake >>>thusly:
>>>>OTOH If you are afraid of the dark,claustrophobic and dislike getting wet, >>>>you can be fairly confident that sump diving in caves is probably not your >>>>sport. :-)
>>>That's quite high on my list of "Please leave you sanity at reception" >>>sports. Do people really do it for *fun*?
<da...@davita.demon.co.uk> wrote: >In outpouring of consciousness known as <na.8cbed948c5.a70250gill.matthe >w...@argonet.co.uk>, Gillian Matthews <gill.matth...@argonet.co.uk> spake >thusly:
>> I was thinking more in terms of watching motorsport I feel I >>might look a bit silly turning up at BrandsHatch with my ear defenders.
>Ear plugs? ~I was under the impression it was quite common to use them >when watching motorsport at close range.
Even the external ear defenders are by no means rare these days -- Nick Meredith, Coventry, UK
In article <77tr4k$ve...@illuin.demon.co.uk>, Richard Letts
<rich...@illuin.demon.co.uk> wrote: > one of the many wizzy presents I received this year included a slug > fridge-magent that looks really realistic from a distance (and hence > gross).
My fridge magnet says "I like cooking with wine sometimes I even put it in the food" I *cant* imagine why I was given it. I dont need a slug they invade my kitchen from time to time anyway
In article <77viht$oq...@news.ox.ac.uk>, coml0...@ermine.ox.ac.uk (David
Curtis) wrote: > Sump diving, no, the reason isn't usually for "fun". Sump divers are > usually trying to discover new cave passage, pushing the limits of > exploration. If you can understand someone wanting to explore places > no-one has ever been in, you can understand sump divers.
I can understand sump divers I just don't want to be one. In my younger fitter (less fat) days I put up a couple of new climbing route on the no one has stood *here* before principle. Now I confine myself to walking and struggling up easy routes misleadingly labelled very difficult :-(
In message <77u083$cv...@idiom.com> Stuart O. Bronstein <sab@*idiom.com> wrote:
> Steve Trawley <st...@trawley.demon.co.uk> wrote: > >James Holtom <ja...@bits.bristol.ac.uk> writes > >>Doesn't the UN convention on human rights outlaw torture -- such as that > >>which many folk willingly subject themselves...
> >We're reading your postings, does that qualify. :-)
> Since he's a bureaucrat, I'm sure it must.
*cough* *splutter*
Wash your mouth-out with soap and water sir!
I may have an academic e-mail address, but I am not, repeat _NOT_ a bureaucrat -- merciful-heavens!
I'm a postgrad.
At the moment.
Not that there's anything wrong with bureaucrats -- I am sure they aren't all bad, really...
>(David Curtis) wrote: >> I believe it was Oscar Wilde, and he said it about Morris dancing >> and incest, not brass bands!
>Arnold Bax said about incest and folk dancing in his autobiography. He >*said* he got it from a sympathetic scot. Does this this seem likely to >anyone?
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Sir Arnold Bax said,
"A sympathetic Scot summed it all up, very neatly in the remark, 'You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.'"
-- Stu (delete * from email address)
"If ignorance ever goes to $40 a barrel, I want drillin' rights on that man's head."
--Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower discussing President George Bush's policies
David Curtis wrote: > In article <36A11AF9.5E744...@indiana.edu>, > Media Goddess <rduf...@indiana.edu> wrote: > >A friend here at IU, who is an otherwise brilliant person majoring in > >Cognitive Science and at age 22 is the Network and System Administrator for > >the Music School's Digital Library, making $35k a year, *loves* caving. Why > >anyone would want to go hang out in a cave, with the possibility of human > >excrement floating past you as you're up to your nose in water, is simply > >beyond me.
> ?!?! > Did some "friend" take you down a really really nasty cave, then? > Otherwise I have no idea where you could have got such a weird > perception from.
> Excrement is an unusual thing to find in a cave; there are the odd > one or two caves that are near farms and known for being a bit > "whiffy" (Manor Farm Swallet I believe if memory serves right, for > an example) but it isn't difficult to avoid those out of the > hundreds of ones you could do! Never in all my cave trips have I > ever seen such a thing, the worst thing I ever saw in a cave was > a squished Mars bar that had been in someone's helmet a little too > long...!
> Up to your nose in water isn't something that routinely happens > either unless you have deliberately chosen to go an extremely > water-logged route. Typical routes involving water are more like > an ankle-deep splash in a streamway (jolly good fun!).
Maybe we're talking about a different kind of caving, because around here, up to your nose in water is typical. Indiana is all limestone, so this area is riddled with caves, and, according to Allan, most are quite watery. No, I never went down with him, because I saw the pics on the Spelunking Club's website first, and politely told him, "Thank you, no." As for floating excrement, yes, he said it does happen on occasion. I checked the website again, and found this pic of typical caving conditions around these parts.
> Most noisy sports require the participants to wear hearing protection, > and I think motion sickness is caused by not being in control of the > movement. (Those who suffer from car sickness are less likely to be ill > if they can be persuaded to watch the road.)
> Go on, Gill, try it! :-) > --
I read an interesting theory recently that suggested that motion sickness (on land) is caused by your head moving backwards and forwards when you don't want it to, and messing with your inner ear. I probably didn't explain that too well, but if you think of most urban bus drivers, who accelerate madly for 15 yards, then stomp on the brake when they reach the traffic ahead, and do this _all_ the time, that's the kind of thing I mean. I certainly find that my motion sickness is much less on motorway trips, and if I'm driving, it's non existant - cos I'm such a great driver :-))
Claire
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
>> Excrement is an unusual thing to find in a cave; there are the odd >> one or two caves that are near farms and known for being a bit >> "whiffy" (Manor Farm Swallet I believe if memory serves right, for >> an example) but it isn't difficult to avoid those out of the >> hundreds of ones you could do! Never in all my cave trips have I >> ever seen such a thing, the worst thing I ever saw in a cave was >> a squished Mars bar that had been in someone's helmet a little too >> long...!
>> Up to your nose in water isn't something that routinely happens >> either unless you have deliberately chosen to go an extremely >> water-logged route. Typical routes involving water are more like >> an ankle-deep splash in a streamway (jolly good fun!).
>Maybe we're talking about a different kind of caving, because around here, up >to your nose in water is typical.
Different kinds of caves, quite possibly. You do get different types of caves in caving areas. Certainly in the UK there are some that you could get up to your nose in water if you wanted to, but there are plenty of passages without water in. There are some really giant caves too, for the clasutrophobic types. Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (Cave of the Black Spring) really impressed me in this respect - absolutely huge passages, with flat level roofs, say as higher than an office ceiling but lower than a church ceiling, and huge boulders all over the place, and very very wide, certainly as wide as this building is. Very impressive! Nice formations too (stalactites and stalagmites).
But if (you probably don't) you did want to try caving, then by all means insist they find a dry cave for you to try. The first cave I ever did was completely dry (you could hear some water trickling faintly though).
David -- http://users.ox.ac.uk/~coml0031/ v 3.12 GM/CS d s:++ a-< C++ U+ p L !E W++ N++ o+ K W-- O? M-- V-- PS? PE? Y PGP- t-- !5 X- R- tv--- b+++ DI+ D- G e++++ h- r z+(--) -=- For true relaxation, try a hot bath and a squeaky bath toy -=-
David Curtis wrote: > But if (you probably don't) you did want to try caving, then by > all means insist they find a dry cave for you to try. The first > cave I ever did was completely dry (you could hear some water > trickling faintly though).
I think they all really love the wet ones. But that's ok, I've got more than enough on my plate at the moment, and will have even more soon enough to satisfy my adventurous cravings.
>> Most noisy sports require the participants to wear hearing protection, >> and I think motion sickness is caused by not being in control of the >> movement. (Those who suffer from car sickness are less likely to be ill >> if they can be persuaded to watch the road.)
>> Go on, Gill, try it! :-) >> --
>I read an interesting theory recently that suggested that motion sickness (on >land) is caused by your head moving backwards and forwards when you don't >want it to, and messing with your inner ear. I probably didn't explain that >too well, but if you think of most urban bus drivers, who accelerate madly >for 15 yards, then stomp on the brake when they reach the traffic ahead, and >do this _all_ the time, that's the kind of thing I mean. I certainly find >that my motion sickness is much less on motorway trips, and if I'm driving, >it's non existant - cos I'm such a great driver :-))
In outpouring of consciousness known as <abbaryybaqryqrzbapbhx.f5rab6r.p minews@sharra>, Dave {Reply Address in.sig} <no...@llondel.demon.co.uk> spake thusly:
>On 17 Jan 1999 23:18:44 -0000, Richard Letts wrote:
>>one of the many wizzy presents I received this year included a slug >>fridge-magent that looks really realistic from a distance (and hence >>gross).
>What about all the fridge poetry?
>That was quite interesting...
I was shocked, in fact I was so shocked I had to read it again to make sure.
-> Most noisy sports require the participants to wear hearing protection, -> and I think motion sickness is caused by not being in control of the -> movement. (Those who suffer from car sickness are less likely to be ill -> if they can be persuaded to watch the road.) -> -> Go on, Gill, try it! :-) -> -- - -I read an interesting theory recently that suggested that motion sickness (on -land) is caused by your head moving backwards and forwards when you don't -want it to, and messing with your inner ear. I probably didn't explain that -too well, but if you think of most urban bus drivers, who accelerate madly -for 15 yards, then stomp on the brake when they reach the traffic ahead, and -do this _all_ the time, that's the kind of thing I mean. I certainly find -that my motion sickness is much less on motorway trips, and if I'm driving, -it's non existant - cos I'm such a great driver :-))
Reminds me of the old Bob Newhart "Bus Drivers School" skit..
"That was a good manoeuvre, just as the old lady had run to the bus, you slammed the doors......
Now try the pulling away from the bus stop manoeuvre.
That's it accelerator, brake, accelerator brake..
Did you all see that, how he managed to have the passenger spinning all the way to the back of bus?
Your homework for tonight 'pulling out without indicating'"
In article <na.d5693a48c6.a70250gill.matth...@argonet.co.uk>, Gillian Matthews <gill.matth...@argonet.co.uk> writes
>In article <77tr4k$ve...@illuin.demon.co.uk>, Richard Letts ><rich...@illuin.demon.co.uk> wrote: >> one of the many wizzy presents I received this year included a slug >> fridge-magent that looks really realistic from a distance (and hence >> gross).
>My fridge magnet says "I like cooking with wine sometimes I even put it in >the food" I *cant* imagine why I was given it. I dont need a slug they >invade my kitchen from time to time anyway
The best I can do is a Venus with a nice array of (magnetic) clothes for dressing up.... -- Steve
In article <na.d5693a48c6.a70250gill.matth...@argonet.co.uk>, Gillian Matthews <gill.matth...@argonet.co.uk> writes
>In article <77tr4k$ve...@illuin.demon.co.uk>, Richard Letts ><rich...@illuin.demon.co.uk> wrote: >> one of the many wizzy presents I received this year included a slug >> fridge-magent that looks really realistic from a distance (and hence >> gross).
>My fridge magnet says "I like cooking with wine sometimes I even put it in >the food" I *cant* imagine why I was given it. I dont need a slug they >invade my kitchen from time to time anyway
Snap! My kitchen is regularly invaded by big, fat slugs, which I carefully transfer to the front path. The unlucky ones are eaten by the crows, which fly over to the nearby waterpark, where my friend and I shoot them.[1] They are then turned into Pigeon & Crow Pies... YUM!
[1] We have the shooting free on condition that we keep down the crows, because they peck the eyes from new-born lambs. -- *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* # Alan H Jones * "80% of all questions which begin with the # # * word 'Why', can be answered with four words: # # Manchester UK * 'Because people are stupid.'" Anon # *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>claire_lit...@my-dejanews.com wrote: >-> Most noisy sports require the participants to wear hearing protection, >-> and I think motion sickness is caused by not being in control of the >-> movement. (Those who suffer from car sickness are less likely to be ill >-> if they can be persuaded to watch the road.) >-> >-> Go on, Gill, try it! :-) >-> -- >- >-I read an interesting theory recently that suggested that motion sickness (on >-land) is caused by your head moving backwards and forwards when you don't >-want it to, and messing with your inner ear. I probably didn't explain that >-too well, but if you think of most urban bus drivers, who accelerate madly >-for 15 yards, then stomp on the brake when they reach the traffic ahead, and >-do this _all_ the time, that's the kind of thing I mean. I certainly find >-that my motion sickness is much less on motorway trips, and if I'm driving, >-it's non existant - cos I'm such a great driver :-))
>Reminds me of the old Bob Newhart "Bus Drivers School" skit..
> "That was a good manoeuvre, just as the old lady had run to the > bus, you slammed the doors......
> Now try the pulling away from the bus stop manoeuvre.
> That's it accelerator, brake, accelerator brake..
> Did you all see that, how he managed to have the passenger > spinning all the way to the back of bus?
> Your homework for tonight 'pulling out without indicating'"
Not as good as "The Cruise of the USS Codfish" IMHO.
(If any body mentions The Driving Instructor I shall have to reverse over them) -- Loretta
.... ->Reminds me of the old Bob Newhart "Bus Drivers School" skit.. -> -> "That was a good manoeuvre, just as the old lady had run to the -> bus, you slammed the doors...... -> -> Now try the pulling away from the bus stop manoeuvre. -> -> That's it accelerator, brake, accelerator brake.. -> -> Did you all see that, how he managed to have the passenger -> spinning all the way to the back of bus? -> -> Your homework for tonight 'pulling out without indicating'" -> -Not as good as "The Cruise of the USS Codfish" IMHO.
But that was sunk by the "Bomb Disposal Expert"...
-(If any body mentions The Driving Instructor I shall have to reverse -over them)
"It's alright the officer does not believe it...."
